With the start of the new school year, Ava added another day of preschool to her week so she now attends three days a week. James, however, still only attends two days a week so while Ava is off palling around with her buddies and gettin' her learnin' on, James and Helen now have a day to spend together. Ava was hesitant at first, offering a tender, "But I don't want to go to school all by myself," with tear-filled eyes. We prepared for a long goodbye in the play yard and then she just ran off giggling with her friends. There was a brief adjustment period on the other end too, as it appears Ava has been doing a fair amount of co-parenting without us realizing it. During James and Helen's first day alone, James was coloring on the walls within moments of a mommy potty break. And while said mommy was cleaning the walls, James grabbed a CHEFS KNIFE from the counter (he's quite tall, if you recall) and began drumming on the kitchen surfaces. Where's Ava when you need her to scream out, "Mama, James has a chefs knife!"?
September also marks the month of our always oddly-timed annual block party. After four completely dry months, the rains came down for this year's festivities. For many, this wouldn't seem like a big deal, but our street goes all out for the block party. All told, the party spans 14 hours and includes dog races, parades, painting the street, pot lucks, alcohol, and carnival-type attractions. This year, we adapted. Bounce house? Cancelled. Dunk tank? Cancelled. Bonfire into the wee hours of the night? Cancelled. We're a resilient bunch, though, and we still managed to stretch out the festivities for 10 hours, focusing more on eating, puddle-jumping, hat-wearing, and wagon-riding than we have in the past. The kids were none the wiser so, as usual, a fun time was had by all.
