Reid and Sania will, surprisingly, behave quite well, knock on wood. K's on a short trip right now, and the kids and I had our first morning trying to get all this stuff done ourselves. K admirably did this just two weeks ago when I went abroad, so it's clearly possible, though I'm hardly the expert at this stuff that she is.
Nevertheless, this morning at 7:40, these two kids were seated in the mud room, getting their shoes on, and I snapped a picture.
Click the photo to see more pix from our day.
Mommy, we hope you're safe and sound and come back soon, and we're all thinking about you right now.
K pointed out that I was remiss in not mentioning Sania's debut as a princess. Attending a cousin's princess party, Sania looked the part in this gauzy number, complete with a hat I'm sure she didn't wear, and a balloon that was a big hit as well. Devotees of her royal highness can click on the photo for four more delicious pictures of Sania looking cute.
The summer has flown by like fireflies on a windy night pulled up and onward by the breeze. Before we knew what happened, we were celebrating the closure of the neighborhood pool with a chilly dip as the ordinary Washington furnace gave way, oddly too soon, to cool nights and cool-ish days.
Tomorrow, Reid returns to regular school after ten days off following a summer of camp and transition. During those ten days, we went fishing with my dad in Florida. We flew over from my dad's place in Lake City to Destin, where Reid's uncanny fishing talents were a tribute to his mom's own childhood in nearby Fort Walton Beach. Reid himself will tell you, relentlessly, of his staggering performance, and of catching "two fish with one hook." This was actually two fish on one cast, using a double-hook rig, so not a total shock, but the only one of us to actually fulfill said rig's promise. In fact, the pair of fish caught by Reid which we kept (most of our catch was too small; Captain Don cursed August's picked over seas) accounted for a full 50% of our haul for the day. Reid bagged a red snapper and a pair of trigger fish; my dad caught two other snappers.
We also visited the Stephen Foster National Wildlife Preserve at the Okeefenokee Swamp. Reid re-enacted Pablo's echoing announcement about a swamp adventure from one of his favorite episodes of the Backyardigans, Swamp Creature.
Click on the picture above for more from our trip. In particular, take note of the massive building behind Reid in the picture taken as we're leaving Fisherman's Wharf near the bridge connecting Destin and Okaloosa Island. As you can see from this satellite shot, that building went up in the sandy bit between the water and McGuire's Irish pub. Sigh.
