Gigi to the Rescue.

Oh today, what a funny day. As with all days, we had to go for a run. My usual track takes me about an hour and a half - I run between three and four miles and walk another mile or so up and down the bigger hills. Today it took almost two hours because we ran into our favorite dog friends and had to stop and say hello. It's this older couple who have always been SO sweet to me and my kids. When I would walk with tiny infant Ellie they would encourage me, they were so excited when I was pregnant, and they were thrilled to meet Adam. They always stop and say hello and they have two cute little dogs, Annie and Bebe that Ellie is allowed to stop and pet (I have to make rules about which dogs we pet, otherwise it'd take us six hours to finish our walk.) Ellie loves Annie more than any other dog, because she is a teeny teeny tiny terrier. The sad news today was learning that Annie went to puppy heaven from heart problems recently. But we still had a nice ten minutes talking with them and petting Bebe and her pal Rosie (who belongs to the man that I think of as "the Ambassador of Dogs." Because I know the names of all the pups but none of the parents.) We got to the far end of the trail and had just started to turn around when Ellie goes "MOMMY! Did you hear me? I HAVE TO GO POTTY SO BAD!" Thank goodness we were near civilization and were able to scoot into a coffee shop. Ellie whined about me touching her with my "sweaty" but she didn't have any dang shoes on! Someone had to do the heavy lifting!

We made it home without further incident, and then I flipped up the box on our garage door to punch in the code and open it. Aaaaaaaand discovered that the power was out. Now, do I carry my keys in my stroller? I do not. Of course I don't. Do we have a key hidden? Of course not, we have a garage code! Am I an idiot? OF COURSE I AM. Thank goodness Gigi doesn't leave for her trip until tomorrow, because she was able to scoot over and let us into our very own house. And she even brought us lunch! She is so nice.

Once we got all cleaned up, the kids and I went to the hardware store, where I finally purchased a cabinet lock to ruin Adam's life. Sorry kid, no more trying to drink Pledge for you! I cannot emphasize how naughty he is. He is relentless in his pursuit of things that are not meant for babies, and unlike Ellie, who came to actually understand and stop going for electronics and power tools and poison, Adam is completely undaunted and without hesitation. I feel like I can't turn my back on him for a second, and if I can't find something around the house, the FIRST thing I do is go and look in his diaper pail, because he loves to toss things down with his diapers.

Example: while we were farting around in the back yard waiting for Gigi, he came around the side of the house, having found a peach that fell off the tree. He was going to TOWN on it.

Thankfully it wasn't rotten or covered in bugs, or if it was, he ate the rotted parts and insects before I got to him and was grossed out. Our unstoppable Adam.

And in case you are wondering, I have now hidden a key for myself. Now don't try to come find it and break in, or I will be very upset!

Gigi also saved the day yesterday by allowing us to conscript her into baby sitting one more time before her trip. Don and Eileen treated us to a really lovely meal in honor of Jake's birthday (he and Dawn came too.) During the planning stages, Eileen asked if I wanted to bring the kids out to a restaurant, and my return text was something along the lines of "I don't want to bring my kids to a restaurant basically ever. The best I can offer is twenty minutes at conveyor belt sushi." I mean, I don't want to be the person who makes every family event about my kids and what they can and can't do, but allowances must be made. They wouldn't have lasted ten minutes in the nice steak house, and if Jake wants steak for his birthday, he should get that, instead of receiving the booby prize of watching me storm out of a restaurant, dragging a screaming child by the arm for bad behavior. Plus, sometimes I enjoy having an adult evening out, enjoying a cocktail and some good conversation with my family. Jake did like the card that Ellie picked out for him, and all the pictures she scribbled with her intensely scented markers. I love letting Ellie pick out her own greeting cards because she can't read and so gets the goofiest things. Tim got a farting dog card for Father's Day, and Jake's card had a puppy on it and said "happy birthday cutie pie" inside. Just what every uncle wants!