Some of our neighbors threw us a little "see ya in 4 months" party last night. Corey wanted to take one last crack at a Brazilian bbq before we head out.
They really pulled out all the stops, with fireworks to boot! Just kidding, the fireworks were there, but were part of Brighton's "customer appreciation" day gig. Still, we pretended they went over the top with their party preparations. Lots of good food and visiting among the adults. The kids watched movies, had a pillow fight, and enjoyed playing games on their new "Tornado" Foosball table.
Corey and a neighbor Jim like to talk smack about each others' foos skills, and Corey's complained last time when he got schooled more than he liked by Jim. Corey blamed it on the tabled, it just wasn't up to par, and he can't play with faces on the players, it's too distracting...
This time with the Tornado, Corey didn't beat Jim every game, but he was satisfied (Jim teased that Corey needed every advantage he could get). So that was fun.
We spent the night and now are back home with two days to go. I was ready to have the kids be my personal slaves all day long, but had a change of heart. This is their last day to play with friends, so we've had an easy day, just enjoying time with friends and feeling very grateful for our life here. Melodie said good bye to her guinea pigs.
(I still think they are the
perfect pet for families of "my kids want a pet but I don't" types like us.) My mom is taking care of them for us while we're gone. Cute pinny pigs (that's what the kids called them when they were little.
Took another load to donate at the thrift store, including a box of "vintage" clown toys like these, some toys from my youth.
Before I could get rid of them guilt free, I felt I needed to document their existence. I googled to try to find them before I took my own pictures. Happily there are a few lots of them on ebay, so I don't have to get out mine from the donation box. I've had a box of these clowns kicking around for probably 2 years - my mom gave them to me when she was clearing out junk. My kids don't play with them though, so although they are part of my childhood memories, I'm letting them go. These are
Mego "Clown Around" toys, made in Hong Kong, and I really think they are quite ugly. I don't know why my mother bought them. One of the lady figures (possibly an opera singer?) is showing her plumber's crack
I did break this one out of the donation box... This is the one that made my own children wonder what life was like for me as a child, with toys like these?! "What's up with these toys? Why would Grandma buy you such an inappropriate toy as this?!?!" When my mom gave me the old toys and my kids looks through the box, they were quite intrigued. I think my mom got them because I liked and collected unicorns. Maybe I was the one who saw the little clown unicorns on display at the store and begged my mother to get them. But yes, interesting toys. And we're going to go say goodbye to them now. Adios, clown around clowns.
So the kids played, I did this and that and just kept cleaning, and I've made great progress on the laundry room dump area. If I get that cleared off
and organized, it will be a great accomplishment that I have not been able to do during our 4 years here. Yes, I'll be at peace and be able to board the plane with a clear conscience if I pull that off. Time to go clean more.
