Mount Travmore

Katie is already missing her big brother, even before he goes off to camp. And Travis is milking our upcoming separation for all it's worth. The constant refrain is, "Aren't you going to miss me when I'm gone?" "I'm going to miss you!" "Give me one, last hug!" The drama of it all is, well .... dramatic. Today she decided that she needed to carve Travis's likeness in wood, to "have something to remember him with." I didn't pay much attention to this until I walked into the kitchen and found her stabbing away at a piece of wood with a Very Sharp pocket knife. Ed was sitting across from her (reading the paper), but the likelihood of Serious Injury Involving Much Blood still seemed to me unacceptably high. So I made Ed go off and find his Dremel tool. This turned out to be such a fun project that Travis had to join in as well!

Travis's Portrait in Wood never did get finished because Katie's perfectionist streak reared its head and she became frustrated that her carving was not an exact replica of her brother's face, but they had a good time and no blood was spilled.
Speaking of camp, someone called from the camp today to report that they have had two "doctor diagnosed" cases of swine flu. It wasn't campers, and the sick people are recovering (so the woman says), but she wouldn't tell us more. She said they were following all the Recommended Procedures. Which I suppose includes calling parents to let them know that there are Swine Flu Germs running rampant at the camp. Very comforting. I am adding it to my list of Things to Worry About. Drowning, Snakes, Precipices, Falling Off Top Bunks, Bears, etc., etc. and now Swine flu. I am counting the days until we can pick him back up, and we haven't even dropped him off yet!