More Days

Monday, August 15

I took the kids to DSW this morning to buy sneakers for school. They hate everything, so shopping is kind of a pain right now. But we did find them shoes in the end. Then we went to Target, where they each selected a Mini Brands for finishing up one of their punchcards. (The punchcard rewards, which I'd planned to be $5, expanded over the summer to be $5 OR a new book OR a Mini Brands.) 

We had a little adventure in the afternoon, when I invited Lucia to squeeze into the laundry closet on the second floor to try to see behind the machines and tell us if they were actually plugged in. We have a stacked washer/dryer on the second floor but only the dryer works, and the whole thing is just completely jerry-rigged and nonfunctional. Lucia is the only one of us small enough to actually get in there and see what's going on. End result: the dryer isn't vented, there's no drain for the washer, and we're going to move both machines to the basement and return that closet to a linen closet. Half the work of this house is just undoing / fixing what other people have done.

Later, a new WT family came over for a drink so their daughter, entering seventh grade, could meet Lucia. 

Tuesday, August 16

We had a pretty free day. The girls and I played 3 Up 3 Down and Sagrada--a new game we're just learning. Greta had a tennis lesson, and then we all went to the pool for a swim and an early dinner. After that, we hurried home to change and then went to a Pirates game. Andrew was excited because the Pirates were playing the Red Sox; the girls and I were excited because we found small plush pierogis in the fan shop. We were amused by them for the entire game.  

Wednesday, August 17

Lucia got a haircut today. I also had to take the girls in for last-minute physicals because the forms I submitted to the school, reflecting their physicals from January, were rejected. The day was cloudy and cool until we got home from that appointment, when it became suddenly hot and sunny. So we went to the pool. We were pretty much the only people there. The girls had dinner; Andrew came up and he and I had a gin and tonic while the kids took a final dip. Pretty nice. Tonight, the girls and I watched two episodes of Gilmore Girls.