Happy July 4

Happy Fourth of July to all. For the actual holiday, we went to our neighbor's backyard barbecue and ate some pretty yummy food. It rained that evening, so we skipped the fireworks and went to bed early instead. I guess that means we're old.

Last weekend we went to Camp Joseph in Vermont. We hadn't been camping yet this year so we didn't realize how small our tent was - or maybe how big Bruce got in the last year.

Sleeping was a very tight squeeze. I had Bruce on one side flopping around and sprawling out. On the other side I had Scott rolling over and over. Then there was a pointy rock underneath my thin sleeping mat and about 800 ants. Perhaps we set up on top of an ant hill? I was glad when the night was over.

The rest of the trip was great. I had some fabulous dark chocolate s'mores. We ate tofu foil meals and roasted red potatoes. The campsite was really nice so there were hot showers and a pond to swim in and everything. Bruce played with his shovel in the sand by the pond for a few hours on Saturday. He bashed a pinata with some friends and was thrilled with the two Smarties that he got out of it. He got to see a frog and turtle from the pond and hopped around like a frog for awhile.

It started raining Saturday afternoon. We played in it for awhile, then when we saw the puddle in the bottom of our tent the rain got old. We ate dinner and then packed and headed home. We were happy to sleep on our lumpy bed at home that night (it's been lumpy ever since we folded it in half to fit it up the stairs in our apartment).

Scott's clinical rotation ended. He still has to do another 6-week rotation sometime, but he wanted to get back in the lab and work on some research. He's happy to have a shorter commute to the lab and he even rides his bike, which he loves.

I am busy packing a few boxes and singing Wiggles songs with Bruce. And that whole work thing. At least the iPhone madness is over, but there's an endless pile of work to be done.

Bruce learned how to count to 10 last week. He has also learned to stay on the chair when he has a time-out. Most frequent reason for time-out? Jumping. He constantly jumps on the floor, which our downstairs neighbor does not appreciate.

Photos from the campout by Ellen.