I'm a Real Princess**

We've done "outdoorsy" stuff for the last couple days. It may take me a while to recover.


We went to the Fisher River on Friday afternoon. I wanted to do school planning, Ed wanted to read the internet, but the kids wanted to swim, so off we went. Being a thoughtful child, T. showed us (Ed and me) a large rock where we could sit and read while we played lifeguards. This went okay for a little while (aside from the fact that our children love us, particularly when they are sopping wet and muddy, and kept coming up on the rock to drip fondly on our books), but then K. decided, inexplicably, to throw her flip flop into the river. Neither child would retrieve it promptly (despite my strong urging), and eventually it really did drift beyond reach. We spent the next half hour standing up on the bank, a little way downriver, lobbing rocks and sticks at the flip flop to try to dislodge it from where it was stuck on a large branch. We failed, and K. was distraught because that was her Very Favorite flip flop in the Whole World. She and T. and Ed did have fun throwing things in the river, though.



Saturday morning I mowed and weed whacked. Apparently I mowed some poison ivy, and the part of the mower that is supposed to direct clippings away from the mower isn't working right, because I now have poison ivy. Every time another piece falls off the mower, I bring it to Ed and ask him if it was an Important Piece, and he always tells me "No, you didn't really need that part." I'll have to see if I can find the Poison Ivy Guard and screw it back on -- that was an important piece.


Saturday night we went "camping" at a friend's house. When this friend told T., last winter, that she and her husband have friends over one night every summer for a night of hot dogs, s'mores, and sleeping in tents, and that she would be sure to invite us, I didn't think much of it. I agreed that we could do it, in the way that you agree to a hypothetical activity that doesn't much appeal to you but which you think might never come to pass anyway, so why not play "nice mommy." Well, last night I had to follow through on my "nice mommy" commitment, and I remembered why I haven't spent the night in a tent in over twenty years. Unless Alzheimer's kicks in hard, though, it will be at least twenty years before I spend another night sleeping on the ground, with only a paper thin layer of nylon between my back and cold, sharp rocks, and with enormous insects making loud noises on all sides. Actually, aside from the tent thing, it was a fun evening. The company was good, the food was good (assuming you enjoy hotdogs and s'mores, which I do), and the kids had a wonderful time. Our tent, which we used a few times (for Play, not for Sleeping) in Florida, had all its pieces, and we had no problem setting it up. It is a cute tent, and would be a good size for a couple nine year olds. It is Not a good size for two stiff, cranky forty-somethings and their sprawling nine year old and five year old. Enough said. Our host made us a fine pancake breakfast this morning, we drove home (about three miles), and we (or, at least, I) are looking forward to an early night.





K. made the "mold a dinosaur" model today which I bought for T. back when he was beginning first grade. Going by the box cover, I always assumed it was a Very Complicated Project. Turns out, it was pretty simple. K. is very happy with her dinosaur.

*The box cover is blurry, but I am including it so you can see Why I thought the project might be complicated. Guess I should have at least opened the box, eh?

**I mean, of course, that I would have felt that pea through 100 mattresses. Not that I really would. But you know what I mean.