Monday, June 1: Weekend

We had a nice family weekend. Saw a lot of both kids, which is unusual in this crazy time of Maycember. It's now June, so Maycember is technically over; and indeed, this week already feels a little less chaotic.

Saturday, Greta went to a going-away party for a friend for most of the day; Lucia studied; and Andrew and I did more yardwork. Then Lucia took a break to power-wash the porch and stone walkways in the backyard, a massive and much-needed task. Between last weekend and this weekend, we (well, Andrew) have distributed 60 bags of mulch around the front and back of our house. We've planted flowers. We planted three saplings against the new fence by the retaining wall. We've weeded. Andrew set up a hammock. We are pleased to have reclaimed our yard for the summer--a spectacular yard. It needed to be wrangled back into submission, but now it is glowing. Even Andrew, who spent much of the winter threatening to put the house on the market every time there was some kind of wintry issue like, say, water leaking from a chandelier, was full of praise and enjoyment.  

Sunday, Andrew agreed to drive us all out to Sewickley to the Red, White, and Blue thrift store (technically in Bellevue). We all found a lot of nice things, including Andrew, who came upon an entire collection of his favorite J. Crew shirts and bought them all. After thrifting, we had lunch at a diner in Bellevue. It was a very pleasant afternoon. We relaxed at home for the rest of the day, and Lucia babysat in the evening for a new family.

It's the last week of school. Let the summer begin.