Today I took the kiddoes up to Lifetime Fitness to go swimming and get showered so Dale could get some rest (he wasn't feeling totally chipper today). Jonathan had a lovely time and found someone to play with pretty quickly--a girl about his age or slightly older, whom I think started splashing him first. They kept that going for quite some time until we had to get out.
Kayleigh, on the other hand, was over the moon at first with delight until she briefly got cold and then tried to walk into the pool at about 1-1/2 feet deep from the side. She was underwater for about 3 seconds before her legs found the bottom and she stood upright, but she didn't think much of being on her own in the pool after that and clung to me like a little limpet.
We ended up having a good time--Jonathan came and bounced up and down with us in the deeper water, and when Kayleigh realized she could kick her little legs and splash her Na-na (her word for Jonathan) with her hands, she giggled quite a bit. All in all it was a fun afternoon.
After nearly three weeks without my wedding rings, I was starting to worry that I might actually not find them again. I did everything I could think of to find them--went over the house multiple times with a flashlight, met Jonathan's teacher up at the school to check her classroom, Jennifer & Rita checked her trash to see if I'd thrown them out with the tamales, I took my car apart and completely cleaned it, and I even did go through my own trash . . . but no rings.
I was sure I remembered putting them in an "odd place", and almost as sure that the odd place was also a safe place, but I could not for the life of me remember where that oh-so-safe place was. Turns out it was on the screw (whatever you call it) that sticks up out of Jonathan's drum kit where his cowbell is mounted. Dale found them tonight while we were busy preparing Jonathan's bedroom for his new setup (that's another blog entry to come in a couple of days) and presented them to me on one knee. All I could do was hug him and hug him. What a relief--now I can go through the days with my head held high!
Many thanks to Dale for being such a sweetie (or "saint", as he says) when I finally told him I'd misplaced my rings (it happened while he was in England). I knew I married a good one! And thanks to John for all his prayers to St. Anthony on my behalf.
We had a very pleasant afternoon yesterday--bundled everyone up and went to the Springwoods Park for a couple of hours. Jonathan got very good coasting along on the scooter that his Gram & Boppa gave him for Christmas, and Kayleigh got Dale to push her lots and lots in the swings. Finally even Dale was cold and we went to a local coffee shop that I hadn't been in before for a warm drink and to relax. The place was great--comfortable, nice decor, and they also have a full bar so it will be a nice evening place to go to also.
Nothing fancy in the evening, of course. At least Kayleigh went to sleep without any fuss! Dale & I had P.F. Chang's in for dinner, and I got a nice bottle of wine and some chocolate to accompany it. We are both suffering from mountain cedar (which Dale discovered is also called ash juniper, and he is severely off-the-charts allergic to juniper, which explains a lot) so didn't have a lot in us, but we did make it up to the New Year's and gave each other the first of many kisses for the new year.