Sprayed clothing drying in the basement. I call it the “Irish tenement” look.

Bob and I are pretty busy getting ready for this trip.  We’ve been gathering information for homeschooling, dealing with bills and accounts and other logistics, and trying to declutter our house so the nice people who are living here while we’re gone will actually have someplace to put their things.  Figuring out what to pack is an ongoing chore, and I think I’ve gotten carpal tunnel from spraying down our clothes with the heavy-duty insecticide that was recommended by the travel nurse and I bought on amazon.

Zoe has had a slightly different focus.  She knows that Lanie, being the youngest and smallest, usually ends up being the limiting factor in what adventures we’re able to take on.  So she’s had Lanie in her own intensive boot camp training, trying to strengthen our chain by bolstering the weakest link.  Luckily Lanie is also a fan of adventures and so has put up with this fairly cheerfully.  (Sadly, I think Zoe is doomed to discover that all the boot camps in the world won’t convince us to take the family on the adventure she’s been salivating over: The Black Hole Drop.

One can only imagine what Day 6 will bring.

This week she’s upping the ante.  She has created an “advent calendar” for Lanie, which requires her to do various physical feats in order to receive a small prize.  Before 7am the other day (when Lanie is usually not even awake yet), I found her in something resembling the plank position, so she could get her prize before Zoe left for school.