Duck, duck, goose

Have you ever had one of those days when everything you do goes opposite of how you originally planned, and you realize it couldn't have been better? Today was one of those days....

We were hosting playgroup at our house this morning and *originally* we were going swimming. So I filled up the pool on Thursday afternoon, and bought snacks and juice for all the kids. However, when we woke up, it was cool and cloudy -- definitely not swimming weather. It looked like it could downpour at any second. So instead of the pool party I originally envisioned, all of the kids played in the backyard. Everyone had a great time. They climbed like monkeys all over the swing set, played tag and hide & seek, made up their own version of red light - green light, and then at Andrea's suggestion played duck, duck, goose.

Caleb chased Max (Andrea's oldest son who is 5) around the backyard with stars in his eyes all morning. Anything Max was doing, Caleb was going to try. ANYTHING! He has such big kid envy, and ADORES Max. Anyway, as they were playing duck, duck, goose, Max was the first one to walk around the circle and tap each of the kids on the head and say "duck". Caleb thought this was the funniest thing he'd ever seen, and found it a wonderful excuse to hit everyone in the head and yell "DUCK" at the top of his lungs. He was roaring with laughter, and there's just something about his deep belly laugh. It's so real, so heartwarming and couldn't be more contagious. All of us "moms" were sitting watching the scenario unfold and laughing so hard. It was hilarious!

He totally didn't get the "goose" part, where if you were the one tapped on the head when "goose" was said you got up and chased the tapper. Whenever this happened, Caleb would squeal with laughter and start running -- in totally random directions. Then when the running stopped, he'd flop in Max's lap and give him a great big hug. Max loved the attention! But.... he had such a hard time running when he had to maneuver around Caleb. LOL. Fun times today at playgroup!!

When it was time for everyone to leave, and Caleb saw Max turn and walk away, he started crying and holding out his arms. Between sobs you could hear him choke out "HUG"! When we realized what Caleb wanted, Max turned around and Caleb threw his arms around him. AAWWWWW.... It was the sweetest thing.

Then for lunch, because the carpet cleaners were coming, I made up trays of food and we had a picnic in the basement. I turned on Cars (one of Caleb's recent obsessions) and we hung out in front of the TV, eating on a blanket on the floor, and dancing to the music.

Around 1 today it started to rain, and I don't think it's stopped for more than 10 minutes all day. Originally I was going to try and finagle naps around the carpet cleaners but it just didn't work out that way. Because of the rain, the cleaners were late -- so I couldn't put the kids down for naps at their regular time. So while they were cleaning the carpets, the kids and I stopped by my parent's house to get some much needed Grammy and Pop-pops time. By the time we left, Caleb was deliriously tired. He was walking around, stumbling into the couches and begging Pop-pops to pick him up. The kids fell asleep in the car, so I went down to the basement (which was the only carpet in the house not cleaned) and laid out blankets and pillows. Then I went back out to the car and got the kiddos and we had a slumber party in the basement. Again, not what I originally planned, but the kids got to spend time with mom and dad and got a slumber party to boot. It was great! I wouldn't change a thing!

On a different note...

I swear if it rained one more drop today our house was going to float away. Troy (Andrea's hubby) told Matt that we got a little over 3.5 inches, but the news said it was closer to 4. OK, let's be honest.... it's completely irrelevant if we got 3.5 or 4 inches of rain today. In either event, it's WAY too much! The streets are flooded, the ditches are overflowing, and due to the high winds, tree branches are all over the place. And lots of rain and humidity, aren't exactly ideal conditions for freshly cleaned carpet! UUUGH!

The carpet cleaners left us super cute blue booties to wear on the carpet until it dried completely. Katherine and Caleb were like little fashionistas modeling these things before bed. They loved them!! But the best part was for Katherine.... I hate "potty" talk of every kind and don't allow her to say objectionable words. Well... because she was wearing these adorable blue booties, she was singing "Shake Your Booty" and dancing around like a rock star for a good hour. She loved feeling like she was getting away with something!! Yep... She got me!! LOL!