Sunday

Today was our last full day as a threesome. No specific goals, just hanging out.

Yesterday we went to the office for the morning, where not much of anything was happening - warm weather and blue sky tends to keep people occupied. So I worked on my lab letters, clearing out my in-box and getting things organized. The children were occupied by Earla, and the DVD player and Leapster that we brought along.

We invited Earla out to lunch - I'd promised Thea that we'd go to Tiger Noodles. It was nice to have another person along since Micah is not one to sit still and stay in his chair for long. We offered her a ride to Diamond Nation in Flemington where her daughter was playing in a softball tournament. Love that GPS, it got us home via the back roads (once on Route 31 through the Flemington Circle, one of Satan's best creations being quite enough.) I put up the rectangular pool and the kids went in for awhile - which turned to more of a refereeing job for me. Until I yanked Micah out when his lips turned purplish blue. Thea, who has a thicker layer of protective padding, stayed in, paddling back and forth wedged in her swimming ring for another 40 minutes.

After dinner we went for a walk (me) and bike ride (the kids) which made me realize we have got to get Thea a bigger bike. I got her bike in 2007 shortly before we went to China; it was all of $20 at a consignment shop where I was buying the Stand-n-Stroll double stroller that we took along when we picked up Micah. It fits Micah now, though he can be just as happy tooling along on his tricycle.

The ride/walk landed us at the neighborhood park, where Thea showed me she can now hang upside down without holding on - great, don't do it in front of your brother, if he does it, he'll fall on his head.

Home for ice cream, baths, bedtime reading and sleep. Micah and I read "Llama, Llama, Red Pajama" and "Bathtime for Biscuit."

Micah, who has been asleep by 8:30 pm for the last few nights, was up at 6:30 am today. Love the early bedtime, hate the consequences.

After breakfast, we headed for ShopRite. My intention was to dump the dynamic duo in Scrunchy's Playhouse so I could zip through the shopping list, their intention was to stick to me like ticks.

Then we headed to Panera (Thea's request), which turned out to be a brilliant idea because of the plaza with the fountain (which isn't really a fountain). It's a series of about eight to ten paired water spouts coming out of the cement at varying intervals and varying heights.

Thea's played in it almost every summer, but Micah's managed to miss out until today. It took him exactly thirty seconds before he was soaked from head to toe and just squealing with utter delight at this amazing thing. Thea managed to run through it, play in it, stomp on the spouts, barely getting a drop on her.

I sat on a bench, taking pictures, enjoying the sunshine and the joy of my children. Until a dripping Micah, who is in a tighty-whitey and shorts and has been doing remarkably well with the whole potty-training thing, comes up to me and says "Mommy, I have to pee, NOW." Great, it's not like I can just bop back into Panera with a child who is making puddles of one sort or another.

Fortunately it's a hot day, no one was nearby and the puddle dried quickly.

Once Thea had had enough, we headed for the car and were just about to cross the parking lot when Thea sounded the potty alarm. Fortunately she's got better control and knew the way back to the restroom at Panera. I threw Micah in to a Michael's cart and rolled him to the door at Panera's closest to the restroom.

His clothes were cold, so a stripped him down, and while we were waiting for Thea, he sounds another alarm for the bathroom. Oh joy, naked boy, pile of wet clothes, shopping cart, purse.

We went in. And after settling his little butt on the toilet and checking on Thea, he promptly jumps off, locks the stall and says "I need PRIVACY, Mommy." Crap, crap, crap. He's naked, in public and is telling me that he needs his privacy.

And since he was in the water, his BAHAs are in my purse, not on his head. Damn, damn, damn. The only way he's going to hear me is if I'm banging out 70 decibels, which is almost as good as broadcasting to the entire restaurant.

Finally we got out of the bathroom, back to the shopping cart (great camoflage) and out to the parking lot and Micah into a pull-up and on the way home. Micah was asleep before we were even out of the parking lot.

On the way home we called Thea's friend Emily's to see if a backyard pool date was in the cards for the afternoon. Fortunately they were looking to get out of the house, even if it was just to come over to our inflatable pool and swampy backyard. Emily is the the perfect friend because she comes with a little brother who is about six months younger than Micah. Micah spent the first part of the playdate comatose on my chair, and then he had no interest in the pool.

The other three stayed out until they were thoroughly chilled, and then the playdate moved inside. Micah and Nate mostly wanted to follow their older siblings around, and the girls just wanted to play without the interference of little brothers. The kids had dinner and more playing. Then after their friends went home, Thea wanted to swim some more, and Micah decided that he wanted to join her.

They did really well - even though both wanted the swim ring, with the help of the microwave timer set for five minutes each time, they managed to share.

Micah stayed out until his teeth were chattering and the lips were blue, so he came in to get tossed in the tub. Thea stayed out for another 30 minutes paddling around with the swim ring until it was her turn for the tub.

Good timing, a thunderstorm was brewing and really started kicking up - enough to knock out the DishTV (bye, bye True Blood and Entourage).