It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood

so school was postponed until the evening hours and we spent the morning at the park, playing and fishing. After a lunch at Red Lobster, the kids played basketball with Bill and then Jacob took Wes and Ryan to the school playground down the street. All was well until two older boys commented on Ryan's freckles and he decided that he should smack them for their comment. So he did. Not just once. When they didn't seem fazed after the first smack, he smacked them again. Harder. This time they both cried and I guess that satisfied him. Jacob immediately called me on the walkie talkie and playground time came to an abrupt halt.

In retrospect, he realizes the foolishness of his spontaneous combustion, since he will not be leaving our yard again for awhile without me going along.

He joins Carly who blew her summer pass the other day on her first outing with Jacob. The last thing I said to her when I dropped her off at the park was "Stay AWAY from the water." After confirming that she heard me, I left, only to have the walkie talkie squeak in about 15 minutes with the report that "Carly's at the water!" Her wet socks confirmed this and she compounded her mistake with multiple lies about WHY she was at the water. She tried to tell me everything from she was dragged there by a little kid (who probably weighs 40 pounds less than her) to she was saving a little kid.

In the end it was the ducks who led to her downfall. Wes realizes he is on tenuous ground and is determined to mind. We'll see. In the meantime, at least Carly has someone to play with while the boys are at the park.