Of breakfast and balloons

When Daddy returned from a run Saturday morning and discovered Mama on the sofa, nursing the baby and surrounded by whiny, teary girls, he made an executive decision.

"Girls," he announced, "we're going to breakfast!"

That sent the little girls scrambling for their clothes and shoes, while Mama was able to finish nursing in relative peace. And before we knew it, the whole circus was dressed and out the door. We hit up our local Hobee's for breakfast. Everyone seemed to be excited to get out of the house.

There were no complaints about the food. The girls loved the happy-face fruit plate they got when we sat down, and they devoured their honey-whole wheat pancakes. That the pancakes came with sliced bananas, whipped cream, and sprinkles made them even tastier, at least according to Kathleen. Madeline seemed to like them, too.

Mama and Daddy were equally pleased with their food, and Indy slept peacefully in his sling for the entire meal. After we were finished, the little girls expressed their appreciation for their father's quick thinking.

Encouraged by our outing's success, we just kept going!  We stopped to get Daddy a haircut (he's looking much more military-respectable now, we promise) and then continued on to a picnic thrown by our church.  The picnic was at a park in Los Gatos and the weather was hot, hot, hot.  Mama and Indy hung out in the shade, chatting with friends.  Daddy and the girls played with more friends on the playground.  Eventually the heat got the better of all us (Indy was a little cranky, the girls were bright red -- not from sunburn, but from running around in the heat), and we headed home.  The girls weren't so excited about leaving, though.  They'd seen some big baskets of water balloons at the picnic and really wanted to try them out.  Instead, we stopped at a drugstore and picked up our own.  

After naptime (and a significant slathering of sunblock), we convened in the backyard for some lessons on water balloons.

As it turned out, no lessons were needed.  Apparently, our girls are naturals when it comes to water balloons (perhaps that's on the same gene as dancing to the oldies).

Everyone joined in the fun.  Mama and Daddy even demonstrated how an actual "water balloon toss" would work.   The girls shrieked with laughter when the water balloon popped all over Mama as she caught it.  

Although it looks like they were throwing the balloons at one another, the girls much preferred throwing them on the ground.  Madeline would clap and dance when they burst.  As soon as they tossed a balloon, the girls would race back to get another.  They used a lot of balloons -- quickly!  (Filling balloons takes significantly longer than throwing them!)  At the end of the afternoon, our yard was covered with the colorful remnants of fun.  (Picking up the pieces takes about as long as filling balloons!)

After our big day, everyone slept very well.  And we get requests for more balloons.  All the time.  So, if you're looking for some water balloon fun (we're not really up to a consistent toss or fight),  let us know.  The circus would be happy to oblige!