Swimming

I resist the temptation to rouse the household in the morning. Let them sleep. I can work on my paper while I am waiting for people to wake up. The parrot screeches pathetically. The rooster is crowing. I can hear the ducks squawking outside. DJ has a mini farm. He has always loved animals, and now he cares for several goats, four horses, a myriad of fowl including all varieties of chicken, ducks, and guinea hens. Not to mention three dogs.

Sugar is in her element. She loves the company and roughhouses with Grace, one of the dogs. Chasing fowl is not up her alley though. She would rather run off if given half a chance. We do not let her off the leash. DJ rises first and makes blueberry pancakes with tons of bacon and eggs fresh from his hens. The girls love pancakes and bacon washed down with lots of juice.

Today, Kiel and Drew blow up their little swimming pool and the girls don bathing suits for a splash in the water. How peculiar that whoever built their comfortable ranch home installed an outdoors tap that runs hot water! We can make the temperature in the pool whatever it needs to be to jump in right away. No carting pails of hot water or waiting for the sun to warm things up.

DJ, Shannon and I sit in lawn chairs a safe distance away and watch the fun unfold. Kiel and Drew splash and squirt water and motorboat the girls swishing through the pool while the girls laugh and shout and jump. Pails get dumped, dogs get soused, the umbrellas we hold over our heads to keep the sun off do double duty. What fun!

Too too soon the sun is sliding down and we have to head indoors and change. Katie and Kelly cry. They rarely get a chance to play with such great friends out in their little pool. The sun and the fun tire them out and I barely have time to read them the Puff Puff Fish book before they are out. What a grand day. Little fingers with peeling nail polish curl around wet locks, little feet stick out from under the sheet. Bottles of milk fall untended to the side as the girls give in to sleep.

How short this visit has been. I wish we had more time to be together, but I will come again soon, dear girls. And when you get old enough to travel better, you can come see me! I kiss their sleeping faces so full of peace. Good night, sweeties.