Two Little Pumpkins

One last day

On our last day of vacation, Alison and I spent the day with our Little Pumpkin nephews, EJ and Andrew. I was very much looking forward to nap time -- maybe even two -- but it never happened. Something about keeping the kids up during the day so that they go to sleep at a reasonable hour. It didn't make sense to me, since I can easily take a 3-hour nap and still go to bed at the usual hour, but hey, I'm flexible.

While Rachel and Ed were working, Alison and I gladly dug in and tried to remember how to (properly) care for two toddlers. Through the course of the day, there was only one incident with a child tumbling off the deck (well, two, but only one that drew blood) and EJ learned that when you need to pee while in the pool, just get out and pee on the back fence (no need to go inside, as per Alison). After dinner, while we were all sitting on their back deck, EJ announced that he needed to go to the bathroom and headed for the back fence. His dad quickly corralled him and pointed him toward the home's indoor plumbing. He hasn't yet grasped the subtle logic of when it is best to pee on the fence. All in good time. He's only three.

Tomorrow morning, we rise early (a.k.a. Alison time) and head west and south for 11 hours or so. We'll log our last travel entry from there.

Tidbit

The box spring was invented in the middle of the 19th century. Before then, a mattress (made from feathers, straw or anything even remotely soft) would be placed on top of a rope mesh. Over time, the ropes would stretch and the occupant would roll to the middle of the bed for an unpleasant night's sleep. At this point, one could tighten the ropes in order to ensure a good night's sleep.

Rachel is now upstairs, wishing the Little Pumpkins to "sleep tight."

At this point, I'd love to be able to say that the box spring was invented right here in Wareham, Massachussetts, but the owner of those bragging rights seems to have been lost to history (https://www.mattressmart.ca/History-of-the-Bed).