A week of solitude, animals, debate, and grandparents

This past week Pete took the kids to my parents for 4 days.... and he only lost one kid one time.  (And since the child was returned within the hour, it hardly counts.)  So his status as Father of the Year still stands.

Colsen and Miles attended a camp each morning there in Huntersville, and since it was animal-themed, they LOVED it.  They were able to hold creatures, paint things, get wet, play in the woods, etc., so it was a big hit.

Strider meanwhile attended a 3-day camp about Speech and Debate.  Now ever since he's been home, he's been talking about the syllogisms involved in whatever I say, and the fallacies he spots, thereby "refuting" most of my claims.  This camp may have been a bad idea.

Rayna stayed home with me for the first day, and we had a fun Girls Day, shopping and going out to lunch.  Then she, too, joined the crew at Nonna and Poppa's, which meant...

For the first time EVER I found myself in our house by myself for 2 days!  I worked at a rapid pace, organizing rooms, ordering books, planning school schedules, signing up for classes, and writing more for the GateWay program we've been designing.

  It was weird being in a quiet house for hours on end.  The strangest part was that I kept finding things exactly where I left them!  I found myself talking to the bird a lot.

So it was a thrilling week for all of us... with the exception of Pete, perhaps.

(But before we all start the all-too-common "Poor Pete" refrain, I will note that he took most of the day Friday off to go hang out with some friends from college.  He's also out at Lowe's this afternoon-- all by himself.  He tried to tell me he couldn't take even one child because it was raining. Hmmmm.  So he's getting some of his own solitude time.  : )   )

Due to my error when I sent the camera with Pete lacking a memory card, we don't have any pictures of the kids' camps other than these couple I caught yesterday.