Normal weekend?

What passes around here for normal, anyway...Rachel was sniffling and sneezing so much Friday night that I decreed she should skip swim lessons and ballet lessons and just go grocery shopping with Drew on Saturday while I cleaned the house for folks who were coming to dinner. Warren Binford, a professor at the law school with whom I traveled to Africa, brought her husband and 3-year-old daughter Frances, and Rachel and Frances had a BLAST. Fortunately they stayed late, even though they live in Salem and their older daughter was doing some school activity down there, and Rachel was so sad to see Frances leave; I think she half-expected they'd stay over. The grownups had a long time to chat over good South African wine, and we really didn't tend to the kids until it was about time to go home.

Today Drew had some work to do and it was 50 degrees and very sunny, so I took Rachel to the playground near our house (after discovering a donut shop that had opened up near our house; Rachel suggested we try it, and we ended up splitting a chocolate covered donut with pink sprinkles. I got a chance to explain to her what "serendipity" means after I told her we really needed to incorporate more of it into our lives. It's amazing how much fun we can have discovering something new for for, oh, $2.50).

After she got tired of the playground, we walked to Alameda Elementary -- where she will attend first grade and possibly kindergarten -- and explored the TWO play structures there. Then we got home in time to Skype with Valerie, Tia Daniella and Darryl. It gave Rachel the chance to show off her excellent new shoes (light-up purple Skechers with colored "jewels" pasted on; I told Daniella we have now reached the stage where Rachel wears cooler clothes than Mommy. Rachel insists that my high heels are prettier but I said, no way, I'd love a pair of light-up shoes. And then I got the idea for light-up black Ferragamos! Don't tell me nobody would buy them...).

***

"Daddy, do you know what you have too many of?" Rachel asked at dinner tonight.
"What, Rachel?" Drew asked.
"Books," she said. "because you have a whole bunch of books and you never ever read them," she said.
"THANK YOU!" I exclaimed. "That is an unexpected gift!" (I've been nagging Drew for years to trim back his collection because we are drowning, just drowning, in BOOKS).
"Rachel's a smart cookie," I added.
"He has too many chocolate chips with books in them!" she said.

***

"I want to set up a club for my friends," Rachel said. "I'm going to call it the Super Readers Club."
"What do you have to do to be a member?" I asked.
"I'm going to make kindergarteners my members," she said. "Because they're more good at reading that preschoolers."

***

"Mommy, thanks for making this chocolate silk pie," Rachel said at dessert (we were finishing up the pie I'd made for our guests the night before. "And Mommy? It's yummy."

***

Rachel said several amazingly smart, things after dinner tonight, so much so that I took her on my lap and told her how wise she was and what an old soul she is.

"I know what I should be in the Alphabets," she said. "Wendy the wise woodchuck!"