More Heidt, More Fun

Monday, August 17, 2015

Why yes

That is a rat tailed maggot. The only person more excited about this than William was his group leader who enthusiastically detailed some of the rat tailed maggot's best attributes- it doesn't need oxygen in the water! It can breathe through its tail!

Minnesota trip, day 2

The next day, I dropped the kids off at camp and Gemma, Grandma and Mama shopped for grandma's new house. Grandma and grandpa have lived in their new house for about 2 months now and it looks so nice! But, they still need a few things to organize their new spaces. Grandma and I worked at this and got some things done. Gemma was most impressed to find a bed that was just her size. And on clearance too!

We picked up the kids and got to hear all about their day. William, in particular, was impressed with the bugs his group found on the pond that morning.

Day 1 - grandpa Heidt+ cousins

After a full day of camp, we got to spend some time with Grandpa Heidt and our cousins! We just love being able to spend time with these cousins! The kids played and played until we dragged them away to eat dinner.

One minute we were eating pizza and the next minute I turned to see Gemma fast asleep on the table. She was passed out and done. I tried to gently wake her without any success.

Funny story now that wasn't funny at the time:

We were leaving and I packed up all of our belongings before scooping Gemma up. She woke up a little and then I thought she went back to sleep. Just as we walked through the doors out of the restaurant, Gemma's entire body stiffened and she began to scream. It startled me and I had to work to not drop what I was carrying (pizza box, purse, sleep heavy 3 year old).

I set Gemma down on the cement outside the restaurant and she refused to put weight on one of her feet. She kept screaming. My guess is that she fell asleep with one foot tucked under her backside and the foot fell asleep. When she straightened her leg, it hurt a lot, which was a surprising and somewhat frightening way to wake up.

I heard sirens and I looked up to see 2 police cars turn into the parking lot. I scooped Gemma up and hurried to get William and Amelia out of the way, as I could hear more sirens approaching. Emergency workers should worry about quickly getting to an emergency, not about little kids in the middle of a parking lot.

Gemma was still screaming. The first two police officers ran into the restaurant (I have no idea what happened inside that required emergency response, it isn't that big of a place). The second set of officers parked and got out of the car. They walked toward the building, and quickly detoured to my car in response to Gemma's screams. One of the officers asked me a question I could hear due to the crying. He repeated himself. He was inquiring if we were okay. Gemma was still crying huge crocodile tears and sobbing loud enough to...well, loudly. I reassured the officer everything was ok and I had everything under control. As he walked away, I could tell my the look on his face that he didn't believe me completely about having this under control. This is the piece that now makes me giggle.

I got everyone loaded into the van just as the fire engine pulled into the lot and parked right behind me. Which meant we were blocked in with a wailing preschooler in the backseat. It wasn't long before William and Amelia were begging to get out of the car.

Lucky, the emergency inside didn't require the fire truck and they left quickly, which allowed us to leave after only a few minutes.

Quarry Hill, part 1

The kids were so excited about their Quarry Hill week. We got there a little early and were delighted to find lots of wild life to greet us. Mama Duck and her babies, a pair of mallards out for a walk and a herd of turtles were just waiting to say good morning to us as we walked around the pond (we were early).

Summer vacation 2015

Whew! We have been running like crazy since the Fourth of July. I finally have 20 minutes to sit and put some thoughts down. I'm terribly behind - I have a 15 day trip to Minnesota to talk about as well as the first days of school.

We had swimming lessons and fun with friends in the middle of July. I did a little bit of presenting for the state of Missouri.

The last week of July, I had the kids signed up for Quarry Hill nature camp as I did last year. The kids enjoyed themselves so much, everyone was eager to do it again this year.

The Sunday before camp, John loaded the van and I drove the three kids on my own to Minnesota. They did very well in the car, despite some heavy rain.