Girls and Boys

Last Sunday, after church, Bruce told me that the scouts needed another adult to go with them on their Friday night camping trip. Normally I don't like Bruce to go away over night; I don't sleep well when he's gone.  But with Ryan—my youngest boy—in scouts now I saw a little opportunity shining on the horizon:  Brandon and Ryan would both be on the campout; Jason would be invited, too.  The scouts are never loathe to have an extra adult leader, and Michael—an Eagle Scout—is now old enough to go as an adult.  Could it be that I could get rid of all my men (half my family!) and just have a girl's night at home?

Yes!  It could be!  Friday afternoon all my men went on the campout and the girls and I stayed behind to play together.

First I dyed my hair—and my eyebrows, too.  (That's a very girly thing to do.)  I'd been planning to color it back to my original, real color, and I think I got pretty close.  It's darker than I expected, but when it's pulled into a ponytail the roots look right (sans gray).

Then we went and got my sister Melanie and her daughter Emalee (whose home was also short on testosterone Friday night) and we went to Jordan Park for a picnic.  Sandwiches, strawberries, string cheese, rice fritters, and cold water—nice!  While at the park we toured the world at the International Peace Gardens.



in front of the Japan Peace Garden

Back at Melanie's house the girls played tag in the dark for a little while.  Then my girls and I came home to have mint Oreo milkshakes and watch How to Train Your Dragon.  We brought the little girls' mattresses and bedding up into the living room.  I, of course, fell asleep about one-third of the way into the movie, and slept for about a third of it.  After the show Lindsey and I went to bed in our own rooms and the little girls camped in the living room.

movie and living room campout

Saturday morning we had a lovely breakfast of scrambled eggs and toast, with strawberry-banana smoothies.  Mmmm!  Then we cleaned up the house in preparation for more fun.  I was hoping that my PELL money would be here by this morning so we could go shopping—that would have been very girly fun!  But, no.

The boys all got back around 11:30 that morning.  They just had canned chili for dinner, and French toast for breakfast.  Here's what they had to say about their trip:"They didn't plan anything interesting to do."  "There was lots of dirt and bugs."  And Bruce said, "By the way, a cooler full of ice and sodas is lots of fun."

Jason and Michael hiked to a big rock

They are all smiling and cheerful, so maybe sleeping on the ground with dirt and bugs—and drinking lots of cold soda—equates to great fun for guys.  Or maybe they're just glad to be home, since they're all saying that the scouts didn't plan anything—not even a hike.

Brandon sleeps under a log

I think the girls won this round.