Last-ing impressions…

9 June 2012 by 2 Comments

Well, it’s done.  Movers came and packed up our belongings on Monday, loaded it on a truck on Tuesday, and Wednesday night we handed over our keys to the buyer, taking a few minutes before she arrived to say goodbye to our house.  The house that kept us safe and warm and dry and cozy for the past six years.  


In the week or so before we moved out, it felt like we tried to cram in as many “lasts” of things that we could.  For starters, we had our last Lemonade Stand.  While we weren’t treated to a fleet of firefighters like last year, it was still successful.  And a bit bittersweet, as we finally got to meet some of our neighbors.  The conversations were a bit awkward, as the parents of kids our kids’ ages seemed eager to get to know us, and we’d have to answer with “yeah, we’re outta here in a week.”  Still, it felt like a great sendoff to the ‘hood.

Mr. B, being the kind soul he is, agreed to use the proceeds from his hard-earned selling to donate to our local firefighters.  We walked over to the firehouse a few days later, $22.70 swaying in an envelope, and B mustered up the courage to walk over to a very sturdy fireman and say “I raised this money for you.”  The firefighter looked down at Mr. B, a little touched by the gesture, and said” Ah, buddy, that’s sweet, but we can’t take your money.”  I guess they can’t directly take a donation, so we’re going to bring it over to the Denver Firefighter’s Museum and donate it to restore their antique fire engine that caught fire in early May.  Still, the guys were pretty nice, talked to the kids a little, and even gave them some plastic hats.  I’m always amazed at the level of patience, compassion, and generosity these firefighters have. 

We also got in one last picnic in our nearby park, spending the day with good friends, finally letting Miss P and Mr B take a ride in the paddle boats they’d been drooling over all spring, and even letting them fling themselves in to the creek that I swore I’d never let them touch.  Thankfully, we escaped without a case of giardia…

Monday and Tuesday were a blur of boxes and fast food, and it only feels like in the last day or so, we’ve settled in to our temporary apartment.  It’s not too shabby of a place, a 3-bedroom, 3-bath town home that has enough space to sprawl out for the next month.  I took a bit of time on Wednesday rearranging the furniture in the kids’ bedrooms to give them space to pull out their toys and play, and it feels a bit more comfortable now.  The complex has a pool, a pool!  Surely we’ll be spending most of the next month there.  Still, I miss being able to send the kids out to the back yard when they need to burn off some energy and I need to be removed from screaming.  I know this next month is going to fly by before I know it, and it’s all I can do at this point to hold on to keep from falling off the ride. 

Filed Under: firefighters, lemonade stand, moving

Summer begins…

8 June 2011 by 15 Comments

I totally forgot that we used to do this as kids until I saw Amy over at Idiot Mom post about it recently.  Jon and I used to do something similar when we were younger and sans kids living it up in NYC.  It’s the Summer To Do List.  Or Bucket List.  Or What-to-do-when-we’ve-run-out-of-ideas-or-are bored-with-the-park List.  After dinner one night, we all sat around coming up with ideas on what fun or different things we wanted to do this summer.  I typed ‘em up, printed them out, and they now reside in a bowl on the counter, just waiting for little hands to pick something out.

The end of the first week of summer vacation isn’t even over yet, and we’ve already accomplished one major event!  Mr. B (and Miss P, his assistant) had his first Lemonade Stand in operation this past Sunday morning.  We made a sign Saturday night, bought a bunch of lemonade mix and lemon cookies to sell, and prepared to make our pitch.  Sunday was a pretty hot day, and our corner of the street is filled with foot traffic.  I sent an email out to some of Mr. B’s friends that live close by and we set out our stuff around 10am.

I had prepped Mr. B on the idea that we might not have many visitors, that the morning might pass by without a mass of sales, and that folks might not have a ton of cash on them if they walk by.  Boy was I wrong!  Mr. B and Miss P made out like bandits – approxmiately $40 was brought in by their efforts!  At five cents a glass, that’s not to shabby! I was totally surprised by strangers’ generosity.  Mr. B’s friends, I knew, would be easy sales.  But there were folks that came to a screaching halt at our stop sign, with one passenger getting out and apolozing for holding up traffic as they ran to us with dollar bills in their hands, grabbed two glasses and let us keep the change.

Perhaps the sale of the day?  That would belong to the firetruck that stopped on their way to the grocery store and the wonderful firefighters that indulged my kids in buying their concoctions.  It was priceless.

Runner up would be the nice man in the restored 1928 Model A Ford that offered to take us on a ride around the neighborhood.  

 

Although I had a fleeting and anxious thought as we drove away from the house that it might not be a good idea if he decided to kidnap us, I tried to remember that most people are inherintely good, and I want my kids to believe that.  Overall, the whole morning helped restore my faith in humanity a little bit.  Helped me see that there are kind and generous people in the world, willing to selflessly buy sugary drinks from a two and five year old just to see the giant grin on their faces during the transaction.

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Filed Under: lemonade stand, summer bucket list