These were the odors surrounding us as we soaked inthe hot tub last night and let the kids play together inside.  Everything was quiet, except for the strange shrieks and thumps coming from the family room.  (“Is that dogs, or the kids?” I asked the hubby with concern.  Loud laughter confirmed the latter and we continued to enjoy our soak.)  They stayed up talking and giggling until very late, but still managed to wake up before 9.  This early hour is unheard of, normally.  They’ve eaten a nice breakfast, had some more playtime, and are boo-hooing about having to say goodbye to each other.

Dog is thrilled because she got some bacon grease on her dog food.  Hubby’s looking forward to a few hours alone in the house.  I’ll stop in and visit with some friends, myself, and the kids will probably find an excuse to not go home for awhile and prolong the playtime.  It’s all good.

Today we got the house all cleaned up so that we could have visitors from the old neighborhood.  Ann, Erin, and Irma came down and surprised the daughters with their friend Jessica.  Ann also brought her dog, Lily, who is my dog’s best friend EVER.  The dogs were overjoyed, but not as much as the daughters, who managed to convince Jessica’s mom to let her sleep over.  Of course, hubby and I loved having the grownups over, but nothing can match the enthusiasm of a dog or a kid when it comes to playing with friends.  So we’ll have spaghetti for dinner, pancakes for breakfast, and then >we’ll< visit the old neighborhood tomorrow when we bring Jessica home.  Might even bring the dog up. . .we shall see.

And the weather is so much nicer than the weather reports predicted.  Delightful.  We had doors open, even sat outside in the sun to chat.  The dogs chased each other all around the yard, the cats tried to avoid them while going in and out, and the kids got some quality outdoor play.

I went to Shoprite after the gym (woohoo!  I went to the gym!) and it’s a really nice day.  Most of the snow is melted, the sun was out, and these little birds were having a bath in the puddles.  Sorry it’s not better quality, but I took it with the phone.

They were all over the parking lot, and when a man tried to pull into the space, the birds actually gave him what looked like a glare.  They didn’t move until they absolutely had to.