“This was generally fine by me, as keeping my children out of raging fires is pretty close to the top of my parental to-do list. It’s like one of my core parenting philosophies, right up there with keeping the hyenas away. The downside, of course, was that I was the one who had to get his eyebrows scorched so that Sam could have a toasted marshmallow treat, take one bite, then declare that she didn’t like it.”

–Jamie Madigan in his weekly report on his daughters’ lives, Week 232: Fireworks, Flames and Sleep

Photo by SAJ

Whew! We had a busy weekend. First there was the 4th of July, of course. (Happy birthday, America! You don’t look a day over 221.) We celebrated by going to Troy’s ship for a hot-dog dinner and fireworks viewing on the flight deck. It was my first time on this ship and Annalie’s first time on any Navy ship ever, so that was kind of exciting. We met a few of Troy’s coworkers and got to see Troy’s stateroom and office, but didn’t get a more extensive tour because we wanted to watch fireworks! We were able to see four or five (depending on the wind) of the synchronized shows around the city from our vantage point on the ship, which was pretty cool. None of them were very close to us, which was a little disappointing because they just don’t seem as majestic when they’re not right overhead. But at least they weren’t loud which made Annalie happy.

Then on Saturday, SAJ and Baby Bug came to visit! The visit came about because I asked SAJ what her plans were for her birthday on Sunday, and somehow we ended up deciding that the best birthday present I could give her would be for her to come help me unpack a zillion boxes. I know, I shouldn’t go to so much trouble for my friends and spoil them so much. But she seriously wanted to come help me unpack, which just cements my opinion that she’s a little crazy.

Photo by Troy

Good thing we like moderate doses of crazy around here! Of course, the weekend wasn’t ALL work. Almost the first thing SAJ did was ask if it was okay for her to use some of the boxes lying around to make a castle for Annalie and Baby Bug to play in. If you happened to read about the elaborate pink cardboard cat castle SAJ created for BB’s first birthday party, then you already know she is quite the cardboard architect.

As she was cutting efficiently with the exacto knife while I watched her and took pictures, SAJ explained that in the office where she used to work they always had big empty boxes lying around, and she would make cardboard spaceships right there in the office. She didn’t care when her coworkers laughed at her, because they were fun to make. At the end of the day the same coworkers who gave her a hard time would sheepishly ask if they could take her creations home to their kids. Ha!

We did try to get some unpacking done that day, but mostly we just played with cardboard and chased the kids around. We also went to lunch at a local taco shop and went grocery-shopping and played outside in the water and made fajitas & guacamole for dinner and took bunches of photos.

It was a super busy day, and neither Annalie nor Baby Bug had a nap. So by the time 7pm rolled around, both kids were falling-apart tired, and after a quick bath and some stories, they snuggled together in the futon and went to sleep. It was completely adorable.

SAJ and I didn’t waste much time admiring our little sleeping angels. We sent Troy upstairs with a beer to watch the race (he worked all afternoon on getting part of the garage unpacked and organized), made ourselves some coffee, and started on Annalie’s room. Now, Annalie has more toys and books than any child could possibly play with or read. It’s a little ridiculous, especially when I consider that before we moved I cleaned out Annalie’s room and got rid of about twelve grocery bags full of toys and books and tossed about three more bags’ worth of cheap Chinese plastic toys. (Where do those toys come from? It’s like they’re multiplying in the toy box at night.)

But even so, we unpacked every box and put away every article of clothing and toy and book before going to bed at midnight. That was awesome! And seeing Annalie’s excitement the next morning at being able to play with all her toys again was fun too.

Thank you a thousand times for your help, Brenda! I am sure without you I would have been unpacking that room for weeks. And hey, I might have given you the gift of slave labor for your birthday, but at least I baked you a cake the next day! Whew, just writing about that busy day has me worn out, so I think I’ll write about the cake making later. But here’s a photo, just so the title of this post isn’t a total lie.

You can see more photos in my set SAJ & BabyBug come to visit! or Brenda’s set Weekend at Bethany’s on Flickr.

Thanks to SAJ, who helped me unpack and arrange the whole room in an evening! One room down, eight to go.

You can see more photos in my set SAJ & BabyBug come to visit! or Brenda’s set Weekend at Bethany’s on Flickr.