We enjoyed a nice evening on the patio. The weather hasn’t been so hot the past two days. I have been off of work all week (okay, I’ll be back for a part day on Thursday). Susanna’s sister, Sofia, and her friend, Linda, were scheduled to arrive later in the evening.

We enjoyed a quiet day.  Or as the boys like to call it, “a boring day.” But we all needed a quiet day.  That isn’t to say that we sat around and did nothing all day (even though the boys like to think that).

Susanna got the house ready for her sister’s arrival.  It is nice to be able to relax and not have to stress about being the one in charge.  I just did the chores assigned to me… no planning or stress required.  I figured it is nice to have only one person in charge of getting the house ready, and I’m happy for it to not be me.

I made some progress on the boat and trailer.  In the morning Will and I went to Mid-City Steel to get new cross beams for the trailer.  I finished painting one of the trailer wheels (black paint looks much better than rust).  I even decided to take a little break from the chores and got the lathe out to turn some toys for Ben.  I still don’t know what I’m doing on the lathe, but it is fun to try to turn wood.

After dinner the boys and I watched the end of “Return of the King.”  We started the movie a couple of weeks ago, and it seemed a good way to end a quiet day.

Yesterday we headed north to Massachusetts for a visit to Six Flags amusement park.  We spent the morning at the main park, and the afternoon at the water park.

It was a perfect way the split the day. We were able to do rides before the full heat of the day – and cool off in the water in the afternoon heat.  Of course half a day at each park doesn’t give enough time to do all the rides…. but we have season passes so we will be returning several times this summer (starting with next week when Susanna’s sister, Rebecka is visiting).

Ben was finally tall enough to go on some of the bigger coasters.  He still wasn’t tall enough at 51″ to do the really big rides, but we were able to do more than last year.  The first ride we did when we entered the park was “Thunderbolt,” and old wooden roller coaster.  Ben hadn’t been on one that big yet, and the look on his face for the entire ride was of pure shock.  But he loved it, and wound up doing “Flashback” twice (he convinced Will to ride at the end of the day).  Flashback has a corkscrew and loop that you do first forwards, then backwards.  So in one ride, you are upside down 6 times.  They didn’t make them like that when I was a kid.  Or maybe they did, and I was too chicken to ride on them.

Last Thursday Susanna and I decided to take a break from the house chores and the heat.  I was up in Providence for other reasons that day, so we decided to spend the night in the Hilton Providence.

While walking around Providence, we passed a dining establishment that had been on “Man vs Food.”  The boys enjoy watching “Man vs Food,” but haven’t seen the one for Providence yet…

The boys eventually did calm down last night.  But of course not until Will had to head to my room to fall asleep.  We all slept in.  But not much (up at 6:30 – I guess better than up at 6).  Now to cook breakfast….

Running the house always seems a little more hectic and crazy when Susanna is away.  Who am I kidding… it seems a lot more hectic and crazy.  Today was one busy day. And it started early.  The dogs were up at 6am.  Will wasn’t far behind.  Thankfully Ben slept in.

The morning didn’t start out too crazy.  We didn’t have any early morning plans, and a 6am wakeup always makes the first part of the morning seem more relaxed.  After breakfast we started and finished our “magic tree house” ladder.   It is now hanging in a tree in the side yard.  No tree house yet (don’t worry, Ben already asked if we could put one up in tha tree).  Next was the beach.  Okay, submarine base lake beach.  But still kind of beachy.  Lunch at McDonald’s,  then picked up Will’s best friend, Tyler, on the way home.

I worked a bit on the boat ladder, then we headed out to pick up a pool cover (thanks to freecycle).  On the way back we stopped by Will’s other best friend’s house (Shane).  He wasn’t there, but we made plans to have Shane spend the night.  Then we picked up Ben’s friend, Anthony, on the way home….

The boys played… keeping cool in the sprinkler.  I did more chores (weeding the garden and cleaning up the house a little bit).  Dinner was hot dogs and hamburgers.  Shane arrived in the middle of dinner.  So did the girl from across the street, Amanda.

More chores – cleaning up dinner while the boys (and one girl) played in the back yard.  Amanda only got stuck in a thorn bush once – so it was a success.

Anthony home.  Then Amanda home.  Then trying to calm down a bunch of boys and get them ready for bed.   And more trying to get them to calm down.  I’m still working on it.  It’ll soon be time to make Will leave his room and calm down in my room.  Or maybe I should just turn up the AC in my room, go to bed early, and let them get to sleep when they get to sleep.

Only 4 more days until Susanna is home.  Then maybe we can find some sanity here…

It has been a nice, slow, Saturday so far. Will and I went out first thing so I could get my hair cut. Susanna and Ben slept in. I was going to mow the yard this morning, but the mower battery was completely dead. I knew it was going but had hoped to make the rest of the season on the old battery. So another trip to get a new battery. This time with Ben.

I did mow the yard this afternoon. Now we are taking time to cool off in the new pool (thanks Susanna for the early birthday presen).

Tonight we are heading to the base for a free showing of the Avengers.

Today started out with my normal routine. The boys slept in, but the dogs wanted to go out at 6:45. I put them out and went back upstairs to lay down for a little longer before starting the morning.

Then came the smell. Skunk. A faint odor at first, then stronger. After a couple of choice words, I went down to check on the dogs. Targa had been hit. Tucker was still running around, but I couldn’t imagine him escaping.

I put Targa on a leash and hosed him off (with some soap) while Susanna chased Tucker around the yard to catch him.

The spray seems to be limited to both dogs noses. And Targa’s mouth. No eyes thankfully.

Susanna is off to the store to get special shampoo for the dogs. The house smells like skunk; we are waiting for a good breeze to blow the lingering skunk smell away.

In all, a not so good start to the day.