Red Plate Weekend

Another busy weekend has come and gone following a pretty common pattern of events, common but comfortable. The three of us sneaked out on Friday evening for some open skating and Merrick pushed the chair around the rink for an hour and worked as much on his form as his confidence. Sophia mean while was off knocking down high school boys, as two skaters were trying to avoid her in the corner, but she had the angle on them. She dumped them as they tried to avoid her and then she just skated away. Saturday was soccer for Merrick and then a quick jaunt across town for a Girl Scout Make and Bake badge event. Merrick did well at indoor soccer and although he cracked skulls with one of his friends, he rebounded in time to finish the drills. Merrick and I did the grocery shopping while Sophia was baking and then it was back home for a quick lunch and the domestic duties. Merrick and I cleaned the gutters and got the yard raked up. The kids helped with the raking, at least until they had a pile large enough to jump in. Sophia continued to play with the neighbor girl as well as call another friend over which eventually turned into a sleep over. We did end up having a pretty good game of poker with all four of the kids playing and me generally loosing. Sunday was a morning filled with last minute fashion shows and various games before the sleep over ended. This did give Merrick and I enough time to bottle up several gallons of Cyzer. We did do some shopping for dress clothes for an upcoming wedding and I was again reminded of how open a Dad's wallet will get for his daughter's dresses. Merrick gets a single hanger--boy in a bag type of clothing. With Sophia I was just happy I was able to appease her within a single store--did make for a good lesson in double standards. The afternoon was rainy but that was fine considering we all needed a nap and some downtime. After our recharge it was off to Hockey again and Merrick is doing really well and enjoying it, although he was a little confused by the other players taking his puck. We worked on jersey jacking after practice so we will see what Wednesday's practice brings. I gave him the red plate for his hockey efforts. As always just a great weekend.