5.4 or, There and Back Again

Dear Corbin,

You spent most of June on a long camping trip with G&G Lam.  It was the first trip in their new RV.  You were excited when you were leaving, and you were excited to come home.  When you got home you told me, "I'll never leave you again!"  Which all of your adults agreed would probably not last past middle school, but I appreciate the sentiment none the less.

Your first week was spent driving to Madison.  It was so hot in Arizona and Texas that you could barely play outside.  Then you drove through tornado weather in Kansas and Missouri and Iowa.  I kept calling Grandma to make sure that you hadn't been blown away to Oz.  Your stay in Madison was very nice, seeing lots of friends and getting to play with some other kids.  Then you drove up to Menominee, which was so full of mosquitoes that, again, you couldn't play outside.  You did manage to have some fun catching bugs, and visiting with Aunt Cele and Uncle Russ, but Grandma and Grandpa decided that it was a better idea to come home early.  It was a very disappointing part of the trip, especially for Grandma, who thought she would have a whole other week with her family.  Hopefully we'll be able to visit again and have a better experience.

On your way home, you drove through severe weather again.  That was one of the biggest reasons I was glad when you were back.  You stopped at Mr. Rushmore and the Corn Palace, but they weren't very fun.  The really fun stops were at Wall Drug and Bryce Canyon.  The place you didn't want to leave was Devil's Tower.  You thought it was pretty awesome.  We'll have to go back when we can do the big hike around the base.

The biggest change while you were away was that Dad got his motorcycle license and bought a motorcycle.  He gets home much earlier, now, which was the point of the whole exercise.  It's always nice when a plan works out.  You were interested at first, but it became mundane fairly quickly.  Which is good--it will be just fine if you do not end up as a motorcycle rider.  Learning to drive a stick shift, on the other hand, is definitely something I want you to do.

Dad and I went and looked at more houses while you were gone, but we didn't see any that we wanted to buy.  So we've doubled our search now, to include houses for rent, with the idea that we might just find a better house to rent for a few years.  Grandma was hoping we would find a new place while you were gone, but it's still a slow process.

So home didn't change much while you were away.  The pile of books on my dresser has grown, and some or your too-small clothing went to Goodwill.  And now we're all back to normal.  Or, as normal as this family ever gets.

Love,
Mom

2.3 or, Get Along Little Dogies

Dear Miriam,

You spent June on a long camping trip in G&G Lam's new RV.  You came home covered in mosquito bites and addicted to a cd of Little People Cowboy Tunes.

Your first week was spent on the road to Madison.  It was crazy hot in Arizona and Texas.  Then you drove through tornado weather in Kansas, Missouri and Iowa.  I keep watching the severe weather reports and calling Grandma to make sure you were all safe.  You spent a few days in Madison seeing lots of friends.  Then you drove to the UP to stay at the cottage for two weeks.

Unfortunately, the mosquitoes were so bad in Michigan that you couldn't be outside almost at all.  There was so much rain this spring that all the marsh land by the cottage was flooded, and about three years worth of mosquito eggs had hatched.  I'm sure the birds and bats were happy, but the humans were definitely not.  So, even though it broke Grandma's heart, you decided to leave for home a week early.

You stopped at some fun places along the way, like Wall Drug and Devil's Tower.  Other places, like Mt. Rushmore and the Corn Palace, were over-run with tourists and not very fun at all.  You got to see Bryce Canyon, and spent a night in Las Vegas.  But you were very, very happy to be home.

You gained weight this month, probably because of all that time spent sitting in the RV and having snacks whenever you wanted.  Some of them might even have been healthy.

You are a monkey on the go these days.  You love to run and climb.  You make us swing you around and carry you upside down.  You ask me to throw you on the bed and tickle you on the couch.  You do funny dances and funny walks.  The other day when I came home from work, you jumped up and down and screeched for a few minutes, and then ran off into the living room.  It was pretty much what I imagine life will a chimpanzee would be like.

On the other hand, I'm pretty sure a chimpanzee would not crawl up onto Grandma's lap and say, "Let's see what Marmaduke is up to today."  One morning when you were still tired and cranky, we had this conversation:

Me: Do you want some milk?
You: No.
Me: Okay, no milk.
You: Yes.
Me: Yes, milk?
You: I said no and yes.

While you were gone, Dad got his motorcycle license and bought a motorcycle.  I'm not sure exactly what Grandma told you before you got home, but we had this conversation:

You: That's the motorcycle.
Me: That's Dad's motorcycle.
You: I don't want to ride it.
Me: You don't want to ride it?
You: It's too dangerous.

I had sent a couple of new cds with Grandma for the trip, but you only wanted to listen to the cowboy songs cd.  Now you break out into choruses of, "Ki yi yippee yippee yay!" when you're playing, which I find really funny.  I suppose at some point I'll walk in and you and Grandpa will be watching The Good, the Bad and the Ugly instead of Tom and Jerry.

Love,
Mom