Outdoor School (a few thoughts, anyway)

Figure 1: Heart Hands

So much has happened since last Sunday!  Only a week of calendar time has elapsed, but it feels like a lot longer than that.  We were away on Outdoor School adventures from Monday-Thursday.  It went really well.  There were a lot of moving pieces and logistics to the trip, but it all went pretty smoothly.  The weather was good, the kids were good, and places we went were neat, the campsites were nice, and somehow we managed to keep Jeff's birthday cake presentation a surprise.  I stayed up very late the night before putting together a photo album for him of each of our kids.  We took their pictures of them making the "heart hands" (except for the few who were just too cool for that), and then I had them write a little note to him on an index card.  I put them all together into an album.  But, knowing me, it couldn't just be as simple as gluing down pictures and index cards.  No, no...it had to be decorated and color-coordinated and done up just right!  I enjoyed working on it; I think it will be a special present.
Anyway, Outdoor School was huge and overwhelming as well as good.  Allen brought Ruby out to visit on our day trip on Monday and made an impromptu decision to stay the night with us (since he has Tuesday off, too).  He and Ruby slept in the car, so it wasn't really her first tent experience.  They spent all of Tuesday with us, too.  He saw us to our second campsite and then we parted ways.  So, I was Ruby-less from Tuesday afternoon to Thursday afternoon.  I think that's the longest I've gone without her since she's been born...I think.  Tuesday night I didn't really think much of it, but on Wednesday night we were at OMSI and we watched an IMAX movie about orphaned baby orangutans and baby elephants who are cared for.  I definitely cried while watching that.  Those baby orangutans looks so much like human babies (well, really hairy babies).  It made me miss Ruby!!! I missed Allen, too, but there's something different about being away from your spouse versus your baby.
I don't know what else to say about Outdoor School, mostly because I could probably spend an hour just writing about that.  So why not? you may ask.  Because it's 8:45 PM on Sunday and there's school tomorrow, and I want to write about Ruby's latest achievements, too.  So I'll have to shelve Outdoor School for now.