High Adventure/Survival Week

So while Eric is off on the Varsity/Venture scout high adventure this week up at Havasupai Falls, the kids and I are left at home to survive our own (in)adventure.  It would be so much easier if this were just a business trip during the school year, the kids would be occupied with school all day, and it would be much cooler outside and the kids could play out there in the afternoons.  But it's not.  It is the summertime in Arizona, which means the kids are home from school and it is around 105 this week.

We've done alright this week.  The day the boys all left we went swimming and then headed to Target and bought way way too much junk food.  I let the kids each pick out their own cereal, one candy treat, and one "other" treat.  I picked up hot dogs, chicken nuggets, french fries, and pizza rolls for the kids to eat for dinner over the course of the four nights Eric was to be gone so I didn't have to cook.  And when I saw the bill, I was reminded as to why we never shop like that, EVER.

My headaches have been quite active again the past few weeks as well, and I was really worried how well I would be able to handle everything here at home without Eric.  The kids are probably very appreciative of the headaches, although they might not realize it.  I've let the messy rooms slide, they've only had to do the bare minimum-pick up clothes, put/shove the buckets back under beds, clear a path to their beds.  As long as I can still see floor, I'm okay.  It's just not worth the fight, or the energy, to have the kids clean their rooms properly this week.  Maybe next week...

We've kept our activities to a minimum as well.  I had thought I'd be filling our days with as much as I could, but with this spike in headaches, that's just not possible.  One big thing a day: swimming, a primary activity, a movie (Pirates!), swimming again.  We bought a new Nintendo game as well: Guilty Party; it's like clue for the Wii, and we've been playing that a couple of times a day.  The boys love it, Maddie watches, and Eme can do a few of the mini-games on her own.  We did adjust our writing prompt for the week to: what I think daddy is doing while camping, they each included a picture too (which they can give to Eric for Father's Day-two birds with one stone!)

The tv has, miraculously been off more than it has been on.  And the kids have done a decent job of playing together, without fighting.  They have been kind and helpful, both with each other and with me.  We've ended each day the same way, and I'm sure this has a great bearing on the calm we have had: we've been extra diligent about our family scripture reading.  The kids each get a dessert (ice cream sandwich) and I start, we don't read very much, just 20 or so verses, but it has been the real life saver of this trip.

I'm just not looking forward to the lingering smell in my car leftover from 4 young men who wouldn't have remembered to bring an extra 2 gal of water and a clean pair of clothes-so they could "shower" and be clean for the drive home.  It's a good thing I've got Fabreeze, because with the high temps, that is one smell that is NOT likely to go away on it's own.

this is what Eric looked like when he came home, before shaving the week-long beard off.