Play Date with the Haney's

The boys went over to play with Max and Maris yesterday! It was a great day... great weather, the kids played well (and hard!), and it was just nice to get to just 'hang out' for a change! Asa and Addison LOVE their backyard, especially the trampoline!

Man's mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions. ~Oliver Wendell Holmes

We had another group class today. First of all, the boys get so much out of not just the classes they are taking, but simply by going to the music school itself. They are regulars on campus. They are comfortable there, carrying their doll-sized instruments alongside the college kids. We often walk into the lobby of the music school and see a case that catches their eye, or a student with an instrument walking past. Asa and Addison are fascinated by what they see, and the students there are happy to see them. There is some mutual fascination, and I nurture it every chance I get.

Once, a grey haired professor walked through the lobby with a rectangular case. The boys have stopped bass players, cellists, and violinists, and can recognize the cases they carry. This one was a mystery. They must have been able to sense the professor-ness of this man... the aura that most of them possess.. and they were intimidated. They whispered to me about the case, they stared. The man was talking with a student and they watched him. Had he been a 20 year old student they would have approached him with only a slight hesitation. This man was different. Was it okay?

When he was finished talking, I encouraged them to approach him and ask their question. "What is in the case?" "What instrument do you play?" I knew Asa would not. He is admittedly shy. Addison, however, loves to talk and will talk to anyone with ears. Again, this man was different somehow. The man started to walk away and a panic went over them both. Tears welled up... will they never know? I lead them to the man and let him know that they would like to ask him a question. "Of course they can." He did not smile or tell them how cute they were. He basically just said "yes". But, that was all they needed. Mom talked to him, he seems okay, Mom approves. He's no danger to us and Mom is right here.

They asked and the man told them that he would open the case for them, but they would have to guess what the instrument was. Their eyes widened. He's going to OPEN IT! He loosened the shiny latches and revealed not one, but two polished trumpets; one silver and one brass. They both yelled, 'Trumpets!" and were pleased. Then, he asked them what was in their cases. He guessed, "Are you in the mob? Are they tiny guns?" They smiled, proudly told him they were violins, and skipped away. I thanked the man and he looked at me and said, "This is a music school. That is my job."

On this day, we walked into the lobby to find a group of students (sophomores maybe) sitting in the chairs. One had a guitar and they were working or discussing something. The boys fixated on the guitar as we walked across the tile floor. We were a little early, so we picked a chair in the center of the huge room. Some of the girls in the group had cooed over the boys as we walked in, pointing at their little cases. We sat in the chair and Asa and Addison watched them work with the guitar.

Addison wanted to ask them what they were doing, and watched my face for approval. I told him that they seemed very nice and that it was okay. He walked over with absolutely no problem and asked, "How do you play that guitar?" They laughed and talked to him for a bit and asked him if he would like to try. He plucked the strings. This was motivation enough to propel Asa from his perch on my knee (where he was telling me how sometimes he gets shy) over to take his turn plucking the strings. They talked for a minute and then Addison asked them, "What are the names of your strings?" The boy answered, "E-A-D-G-B-E". Then, he asked Addison what instrument he played. "I play the violin." He asked him what his strings were called and both boys told them "E-A-D-G". They were having a conversation about their instruments and I sat across the room and grinned. The lessons they are taking may cost money, but we are all learning much more than what we are paying for. We are gaining confidence (not that Addison needed much help in that area), we are learning about people, we are leaning about social interaction, we are learning about ourselves, and we are learning about the value of learning.

When we go to class, Asa and Addison usually get to see our friend Brian (McLucas), who works there. Sometimes we run into him and occasionally we go to his office to say 'hi'. It's a small thing, but I think it plays a roll in making them comfortable there. I feel like all of these interactions help them to feel like the building is their school, too.


The boys' classes are taught in the Suzuki method. Here are a couple quotes that I liked from Shinichi Suzuki

“Teaching music is not my main purpose. I want to make good citizens. If children hear fine music from the day of their birth and learn to play it, they develop sensitivity, discipline and endurance. They get a beautiful heart.”

“I am mentally preparing myself for the five-year-old mind. I want to come down to their physical limitations and up to their sense of wonder and awe.”

“Music exists for the purpose of growing an admirable heart.”

Violin Lessons: From the mouths of loud mouth babes...

Violin lessons are going very well! The boys are getting really good at their posture and bow holds, which are things that you definatly want to master before learning to play. They know their musical alphabet and can name the stings on their violins. We're moving right along! Miss Becca said that we are getting close to putting those bows to the strings. They'll be so excited!

Group class with Miss Kristen has started up and it's interesting to see the different dynamic in a group setting. Addison won't stop talking, just like he does in front of church during Children's Moments. He wants to be the one to answer every question, and at a volume of 10. Asa, on the other hand, is shy in a group. He raises his hand and waits to be called on... and it's bad news if the teacher doesn't call on him... Last week Kristen asked the class to describe Bugs Bunny (in violin you learn to hold the bow by starting with "bow bunnies" with your hands). Lots of kids answered (and Addison answered loudly) but Asa sat with his hand raised. She didn't get to him and he stewed about it the entire class. He came up to me halfway through almost in tears about it. After class, he went up to the teacher and told her, "I wanted to tell you that Bugs Bunny has long ears". He felt much better.

I think I may separate the two of them as they sit around the circle in group class. Addison talks SO MUCH that I'm afraid she may not realize that he is the only one of my pair that speaks up. As time goes by, Asa will no doubt get more comfortable in there and loosen up some. He usually does.

Last week Kristin wanted to go over the parts of the violin with the class. Some of the kids are just starting their private lessons, so a lot of this is review for the boys. She explained that the violin has some parts that are the same as we have on our bodies. Then, she asked the class to name parts of the violin that we also have. Before she even asked the entire question, Addison's hand was up and as she finished up the question he yelled out, "F Hole!" Now, Kristin knows the fancy cut holes in the front of the violin are called f-holes... and I know this... and some of the kids and parents may have... but it was no doubt big laugh for the adults in the room.

Article from the Red & Black

Deep thoughts

Addison and I went to the grocery store yesterday and left Asa and Jeff working in the yard. Actually, I was going to take both of them but Asa refused to go because he had to play with Daddy! Jeff called me to tell me this little conversation he had with Asa as they sat in the yard.

Out of the blue, Asa told Jeff, "I am going to do all kinds of things when I grow up... like be a trash man." After a little thought he added, "And drive a car. My own car. But, you'll have to teach me how to drive it 'cause I've been a little boy a long long time".

Random vacation thoughts...

What a great trip! The kids got along great! The only time we heard any complaints among them was over the choice of bedtime music, and even that was pretty polite. We absolutely wore them OUT! The last full day we were there, Jeff and Brian brought sandwiches down for us to eat by the pool. Asa hadn't touched his sandwich... he was sitting there with his head propped up in both hands. When I asked him what was wrong he told me that he couldn't eat his sandwich because he couldn't hold him head up... could he PLEASE take it upstairs and lay down? Wow. Success!

Twice we spotted schools of dolphins from our balcony of our room. We found lots of seashells, and even caught some pretty big crabs out at the sandbar. (Asa said that he likes crabs best when they're dead... so we can eat 'em!) Asa assisted in making a sandcastle with a neighboring family. As the father dug in the sand he came across a dead minnow. Asa's eyes lit up. Can I have that dead fish?!?! I can feed it to my crab! I think the man was amused. Sure enough, the crab chowed down.

The boys got to sleep in a bunkbed (rotating the top bunk with Anna) and loved it. Now they want to know when we can bunk their beds, which luckily is a possibility as long as we can find the ladder in Mom's barn.

One day he and Jeff were hanging out in shallow water and Addison asked him, "Daddy? Do sharks live in lakes or in the ocean?" "The ocean." Jeff replied. He thought really hard for a while and asked, "Do they swim in shallow water or out in the deep?" Jeff told him they swam in both. Addison sounded a little more nervous with each question. "Do they swim in the daytime or at night?" Again, the answer was both. Without a word, he stuck pretty close to the shore the rest of the trip.

Hey, at least this time was based on fact... unlike when Jeff told him before we went to the circus (even as we pulled into the parking deck and walked into the stadium) that the tigers came out and ate little boys in the audience.

Slideshow of our trip

I'll post the narrative tomorrow (hopefully), but as for now you'll have to settle for pictures from our trip. We had an absolute blast and we wore those kids OUT! You'll see pictures of the kids water playground... that was in the resort! The beach was gorgeous, there was a "lazy river", covered and uncovered pools, hot tub (which Addison had no idea was hot and plunged into... luckily I was there to quickly scoop him up. He was a little shocked. "Daddy, why do you go into a pool that is hot??"), grills by the pool, an arcade, miniature bowling and fabulous rooms including a kids' room with bunk beds. If any of you have kids and want to head to Panama City, I highly recommend staying at "Splash".

For those of you surfing the web on the job, you may want to turn your sound down, or off, unless you want your entire office to hear the Ramones coming from your cubicle.

Off we go... again!

Whew. We just got back from a trip yesterday, and now we're off tonight for the next one! Sunday, Jeff and I caught a flight to Orlando. Jeff had to work on a certain park's system, and I came along for the ride. The boys got to see Uncle Charlie, Aunt Kristi, Taylor, Cameron, and even the allusive Uncle Hal while we were gone. We came back late Tuesday night and left at 6am yesterday morning to get Jeff to work and the boys to preschool... last night they had their violin group lesson (they have their private one this afternoon), and then I've been speed-packing and getting ready to tonight! Whew!! I'll be sure to take lots of pictures as we play on the beach with Ellen, Brian, Anna and Bennett this weekend!

The other night, Addison took a look at his tummy scar (where he had his pyloric stenosis surgery while in the NICU) and said... "Is this where they sewed Asa and I together?" Um... I have no idea if he thought they were stuck together and this is where they separated them, or if he thought they were apart and the doctors sewed them together at some point?? I have no idea. I hopefully cleared that one up before anyone has their preschool class ooing and aahing over having Siamese Twins in the class.

The Griswalds meet Ebay

So. For those of you who aren't up on my husband's newest obsessions.... it's playing the keyboard. Not just playing the keyboard (which he does very well), but purchasing them. Yes, them. You see, the first keyboard that he bought at the end of last year was great, but he rapidly outgrew its capabilities. The weighted keys were nice, but he needed more functions. So, he bought himself a new(er) one (while I was out of town by the way). He did sell/barter the new one, but then I caught him spending a little too much time on Craigslist.

Turns out, you simply cannot play Queen without owning a Fender-Rhodes electric piano. Well, in that case... we need one. He planned a stop in Atlanta on our way through from visiting the parents one weekend at the end of July to see it. It was a 1973 in pretty good shape, missing the legs and cover... but we loaded it up and headed home with his new(er) toy. (As we loaded it, the neighbor of the guy selling it asked, "Hey? Is that the piano that the homeless guy left??" Yes.

Not long at all after playing with his Craigslist gem, he began surfing once again. He needed some parts. Of course he needed some parts, you can't very well play a broken piano now can you? Ebay to the rescue. Very sheepishly he asks me if I would like to go on a trip the next weekend (last weekend). We could go to Tennessee... we could see "The Lost Sea" and go through Dahlonega, he said. Uh, yeah. The Lost Sea? He didn't just find parts, he bought a whole OTHER Rhodes piano. Turns out, the one that was sitting in the rapidly filling "music room" was the parts piano after all. Sure, we can go to Tennessee. Why not. I mean, he did go through all the trouble of searching desperately on the web to try to find family-fun entertainment near Athens, Tennessee.

The boys loved it. They were on a trip to "The Lost Sea". Wow! An underground lake? A glass bottom boat? A cave? Cool! Jeff and I had a mental image of pulling into the driveway of a little shack where a man sat, shirtless and overweight in a rickety lawnchair. We expected to arrive to him yelling to his wife inside, "Go see if the boat cranks, honey! We got visitors!". Along the trip we exchanged sideways glances that exchanged all of these images without a word.

Let me tell you something about Blairsville, GA. Whatever hellish highway takes you over Blood Mountain should have a serious warning label at the bottom. I've taken that road twice. The first time, last year, I cried like a baby, begging Jeff to PLEASE PULL OVER! I don't think I've ever been so nauseous. It was hideous. This time, it was dark and I had a full tummy. I wasn't very sick, but I did have this uncontrollable panicked feeling that we were going to plummet to our death. By the time we reached the top I had my feet on the dash, but arms around me knees, and I was trying to hold in my urge to scream out. I just knew we were going to go over a cliff or hit a tree. I felt like my mom on a plane (not that I've ever witnessed it, but I've heard stories).

After a night in the Days Inn in Athens, TN, we drove through miles of soybean farms and reached the piano. In its (and Jeff's) defense, it is very nice- it has all the parts and is in great shape for being 32 years old. We loaded it up and took two very anxious boys to The Lost Sea. Again, we looked at each other with grins... Jeff's a little more sheepish than mine for taking us on this expedition. The Lost Sea was more impressive than we thought, and more crowded. There were actual people there on actual vacations... they even took credit card. The cave was very impressive, not like the tight jagged caves I have been in before but huge HUGE rooms with flat floors. It was massive in there. There were some formations, but the sheer size was amazing. The lake was alright... but not that big of a deal. The boys liked riding in a boat in a cave, though. Besides the cave they also had a glass shop, some other little shops, and the worst BBQ I have ever eaten in my entire life. But, I was very happy not to see the dirty barefoot man in my head, hoping his boat would start so that he could collect a little money in a dusty Mason Jar.

On the way up there, we ate at the Smith House for lunch. They found a gold mine directly under the building last year, which the boys loved. On the way back, (which did NOT take us over Blood Mountain, by the way), we stopped back through Dahlonega and ate at The Crimson Moon Cafe. They were getting ready for the live music later that night, but we got to hear a little while we ate. It was a much better stop through than expected! We had forgotten that Dahlonega was a college town.

So, now we have 3 keyboards (2 and some parts if you ask Jeff), but a happy husband and two satisfied children... and a wife who enjoys hiding outside the door so she can hear a pretty good Black Crowes cover by the man she loves.

Plus it was a fair price to pay for a get-out-of-jail-free-card for any big purchases that may be made in the future...

Stayin' in the lines... (something Daddy was never quite good at)

Well, Asa has become completely entranced with coloring. They both love to color, so I went and bought them their own colored pencils in little metal cases, so they could take them with us on trips, to restaurants, etc. Well, Asa started on a picture two days ago, a single page in a coloring book. He has been working on it diligently... hours a day. The boy has such a hard time sitting still, but I have watched as he focuses and colors. When he starts to get antsy he will say, "I need to take a break!" and do a lap around the house or bounce on the couch, and then come back and start again. I am impressed.

Addison has learned from Asa how to color in the lines, which is awsome! He's also learned to hold his pencil correctly... although unlike Asa, he uses his left hand. I love to see them learn from each other in a way other than learning how to kick their underwear onto the top of the kitchen cabinets or teaching each other how to tie Daddy's shoe laces into a ratnest. It took Asa three days to complete his masterpiece... and he was as proud as I told him he would be!

(Asa's)

(Addison's)

Habla Espanol?

At dinner tonight, we were all talking about the upcoming preschool year... the new teachers they'll have, the new friends they'll make, and that they will have Spanish class with Ms. Lizzy. Addison asked me what red was in Spanish, and I replied with rojo. I asked them what blue was in Spanish, and they both answered with azul (thank you, Dora). After a bit more discussion, Addison asked me what the Spanish word for 'sideways' was. Uhhh... I had no idea.
Sideways? Yes. Sideways. Jeff and I both shrugged our shoulders. Addison then let us know that he knew the word. He said something like "horesh-unkle". What? He was kind of mumbling and we tried to get him to repeat it. "horresh-unckle". We were puzzled. At this point, we were just trying to get him to say it clearly enough for us to look online and see if he was close. We had no clue. As they got up from the table, Jeff and I stayed and repeated the word that Addison was saying. "Horeshunkle?" Slower... horesoncle.... horisoncle.... horizontal! Well, it's not Spanish, but it does mean sideways.

(by the way, according to www.spanishdict.com, the Spanish word is indirecto)

We have violins!

The boys got their new violins today! They really enjoyed the violin shop- and I really enjoyed when it was time to get them out of there. There were huge basses, cellos, and violins everywhere... and there I was with two over-energetic four year olds. Yikes. They are very excited and can't wait for Ms. Becca to show them what to do! These violins are TINY!! Addison's arms are a little shorter than Asa's, so his is a 1/32. Asa's is a 1/16. Wow!!

I'm Melting!

This heat is amazing. You step outside and are hit by a curtain of heat... You can't really run and play in it! So, we're trapped indoors, for the most part... us and the kitties. As you can see, the heat is leaving us all exhausted...

We do windows

Wow. The boys had their halos on yesterday... of course, these are the special halos with built-in amplifiers. They may have been loud, but they vacuumed, washed my windows, cleaned their room, and helped me put away clothes! Addison vaccuumed the whole downstairs and up the stairs... and thanks to Grandmomma, Asa can fold clothes all by himself. Too bad when their thirteen I'll have to beg, plead, and threaten to get them to do this kind of stuff! It'll be great ot have some grass-mowers!

Broken glass

Wow. These boys are growing up fast. Sunday morning, Asa came into our room and woke us up with a very sheepish look on his face. He stumbled around his words for a bit and then let us know that he was trying to get a bowl down all by himself to get cereal, but he *actually* (favorite word) knocked a glass down and it broke. He was really shaken up, but I thanked him for telling me and went down to clean it up. Now, it turns out that he had already eaten... he had the bowl, had poured cereal and milk in, got the spoon, all by himself. I'm not sure what the train of events was that left the glass broken on the floor...

Addison just wanted to make sure that I knew that he wanted to wait for me to fix his cereal because he didn't want to do anything like knock a glass down off the counter. He is the family brown-noser for sure.

I am just amazed that they are old enough to be doing things that I remember doing. How many of us have knocked a glass off the counter while our parents were asleep on a Sunday morning? I was just thankful that Asa isn't yet like I was... Asa came upstairs and got me. Back in the day, I just scraped up all the evidence and crammed it into the trash compactor.  The combination of glass and compactor managed to actually break a piece off of the compactor.  So, I took my brother with me to share the blame, walked to the end of the driveway, and chunked the compactor piece across the street- into McLucas' cornfield. That cornfield was a graveyard from broken evidence... the emblem off of my mom's old Crown Victoria and who knows what else. I guess my kids will have to come up with another solution. Across the street from us is a city park.

Those tomato-eating-bats are back with a taste for turtle...

Asa tells a story...

Hey, Mom! A long long time ago, not when I was this age but a long long time ago when I was three... I had a fream while I was asleep at our house. I dreamed that I had a turtle in the bathtub and a turtle in the potty! (He laughs uncontrollably and then sings...) Turtle in the bath-tub, turtle in the potty!! I had two turtles.

I spoke up to say that if I were a turtle, I wouldn't want to swim in the potty.

Yeah. But these were dead. Yeah. They were dead so we just scooped them up and throwed them in the yard and then daddy throwed them in the woods. Then, bats ate them... but not the shells. Bats don't eat shells.

Um.... Should I be concerned here? I am assuming it's normal for four-year-old boys to dream about bats eating dead turtles that were floating in our bathroom? Geez.

Tomato Harvesting

Wow. I have learned that 6 tomato plants can be a lot to manage. I think we would have done fine with just one! Asa and Addison went out in the gator to pick... and then discovered that Daddy was mowing trails in the jungle that we call a backyard.

Four-year-olds Can Do That.

It had been a while since I had taken the boys across the street to ride bikes on the track, so we went this evening. They wore their new helmets and pads that they got for their birthday (which Asa said looked "very cool") and were off. To their suprise, the boys could now PEDAL UP THE HILL! This is a huge deal since it means that I did not have to follow them around the track, giving pushes at the appropriate times. This was especially hard when they were spread out across the track. Needless to say, they were very proud of themselves!




Mattie followed us across the road to watch.



Here's Asa showing me how great his hemlet would work if he fell on his head. ("It would do like this!")

Deep Breaths

Asa came down from playing in his room...

"Um.. Mom... (he seems a little nervous)
There was kinda an old tomato in our house, but I threw it in the trashcan."

(Bear in mind that Asa has not gone out with me to pick veggies in the garden in quite a few days, and when he does he gets in trouble for trying to play with the cherry tomatoes all over the house)

"Asa, where did it come from? Was it in your room?"

"Um... I think that some rabbits or squirrels came and picked them from our garden and... um... they like to eat tomatoes... and it was all squishy so I threw it away."

"Asa, where was it?"

U"mm... You remember when that bat was in our house? Well, um... I bet that he had it and he left it in our house. And I threw it in the trashcan. We don't want an old tomato in our house!"

"You're right, Asa. We sure don't."



~~~


We decided to go pick up lunch at McDonald's and take it to the playpark for a picnic today. Addison was adamant that he did not want McDonald's, and Asa was dead set on it. Needless to say, the backseat was a fast-food battlefield. Addison did not want to eat McDonald's!

Well, Zaxby's is right next to McDonald's. Being the fabulous mother I am, I asked Addison if he wanted Zaxby's instead. Asa still refused to consider anything but Micky-D's, so we would make two stops.

Everyone was excited.

Peace on earth.

As I pulled up to the drive-thru window at Zaxby's I leaned back and asked Addison what he wanted to eat.

"Nothing. I'm not hungry." WHAT?? "I don't want anything to eat."

Sensing my frustration he pipes up, "I just wanted to come here cause you like it... you can get something. I picked it for you."

Sigh.

The Big Check Up

The boys just had their four year check up. A huge deal as far as shots go. They are right on track with their learning, hearing is great, sight is great, they speak well, all their body parts are attached relatively close to where they should be.

Jeff always thought my baby pictures made me look like an 'imp' (or possibly a Gelfling), and Asa looks just like I did, so Jeff deducts that Asa must also be an 'imp'. Addison on the other hand we think comes from some garden gnome section of the family. This theory was proven true today as Addison was in the 50th percentile in weight and the 10th in height! Asa is about 60th and 20th. I guess I'd better start the Flintstone vitamins flowin' since Addison has to grow an inch before we can go back to Disney World!

Addison was nervous about today's visit since he heard we were going, two days ago. He always asks me if he's getting a shot... and I cannot lie... "Yes, when we go you'll get a shot." I could feel his anxiety levels rising. I promised them a very very special treat for bravery, and it did the trick. They talked about that treat and focused on it. Addison let out a very loud scream during each of the shots (three in all) but didn't cry and handled it like a champ. I glanced over during Addison's shots and saw that Asa was SMILING. The unsympathetic little kid was finding humor in his brother's screams. When I was little, I would have been heartborken and protective when my brother was getting shots. When it was Asa's turn, he made me a little nervous. He said to me, "Watch this, momma... I'm not gonna cry at all. Watch!" and he grabbed onto my hands. He squeezed tight and scrunched up his face... and toughed it out for all three shots. He jumped up and collected his stickers. For some reason, that makes me very nervous!

(I didn't realize how much Asa and I looked alike until I found this picture...)

Underwater

We went swimming again yesterday, and I was able to bring my new waterproof case for my Fijifilm Finepix camera. I really needed a small point-and-click so I didn't have to take my huge SLR around with me. This one I can just drop in my pocket. I tested the new case and was very impressed!

The boys remembered most of their Infant Swim Resource classes this year. This is the third summer since they've taken them. They started a little before they turned 2 (and at that point their age was still being adjusted, so they were about 20 months, gestationally) The first summer they were like fish, showing off their newly learned tricks. They were textbook with their swim/roll/float technique. The Infant Swim courses teach survival swimming. At less than 2 years old I could see that if they were to fall in the water, they could float on their backs and breathe, and then roll to swim to the side, rolling to breathe and rest until they could safely make it out of the pool. I wish we'd known about it their first year. We would have started even earlier! When I was at classes with the boys we watched 6 and 7 month olds doing it!

Here's Addison from 2001 doing the full roll-to-float...




They even had to do this in full winter clothes, shoes, and a coat. Last year we took a refresher course for a little over a week and had it all down again. This summer, they can swim like little fish, but the rolling and floating is gone. I was hoping it would stick!

Here's some pics from yesterday...

Rock On

Moms of Multiples Club Meeting???

NO! Family reunion. Yes, there were THREE sets of twins at last weekend's Davis family reunion.

Twins are Rarely Bored.

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

My cousin Marissa came and spent some time with us this week. The boys thoroughly enjoyed all the attention! I think it was like vacation for them... they played a bunch of Nintendo, went swimming, we went to the aquarium... having an extra set of hands was AMAZING!

Today, she helped the boys decorate a cake for Jeff. We blew up some balloons and the had a little mini-party for him. (What's a birthday without party hats??) It was a VERY silly night, and everyone had sore bellies by the end from laughing so hard at the boys' hat antics.

4th of July!

We had a great fourth! We actually hung out down at Mom & Roland's house and just relaxed for a change. We sat and watched the boys play on the water slide, ate ribs (yum!), and enjoyed the awsome weather.