May 20, 2008

It's Tuesday and our house is largely back to normal. We've unpacked from the weekend, everybody has caught up on their sleep and seem like they've grieved and moved on from the passing of Colleen.
Buzz dropped the girls off a little after 8am. After a quick breakfast I packed up all 5 children and drove Emily to work in Falmouth, then to the Sandwich library to return our zoo pass and pick up the Heritage Museum and Garden pass. Dan, Seneca, Ruby, Joey and I had a great time at Heritage Gardens http://www.heritagemuseumsandgardens.org/ The highlight for me were their incredible Rhododendron and Azalea gardens. They have a huge variety and they are big and beautiful, we picked the perfect time to go. The kids liked the pirate museum and the carousel. It's quite a walk but they all made it the whole way and I suspect that they'll all take very good naps this afternoon. The biggest surprise was the automobile museum that I didn't even know was there. The docent let the kids sit and play in a 1913 model T, he explained how it ran, where the accelerator was (on the steering column), brake, clutch and reverse were floor pedals. I suspect driving it was a pretty complicated matter. They also had a vintage fire engine in perfect condition and at least 20 more antiques that were just beautiful. I would have liked to have spent more time there but the children weren't impressed and threatened at any minute to violate the minuscule rope and adorn the mint relics with sticky, grimy fingerprints. After a quick stop at the grocery store we headed home for lunch and a nap. Mashpee High School is having their spring concert tonight, so that's our plan for this evening.

Emily has drivers Ed every Monday, Wednesday, & Thursday night from 6pm - 8:30. Thankfully it's only for three weeks, but it seems like we're out of the house more then we're in these days! Emily drove with Ed on Sunday morning to pick up the kids in Portsmouth and did very well, considering she'd never driven anything as big as the Forerunner. She also drove with Mom in her little Corolla (which she really liked the size of) so she's getting quite a bit of practice and I think it's good that she's driven with so many different people. She's doing very well and I'm very proud.