paint this day in sepia tones

CD called our day, yesterday, "a Norman Rockwell kind of day".

Before the heat got too bad, he and the boys went biking. Pook has a new bike without training wheels and was practicing where there was a slope. Bug was zooming around everyone in circles on his little bike. I did some weeding and watering (water restrictions limit us these days) and distributing of more pine straw mulch. We were all sweating by 11am.

Since the "Lemoned Stand" was schedule for noon, Pook started to get ready. We mixed up two quarts of lemonade, got out the card table and a table cloth, the poster and some tape. BK and LK met us outdoors. Mom-Next-Door had the cups and a bag of ice in a cooler. They set up shop in the shade in front of the pool parking lot while the adults went in and out gathering more necessities (trash bag, cloth for spills, chairs for the kids to sit in, and some lunch). The first two customers were there already- a lifeguard and a drive by. Both tipped. Each family had coincidentally scared up $3.25 in quarters which were never needed. Lots of tips: "Here's $4, but I don't want lemonade." Wow. The four boys made $7.65 each, in two hours!

They were hot and tired, so I imposed a thirty minute indoor cool-down before we met the neighbors at the pool. Everyone we know was there; the heat has been in the 90s for a week now. We stayed a long time, all waterlogged but cool. Both Bug and Pook had chosen to bring some of their proceeds to buy ice cream from the ice cream man (who had stopped to buy lemonade from them!) Finally a group of families teamed up and pulled our kids out at the 5pm adult swim. Not too much moaning. I invited the neighbors over to grill out. Pook and Bug were given the options of sitting quietly and reading (needed mellowing time, especially for Bug) or helping tidy the house. They read.

BK, MK, LK and Parents-Next-Door came over and we all watched the Belmont Stakes race. The kids, with no prior knowledge of horse racing, were disappointed in Big Brown's loss. After dinner of brats and beers, their energy renewed, both dads were pulled into the yard for some baseball. I got to stay indoors with Mom-Next-Door and MK, who was too tired to go back out. We helped him with puzzles on the floor.

They left at 8:30. My boys were washed and in bed by 9, exhausted from their day. We were all tired, but in a good way. We'd been very busy, but never rushed. We had done a lot, but had never used the car. Norman Rockwell would be proud.