Early 21
Friday, June 24, 2011
In which an early birthday is celebrated for Rose…
Puck began his morning with a question over his cream of wheat.
“Mama? Why is everything made out of wood?”
During his breakfast prayer, as was his wont, Puck started, and then paused…
“Was that a little bit grumbly [mumbly]?”
And when told he would be using water balloons that morning…
“I’m not compared, compared [prepared] to use water balloons!”
When told to finish his glass of water…
“Water is my speciality!”
In other news, it would be Othello on the green next summer.
While Collette drained 215 bulletins out of the steam engine in the office, Puck completed his final day of Vacation Bible School with water sports, a giant inflatable slide (which he was still too scared to use), and mounds of cookies. Not to mention the all-inclusive picnic, which Mom, Dad, and Joe attended with the kids.
When Rose returned from work, she presented Puck with a treasure load. Puck was very excited.
Four shirts, all from Gymboree, with island statues, an octopus wrestling a clipper to the depths, and other monsters of the deep. A pair of shorts. And…
“Underwears!” Puck exclaimed.
He put on a pair immediately. One in dogs, one in robots, and one in lobsters.
“Everyone will think that I’m a different kid when I wear these new clothes!” he grinned.
Back to the house for a grocery run with Mom and Carrie. It was time to celebrate Rose’s 21st with the old gang.
When they returned to the house…
“I sprayed Uncle Joe’s perfume in my eye because I was going to spray them on my hands to make them smell good.”
Red-Eye was administered by Carrie-Bri. And a glass of strawberry milk, which, for all his requests to have it, did not take his fancy very well after all.
Classic Doctor Who for Carrie and Puck. And the very last Tales from Avonlea for Mom and Linnea before Linnea left for volleyball practics. Joe was at lunch with OLeif. Francis was tubing and frisbee-ing with buddies. And Dad was meeting with Theodore.
At six o’clock, the original tribe, that being Collette, Carrie-Bri, Joe, Magnus, and Rose, departed for Busch Wildlife with a picnic spread. Chicken salad, croissants, Wheat Thins, smoke Gouda, Provel, Baby Bels, raspberries, blackberries, cheese Danish. Elegance, attempted.
However… after thundering around the reserve for maybe fifteen minutes, leaving a toxic trail of grav dust, they were finally able to find an acceptable position on Lake #8, where they were joined by OLeif on his bike after the spread had been laid, and Joe began to skip rocks, scaring fish towards the fishermen on the other side of the lake. This seemed to have the opposite effect as some large fishlike creatures began flopping at their own bank, followed along shortly later by a swimming flock of female ducks. And they continued to laugh at hipsters, which was normally the largest function of conversation.
“It’s so obscure!”
They looked a little out of place, as one after another, fishermen came to disturb their peace, in cut-off t-shirts and muddy boots, while they rationed out a bottle of rosé to those who would…
“I look like a geek, don’t I?” Magnus asked.
“Dude,” OLeif laughed, “you’ve got your collar popped sitting by a fish pond.”
And back for the 40-pack of ice cream drumsticks and bars. Rose’s choice of filmage. Timeline. Unbelievably unbelievable. Once Bing had arrived, they laughed their way, into tears at some points, through the entire 116 minutes of ridiculousness.