Day 17: Volcano Take 2

Post date: Jul 27, 2012 6:2:29 AM

For a moment today, I thought Russell might be mellowing. He caught a caterpillar and, although he really wanted to squash it in his fingers, he allowed himself to be convinced to spare him, to feed him a leaf and let him go. I was so proud of him for softening, for letting out the little angel that I know lives in him...until I overheard him saying that he was going to wait until that caterpillar turned into a butterfly and then he was really going to get him.

We climbed 439 huge steps this afternoon, up to the top of the Mount St Helen's viewpoint, where we talked at length about volcanoes and pumice and pyroclastic flow. Then we came down and nobody fell off the mountain, nobody got hurt by a thrown rock, nobody got a sunburn. Amazingly enough, my children behaved and nothing was ruined at all. Well, until we started the car to leave the mountain and Leo and Russell screamed "I'm sexy and I know it!" out the window almost the entire way down. I'm pretty sure we ruined someone's peace and sanity at that point...someone other than me, I mean.

We met up with Grampa and Gloria yesterday and the kids are loving the extra attention...and the doughnuts and cookies and gingerale as well. We're staying in an RV park where Grampa has a membership and our kids have shot off rockets and giant nerf bows and generally impressed and terrified all of the other kids in the campground. And Elsie stands now! She really stands for at least ten or fifteen seconds at a time, all by herself. She's very proud of her newest trick.