Anywhere but home

Still sick! Most of the kids are over it now, but for some reason, I seemed to be the hardest hit. Thanks to Merrilee bringing a delicious meal on my worst day and Kirstin really rising to the occasion, I made it through. We finally figured out that this virus that we all keep getting is called mouth and hoof disease. Rob is trying to suppress his tendency to verbalize his observations on the similarities of certain humans to certain animals. He's gotten in trouble with that one before!

Maybe we're being irresponsible, but once the kids showed signs of recovery, we found every excuse to be out and about. Our first outing was to attend Robbie's court of honor. It was a little disappointing because we sat through 1 1/2 hours of sedation, waiting for Robbie to get his Tenderfoot. Our patience, however, went unrewarded due to a capable but forgetful scoutmaster. As we were walking out, Robbie said, "How come I didn't get my award?" He was disappointed but handled it so well. He did lead the flag ceremony and did a great job. I'm grateful to Rob for all his work with Robbie in scouting. He puts alot of time into adapting the requirements to Robbie's needs and makes him work for what he gets. He has been the 11 year old scout leader but will be leaving that position at the end of the year to move up with Robbie.

We had a little cooler weather (mid 80s) and low humidity this week so we decided to go to the zoo with the MacQueens. We've been there several times before, but the kids were especially excited this time because the zoo has a new train ride.













I forgot to buy myself a token so Kirstin held Aidan on her lap for the trip. I was nervous, but had no need to worry. She proved her self to be very capable.














Aidan wanted to feed the animals but was too nervous to let the animals eat out of his hand. He would put one pellet on the fence board and watch them try to get it. He thought it was so funny. His little giggles get me every time.

It's been a nice summer and we're looking forward to wrapping it up this next week. Caleb and Kirstin are very excited to not have to do their "homework" any more. They're pushing to finish everything on Tuesday so they can enjoy a few days off before school starts. They certainly deserve it!