Playing Hookie with Marlena and NIxk

The kids played hookie from school today, which was nice, and Mary even decided to cancel their practices this afternoon, so we could relax and spend more time with them. We got up early, as usual, Marlena following about 7:15, Nick around 8:30. After breakfast, we packed a backpack, and headed off to their ravine and creek, a walk that Marlena especially loves. She lead the way, remembering my telling her about the Turkish idea that a donkey is a good leader, and it was a lovely morning, sunny, in the high 60’s, perhaps 70’s, and all the trees were either with bud or beginning bloom. The creek was way down, which surprised us, but it had enough flow in various places for the kids to talk in it, from rocks, to rstones, to the grassy sides. We walked to the end to the culvert under the road, then headed back,, stopping for a picnic lunch at the usual spot, where a bridge has been built across the river, for, it look like, residents to cross. Either side of the ravine is watched over by usually large multistory homes, with great yards, that back into this reserve. We ate apples, peanut butter, pretzels, and walked in the the creek, before heading home. By the time we got back, we were all a bit sweaty
From the heat and it felt good to sit down and relax abit. Around 12:45, we headed off toe BW 3’s, the wing spot that Nicolas loves. It was pretty empty, which was nice, and we ended up playing some of the games free. They are portable, and you can bring them to your table, basically a screen with touch screen elements. Nick devoured his dozen, ate all the fries, and really enjoyed himself. Marlena had chicken tenders, ate most, and it was a good idea. On the way to the movie, How To Tame A Dragon, we stopped at a gas station, loaded up on candy and went to the movie, returning about 4:30. It was a cute movie, with a somewhat nerdy Viking kid, who ends up befriending rather than killing the dragons, which goes against the Viking culture and makes him an oucast. Of course, he ends up saving the village, changing their attitudes towards dragons, and they all live together, happily ever after. We went home and sat outside, waiting for Tom to come home, playing red rover with Marlena. We ended up eating outside again, a quite good dinner of Costco chicken, rice, brussel sprouts and salad. It was fun to just sit outside and enjoy the outdoors and talk with Mary and Tom after the kids went off to play. It’s a great time to play outside for the kids, just after dinner, when it’s still light, the sun has cooled, and they have been trapped inside all winter. After the kids went to bed, we watched Dancing wit the Stars, then went to bed around 10:30. I told Marlena another bad boy story, about Wanda Hickey…she said your friends sure had strange names, like Booger and Bob the Slob. We had a good visit with Tom and family. I think Mary enjoys us, or at least does dislike having us there. We both felt a bit guilty about leaving after four days, but we think Mary has had enough, and we are not sure what we would do during the day without the kids. Maybe we are wrong to think that, and we probably could have amused ourselves during the day by going into The Plaza, or when Jeannie was there, visiting her and kayaking or something like that. At least we will be returning in a couple of weeks, and we will see them again.