There will most likely be few, or no posts for August. DH and I had originally planned to take the month off and go away somewhere together - you know,we never had a honeymoon. Things are quiet here at home with Jessebear working and teaching full-time, Kyle not getting many hours at the orchard due to all the rain (poor farmers out here) and Abby's babysitting slowing down some. The local homeschool community sort of vanishes in July and August, unlike us, most people take the summer off. We just got the call informing us that my MIL is quite ill and going into the hospital tomorrow, so we are off to Texas to try and help out. Jessebear, the adult, will be in charge and will have to learn about winning over one's charges and not treating human beings like horses. It will be a good opportunity for all to grow and mature - if they so choose to see it as such. Or, there will be typical sibling interactions, wailing and gnashing of teeth.

We just returned from camping on the shore - which was mostly quite lovely. Unfortunately, there were no warning signs posted anywhere, and while the girls were swimming, they got quite stung by many of these little devils http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_nettle
which is rather funny, because Bubba said it felt like she had gotten into a very large patch of Stinging Nettle. We've never seen any signs posted at the beach or the entrance to the state park, but after we had to get the ranger to come out and bring us some vinegar to treat the girls, posters suddenly appeared at the entrance and at the ranger stations. Since we've come home, we've been doing some reading on jellyfish. Another interesting site is http://www.nationalgeographic.com/ngkids/9608/jellyfish/

I must say - it put a bit of a damper on the camping trip. The girls did not feel well so we came home a day earlier than planned. Other than that, though, it was hot, sunny, hot and quite nice.