shiny guy

Dennis nagged me about taking his bath this morning before church. I claimed the shower first since my hair takes so very long to dry and he beat on the door and worried me from the hallway until I finished. He and his Daddy took a much shorter shower, and as always, once Dennis got out of the shower, he wriggled free of the towel and streaked through the house. He was giggling uncontrollably and shouting "I'm all clean and shiny, Mommy!". I eventually caught him and convinced him to dress himself for church. Getting him to leave church was another issue as he (and the other children in his class) was begging "can we please go to the church playground now?". It must be torture to them to see the playground from their classroom window, especially on such a beautiful day. The only way we convinced him to leave was by telling him that we were headed to Gran's house for lunch and that he could play with his new toys that she has for him there. Then he RAN through the church and out the door before we could catch him--many thanks to our assistant pastor for observing our speeding child and stepping in front of him to stop his forward momentum and distract him until we could weave our way through the elderly contingent and get to the door. We didn't want to barrel through and scatter old folks like bowling pins, but we also didn't want Dennis running down the stairs and into the street!

Our day at Gran's and Pop's place turned out way more fun than I could have imagined. I didn't know that a party had been initiated and I was informed that we were having a burger grilling garden party and that my friends were coming down! I knew the Gallmans were coming so that Dave could help David work on the electric wheelchair (problem still not solved there), but Allison's idea (or craving) for a burger cookout turned into a wonderful evening meal for 10 of us! We girls tried on our cruise formals and paraded around the house and out into the garden for photos, and then it was time to get our burger eating clothes back on to enjoy a feast of Pop's expertly grilled burgers and hot dogs, baked beans, fresh tomato slices, pasta salad, and sweet potato fries, with a pan of brownies baked to perfection by Pop as well for dessert. It was a gorgeous evening, the perfect temperature with gentle breezes, eaten with good company in a beautiful garden--what more could we ask for? An added bonus: Dennis and Chloe were very sweet together today and wore each other out! Dennis still had energy left to come and run some laps at the track tonight after the meal. We had planned to walk, but Dennis stood with his hands on his hips and demanded that we run, calling each of us and shouting encouragement. He was in full Coach Mode tonight, even blowing an imaginary whistle at us. Here's hoping he sleeps LATE in the morning!