Wilmington Weekend Update #13

I suppose if we were superstitious we would have skipped Update #13 and gone straight to 14. But if you think about it, everything in #13 has already happened, so whatever could go wrong already has! But then, what could go wrong around here?

Last weekend was decidedly low-key. We started by expanding our usual Friday Flop Night to include our friend Jim Harris and his two boys Scott and Sean. We introduced them to the illicit pleasures of strombolis; fortunately they already follow our favorite cartoon, Avatar.

Saturday was, of course, soccer, but this time only for Sellers. It was our first really chilly day, but Sellers did warm up with time. Halfway through the game he kicked it into gear, running for the ball and mixing it up on the field. At the quarter he came to the sidelines to get some water and said, “You know, I’ve learned something.”
“What have you learned, Sellers?” we asked, leaning forward.
“The ball…never comes…right to you.”
Sellers’s team won the game, handily.

Our next stop was Bangz Hair Salon, where Jonathan agreed to slip Julian into the employee break room for a quick haircut. We’ve tried Great Clips, we’ve been to Fantasy Hairland, and I’m sorry but Jonathan is the only person in Wilmington skilled enough to actually give the boy a good haircut. From here on I think the photos say more than I ever could.

Afterward Margaret dropped Abby off at her friend Meghan’s house for a play-date while the boys and I shopped. The most important thing we bought was new underwear for Julian, who is finally potty-training with some success. We went for his favorite characters. “Now Julian, you’re not going to pee on Thomas, right?”
“I no pee on Thomas.”
“Are you going to poop on SpongeBob?”
“No. I poop in the potty, not on SpongeBob.”
“That’s good, Julian. SpongeBob doesn’t like poop, and neither does Lightning McQueen.”

We returned home to play in the yard, now much bigger since our new neighbors the Fennells took down the chain link and with it a jungle of brambles. Julian was just getting to know their two-year-old, Greta, when her mom, Ginger, offered us blueberry pie fresh out of the oven. I felt that out of politeness we should say no, but it was hot, and I had yet to tour their new house. Ginger, in addition to teaching science at Hoggard High School, can bake.

Sunday we were up and ready to get to church. Except it was 55 degrees and Abby’s only shoes were Crocs, sneakers, white sandals, and more Crocs. Oh, and she no longer owned a sweater that fit. So the boys traded their khakis for jeans and we went shopping. Of course when you’re looking for little girls’ shoes and sweaters where better to go than (say it with me this time) HOME DEPOT? (We did, by the way, get a pair of Mary Janes to go with the Camelias, Azaleas, and Lorapetalum.) Margaret figured planting some bushes was the least we could do in return for hot blueberry pie.

Julian entertained himself practicing for Halloween. Here he is working on his scary laugh:

Last week was punctuated by Wednesday’s Hispanic Heritage Parade at Abby’s and Sellers’s school. Abby’s class represented Chile, and Sellers was to be Salvadoran for a day. Julian wasn’t about to be left out, so he went to preschool dressed, in his words, as a "cow-horse!” This is Wilmington, so the parade made the front page of the paper and the evening news.

Friday was the big gala for the Child Advocacy Commission and Parenting Place Exchange Club of Wilmington, dedicated to the memory of Jim Harris’s late wife, Connie. Cape Fear Pediatrics was a "gold sponsor" of the event, which gave the partners a chance to dress up and play with each other and many of our friends from around town. The dress code was cocktail, but since my only suit is now ten years old I jumped at the suggestion that we upgrade our table to black tie. When our senior partner Tom produced boutonnières and wrist corsages the event became the Cape Fear Pediatrics Prom, at least for us. Sadly we were not able to rent a white limousine.

Our neighbors Josh and Karen were among the boogie-happy attendees. Despite dancing like this Josh still woke up to run with me Sunday at 5:30 AM:

Heidi Klein and her husband Steve also live across the street. She and Margaret got down on the dance floor. According to Steve Heidi was not such an early riser Sunday:

Saturday was all about soccer, with games for both Abby and Sellers. Both of them seem over their existential angst and are participating actively, with Sellers playing goalie for much of his game and Abby putting in some good assists. Afterward it was back into the yard to plant bushes from last week’s big Home Depot buy, followed by a bubble bath and the Friday Flop Night delayed on account of the Prom.

Today we did make it to church, Abby in her new Mary Janes. From there we had a quick lunch out (not so quick Julian didn’t have time to spill Sprite all over the floor) then it was time for Abby’s make-up soccer game. The weather was in the high 80’s and the sun was intense. Sellers and Julian fled to a mountain of dirt in the shade, where they threw rocks and dug for grubs. Abby went in during the first quarter and proceeded to play soccer with a vigor we haven’t seen all season, taking the ball up and down the field without flagging. With her help the Gray Dragons were soundly defeated by the Green Harry Archer Insurance PLLC’s (we’re still working out our cheer).

From there it was on to ____ _____ (hint: sounds like loan repo) where we fleshed out a decorative trellis and flowerbox for the Fennell side of our shed (the pie was really, really good). Coming in the driveway we inadvertently ran over a baby rattlesnake, for whom Abby and Sellers constructed an elaborate grave. I asked Margaret today when we’d be done with all our gardening projects. She just gave me a quizzical look and resumed shoveling.

The coming week is, as far as we know, boring. I’m on call Wednesday and Sunday, so I won’t be expecting to blog for another week. But a lot can happen in that time. I hope you all enjoy your favorite family Columbus Day traditions, and keep in touch.

David