Ava got profoundly dirty today. Peter hooked up the hose (it pumps water from the lake, so every spring it needs to be connected), and Ava spent so much time playing with it that I would not have been surprised to see Green Pond reduced to a puddle. It was still there, so apparently she spent an equal amount of time playing with the dirt. Water + dirt = mud.

We then went to tumbling, the hhott house again where I spent a lot of money on plants and Ava chased Bert and Ernie, the golden retrievers (and I thought 'Barnum and Bailey' was cute), then to Lake Colby beach where there is a swing set and an ancient merry-go-round. We dipped our feet in, then went home for more mud. The black flies were out though and we had to retreat.

Peter came home at 5, and Ava summed it up nicely when she said "What are you doing here?" Coupled with "Thank you for coming home, Daddy"

Then we all got ready for bed by scrubbing and scrubbing and scrubbing some more, had our story-time/wrestle for posession of the book with Carter-time, and settled in, only for both kids to refuse to settle down. Out into the living room with an irritated mom, and as I was washing the dishes, Ava came over to me and said "I have a secret..." and when I bent down, she said "I love you." This is what I say to her at nighttime, ever since she was a teeny squirt. I melted.

And then we went into the bedroom where she just crashed--it was unbelievable. Chatter chatter chatter snore.

Tomorrow is Carter's 9 -month check up.