Dan at L&L

Dan's been home from the Live and Learn Conference for almost 2 wks now, and it's been a whirlwind of activity. The grandparents came and went -- a visit truly deserving of it's own blog post -- and now we're settling into life post-visit, and post-conference.

I finally figured out how to move pictures from Dan's phone to my email, and then to my computer's hard drive files -- even how to post them on the blogs! Imagine that! One reason for all those technical achievements is that our camera died while Dan was away in North Carolina. I've shopped a few on ebay, but not found any at a price we can afford. Until then, pix from Dan's phone will have to be enough!

Here's Jenny -- I'm not sure why she looks like she's angry at her Fanta soda, but I hear she had a good time in spite of having three kids in her room, and a very long walk to the other buildings from their room in the Night Owl Family Lodge.

Scotty licking a battery -- taken by Dan with his phone. Okay, so the details aren't great, but we've all done the charge-check on a 9-volt battery, so we can imagine what it felt like for Scotty. And anyone who really knows Scotty will be happy to hear he didn't actually eat the battery!

Emma, taking Dan's picture during their infamous 'camera fight' -- apparently it was just another ongoing skirmish, along with the food fight in the (rental) minivan, and a napkin fight (location not disclosed by Dan).

Dan, looking incredibly tired at the talent show -- shared with me by Diana. That's the look on his face when just staying awake takes all his concentration, lest he drift off and fall off his chair.

Dan has regaled us with tales of fishing -- where they caught a sucker fish *this big*; playing in the creek with Emma; swimming in the pond -- he says never swim in a pond, that's where wasps hang out to sting you; rolling down the hill with his heelies -- and he agrees with Kevin, he did break the speed limit; his first night in the top bunk where he almost fell out -- leaving Jenny to share the smaller top bunk with Eliza while the boys shared the expansive lower bunk (have I mentioned before how much my friends love my kids?); the talent show acts; the soccer game; how they were forced to go to McDonalds because "all the restaurants in Asheville were closed -- can you believe that, Mom?"; and so much more.

He had a great time, and has said that the next time there's a conference and I can't or don't want to go, he'll be happy to go with someone else. For future conferences, maybe I'll just put him out there in a *kid for rent -- cheap* t-shirt! (Will actually owned such a t-shirt many years ago)

Dan's on his way!

We woke up at 3 am, and were at the airport by 4:45 for his 6 am flight with Kevin to Live & Learn 07. Here's Dan at check in, wearing his backpack and hauling his own suitcase.

They'll be in South Carolina before Andy & I get to the park for tribal time this afternoon. I'm expecting phone calls from Dallas and Greenville just to let me know they've made it. I am so not an airline traveler, so altho I know (rationally) that he's safe in the air, I'll be happiest when he has his feet on the ground!

One the eve of his trip

As I type this, we're only 8 hours from Dan's departure for his first trip away from home without us. His bag is packed and his backpack is filled with the electronics he wants for his adventure. I've just read Beth's blog and know that she & Emma are waiting in South Carolina for Kevin & Dan to arrive tomorrow.

Dan has been so excited all day -- all weekend, really. We've been on a major cleaning since the grandparents show up next week, and I unearthed 3 of his favorite (missing) CD's for him, after having made another for the trip. His music choices on the new CD are interesting --a few songs by The Jonas Brothers, several by Hannah Montana, two from the Talking Heads, and Sweet Escape by Gwen Stefani! He's an eclectic kid, with his own sense about so many things, from music to hair color and styles, to soccer.

Finally, he's passed out on the couch, only about 30 minutes after announcing he just couldn't sleep. That announcement followed after he came to me at about 7pm and said, in his sweetest voice with smiling face, "SNU-U-U-GGLE!" I climbed into bed with him, exhausted from a day spent shampooing the carpet and packing his bags, and finding must-have items for the trip. Dan wanted to read Garfield, and Andy offered to read for a while, so I got to spend about 10 minutes in bed snuggled up with Dan, listening as Andy read and they both laughed riotously. When Andy had read all he wanted, Gary took over for a while, but Dan found he was restless, so he and I got up to watch TV. One episode of Zack & Cody later, he's out cold!

It's been a very sweet, snuggly, happy evening -- time to try to get some sleep before we get up -- at 3 AM! --to head for the airport at 4:15..... 'sokay, that way tomorrow morning, I'll be too sleep-deprived to be neurotic about air travel.