The Snipe Hunt

Well, last week was Girls Camp, and I think the highlight for me was our Snipe hunt. I haven't laughed so hard in a long time. About 5-10 years ago, there was a young woman in our ward who got so scared on a snipe hunt that she wet her pants. Therefore, snipe hunts have been taboo in our ward for a long time. However, we decided to lift the ban and have ourselves a grand old time. We especially enjoyed the fact that only a handful of girls knew what a snipe hunt is.
We began our adventure by giving all of the girls a handful of peanuts to sprinkle out in a field near the cabin. We told them that snipes LOVE peanuts, and would be drawn to the scent. Then, when the time for the hunt drew near, the girls painted themselves with peanut butter to mask their own scent and to again, draw the snipes out.
Amazingly, there was a bird-call book at the cabin which had a woodland snipe, complete with bird-call. So we spent the afternoon before the snipe hunt teaching the girls the call of the "Uintah Snipe" in order to lure the cute little creatures (a cross between a quail and a chipmunk) out into the open.
We also told the girls that the birds would be blinded by any flashlights, due to their nocturnal nature, and so they shouldn't have any lights on.
I had an armadillo puppet, and while the girls were out in the middle of the field, crouched low, waving their peanut butter-streaked wrists about, holding pillow cases to catch the snipes, and cawing at the top of their lungs, I put the puppet on my hand, cradled it close to my body, and told the girls they could touch it, but to be very quiet because the poor little snipe was "shaking like crazy," it was so nervous.
After I had caught a couple, we decided to go back to the campfire for s'mores, but half of the girls opted out of the sweet treat in favor of more hunting.
On the final morning, I let all the girls in on the secret, telling them about our puppet-snipe, and made them promise to keep the tradition alive with the incoming beehives.
Sadly, I don't know if that will ever happen again, though, because Sunday in her talk, one of the "believers" told the story in Sacrament meeting.....I guess I'll just have to hope that nobody was listening!

Halloween Preview

For whatever reason, San Francisco is officially the place that Greg chooses to go berserk when it comes to souvenirs. Fortunately he has only been to San Fran a couple of times, but he does bring back fun things each time. This time when he returned (and what I was hoping to post about on Saturday instead of out medical fiasco) was a set of darling little dresses and matching shoes for the girls from China Town. So, assuming I can find something for Rachel to wear, it is quite probable that Greg has picked up this year's Halloween costumes for me, and here is the sneak preview:

Kid-Logic

We just got back from swimming, and I told the kids that they could just put on their PJ's to warm up, even though it isn't bed-time yet. I really don't care what combination of pajamas the girls put on at night, but I couldn't help but laugh when Becca explained the reason her pajamas "matched." For those out there who may beg to differ, the reason (according to Becca) this outfit works is as follows:
These pants are Hello Kitty pants, and I have a Hello Kitty coloring book. And in my Hello Kitty coloring book there is a picture of Hello Kitty working in the garden, and this shirt has pictures of the same things that Hello Kitty was working on in her garden.

No News is Good News

I have to say that right now, no news would be good news, but here I am posting, and sadly, it isn't "good news."
This is a picture of Rachel fast asleep in my arms between bags of saline at Insta-Care. Yes, we had a lovely foray into the medical field today when Sarah decided to "wash Rachel's hair" with some Resolve carpet cleaner.
Apparently the pH of the solution is 12, and it was less than pleasant to have in the eyes. We called Poison Control (1-800-222-1222... yes, I have it memorized) and they had us flush her eyes with water for 15 minutes. I did, and then had to go to a bridal shower, and assumed all would be well when I got home; however, it was not to be. Her eyes were still tearing up and irritated, so I called Poison Control back and was told that I should take her down to Insta-Care.
I have to say that I was really impressed with the service we received down there. They got us in shortly after we filled out the paper work, and they were very thorough in their exams. We got to put 2 liters of saline in her eyes over the course of two hours, with the ever fun litmus-paper test right in her eyes after every 500 ml. I took the picture above between the first and second applications. Rachel screamed the entire time her eyes were irrigated (it took two nurses to hold her down while I pried her eyes open and another nurse hosed her down), but she would fall asleep immediately after each procedure.
Right now, she is sleeping soundly, which is a good sign, and hopefully we will not have to make the midnight trek back to Insta-Care tonight!

Livin' the dream

My morning started bright and early this morning at 4:00 when Greg's alarm went off. He had to leave at 4:30 for San Francisco, so I tried to keep him semi-coherent company before he left. When he was gone; however, I did not see any pressing need to get out of bed, and decided to grab a few winks before the kids woke up. Within seconds I was asleep and dreaming that I was on a road trip, with Rachel screaming. I pulled the car over in my dream and tried to console her to no avail. It felt like she was crying forever in my dream, and it continued into my waking, as I drifted back into consciousness.
I got up, changed her pants, and sent her back to bed when I realized it was only 4:45, and she probably woke up right as Greg left. Still exhausted, I climbed back in bed once more (we were up late packing the night before, and I only had about an hour of sleep the previous night) only to have Rachel wake up again shortly after 5:00. I put her back in bed at 5:18 (I looked at my watch), climbed back in bed, and Sarah woke up, distraught, at 5:30. I climbed in her bed and rubbed her back until she fell asleep, took a couple of Tylenol for the headache that somehow crept into my brain, and gave up on the idea of sleeping in.
By 9:00 my headache had subsided, and since I already had a babysitter lined up, I went to the temple... and let's just say it was a miracle I didn't fall asleep during the session!

Let Summer Begin!

We kicked off summer vacation this weekend with a little bit of 'the good life.' On Friday after school, we had some friends over for a bubble/water party. The weather was a little too cool for the kiddie pool, but they had fun with squirt guns, scented bubbles, and popsicles.
On Saturday, Greg and Grandpa took Becca and Ellie fishing while I stayed home with Sarah and Rachel. Everyone had a great time, too. There wasn't much success with the fishing, but everyone enjoyed relaxing in the boat, and the girls were in heaven holding the fishing poles.
Sarah felt a little bummed that the older girls left without her, but when her cousin Jake arrived, she was thrilled beyond words. He let her watch him play with his game boy, colored pictures with her and then they laughed their heads off at a game on the Wii where you have to pick a giant nose.