The art of summer

Before I hand it over to a guest blogger (who doesn't yet know she's guest blogging) I just want to thank The Golden Ace and Santorini's Greek Kitchen for serving my sweaty self fresh from the gym and my semi-sweaty friend, Jodie, who'd helped on a Habitat for Humanity build earlier in the day. Also, Jeff and Troy, who both were still in work clothes and looked like they belonged out on the town, who still agreed to sit down with us.

We followed up the dinner out (Ali was at Jenna's for a sleep-over) with a trip to Talbott Street Art Fair -- always fun. Today, I fear I'll have to work out twice to make up for the other.

As we entered the art fair, I told Ali that her father was there to appreciate the art but he was mostly concerned about the food he'd find.

"Mom," she said. "Food IS art."

She is her father's daughter... And now, the guest post, gently edited, from Amy Tokash:

She was hosting a dual sleepover -- Drew and Jenna each had their best friends over. I know I've mentioned that Jenna and Ali claim to have become friends while still in utero. Andrew Tokash (Drew to the world) and Andrew Fralich had to wait until Day Nursery to meet, but they're just as commite to each other as the girls.

The foursome does play together a bit, but the boys are, well, boys and the girls are girls. So there's a lot of sibling jeering back and forth. They tend to separate when forced together. The boys apparently had biked off to chase neighborhood girls (not the icky, sister-y kind) and the girls had gone to the neighborhood pool. 

Some parents would have lived it up, watched non-animated movies or had a tryst as they enjoyed the solitude. Knowing Amy, she probably trysted with her washer and dryer. 

In any event, the girls had an 8:30 curfew. The boys (two years older) got an extra hour.

 

In between the time they had to come home and stay home, the girls were total water sprites. They boys interrupted their girl-chasing to stop by home to eat a whole bag of Doritoes.  Then they went to the pool and probably annoyed Ali and Jen for a bit.  Then it was back home for tacos.  Then video games downstairs (with the girls who'd only reluctantly dragged their butts home, lured no doubt by the taco aroma drifting down the street). The boys went back outside on their bikes.

 

As they left, the girls hot-footed it upstairs to track down the lady of the house.

J:  "The boys don't have to be home until 9:30!!  It's not fair!"

Amy:  "They are two years older and boys.  Big difference.  And it's not midnight; it's one hour later."

J:  "Whine, whine, whine."

A:  "Whine, whine, whine."

Amy:  "Come here and let me hug you both and wholeheartedly apologize for loving you both so much that I don't want anything to happen to either of you."  Big hugs.  Yes, they still both let me and even hugged me back.

J:  "But we have a NICE neighborhood, Mom!"

A:  "Yeah, because one of my friends, she lives in a neighborhood that if you go trick-or-treating, you get abducted and stuff stolen from you!"

Amy:  "Unfortunately, girls, good neighborhoods or bad neighborhoods, there are bad people everywhere, even here.  They may just be driving through looking for a really cute redhead and a brunette to pick up.  Besides, Cat, what in the world would your mom and dad say to me if I had to call them and tell them that you and Jen never made it back from the pool?"

A:  "I know what my dad would say--he'd say 'What the BLEEEP!   And my mom would probably just make another baby."

Amy:  After dying laughing inside said, "I may not know your mom through and through, but there's one thing I know for certain, and that's that we're BOTH done making babies!  I can bet my house on that!"

A:  "Ewwwwww!  Can we stop talking about THAT?!?"

Amy:  "You brought it up, Cat!"

 

Two gigantic eyerolls and a trip back up to the safe haven (away from those two-year older dudes, who just happened to walk in the house at 8:55) of Jen's room, and that was that.