Great to be 4

I want to be four again, a time when it's perfectly acceptable to prance around the yard in a pink ballet costume and green alligator boots. Oh, and don't forget the matching lollipop. L wears these boots everywhere... and I let her. Big deal. I see so many people out there who dress their kids perfectly. They look like little adults on their way to cocktail hour at the golf course. Ok. That's fine for them. Not for me.

There's a homeschooling seminar in August I'm dying to go to... I just have to figure out a way to scrape up $200. B, surprisingly enough, seems totally behind the whole homeschooling of L idea. I'm surprised and pleased. He usually leans away from my "hippie" ideas... I made some comment the other night about tree-huggers (defending them) and he looked at me - if he had glasses, he would have peered over them at me - and said, "dear... you have bark all over your arms." Compliment in my eyes.

Now... off to shoot, then harvest some lavender!

The 'hero' thing just never stops

So we're on vacation at the shore. The kids are riding the rides on the boardwalk. C very kindly goes on some of the smaller "kiddie" rides with her little sister. They're in these fire boats - the two girls in the front, and a boy and his sister in the back. The ride ends, and L starts to get out. C grabs her. B and I are watching from behind the barrier. We're telling L to sit down and wait for the ride attendant, when out of the corner of our eyes we see the little boy (about 2 yrs old) behind our girls stand up. C can't turn in her seat any more (she's nearly 5' tall at 9 yrs old) and is actively holding her sister, so B reaches across the fence to try to grab the boy. He can't reach. Next thing I know, he's flinging himself over this chest-high fence from the reaching position he was in and grabbing the boy, who by this point had stood up, fallen backward, and was being held inches above the (icky) water by his toes which caught on the lap chain. He then calmly hands the boy to his father, grabs L and hands her over the fence to me, and walks away with C.

The boy's mom is standing next to me, crying, because she couldn't get to him. She thanks B, who is trying to get away, then thanks me, and tells me what a special guy I have. (As if I didn't already know...)

Later that night, B told me that he remembers nothing between seeing the boy falling into the water, and handing him off to his father. He shows me the huge scrape on his shin, and the forming bruise on his knee.

People sometimes ask how I can stand being married to a cop. Doesn't it bother me? Don't I worry? Sure. I worry. But this is who he is. I won't ask him to be something he isn't. Maybe anyone would have done the same for that boy... I don't know. All I know is that he saw it, he acted, and a boy went home with his family, safe, dry, and with good memories.

Vacation Time!

Ah, summer. School’s out… well, in a few days. We’re pulling her out a day early. How silly is this – they have school on Wednesday, they’re off Thursday, then on Friday, they get on the bus, ride to school, get off the bus, are handed their report cards, they then re-board the bus and come home. What a waste.

So we’re going on vacation to the beach. Just a few days of sun, sand, salt water and the boardwalk. I may surprise C with a whale watch trip.

I love where I live, but sometimes it would be nice to be in Florida. I just found this site that offers day cruises from Ft. Lauderdale to the Bahamas. How fun would that be? You get to cruise, eat, shop on Grand Bahama… what fun! And it’s not really all that expensive. You can even rent a cabin with a bed, or choose to stay overnight with the right package.

I need to email my cousin about this. They’re offering free, one day cruises to military that served in Iraq or Afghanistan. He lives down there and might be able to go. Guess I’ll have to keep this in mind for the next time we’re down there visiting him. I’ve never been on a cruise. I’ve heard they’re a blast. My brother (of the missing knives) and his wife have gone. A friend of theirs got married on the cruise. I’m not sure about that. I think I’d want to be able to get away from the wedding party (remembering what they did to our truck at our wedding…) Maybe a cruise to the Bahamas to get married there... that would be fun - to have your wedding in the Bahamas.

Oh well. No cruise for us this year. We'll just enjoy our days at the beach with the kids... the kind of vacation I had as a kid - when we could get away.