Friday was probably the worst day for my cold, but yesterday and today have definitely been better. I still have a nasty cough that wakes me up at night, but my voice is back and I don’t feel like death. So you know, progress.

Since I was feeling better, this morning Cate and I went outside to play for a while. One of our neighbors has gone on vacation for two weeks, and she said she was telling everyone in the neighborhood that we’re welcome to raid her garden for fruits and veggies, as long as we water the plants while we’re there. I thought that sounded reasonable enough, so we grabbed some tupperware, the stroller, and set off for their house.

Cate was very sad that their dog was gone, but we made the best of it. I set up the sprinkler in a far part of the garden (this neighbor’s garden is huuuge) and then went to check out the strawberry patch. As it turned out, the strawberries were tiny and not really worth the trouble. (Did you know strawberries grow really close to the ground? And that the gravity of leaning over is not your friend when you’re congested? Right.) But Cate saw them and got all excited and kept trying to grab them (always picking the ones that were half-rotted, of course), so I found a few decent ones, washed them in the hose water, pulled off the stems and let her eat them. I didn’t pick any extras to bring home, though. Maybe when I’m feeling better.

The 13 year-old girl who lives at the house had left her basketball out on the driveway, so Cate and I played catch with it for a little while. (“Ball” is one of the words she says really clearly, and she loves to play with them.) Then, since it was so hot, I carried her over to the sprinkler and let the water hit us a few times. Cate thought it was hilarious. We both came home soaking wet, and she conked out for her nap almost immediately. As my dad would say, she wore herself slap out.

It was a good morning.