the girl
10
The Boy -- 10 years old today. A decade of the Boy. Double digits.
In the morning, we had his breakfast of choice: bacon, eggs, and cinnamon rolls. Healthy choices. In the evening, dinner too was his choice: crab legs and shrimp.


After cheese cake and ice cream, he and I went to the local guitar store to spend all his present money in one shot:

A third guitar -- a bass.
The Girl and I spent the afternoon at a tournament only half an hour away -- quite a change.





She'd probably rather not talk about that, though. Let's just say it didn't go as well as the team was hoping.
Previous Years
Happy Mess Day
Second Time Around
Third Party
Celebration Day
Birthday
Fifth Birthday Party
Sports and Ice Cream
Seventh Birthday
Day 60: Eighth Birthday
Nine
Caving and Volleyball
The Boy and I went on a one-of-a-kind Scouting adventure this weekend: we spent the evening rambling around an enormous cave system, then spent the night in said cave.

We all met in the parking lot around six, gear in hand, all excited, with the adults (well, speaking for myself anyway) a little anxious about how all the details might work out.

Our first stop -- our camp location. It was an enormous room, with a relatively high ceiling and a length probably five times or more its width.


















After we dropped off our belongings, it was time to explore. We had what's called a wild tour, which mean we got to go to places most tourists don't see and crawl through passages and openings that left us covered in clay and dirt.

Finally, it was bedtime. It was then that the fun began: the echoing snores; the footfalls that reverberated throughout the cave as people plodded to the bathroom; and a whole host of mysterious noises.

We made it out at a little past seven in the morning -- as instructed -- and after breakfast, headed home.

The Girl was in Knoxville, playing volleyball.



After Dinner Play, Redux
When your kids ask if we can do the same thing after dinner as we did yesterday, and it involves laughter and the dog, of course, you say yes!


The Day After, Again
What is it about the day after Easter or Christmas that makes us want to do nothing? We do what we have to do, but it’s just off. And even if the day after is a day free from the obligations of work, it still feels off.

I’m not talking about hangovers — those are easily avoidable. Just don’t drink to excess. It’s undoubted the feeling of deflation, of everything coming down after building up for so long.

The party is over; the friends are gone; the spell is broken.

I want to say it’s because we don’t have anything to look forward to, but that’s not true. We look with anticipation and excitement at many things coming in our family’s near future: a camping trip, several tournaments, a summer trip to Poland.

Perhaps it’s the bustle of getting so much ready so quickly for a party, and then the sudden release of all that?

Or maybe it’s nothing…
Attorney’s Visit, Tournament Start, and Mexican Dinner






Sunday on the Court and Around the House


Yesterday and Today





Universal Day 2





































