It’s a beautiful day in my neighborhood
So, yesterday was one of those idyllic days where I was, once again, thinking how awesome my new neighborhood is.
After running some errands in the morning, we came home and had lunch and I put Sammy down for a nap. Rosie and I went out to get the mail and noticed that one of our neighbors across the street had set up a giant bouncey house and there were about 10 kids inside. The neighbor saw us, pointed at Rosie, pointed at the bounce house and waved us over to play. There were a handful of parents around with plastic cups, and I was informed that it was the “last day of school” celebration - a ritual every year. The kids had just gotten off the bus from their 1/2 day and last day of school, and everyone was in a great mood. I was given an adult drink made with vodka, limeade and beer - named the “strip and go naked” and I was given a chair as I sat and talked to the other parents and watched the kids play. Throughout the hour, several other kids and parents stopped by - someone brought pizza, someone brought drinks, another mom walked up from down the street and brought chips and popsicles. There were about 30 kids total accumulated at this point (ranging in ages from 4-12), teams were made and a rousing game of “capture the flag” was played.
After a couple hours of fun, I came inside to wait for Sammy to wake up from his nap. While I was waiting, my sister in law, Pauline called and invited us to join her down at the neighborhood pool. I promised we would walk down after Sammy woke up. About 1/2 hour later, we were all in bathing suits, in the double stroller, heading to the pool. I spent the next 2 hours sitting in the sun, catching up on neighborhood gossip, and watching the kids have a great time playing and splashing in the pool with their cousins and other neighborhood kids.
It was a fun and awesome summer day, and the summer has only just begun. The kids slept great last night and the only casualty is a slight sunburn on my arms.
*Note to self, buy tons of sunscreen for the summer…
I am still in awe of the extended-family like atmosphere in the neighborhood. There are definitely little cliques on each street, but as a whole - everyone pretty much knows each other and gets along great.
Oh, and there is a huge neighborhood party at the pool this weekend, games, food, movies, etc. - I can’t wait!
I am looking forward to having a fabulous summer!
