Twenty-one
Our 21st wedding anniversary begins with Oxbear's first attempt at bread-making already being consumed by all the kids in large quantities... as Patience simultaneously feasts on more watermelon-with-mustard before leaving for her next babysitting job in St. Charles County...
At the Big House young R is ready for more fun... bloody scratches on his leg from some boy battle... as "Grandma" and Patience begin discussing “which movie and snack would you want to have with you on a desert island?”... Grandma chooses “To Kill a Mockingbird” and Fritos while Patience decides on the predictable “K-Pop Demon Hunters” and Cheetos puffs...
Back home again... Amazon delivery... largest bottle of red food dye I've ever personally seen... Yali's mock superhero battles will continue...
...as he prepares grilled cheeses for himself and Oxbear on the stove... these kids they're growing up...
Patience is ready at one o'clock... more battle wounds for young R (but he doesn't own any fake blood)... and a plate of triple chocolate cake which they all prepared together...
Home once more Yali is busy penciling treehouse plans and rescuing his sister from “a hobgoblin in the bathroom” shortly before his final baby molar pops out... which of course means he should chase his sister around the house with a mouthful of blood...
Then cruising Puck over to work... Oxbear leaving for another school board-related meeting calls from the minivan... “An old Russian couple ran into me with their car... it's not bad though... just some scratches and a dent... he could barely speak English... when he asked if we had to swap insurance and I said no we high-fived”... of course they did...
It's already nearly eight o'clock... Puck preps Presley for the mobile mechanic in the morning... caramel apple pop in his mouth... before driving out to J's slips me a dollar out of his wallet for Yali's pillow tonight...
Oxbear sending another batch of bread into the oven...
...as Patience and I return from the studio... sun slipping low into evening August haze...