Whew

I picked these kids up not five hours ago and already I'm wiped. But we're having fun. We brought the turtle (not the hamsters - whose family went from two to eight this week) home with us, parked the car, then walked into town to buy some more yarn for the week's artistic pursuits. While there, we picked up an extra kid who came home to play with Robin while Julia tried out the Magic Jack on Lisa. It wasn't great but, unlike my first test call to Mom last week, it was at least functional and we chatted for a while. Then I sat outside and froze with Julia while Robin and her friend played in traffic the street (it's a cul-de-sac), and then we headed back to town to take the extra kid home at sunset. On the way out of the neighborhood we found a neighbor and her daughter just getting home, so naturally the child got out of the car to join us for our walk. We dropped off Extra Kid #1 and returned to the neighborhood (beautiful sunset), where Julia disappeared off into Extra Kid #2's house while Robin came home to take her turn on the Magic Jack. She called Dad, but between them they quickly agreed to switch to Skype for a nice call that lasted...exactly the amount of time till Julia and Extra Kid #2 showed back up, having decided that they needed to play Pajama Sam. Leftovers and quesadillas were had and then it was now. I'm sending Extra Kid #2 back across the street in 15 minutes, getting mine into pajamas and hoping they're half as beat as I am. I have to say, though, it doesn't particularly look that way.