2nd day of a fabulous three-day weekend

We all got up late this morning after the merriment of the 4th. Rachel, bless her little heart, let us sleep late -- very late -- it was 10 AM WHEN WE GOT UP. That is very unusual, even for us. As soon as she heard us talking quietly together, she came in and announced she had a surprise for us downstairs. Drew checked it out first, and when I came downstairs I discovered that Rachel had SET THE BREAKFAST TABLE ALL BY HERSELF. She must have used her little red chair to reach the bows and plates -- everything was arranged in the exact right order. I was beside myself, as was Drew, and we hugged and kissed her repeatedly and told her what a great kid she was. Because, you know, she is.

Then I took Rachel to a water park while Drew ran errands and bought all her birthday gifts. Rachel and I had a FABULOUS time at the water park, the best park I have ever been to. Its called Great Waves, and it has a couple of water slides, and a wading pool with two slides that Rachel insisted on going down with me, and I loved them so much that I kept telling her, "Let's go down AGAIN!" And she was so happy that she kept wrapping her arms around me and hugging me and kissing me and telling me how much she loved me. Which was a cue for me to try to stop acting so stressed-out around her, because she picks up on it and it makes her less likely to be relaxed around me.

There was also a sand pit where we dug seats for ourselves and Rachel tried to bury my feet, and an enclosed play structure that reminded us of Playdate PDX, and a wave pool with a wavemaking machine that simulated the beach. I got a life jacket from the First Aid station and put it on Rachel, and we had a blast. She LOVED getting knocked around by the waves, as long as she hung on to Mommy for dear life. Really, it was best 2 1/2 hours I have ever spent.

Then we came home, Drew grilled burgers and we had French fries and tater tots, and then went to Toby's for ice cream. Daniella, Darryl and Valerie showed up soon after, and the cousins immediately went downstairs to watch a movie as part of Family Fun Night while we shoved Darryl and Daniella out the door with a magazine of great Arlington restaurants. Hopefully they found a great dessert place. I worked on a magazine story due next week while Drew supervised the girls and put them to bed far later than they should have been up, but okay. Tomorrow is breakfast at a great pancake place in Falls Church, then we visit Dan and Beryle, and after that...who knows?We're on VACATION!!!