Last weekend was as busy as every weekend this summer. Friday I had #6 for the afternoon while my daughter in law worked as a wedding co-ordinator at her church. Then we all met at my daughter Katie's house for a soup and movie night. It was really fun! Not everyone was able to come but she had a houseful, as Megan and her three kids were there, me, Sara and #6 and Meg was there with a boy she's nannied for years, as well as MJ and two of her kids.
#6 absolutely loves me but let me tell you: the second I got her out of her carseat at Katies, she ran to the other kids and ignored me the rest of the evening. She's very into hugging other children when she sees them. It's so cute you could cry! The food was excellent. Katie made a chicken and wild rice soup, Meg brought a tomato basil soup and there was Caesar salad, plenty of baguettes and I brought a bucket of cookies. The movie was When Harry Met Sally, a perfect autumn movie and I'm the only one who stayed to watch the whole thing. I loved it (again).
Saturday, I actually can't remember what happened....oh yeah! I got to watch #6 again while her parents looked at houses. They haven't found the perfect house yet but they will. I remember looking for years before we found our house and it broke the first rule we agreed on : No busy streets. The only reason we looked at this house is that we'd just seen an open house that was so ugly we agreed to peek into the next open we saw just to cleanse our minds of the hideous imagery the decor of the last house inflicted upon our senses. It helped that it was a gorgeous spring afternoon and the park across the street was hosting a softball tournament. It was the moment Jay saw the wood burning stove and said "bingo!" that we suspected a 'busy' street was not the deal breaker we'd assumed it was. We didn't think we'd still be here 31 years later but here we are. We also replaced that wood burner with a gas stove about 15 years ago. One of the many changes we've made to improve an already terrific house. It's a weird little Frankenstein of a house and I love it. Jay likes it because I live here.
Sunday was rodeo day! Grandma Punkin really wanted to go and the weather was nice so we picked her up and headed out. The last rodeo, a few weeks ago, the temps were up in the 90s and we didn't stay for all the events but this time the weather was perfect: cool and semi cloudy so we were very comfy. It was a blast!! It helps that Xena is clearly the best cowboy in the area. The events that she didn't win, she came in second. Babalouie had a fabulous rodeo too, even though he was mostly concerned with getting a ride to his 3 on 3 basketball game by 4:00. That kid wants to do everything. I understand his ambition but I think it robbed him of enjoying something that rarely happens: he beat his sister in an event.
Oh, before I forget, Kitten won the little kids barrel ride. I was filming it and on the replay you can clearly hear her yell "Hi Nana!" as she turned toward me in her pattern.
The last events of the day are the roping competitions. First they do a standing dummy for the beginners: the kids throw a loop over the sled (dummy shaped like a calf) as it stands still and the kids are on their feet, not horseback. Then there's the sled roping: kids on horseback throw a loop over the dummy as it's being pulled by a 4wheeler. This was a very exciting event. Each kid got 3 chances and there was 3way tie after Xena, Babalouie and another youngster made 2 out of 3 catches. Babalouie won the rope off! Xena looked shocked when she missed her toss but she made up for that later. Babalouie just came off his horse and demanded a ride to basketball. His dad obliged so they both missed as Xena redeemed her standing in grand form in the live roping event.
When the kids lined up to take their tosses at live calves, Xena showed the crowd what a champion looks like. Of course, roping a live calf scores you more points than roping a dummy so she put her loss to her brother behind her and won overall cowboy again.
The rain started early in the week. Its been pretty rainy but not nonstop. This is the first year I can remember where I wasn't sick and tired of watering my flowers by the end of September. I'm glad they're still alive and I'm hoping to get out to paint them again before the first freeze. I've been out painting in my outdoor studio a handful of times and it was really fun.
Tomorrow, we're celebrating Zach's 34th birthday. We'll have a houseful for dinner and the weather is supposed to clear up and be beautiful. I'm hoping we can be outside again. Sunday is the Twin Cities Marathon, in which both Josie and Nick will be running. WE're having a celebration here after that, as well. It's going to be another fun, exhausting weekend.