Various progressions

Yali rolls up the driveway calling to me from the open window of the minivan... “MOM! I GOT A KOALA!”... he and Patience jump out into the yard where I'm pulling weeds... with tiny plush koalas clipped to their fingers from Australian VBS... “Mine's named Kiki!” Patience exclaims... “Mine's named Puck!” Yali grins...

Oxbear is off work for the holiday so he's been busy trimming hedges and cleaning out the carport with the power washer...

...while I stop Patience from running inside to eat candy sprinkles right out of the tub...

...and Puck packs a bag for his three o'clock pick-up for MEPS...

The heat is also packing in by early afternoon...

Oxbear offers to bring the “tots” to their orthodontist appointments so he can catch up on emails in the waiting room...

And I give Puck the send-off with his recruiter... overnight at a hotel in the city before his 4AM wake-up call Friday morning... “Wanna bring Cheese to be an emotional support cat?” I teased him earlier... He picks up the fat boy and laughs... “Cats can't be emotional support animals... they don't care... at all”...

The rest of the crew returns exactly one minute after Puck has left... Yali in a full rage after an unexpected baby tooth pulling at the orthodontist... bloody gauze between numb lips... he eventually calms once the bleeding also calms...

And Patience prepares cinnamon muffins to contribute further solace...

After another visit to the studio for the evening...

...back home watching Yali in jeans and collared shirt with tie – also white gloves for some reason – practice stuntman flips crashing into large cardboard boxes on the trampoline...