The Friday trip to the lake was spectacular. It was filled with some wonderful memory makings. The trip up was uneventful. The cave was much smaller than I had thought, but all the kids thought it was really cool, and it was. There was nice playground at Cave in Rock and we had a big lunch. Devon manned the watermelon and learned how to slice it. It went very well.
We packed up and headed for the lake. It was a beautiful day and the water was really warm. Every child, even Adyson, swam. At one point we only counted 31 children, and our head count was supposed to be 32. Morgan was living under the water, and after we dragged everyone out to count, we breathed a relief and they all tumbled into the water again. Jack S learned to do back flips and head stands. Devon said he had never been swimming in a lake and loved it.
Jalen and Wilbo, Briana and Jasmin, David and Addie were too daring even for us and moved out into the lake on inner tubes and water wings. We can't use these things at the pool, so it was nice to see the kids play on floaty things. No one knew what an inner tube was, and after a few miss communications, we decided to call the floaty device a "ring."
Jack H really swam, as did Morgen, Alan, Justin and Taylor, Peyton and Hadley, Mateo and Mayli and Dhezmond and Faith and Aidan. The non swimmers like Daymon and Caleb went under water without hesitating which taught them a lot.
Madison and Lexi spent most of the afternoon lolling in rings.
Kaito brought his dad, Mayli brought Susie, Faith brought Hazel, Morgan brought Mother, Alex brought mom as well and we all had a lot of fun in the water.
We had some dare devils like Triston and Dawson and Alana and MJ who who couldn't stay in one place and had to be fetched in several times, but the lake is shallow and the danger is minimal.
When all was said and done, we climbed out, or we thought we did. The children kept dashing back into the water with pleas of "It's time to go!" It took nearly a half hour to get dressed. Upon finding the boys playing with underwear on their heads, we took them home "As is."
The bus ride home was uneventful. We cast lots for sleeping children. Susie won the wager with 20 asleep at the Wabash toll.
Next trip is to the sheep sheering farm. We don't know what that's going to be like - hope it's not too hot.
Then on the 14th it's St. Louis. That's a long one. We'll probably leave at 7:00.
Now why are vets wonderful?
Over the last few days, Cookie has had an eye infection. We've tried to manage it with some medicine we've had treating her as we could. It became obvious yesterday that we needed some help. I've had Duane Van Houton as a vet for nearly 30 years. He likes the school and has been over to talk to the children on a couple of occasions. In return, we bring him interesting jobs like Maestro who he thinks is a "fine animal." He has cared for our animals over the years and has given us wonderful advice. Today he said that Cookie had to have emergency surgery for an infection that she may not recover from. He is the kindest most pro life vet I know. "Give her a chance," he said, and we did. I'll bring Cookie home at 3:00 to my house and care for her here until Wednesday. If she survives, we will keep the pet room closed for a few days until she is able to tolerate children again.
Once I took two guinea pigs in because they weren't quite right. "They have cerebral palsy," he said. "What do you want me to do with them," I asked. He got that big farm boy grin on his face, and said, "I want you to take them home and feed them." They lived about a week. Duane is the kind of model we like for our children. He's friendly, interested and matter of fact, but mostly, he's kind.
More than anything, Duane is curious about how things work and don't work. He's not one of those touchy feely vets; he's a pragmatic, interested, kindly medicine man and we appreciate all he does for us.
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