Family portrait by Leo (hurriedly), March 2008: John, Buddy, Leo, Ondine, Roy
Family portrait by Leo (hurriedly), March 2008: John, Buddy, Leo, Ondine,
Roy
Happy Cinco de Mayo! Probably Gage Elementary will have some stuff going on today, in addition to the “teacher appreciation week” stuff.
Cub Scouts: Friday evening was the Pack 951 egg drop! Roy packed an egg in a small shipping box padded with foam and bubble wrap.
Den 1 did the flag ceremony, and Roy was the caller! He did a great job, speaking very loudly and clearly! Roy also received the six belt loops he’d earned at the Scout Fair.
Then, the boys all mobbed the egg tosser to throw their packages onto the concrete stage. Roy’s happened to be the very first one thrown, and it hit hard. But, unpacking it revealed that the egg was intact, so his was also the first winner! More packages flew through the air as the egg tender on-stage ducked and dodged flying egg boxes while unpacking boxes on the ground. At the end, all but one egg survived!
John liked this event because it was pretty obvious that most of the egg boxes were the work of the Cubs, with very little parental involvement.
Saturday we went to the local SpringFest at Allied Gardens Park, a celebration for San Carlos, Allied Gardens, Del Cerro and Fletcher Hills. We brought Buddy along, and John bought $10 worth of tickets, which the boys ran through in minutes going on the various inflatable obstacle courses and slides. Leo balked at the height of the big inflatable “ops” course, but found a low-slung “jungle adventure” inflatable that was more to his liking.
We ran into Ondine’s friend Judy (Ondine goes walking with Judy and her dog Stinky), which got Buddy excited. Buddy was most excited, though, by the pony ride, which really got him monku-ing.
Then we found a shaded spot to watch the parade, a homespun affair with Barbara Cleves Anderson as the Grand Marshall, and the principals of the local schools riding in convertibles. We got to see Mayor Sanders, and city councilman Madaffer, and all the candidates to replace Madaffer. And, the Girl Scouts, Cub Scouts, dance studios, and martial arts studios. And various local sponsors, like plumbers, churches, and Ondine saw her hair salon marching along in beehive wigs! Several of the entries tossed candy, foam hammers, and beach balls to the crowd, and Leo and Roy got in there and scooped up handfuls of candy.
After the parade, the boys used their last tickets on two slides each down a huge inflatable slide. And then we came home.
In the evening, Ondine went to dinner and drumming with Alyssa, Shannon, and Tyra. Jennifer was supposed to go, but couldn’t make it. They had delays, a car breakdown, and more delays en route, but they finally got to the drumming circle for an hour of drumming which is about as much as anyone could want.
Sunday was warm and sunny. We pretty much relaxed at home. Ondine did some organizing and weeding in the front garden. John gave Buddy a bath. For the first time, Buddy recognized the dog shampoo bottle, and tried to get away from John as John closed in on him. John scooped him up mere inches from the safety of his crate, and carried him to the bathroom, four legs splayed out and ears drooped down.
After we put the boys to bed, Ondine watched Cranford on KPBS. It was fun seeing places we’d been to, long ago, like Castle Combe, which shows up in a lot of period productions. But the story wasn’t interesting, especially after the Jane Austen series.
Monday it’s cool and overcast again as we get back to the usual routine! John and the boys walked to school and ran with the Running Club, each carefully carrying a rose from our garden in a little jar vase, to give to their teachers. Water sloshed their sleeves as they trundled along. Ondine went to Jazzercise. After school, the boys had their karate class.
This evening, Ondine will go for a walk and appetizers with Lucy and Jennifer.
Neighborhood gas prices are still about $3.95 per gallon, but oil reached a record $120 per barrel today because of supply issues related to Nigeria and Iraq.
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