Rocky Road

Let's just get it all out there because I can't think of any really clever way to put this: Zach has been home sick for the past week with yet another sinus infection and I've been home with him, hands tied as far as getting anything else done. (The doc says we are about 3/4 of the way through the process in terms of deciding that antibiotics won't help any more and they will start talking to us about taking out his adenoids or tonsils. Not to get too far ahead of ourselves or anything.) We have planted Kleenex boxes in every room, and after having gone through about four boxes in the last four days, are regretting our decision not to buy stock in tissues sooner.

Fortunately, Mom and Dad arrived late on Thursday night, providing a new source of entertainment and two extra sets of hands to help out. And we had an over-loaded Saturday, with the first t-ball game, St. Patrick's Day parade, and a birthday party.

Luke's Tigers team, with Coach Dave at the helm, had a banner day on Saturday. Luke had a couple of great plays in the outfield plus a few good hits off the tee; Dave is once again poised to be Coach of the Year; Dad got some amazing pictures; Mom and Zach had a grand old time at the lake feeding the ducks; and I actually got a chance to watch most of the game. Oh, and Zach loved walking with his brother after the game, helping out the coach by carrying the first aid bag. If this is how it's gonna be, it's a vast improvement over last year.

Ninety minutes later, at the parade, the boys had the time of their lives because they got candy, saw a green dog, got candy, watched a giant green hat driving down the street, got candy, saw a Star Wars troop and some Irish setters marching (not together), and oh, hey - did I mention they got candy?

Yesterday we reveled in having nowhere to go by a certain time, so we took our time heading out to our favorite rocky beach, a.k.a. the dog beach, sans dog. Mom and Dad survived the hike down the cliffs and then we enjoyed a free-wheeling afternoon filled with interesting rocks, colorful parasailers flying by, and all sorts of creatures from anemones to starfish.

When it got to be about 5:00 (or was it really 6? Or 4? Who can tell on these time-changing days?) our tummies were rumbling so we ambled slowly back up the cliffs and packed our things back into the car. Then we jetted off to our favorite Croatian pizza place and had our picnic at the sea-cliff park.

This is the second time we've gone there just in time for sunset, when the wind is blowing like mad, and we're hopping around trying to stay warm. But we keep doing it for some reason, and it's still the best pizza in town. We hung around just long enough for the sun to touch the water so that Dad could get some good sunset pictures in, and then we packed up the cars once again and headed home.