Who are the People in Your Neighborhood?

The Hoos and I bought our cozy little home almost 5 years ago. And yet, only recently, have we really started to get to know our neighbors.

Just like every community, we have a mailman, Mike and a lovable elderly busybody, Matthew, who circles the block on his bicycle only pausing to share jokes and nursery rhymes in his Irish brogue.

My kids are potentially the Dennis the Menace's.

Last night we got home from the playground a little before 6. Before even exiting the car, AK was yelling out "No home! No home! Ozzy! BeeBee!" Ozzy and Beebee are cats that belong to a family around the block. LP used her gift of gab to clarify her sister's words, "Let's go to the A'Polkas house and see Ozzy and Beebee. Do the A'Polkas have a doorbell? We can ask them if Ozzy and Beebee are home."

So after a quick stop in the house to drop off their school bags (of course there was enough time for LP to remove her socks and change her shoes), we were back outside.

"RIIIBBIITTTTT," AK yelled out, pointing at the frog statue on our across-the-street neighbor's lawn.

"[AK] if you want to see Ozzy and Beebee you had better not jump in the puddle," I said knowingly as I watched 'the look' come into her eyes.

When we made it to the A'Polka's house, the cats were nowhere in sight, but the A'Polka family was outside. We visited for a bit and then most of the family made their getaway in a car. (Can't blame them from escaping from my nutters as they took over the block).

We slowly walked back home, with the girls yelling out "KAILEY!" in an effort to invade the privacy and the peace of our aforementioned across-the-street neighbors.

They insisted on truly invading their space as well as we knocked on the door to say hello. We could tell they knew it was us when they moved the barking dog from behind the door and put him in the backyard.

The girls then made themselves comfortable while poor baby Kailey stared at them in awe.

As I dragged the girls home to get dinner - it was now after 6:30 - I thought of the new folks moving in next door to us. "Poor people. They have no idea what they are in for."