Up and at 'em

I have to write this up, because, as most of you know: I don't like to over-book. I like to have lots of interesting things to do and think about, but I don't like every hour of every day to be accounted for. However, last week turned out to be the exciting exception.

Last week went like this:

8-12:30 ScienceWorks Mammal Camp (daily)
*I taught 4-6 year-olds key character traits of mammals with lots of charades, stories, and activities. Dane and Aubrey came along daily as my helpers/students.
*Two of those days, nieces and nephews (Jude and Barrit, Indi) came and gave awesome demonstrations about guinea pigs and rabbits!
*Hence, two of those days, I rewarded them with yummies at Yogurt Hut for a half hour before dropping Aubrey off at...

1 - 4 Gym N Swim at the Y (daily)
*Aubs Gymmed and Swimmed her heart out
*During this time, I planned the next day's class, cleaned the house, made dinner, and walked the dog.
*Two of those days, Aubs followed her already long day with...

4:15-5:30 Hot Shots Gymnastics Class (Tues, Thurs)
*A certain someone can now do kick-overs (back walk-overs)! And lots of 'em. In a row.

5:30 - 11
*On Monday, a pool party with my writing group
*On Tuesday, a Styx concert for Mick and me at Britt Fest / another pool party for the kids with Jennie (until 11pm -- thanks, Jennie!)
*On Wednesday, Big Bad Voo Doo Daddy at Britt Fest with the kids, including lots of swing dancing on the hillside
*On Friday, a party at my friend Davis's 250 acre home in the woods -- with trampoline and band!

So, that was just Monday thru Friday.

Friday night, my cousin's wife Peggy and her two boys, Nic (12) and Zac (9), showed up at midnight to spend the weekend at our house to see Oregon Shakespeare Festival plays (four total!). While Peggy saw "Ruined" at 2 on Saturday (not necessarily kid-appropriate), I took all the kids swimming at the Daniel Meyer pool. Before that, though, we had lunch here -- and our friends Matthew and Bethany Nielson from Dental School stopped by on their way south with their two kids!

Sunday, while Peggy and the boys were seeing Hamlet, we were invited to a BBQ/Pool party with new friends here in Ashland. (Amazing water slide at this one. Sheesh!)

If you've read this carefully, you might notice that the real trooper here is Aubrey -- for at least two of those days, she was up and at 'em from 7am to 11pm, with a lot of activity already in her day.

This week, we're gearing up to have my parents come to town (tonight) for a long weekend. I hope to take them to Lake of the Woods to float around in the hot sun with us, and we're scheduled to do the Hellgate Jet Boat Brunch Tour, to get our stomachs satiated and our bodies soaked!

In the meantime, on Monday Dane and I took eight hours and completely emptied out (and then re-filled) his and Aubrey's room (Aubrey was at her new pal Mia's all day) and I got out this:


And their room went from two tall lofts head-to-head (you can kind of see here how both lofts were tall enough to walk under, if you're under age 9):


To one tall loft and a shorter loft tucked underneath the tall one.

[woops, can't find the camera; will post photo here when I find it]

So cool, we can hardly handle it.

I can't believe it took me 39 years to discover the joy of using a Sawzall.