Playing Hooky

Bruce and I had been planning on having a family day out all winter vacation. To accomplish this, Bruce had to be off work as well as the kids off school. The days surrounding Christmas were spent with family who came in from out of state. (We really enjoyed having you Greg and Mindy, and hope that you come again soon! Maybe we'll have our bathrooms remodeled by next time!) No problem, Bruce had Friday and Monday surrounding New Year's Eve off too, so did the kids (at least that's what I thought.) Friday and Saturday were hunting season for Bruce and Lydia, so those days were out. So we planned to go on Monday. However upon checking the actual schedule (always a good thing to do) I found out that the kids were supposed to go to school on Monday. DRAT!! We have a membership to the science center, but it expires at the end of the month. Anyway, we deliberated long about it, we prayed about it, and in the end, we pulled the kids out of school for a family day at the science center. I told the kids that this kind of thing will never happen again, so don't even ask. It's probably a good thing that we went on Monday, because I came down sick on Tuesday, and if normal family policy stands true, it will take a week or two to get it through the whole family.

Call me a bad parent if you want, but it was one of our best days ever!

There is nothing in this world better than a 2 year old hug. (Bruce says that it looks like my head is coming out of his body backwards.)

Here we are inside a nose at the grossology exhibit.

This is just a whacky picture that I found when I took the pictures off the camera this time. Check out where Clayton is sitting.

On a completely unrelated topic, we've been having problems with Ally (our 6 month old puppy) running wild when ever the front door is opened. I can't tell you how many things this dog has made me late for. No matter how hard we try, she always manages to dart out between the legs of whoever is opening the front door, and then she's off like a shot. There is NO getting her back either. It's a complete game to her. Well I got sick of playing, so I finally gave in and bought a remote controlled shock collar online. It came this morning. Upon opening the package I had a laugh. Look at how big the collar is. It would fit around a grizzly bear's neck! I'd hate to see the dog that it would fit!

Anyway I adjusted the mile long thing to fit her neck, and I couldn't resist testing it out. I set the dial to the lowest setting. I opened the front door and let her out into the yard. Off she ran; I called her and when she ignored me I pushed the button. (Unfortunately I pushed the wrong button. There is one for the stimulation setting that the dial reads, and there is a button that gives the stimulation two notches up from what the dial reads.) I pushed the button for two steps up. Oops! Well she yelped stopped. I called her and again pressed the wrong button. (Only the second time did I realize my mistake). She yelped and ran back to me. We hung out in the yard for a few minutes. Our neighbor came walking down the street. Ally ran out to greet them. I let her go to the end of the yard and told her to stop. When she continued, I gave her a little shock (this time with the right button). Amazingly, she ran right back to me. Yay for miracles! The down side is that I think she thinks she's in danger if she isn't right on my heels. She's been shadowing me ever since. I really don't think we'll need this thing for long. I just hope she isn't smart enough to figure out that it doesn't work if she's not wearing it.