1. lunch date | 2. river walk | 3. gin and tonic | 4. foggy morning | 5. deliverance | 6. dinner theater | 7. sunday walk | 8. bright spot | 9. ball boy | 10. tidewater | 11. medicinal | 12. tidewater, part 2

The thing that started it all, that had us laughing the most all weekend was when our sweet Violet told us about the pet unicorn she has in the back yard.

...

Apparently its name is Liriope. Neel patiently tried to explain to her that liriope is a plant and that unicorns are fictitious, but Violet wouldn't budge. "Fictitious? That's another word for 'pretty,' right?"

And now she's proud she learned a new word. "Mama, those flowers Papa brought you are SO fictitious!" Or, "Boy when those guys go canoeing in Deliverance, it is NOT fictitious." My personal favorite? "Mama, you're so fictitious."

Sometimes it's better just to let Violet think what she thinks.

So Cal has Columbus Day off (apparently in Virginia we don't care as much as they do in Portland, Christine!), but since he ended his day on Friday with study hall and a free bell, I sprung him early and we snuck out to lunch. I'd been super sick on Thursday with a migraine, so it was nice to have a few extra hours together. Total bonus. Nice way to start a long weekend.

It's been raining since Wednesday, and we've been making it a point to get down to our river to see how high the tides are running and if we have some good choppy waves to watch. As we drive over the bridge we take to get home, each day the docks we pass that normally sit several feet above the water have had waves crashing up through the planks. I like the anyway it comes. Cal likes it best when it's been intense the way it's been lately. I think we'll make it a regular stop in our afternoons.

Those last few pictures? Numbers 10 and 12? That's several blocks from our house, so we're fine. Our street tends to flood during intense rain storms rather than tides, and our house is situated high enough that we don't even need flood insurance. (We have it anyway.) We actually call this "minor tidal flooding," can you believe it?! We've had strong northeast winds with this storm, and that's pushed the tides up at nearly every cycle. Many of the houses along the river here are elevated, but many still aren't. And as we waded through knee-deep water in the middle of the street, it was clear that many people were simply trapped in their homes until the tide went out again.

That's what it's like here. sometimes. That's part of what I love about this place.