When we realized that our planned trip to New Mexico was not going to happen, we told the boys we would try to do something closer to home.  As it worked out, we made three short trips and called it a mini-vacation.

Our first little jaunt was to the state fair where the boys and I had a very nice time even though we were constantly wondering how Dean was doing back in the hospital.

The children's barn held their attention for quite a bit and we decided that the zedonk is probably a very stubborn animal.

I thought that sitting on tractors would be old hat by now, but they all had to try several out.

Each boy got to choose two rides and a game of chance - they were satisfied and I was glad we didn't need to spend more time in that area.

We spent quite a bit of time in the heritage area where the boys watched a firearms demonstration and a blacksmith and they all got a chance to pan for gold.

Jeremy and Justin both got to hold this black snake, but J would have nothing to do with it. 

He was much more interested in a truck that was just his size.

We finished up the day watching the pig races.  It was the noisiest thing we did all day and left the boys puzzled.

Our next expedition took us to Maymont where Justin used some of the quarters he'd found in the van to buy some animal feed.

J loves to feed animals even though he's pretty nervous about it.

There were plenty of rocks for the boys to climb on.

We really enjoyed the Japanese garden which inspired the boys to try some karate moves.

The fish pond provided quite a bit of excitement.  The fish were very eager to eat the crumbs that the boys found to feed them.

The leaves were just starting to change.  I wanted the boys to sit facing me, but they chose to turn their backs to me so they could watch the water below.

Our last trip took us to Virginia Beach where the boys actually managed to get in the water three times in less then 24 hours.  We went for a walk on the beach in the moonlight and even though I thought it was too cold to get in the water, all three managed to get in up to their chins.

The next morning we were out on the beach before breakfast and they were more careful since they knew we were going to their favorite breakfast spot in Virginia Beach, but we still ended up with some wet pants.

The early morning is my favorite time to be on the beach but I think the boys got tired of me snapping pictures.

Later in the morning, we were back for more.  I still haven't figured out why we always take goggles.  They never last more then a few minutes on any of the boys.         

All the boys wanted to be buried and even though they rinsed and rinsed, we brought a large pile of sandy clothes and towels home.

We're all hoping that we may get that trip to New Mexico sometime, but having a few special outings helped to mitigate the disappointment just a little.

A week ago, Dean finished up his second stint in the hospital and came home to a family who had already done the happy dance.  Even though we would never have chosen two separate hospital stays for this year, we do have much to be thankful for.

- for Dr. Smith who suspected there might be a clot and sent Dean for testing.

- for Dr. Currie who worked until late Saturday evening making sure that Dean would get the tests he needed.

- that the clots were found before we left on our planned two-week trip and not while we were traveling.

- for my sister who phoned often and listened to me cry more than once.

- for Andrea who added our two boys in with her five children so I could spend time with Dean at the hospital and then fed us all supper.

- for Dean's mom who took the boys for a couple of days in spite of her already very busy schedule.

- for Pastor Doe who visited Dean regularly and offered encouragement.

- for Dean's brother who took time off work to bring the boys home and visit Dean.

- for our church family who prayed and let us know they were praying.

- for my parents who e-mailed often and kept in touch by phone.

- for Dean's sister who traveled four hours with her family to visit while fighting her own physical battle.

- for my nephew who was available as a sounding board and was able to assure us that Dean was receiving proper care.

- for the nurses and aides who cheerfully tended to Dean's needs.

- for Victoria who fixed us a delicious dinner.

- for JJ's grandpa who came out to ask Dean how he was doing when we took JJ home on Sunday.

We are thankful to the Lord for the blessings he gave us during this difficult time. 

As I write, Dean is waiting to get a report from his blood work.  When he went to his allergist 10 days ago for help with his asthma, we never imagined that the doctor would suspect a blood clot in his lungs.  Nor did we imagine all the testing that went along with that suspicion.  And we certainly didn't imagine a 10 day hospital stay.

We thought that it would be a quick doctor's visit and perhaps some medicine followed by packing for our anticipated trip to New Mexico to spend time with family and take in the International Balloon Fiesta. 

Yesterday, I took the boys to church by myself and then we headed up to the hospital to spend the rest of the day with Dean.  When we got there, Dean's sister and her family were there.  Jeremy and Justin were very glad to have some young company for a couple of hours.

They told stories, took short walks and made trips to the water fountain.  Since they kept each other entertained, we adults had time for a nice visit.

They brought an edible arrangement with them from all of Dean's family and we enjoyed an afternoon snack of delicious fruit. 

Later in the afternoon, we popped the boys into Dean's bed, while I took some medicine followed by a short snooze in battle with a sudden migraine.  I took my medicine in time and by the time we left for the day, I was feeling fine.

The evenings are hard for all of us.  Jeremy and Justin - who are usually hearty eaters - haven't been wanting supper, but last night I decided to make hash browns and we all enjoyed them.  Each morning we wake with the hope that Dean will be coming home soon.  We're taking one day at a time and praying for the day when hospital visits won't be on our agenda.

Even though Dean works in Washington, DC once a week, we had never taken the boys to see the sites there until last Friday.  We were up bright and early - at least early - and got to Dean's workplace a little after 7:00.  It was pouring down rain, but the boys were ready to make the three-block hike to the Metro station.  They were impressed by the long escalator leading to the train and were very excited about being able to ride.

I knew when we planned the trip that we would get to the National Mall before any of the museums opened so we began walking toward the west end of the mall.

The boys really wanted to touch the Washington Monument, but it is closed and barricaded because of damage from the recent earthquake.

Then we were off to the memorials.  As we walked the boys noticed the wildlife and we talked about the different trees that we saw.  We also reviewed some history at each memorial we stopped at, and the boys noticed that they were all about dead people.

This is as close as we got to the Jefferson Memorial since none of us wanted to walk all the way around the tidal basin.

The boys were impressed with how large MLK was but were even more impressed with the mushrooms they found in the flower beds. 

The had wondered if they would be able to sit in Abraham Lincoln's lap, but after we got there I didn't hear any more of that idea.  By the time we got to the Lincoln Memorial, it was raining in earnest and we were glad to get out of the rain for a bit.  

As we reached the Museum of American History, we had walked close to two miles and were glad to find some dry seats to rest in for a bit.  The boys had the most fun in the science and technology section and I was just glad to rest while they worked on their projects.  

We had planned to spend more time there, but the stomachs began talking louder than the minds and we headed over to the Old Post Office Pavilion where the boys joined a meet and greet line. 

Well, not really, but when the boys saw these pictures, they decided that this was the souvenir they wanted.  After all, not everyone has a picture of themselves shaking hands with the sitting president of the United States.

After we had our lunch - the boys picked Greek food - we rode two elevators to the top of the Pavilion for a bird's-eye view of the city.  We had been told we could see the White House from the observation deck, but we couldn't even though we enjoyed what we could see.  The glass elevator offered a nice view of the inside of the building as well.

The Natural History Museum was our next stop where the boys were impressed by the large skeletons.  I used to read signs on displays to them, but this time they were reading them and came to tell me that the wolverine's scientific name is Gulo gulo.  I probably wouldn't have read that part of the sign to them.

Jeremy really wanted to visit the National Museum of the American Indian, so we headed towards the east end of the mall on very tired feet.  The building is very nice, but we were all disappointed in its contents.  Perhaps we were too tired to appreciate it but we couldn't find anything about the Navajos and decided we'd head to the Museum of Air and Space.

We didn't have much time to spend there, but the boys joined a paper airplane contest and Jeremy made up for his disappointment in the American Indian museum by winning the contest.  His win gave us all a little boost as we trekked back to the Metro stop bringing our mileage close to four miles.   The boys once again enjoyed their Metro ride and said they would be ready to do it again sometime.  Personally, even though I enjoyed this day in DC as much as any other time, I need a while to forget the sore muscles.  It truly was a great field day in our nation's capital.

For the past three weeks, Justin has been asking when we could go fishing.  Since we were still trying to find our school stride, I put him off and said I would take him after Labor Day.  Little did I know that it would begin raining Monday afternoon and continue for the next three days.  

Tuesday began with great hope in the hearts of the boys, but as the day progressed, the rain continued to fall.  On top of that, a summer cold was making me feel quite miserable and I had no desire to sit in the rain feeling the way I did.  I decided that the fishing trip was off making schoolwork seem ever so much more difficult than usual. 

All day yesterday, the rain continued to fall, and Justin continued to check the weather forecast on an hourly basis.  This morning he saw that the chance of rain was less than 100% and his hopes began to rise.  Both boys dug into their schoolwork but they kept one eye on the sky and noticed each occasional shower.  Around noon, the sky began to darken, but by 2:00 I was ready to take them fishing even if it meant sitting in the rain.  They had more energy than the house could contain and I was worn down by their requests.  They quickly wrapped up their work and we were one the road by 2:15.  I ran the wipers as we drove toward the lake, but just as we rounded the last corner, the sun came out!

The boys cheered the blue sky and headed for the lakeshore with their poles in hand.  I kept hearing fish jump, but it took a while before either boy got a nibble.  Justin finally pulled a fish in while Jeremy found a spot where there was a hungry fish after his worm.  After Jeremy lost his second hook, Justin was able to snag the fish for him bringing more cheers.  This evening, the skies opened up again and we got at least three inches of rain in an hour.  I'm thankful that we had those two hours of blue sky to enjoy a short fishing trip.

Our Labor Day Weekend didn't bring any big cookouts or trips anywhere. 

Justin and Jeremy tried unsuccessfully to light our brush pile on fire, so we made s'mores in the microwave.

J was sporting a toothless smile.

For a brief period of time all laundry was done and all the dishes were clean.

The boys played nicely without fighting.

J slept through both nights without fear.

Dean was able to get caught up on some things that were neglected during his illness.

I got some Christmas shopping done.

See.  Nothing spectacular, but that's what we've been wishing for.  Just a plain, ordinary weekend with no drama and lots love and laughter.

Yesterday, my post on facebook was that I was hoping for a normal week.  We're trying to get into the swing of school and after two weeks of schooling hit and miss between visits to the hospital and doctors, I thought we were finally ready to return to our normal routine of starting our day with some exercise, getting the majority of school work done by lunch and finishing up our school day about an hour after lunch.  That was my wish, my hope, my desire, but it didn't happen.

Was it because the boys are no longer working on an elementary level, or is it the fact that we took a longer summer break then some summers?  It could be that they were used to having Dean at home and were missing him.  It might have been the phase of the moon or the atmospheric pressure.  Whatever the reason, school ended up taking us much longer than we planned yesterday.  Much, much longer - and they were good sports about it.

This morning it looked like we were going to be on a much faster track and by lunch time it seemed that we could be done in another hour and a half.  The boys dug right in and were working independently when the earthquake hit.  Have you ever been inside of a giant, over-loaded, unbalanced washing machine on the spin cycle?  I haven't either, but that's what it felt like.  The entire house was vibrating and even after we were outside we could still hear the vibrations.  Our neighbor across the road was shouting "earthquake".  (As I wrote the last sentence we felt and heard more vibrations so I went to see if the washer was spinning - it was empty.)  The boys' eyes were wide open and I suppose mine were as well.  We were all shaking when we returned inside and the boys declared they couldn't do any more school work.  I called Dean to confirm that it really was an earthquake and as I was talking to him, he got the word that the building was being evacuated.

We have a lot to be thankful for this evening.  Even though we live just 12-15 miles from the epicenter, we live way out in the country where little was damaged.  Between us and the epicenter is a nuclear power plant and it was shut down after the quake.  Having felt this earthquake gives me more understanding for those who have lived through major earthquakes.  Even though we're not going to have that "normal" week this week,  we've enough excitement to made the week memorable.

The second picture I took to show how the boys have different views of "dressed up"  The third picture I snapped while the boys were singing along with their new favorite CD.  They were pretty amazed when I showed them the video.

we visited Dean in the hospital.  Justin has found it quite interesting to watch the nurses insert IV's and he's had fun learning his way around the hospital.  Since Dean has been in the hospital for three days now, it's not quite as exciting and I think Justin will be fine with spending a little more time at home tomorrow and opening up a whole new set of books.

Jeremy wasn't very interested in IV's and medicines and was quite happy to use Dean's bed when Dean was out of it.  Jeremy really misses having Dean at home and he was happy just to be in the same room with him.

Dean's infection is still not under control and we don't know yet how long he'll have to be in the hospital.  I think starting school tomorrow will be good for all of us.   It should help the boys to focus on something else and just getting back into a routine (as much as we can) should be helpful.

With just two weeks of summer vacation left, we filled one week with VBS.  We invited J and his brothers to come with us and they were more than ready to come.  All of our lessons were based on the book of Jonah so we saw plenty of sailors, fish and boats throughout the week.  I was thrilled to hear J quoting his memory verse without prompting several times and just as thrilled as I listened to Justin sing a song that he had written about Jonah.  It was obvious that the children were learning their lessons and it was a delight to see the smiles on their faces as they moved from one activity to another.

Each day J asked if he was going home with us, so on Wednesday we checked with his mother and she gave the okay for him to spend two nights with us.  At the same time, she asked if she could send two of J's sisters to VBS the next day.  Since we don't have seating for eight in our van, it took some creative scheduling, but we got everyone there for the last two days.  When I took J and his siblings home on Friday, they asked if I was going to pick them up again on Saturday.

Throughout the week, Jeremy and Justin were also planning a trip to Pennsylvania.  Dean's parents had invited their grandchildren to go camping with them and we worked it out that I would drive them up as soon as VBS was over Friday afternoon.  The boys talked with their cousin on the phone several times as they planned to go fishing and figured out whose tent to take.  Jeremy and Justin helped with the cleanup while I took J's family home and then we headed north.

Today has been a quiet but full day.  There are no boys around, but I've been busy making salsa.  I decided that I wanted to get that done before we started back to school.  With just one week to go until we begin our school year, I'm hoping to work on my summer list some more and still take some time for a fun day while the boys are away.  And yes, we're starting our school year a little earlier than the norm, but we want to take some time off in the fall and spring and since it's so hot, we might as well stay inside and get some school work done.