5-7-5

I am not complaining, but... I could use a few extra hours in a day. There's far too much going on lately; when are you supposed to have time to write about it?

I'll just toss out a few categories, in haiku form, because I'm pressed for time:

Electric car:

Zero emissions.

Ours - free - for the next two months.

Love driving around.

This thing is the coolest little car EVER. It's only been with us for one week and I'm already sad about us having to turn it in. Also, when I'm downtown sitting in beach traffic, I can't shake the thought, "You people are actually using *gas* to get around town?!?!"

Florida cousins:

Florida in town.

Four boys do lots of chasing.

Get them in the pool!

Everyone's just a little happier when the Florida cousins are in town, and this summer is no exception.

Family garage cleanout:

Forty years of stuff.

This calls for a big dumpster.

Get ready to sweat.

I can't speak much to the garage cleanout, because my job was primarily "keep the kids away," but the other grownups did serious manual labor All. Day. Long. and into the night to get it all cleaned out. It was a minor miracle of cooperation, sweat, and dust masks.

Italian festival:

Italian night.

You got a problem with that?

Tony makes bracciole.

This year for the big family meal we went native with an Italian theme. Tony cooked up a massive pot of "gravy" that simmered all afternoon long with meatballs, sausage and bracciole. Luke made his "special appetizer" - bread toasted with olive oil and rosemary. And of course we topped off the evening with our annual fireworks show.

Medieval Times:

Knights duel on horseback.

We eat chicken with no forks.

Now kids want to fight.

I really don't know how to elaborate on this except to say...what a surreal day. Dave and I went to a funeral before this (one of the moms from our school) so you can imagine what our mood was like going into it. And then we worked our way through an hour of rush-hour traffic. And then - Medieval Times was amazingly fun. The kids were the perfect age to enjoy the show, and everyone seemed to have a good time. Zach gave it the ultimate praise: "This is better than the Deli, and the Farmhouse, and Fishbar."

We're sad our "green" knight didn't win, but I got a chance to take a picture with him afterwards, and either he's like, 7 feet tall, or I'm a midget. As Dave remarked, upon seeing this picture, "Humans come in many different sizes."