Ketchup, or Catsup, or Catch-up

Sometimes, I am just way behind in life.Colby found a friend in Yogi!

We went on vacation in July - what a great veg time. Tom told me I could not make an itinerary for anything. I could not make menus for meals. I could simply enjoy it as it rolled out. That was a little scary. We drove 2 cars with Tom's mom and dad and their camper. "Home" was Jellystone campground in Cave City, KY. We explored Mammoth Cave, Dinosaur Land, a wax museum, swam, went down the camp waterslide, wagon hayrides daily, crafts, part of a movie outside, roasted smores, ate lots of fast food as well as grilled, and had a great time! There was rain every single day in the forecast, but only 2 nights did it actually come down. There were 6 of us in the camper, and we still like each other. Tom and I are drooling looking at buying one again. That was the whole point of us buying the truck 5 years ago, and maybe just maybe when we don't have 2 car payments, we'll find a camper payment instead. He was looking at new ones, I was looking at Craigslist, but by the time we really get around to doing anything, the new ones will be craigslist-ed!

My 3 favorite boys after 7 or so flights of stairs up, and 2 miles of walking in the cave.

Watching the ducks at Jellystone pond.

School starts tomorrow for Evan - 2nd grade, and so it has been the last-minute rush to do all the things we haven't done yet. It was T and E at Six Flags last week, and E, his buddy and me at Raging Rivers yesterday, and Chuck E Cheese (Charles the Rat) today. Colby has another 10 days or so before Rainbow preschool T-Th mornings, and speech at SIU-E on M-W isn't until September. He went to the doc for his school physical, and guess what, he has an ear infection. Since he's completely asymptomatic, I opted for the chiropractor and probiotics instead of antibiotics. We'll see how that looks in 10 days.

This weekend is a subdivision garage sale at my mom's, so we'll spend the weekend there while Tom rearranges and does some finish work on the kitchen - drawer handles anyone? I have more cabinet space than I have had in my life, and the most inefficient use of it, so he's in charge of doing a better job than I have thus far. It shouldn't be hard for him.

Clouds & Rockets & Hammers

We were driving home from errands yesterday, and my small son noticed the light, puffy, fair-weather cumulus clouds in the sky.

Mommy, what made the clouds there?
God made them, but it's really water vapor in the sky.
No, did a rocket? Made the clouds come here? Cause rockets make clouds in the sky.


He is also exploring the origins of life. He knows babies grow in mommy's tummies, so he assumed that we swallowed a baby to make it grow. I didn't really correct that thought for a while, but we have talked about my friend Tanya miscarrying twins, and delivering one at home. I had to explain how the doctor had to cut me to get them out, but not Tanya. Are you confused yet? We have now discussed that us girls have a special hole for babies. aack, how do I explain this to a 3 year old, and what does he really want to know? Where is your father for these conversations in the dark at night, going to sleep?
Me - Ok, God made a special hole for babies to grow in and come out of.
C - Did he use a hammer to make a hole?
Me - No, I am pretty sure a hammer would hurt.
C - Then how did he make a baby hole?
Me - God makes us perfectly, with all the parts and holes we need.
Time to change the subject, please!

And Tanya has a beautiful baby boy who is almost a year old. It's interesting to me that Evan remembers how upset I was by her miscarriage 2+ years ago, and Colby remembers us talking about her. Memories like an elephant!