washcloth

Ana leaves today for her first sleep away camp. It is supposed to be from today til Wednesday, but I have to go get her on Tuesday so we can go to the Guthrie on Wednesday evening. She is very, very, excited. She did a fantastic job packing her bag yesterday while i was at work. I emailed her the items to pack and she followed it. We checked it over last night and added a few last items.

One of the items on the list was a washcloth. When i got to it she said "What's that for?"

(PS She is a clean kid. We just dont use washcloths a lot, preferring total immersion. I thought it was hilarious though!)

Gramma came on Friday and brought us a great present--an ancient Montgomery Ward rowboat! We put it right in the water and went fishin'. It's perfect for us because I'm the one who fishes with the kids and I don't want to deal with a motor, and also the boys are scared to go out very far so rowing is just easy and fast. It's a solid, sturdy boat with ancient, peeling oars. We wanted to spraypaint "Property of Brian Schurman" on it to make him die of embarrassment but I ain't got that did yet.

Uncle Hans called a few days ago to talk to Elijah about fishing but Elijah wouldn't come in off the dock. Ana was on the phone with Hans relaying messages. Hans told her to tell Elijah he'd give him a present if he'd come to the phone. Nope.

Later that night, WHEN HE HAD TIME, Lij called Hans back and they talked about fishing for a long time. The next day I commented to lij that I had heard that Hans offered him a present if he would come to the phone. Lij continued to reel in his line (yes, he was fishing) and said "Yeah...." and then he stopped, turned to me, and said "What was the present?"

Friday was the Miss Cold Spring pageant stuff and Ana did absolutely fabulous. She was so beautiful and poised. She was proud that she made the judges laugh during her interview. She had a wonderful dimpled smile on her face the entire time. There was one portion that I did NOT like--they asked "final questions" of each candidate and they were NOT age appropriate ("What's your defination of success?"). Ana's question was "What do you like best about yourself?" and she didnt understand it and stood for a long painfully silent moment before the MC rephrased it to help her out a bit. She wasn't the only one that happened to though.

I really, really, really, thought she had a very good chance of winning, but the crown went to Stella Mueller. Ana was very disappointed and we all felt awful for her. She is resilient as ever, though...already asking if she can do it again next year, because it was "SO MUCH FUN!". I agree she did seem to have a good time and get some good learning experiences out of it, and she also got a really nice gift bag (priorities, you know). I'm not sure about next year...I'm not a big pageant person and I don't know if I can handle seeing her disappointed like that again. I know disappointment is normal and good to a point, but that's enough.................

Gramma, Terrie, and Reilly came for the day to get Ana ready for the pageant because if I were responsible for it I'd dress her in bib overalls and drop her off 5 minutes before the festivities began. It was really fun to have them there, especially Terrie who I NEVER see! My brother is being an ass and he better pull his head out quick or I'm going to pull it out for him.

I went down to say goodbye to her before I left for work this morning and there were boys in her bed. Poor girl....she'll probably get some much needed rest at camp :)

Zac was a pill on Friday and I was so embarrassed how he acted for our company. Terrie called him a sqealer which I thought was perfect. He does squeal. He was so awful. So then yesterday he was smiley, clappey, silly, happy, walked around, all those things he should have done for company. Turd.

Wils and Ben are good. Ben alternates between bursts of activity on the beach or at the sandbox and rest periods on the couch under his blanket that smells like pee. Wils is looking forward to his upcoming birthday so he can have the bulldozer he knows is in the trunk of my car. Funny boy :)