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Doors - We've had some rainy days in the latter part of this week. One good thing to come out of it is that Chris (with assist from dad) put a nice vinyl screen door on the front door. I liked how he put a piece of Plexiglas behind the lower portion to keep the boys from pushing the screen out. My biggest fear of having a full length screen door was that the boys would ruin it within a month by constantly pushing on the screen until it tore out. He also did a lot of work on the door on our screened in deck which had two major annoying flaws. Both doors are working flawlessly. I hope this fall Michelle can keep the front door open more often and let the fresh autumn air and sunlight in.

CIGNA race - Thursday night I walked in the CIGNA 5K which raises money for NH special olympics. I was amazed to see downtown Manchester filled with the 6000+ participants. I debated between running the race and walking. Since this was billed as a 'team building' event for our local office, I walked with my coworkers. When I got home that evening, everyone was watching the recent version of Cheaper by the Dozen, a family favorite that several of our visitors hadn't seen.

Cube - On some of the rainier nights the cousins played on the GameCube. MarioGolf and MarioKart were among the favorites. Those two games were also what helped us stay sane and avoid cabin fever last winter. Toward the end of the evening, Michelle and I dusted off our old 'Karting skills and played a couple of tournaments. It's amazing how we've atrophied since last winter.

Friday - Friday morning was a bit sad as we said goodbye to our visiting family. While I was at work, Michelle and the girls worked at getting everything back to normal in the house. It seemed quiet when I got home that evening, as quiet as a household of seven can get. While we had a great time with the family visit, it was nice to have everyone back in their own rooms again. I'm sure that Cassidy and Suzy are happy to not be on an air mattress any more.

Saturday - Saturday there was a bit of a break before we were to get hit with the remnants of Hurricane Charley. Sunny, dry, and 80's. After mowing the lawn we took the kids for a couple of hours to the Milford pool. We were happy to see some friends from down the street who have kids the roughly same ages as ours. In the evening Claire and I watched Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, the Disney Lindsay Lohan movie. I doubt it'll win any awards (perhaps a Kids' Choice Award), but it was fun.

Sunday - Today has been wet because of Hurricane Charley. It's not been torrential, but raining on and off all day long. There had been some talk about the sun coming out in the afternoon, but it didn't. Michelle and I did the usual split shifts at Mass with Claire and Abby. Abby then spent most of the day with her good friend, Jessica. Claire, Timothy, and I drove to Home Depot to buy a "core" lawn aerator. Those are the kind that leave what looks like pet droppings all over your lawn as it pulls plugs of dirt and lawn out. We've had the lawn aerated both autumns that we've been here. The bill is typically steep enough that you can buy your own aerator tractor attachment for less money so we thought we'd try it ourselves. I guess I have my work cut out for next weekend.