An ALMOST Perfect Evening

This morning I decided to take a half-day off and enjoy the pool this afternoon.  It was supposed to be low 80's, low humidity and just beautiful out. 

It ended up being just that.  Had lunch with a friend before I left the office.  Got home, changed and out to the pool before Gene had to go off to work (he worked 4 hours overtime on his day off).  Buttercup got on the raft with me so she could drink the water from the middle of the pool instead of from the steps.  A bit later she fell in when she missed a step trying to get a drink on the steps.  We hung out outside for several hours.  We just really enjoyed the beautiful weather and listening to music (finally remembered we have an iPod radio docking station).  Gene had bought fresh green beans and we snapped them (Buttercup sat on my lap while I did the work).  We went for a walk and caught up with a neighbor for a while...came back and got back in the pool.  Buttercup fell in again...this time in the deep end so she panicked a bit, but I saved her.

Finally, Gene got home a little before 7 and he grilled out...mushroom caps filled with bacon, tomatoes and cheese, chicken, green beans and finally for dessert...grilled fresh peaches and some of the homemade ice cream from the 4th.  Quite yummy!!!  And, we ate outside just enjoying the peaceful, beautiful evening.  Buttercup and I played frisbee for a while in the yard before we went inside to clean up. 

Overall, it was an almost perfect evening.  No tv, time together, beautiful weather, great food...the only thing missing was Owen.  I realized that I am not sure we'll ever be able to have that ideal, perfect evening again because we'll always be missing Owen.  There will always be a thought nagging in the back of my mind...what would we be doing with Owen at these moments and how great it would be to be together as a family.  I guess this will be as close as we'll ever get from now on...ALMOST perfect.