Fun times in the neighborhood.

This afternoon I was paid a visit by 7 neighborhood kids! They initially came over to read (I just bought a set of Uncle Author's bedtime story books, absolutely classic!!), which they did for about 30 minutes. Eventually, however, they bored with that and wanted me to read to them. So I read them 2 or 3 or 4 stories (you begin to lose track after a while). Next, they wanted to play on the computer. What they really wanted to do was watch cartoons on the computer but at my house we don't watch cartoons. Consequently, the computer usage required a lot of redirecting and so I decided we would do something else. I found about 100 balloons, and a huge argument ensued as to who got the pink verses yellow versus white (never mind that there were plenty of each color...) Eventually, peace was restored and I used my hand air pumper to blow them all up (well, not all 100 of them). Then they had to pop them, which created some added excitement. Tiring of that, my cell phone, pager, and stethoscope became the next attractive play items. They each wanted to hear their heart beats but all at the same time, so we had to make rules about who got to listen first.

The oldest boy decided that the stethoscope made a great microphone, and proceeded to sing the Muslim call for prayer at high volumes and with great gusto. I hope his ear drums survived the damage (see the picture above).

A good time was had by all (including me) and none of them wanted to leave at 7 pm (their set departure time). I was strict, however, and reassured them that they would be back tomorrow for more fun and games!