Recuperation

I have been in recuperation mode since arriving yesterday.  What a joyous reunion - those boys are keeping me on my toes.  

First of all they periodically ask if they can help me bring some more things in from my car, which means they can open the hatch and climb into the back, exploring everything there.  The first thing Justin (almost 5 yr old) found when he got in the back yesterday was my walking stick.  He said, "Oh is this for me?"  I told him that it was mine, and he asked "But where is mine?".  This went on and on until I told him that he would require a very special stick, a shorter one, and that we would have to find one that would fit him.  Judy, you would make a great hit in these parts!  I could get each of them a walking stick and in minutes they'd be swinging them at each other.  I don't think that would be a good idea!  Boys!

They really have been helpful and I can tell they've prepared for my visit.  We looked at the maps they kept updated from my travels, and Josh was excited that he was the one who found Schroeder, MN after they all looked for quite some time.  Schroeder is on Lake Superior and I stayed in a motel there one night.

This morning I watched cartoons with them and it brought back memories of having little boys - they constantly are at each other, play fighting, pretending they are hurt by the other, etc.  Mostly I could break it up fairly quickly.  To my question of what did they want for breakfast they responded "coffee cake".  That's something I always get for myself when I'm in the east and I can see I spoiled them too.  So today I went shopping and came back with coffee cake.

It's warm and on the muggy side, and the humidity feels good on my skin.  I truly prefer a bit of humidity to the total dryness of CA and the west, although I know it can get to be oppressive after a while.  

Here's a photo of the boys showing me the 5# Hershey Bar their dad won.

I think I will sit out on the back deck and wait for the deer to start moving from the woods and across the backyard.  There is a lot of wildlife in those woods and maybe I can even glimpse the wild turkeys or the red fox!