Ike and the Toad

Monday morning we were leaving the house to do...something, I don't remember, doesn't matter. Ike could not find any shoes as his sisters trashed his room (I'm not exactly sure they actually did, but that's neither here nor there and has no relation at all to the story). He and Joe wandered around trying to find something to go on his feet. They eventually go outside and find his too small rain boots. Ike carries them in his hand out to the car and climbs in. Joe and I say goodbye...yadda, yadda. I climb in the car and off we go.

I hear Ike in the back getting his boots on and then:

"Mom!!!! A toad!!!!"
"What?"
"A toad Mom!!!! A toad!!!"
"Where?"
"On the floor!!!!!"
"Where did it come from?"
"My boot!!! Get it Mom its huge!!!!"

I pull over and park the car and find the toad. It was a beauty! About as big as the palm of my hand. And it was pretty mellow as I picked it up (must have something to do with being squished by Ike's foot), it deigned to be examined. I showed it to the other kids and let it go in a bush of flowers. It hopped off.

What a way to start the day!

'Cause all of his friends are slackers

Did you know I have the best husband in the world? Better than anyone else ever? Well, let me tell you I do.

Friday morning started the last of my Lifeways weekends down at Hill of the Hawk Farm. We were scheduled to be sleeping outdoors in the tents, but there was some discussion back and forth as rain was predicted. In the end, we were instructed to bring equipment consistent with sleeping outside. For me this meant taking this huge ass battery pack for my CPAP. Now I don't have to bring it. The owner offered to run a power cord from the kitchen out to the tents (maybe 30 feet) the first weekend we had back in October. Since I really hate being a pain in the ass, especially since I kept feeling that my food issues was making life a hassle for her, I planned on bringing the battery pack.

And I then left Friday morning without it. And I didn't realize it until about 2 PM when we unloaded the cars (after it being decided to sleep indoors. Good thing too. We got 5 inches of rain Friday night and wind strong enough to knock down trees.). Oh shit.  Oh well, don't need it anyway. And then just went upon my day.

We spent the afternoon wet felting landscapes for a story apron. The rest of the group went on a short hike. Then we made dinner. And of course, we were having a great time. During dinner, we hear kids voices, I look up at the window and don't see anything. I go back to my dinner of salad and talking to classmates. Then another classmate spoke up. "Hey, there's a heavy set guy in a plaid jacket wandering around".

The owner got up and went outside. And we all heard a "Can I help you?" About a minute later she pops back in and says "Jen you have visitors"

I get a half second to think WTF? And I'm bombarded with 3 kids. And Joe walks in the door. "Why are you here?" "To bring you this!" And he holds up my battery back. And my stomach sinks, I didn't think to call home and say not to worry I didn't need the battery pack. I felt so guilty "I don't need it." To my surprise, he didn't blow up. He responded "Well, maybe you'll have a power outage. I don't know. I just know you needed it."

Joe managed to drive down to Big Sur (a 2 hour drive) with no instructions on how to find the place. All he had was the name of the owner and the name of the farm which he found by rifling my email. (Tuesday morning we discovered that had he gone through the sent folder he would have found the instructions and the phone number). I'm still seriously impressed. We had a hard enough time finding it with instructions. (For his take of the adventure, look here.)

The stuck around about an hour. The kids ran around a bit. Elli bat cleanup on the dinner salad (her favorite food). I nursed Gray (eliminating the need to pump), and then changed him. And then sent them home. It was getting dark and the fog was coming in and that makes PCH really treacherous. And that stop light were the section decided to fall into the ocean didn't make it any safer.

All my classmates were seriously impressed. "My husband would never do that" "Mine would have said "you are SOL"". I got lots of compliments on how cute the kids are and how beautiful Joe's and my relationship is. And its true. I have been truly blessed by that wonderful man.

And one day soon, when the kids go to bed early and he's home....I'll show him. =)