Saturday July 11 2009

Today I woke up after a very hard sleep. Alex and Owen were trying to shoehorn their way into bed. Sandy and I managed to get a few more minutes of sleep by telling them to let Jack out.

Woke up and went down to bathe the kids. At a recent doctor appointment, we were told that Owen sweats quite a bit from his feet, and the dryness could be helped by more moisturizing. Sandy and I also decided that daily showers should be implemented. Now that it is summer the kids are out more often. I like to give what I call "Navy" showers - get wet, wash hair, inse hair, turn off water. Appky conditioner, wash the body, rinse, done. These go quickly and I feel they are the most efficient use of water, while allowing the conditioner to work.

After showers we cleaned the cat room, something we do every morning. many people do not clean the litter box every day, and this is a huge mistake. Try flushing every three days and see how YOU like it. When you do it every day there is no smell, and it takes almost no time. Scrape, scoop, dump, and then sweep the floor.

Breakfast consisted of cold cereal for some and hard boiled eggs for other folks. Sandy and I made a pot of coffee (24 ounces) which was not really enough. We decided that we probably need to make at least 30 ounces (5 cups) to be satisfied. The Seroogy's coffe that I wrote about has run out and we are supplementing with Gevalia (prounounced with a hard G) Kona and Eight O'Click French Vanilla. I am very happy that Sandy loves coffee now. Coffee tastes better when shared with someone you love. Additionally, you get the joy of making it for someone. When the boys and Annika are older I know that our family will go through a lot of coffee. I think that's OK. Some people think coffee is carcenegenic, but you cannot avoid every danger in life, and it tastes pretty damn good.

After breakfast I made the bed and then dressed to take the kid to Quarry Hill Nature Center. This past week the kids have attended an afternoon day camp there, and every day they had nature themed activities and went for hikes. Annika was promising to take us on a super trail to find raspberries.

Here is a map of our walk:

The only explanation I can think of is that Annika needed to retrace the entire walk her camp group took to find the raspberry picking spot. Good exercise anyway!

After this adventure we drove home to find Sandy mowing the front lawn. Lately the lawnmower has sounded horrible. We decided it must need new spark plus, which it totally did! $2.30 and the mower is running fine again.

This afternoon I am at work and Sandy is home finishing the packing for camping. Sandy always packs for our tripsl, and while I lament the work she has to do on her own, I can't seem to remember to step up to the plate and take the initiative to do it myself. Sometimes I think Sandy needs a vacation from vacations.

That's it for today.