Under normal circumstances this is what we would have done for Memorial Day weekend: go to the Clifty Falls Camping Extravaganza, listen to the Indianapolis 500 on a vintage AM radio from the 1980s, and then return to Cinci or Tosa to celebrate Memorial Day in proper style with parades and cookouts and a tribute to those who have served this country. However, these are not normal times. We’ve written many times on this blog about the unpredictable nature of spring in Wisconsin. Consistent with this, Memorial Day 2013 was rainy and 50 degrees. The sign at Hoyt Park Pool says it best:

More importantly, Melissa can’t really travel because of her gravid state. So we forwent camping and instead spent the weekend puttering around. On Monday Chris worked on his upcoming grant submissions while Melissa and Everett prepared the house for our new arrivals: the next major step is to move Everett into his new bedroom to make room in the nursery.

Despite the cool weather on Memorial Day it is really starting to feel like summer. Everett is spending much more time outside, and has significantly more dirt under his fingernails and toenails. He is also developing a new level of independence. He has a growing sense of confidence in his navigation skills, and comfort with the idea of venturing further from his parents without direct supervision. Twice during our recent Y-Tribe camping trip he hiked across camp without Chris (who was secretly following him). Since then he has asked if he can walk by himself to other houses on the street such as Joseph’s and Maddie’s or Adam’s and Jacob’s (those of you who are questioning apostrophe use in this sentence are advised to checkout the Apostrophe Protection Society and consider listening to Apostrophe Apostasy in full stereo). When Melissa expressed concern about him venturing out on his own he said “Now remember, Mom.  If you can’t see me, just relax yourself, take a deep breath, and know that I’m still alive.” Another sign of independence is his desire for less supervision when he is with his friends. One day recently Melissa told him he was going to Mary’s house for a couple hours during errands. “Oh, you mean a one Mom play date?!?” It seems that play dates are good, and one Mom play dates are better. We can probably infer that zero Mom play dates would be best.

All of this outside time has cut into roughhousing. In fact, the last time we recall major amounts of roughhousing was during Matt’s & Katie’s wedding weekend with Uncle Boy. Boy is a very experienced roughhouser, which is likely the result of three children and nine grandchildren. Everett must have sensed this and they got into it repeatedly over the weekend. One thing Chris noted from watching them is that Uncle Boy was very good at tiring Everett out without expending a lot of energy himself. They played a game where Boy would cover his eyes with a pillow and try to catch Everett on the couch.

They also played another game called “got that bug!” with a lizard. Not sure exactly how this worked but there was a lot of running involved and a rubber lizard that flew through the air often.