Updates from Birdland

Poor Titus


After an absolutely BANNER day yesterday (car ride, swimming, went for a walk, got scraps from a picnic), he ended the day tearing the ligament in his hind leg. He can’t walk. John is sick with worry - didn’t even sleep last night. So, off to the vet he went this morning. To be held there til they figure out what to do. He hates the vet. Poor Titus!

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The kids are having, to all accounts, a banner summer. Sean is in big boy camp, where he manages to “misplace” a major article of clothing every day. The other day, he came home with 2 right shoes on. How the Hades do you do that?! Boy’s got talent, I tell you. But this is not your regular suburban sports camp. He’s learning to fish, start fires, rope climb, creek walk, do archery, ride a horse, and all other sorts of boy stuff. He’s in HEAVEN. His Christmas “list” now includes a war horse, a suit of armor, a bow and a quiver of arrows. I’m sure Santa’ll get right on that.

Tim is still at daycare, which they rename “camp kaleidoscope” for the summer. A rose by any other name, yadda yadda yadda. After Stinky lost a shoe, t-shirt, shorts, pair of swim trunks, a pair of socks, and a towel last week, we told him he was going to have to go back to Camp Kaleidoscope for the summer if he keeps losing shit. He never lost stuff there.

Well, when he realized this was daycare, it was like our house was the wailing wall. There was great weeping, gnashing of teeth, and beating of breast. It was funny as a crutch. Did I say we’re mean parents?

The Moth meanwhile keeps building up his teasing repertoire. First, he started singing the songs from Sean’s graduation, which Sean didn’t like. I mean, they’re his songs, right? So, in the car coming back from Baltimore, we had “take me out to the ball game, take me out with the crowd…” of course, Tim gets some of the words wrong… “cause it’s fruit, fruit, fruit in the hallway…” Sean got even angrier because the words were wrong. So of course the words got worse and worse til they were a conglomeration of “dirty” “worms” “bugs” “boogers” and other pre-k mots du jour. Mothy giggled, and eventually, Stinky (on my cue, of course) started singing the Thomas theme with similar words. Which Tim didn’t find nearly so funny.

I ended the joust by playing their favorite song of the week.

I can’t wait for 5 years from now, when I tell Sean he loved this song, and he cried when I told him he’d hate it later. He said, “I always want to like this song!”

Have I mentioned he’s a drama queen?

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Why were we in the car? We went to celebrate my sister in law’s birthday - a three-hour water tour on the Potomac. But since the skipper didn’t introduce his first mate as “little buddy”, we figured we were safe. It was dinner and dancing and DC at its finest. I’d recommend it to anyone; a great time was had by all. (Thanks for inviting us guys!)


And that’s it for dispatches. Back to sunning myself on the Lido deck (not).

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