I make a point of writing Shane a daily email while he's at camp. I submitted the Thursday email late, so he got two on Friday. I felt bad about it and Shane definitely noticed! I asked if he figured out who the kid was in my Tuesday email, and he said he'd never read that one either. Ouch!
Still, here they are for posterity!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Happy 4th of July!
Mom and I got home around 8:40 PM last night. She wanted to
stop for food in Richmond at Honey Pig BBQ. I didn't go inside, but walked Loki
instead. He spent the whole time with his nose to the ground. Loki's favorite
past time seems to be to find interesting smells, huff them, maybe lick them,
and then pee on them. I stopped counting after something like 20 sprinkles.
It was calm when we got home, but then the neighbors set off
fireworks. Maddy was loose and it spooked her some. The other horses took it in
stride, but she was running on the far bridle path back and forth whenever
there was a boom. Mom went and got her while I got the dry lot ready to lock
her in. We left her in there overnight. The fireworks lasted half an hour or so
and Maddy got used to it. Your mother kept muttering the rest of the night that
she hates fireworks and that people just use the 4th as an excuse to make
explosions. I was smart and didn't say, "Explosions can be fun,"
because I was trying to sympathize and calm her down!
That said, I hope you see a lot of explosions/fireworks at
camp! I'll keep an eye on Mom and the barn and you focus on making friends and
memories. Love ya kid! I hope you're having fun at camp!
Dad
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday
Hey Shane!
We saw some pictures of you yesterday. Mom LOVED your smile
in the group shot. It was so good she even laughed at the goggles! (Though she
did worry about you accidentally inhaling water through the snorkel if you
tried to swim with it, because that's what she does! I told her, "He'll
figure it out. He's fine.").
The 4th of July came and went here without trouble. Mom was
nervous off and on and muttering about the holiday, but we brought the horses
in around 8:20 PM. It wasn't even dark yet, but it got dark. There were huge
explosions from town! If Mom wasn't so opposed/offended to loud noises, I would
have enjoyed taking you into town to look around. She needed me more at home,
though, and we played cards, watched TV, and I played Xcom when she fell
asleep. I snuck out around 11:20 PM to let all the horses go free (and did it
without waking Mom on the couch!). I hope that you got to do something fun for
the 4th at Camp!
Mom saw one of her friends post some pictures of your camp
group on Facebook! It's the woman she bought our horse trailer from. Her son is
in your group. I think his last name is Bryant? How's that for a small world? Love
you lots, Kiddo! I hope you're enjoying your camp experience! You're so
extroverted, I hope you picked a shy kid to be nice to and help along.
Dad
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Happy Wednesday, Shane!
Today started off like any other: Horse chores. Only I did all the horse chores while Mom mowed. She ran out of gas in the field, so I drove out in the gator with a gas can to help out. We're getting ready to sit down, eat lunch, and watch whatever your mom throws on the TV.
Yesterday was different. Mom took me to a fjord farm. The farm is north-west of Culpeper, so it was about an hour and a half away from home. I got bribed with a burrito from Qdoba on the way (I hopped out of the car while Mom pumped gas at Costco). I was fat and happy the rest of the trip.
Fjords are a breed of pony from Norway. They look a lot like Lilly, only their manes have a black stripe that runs through the middle and the hair stands straight up in a small horsey mohawk. The owner of the farm is also a horse breeder and she let Mom play with a look at all the babies. Mom first visited her last week as someone to talk to about the loss of Kitsune. However, I think Mom's falling in love with the idea of getting a baby fjord one day! The woman doesn't let her ponies go until they're at least 5 months old and well past all the initial dangers baby foals face.
Mom really wants to raise another baby one day. She's raised two before Nibs (Chilly and Sisko). The first was in her teenage years and she's mentioned that she would love to share the experience with you and to have you help her with training the baby. With Nibs, she was wounded from the death of Mira and then she felt like she missed out on a lot of the raising, because she had to go back to work and Nibs' was too far away for her to visit easily.
I'm not sure if it's a good or bad idea to hop back into the baby game right away. It would give Mom something to focus and love on as she works through Kitsune's loss, but there's always risk involved when you take on an animal. Only God knows what's right and if he's in it, I expect he'd protect the animal and us. If he's not....well, I'm going to be praying and thinking about it a lot (and you should pray to help us know what's right, too!). There's no decision that's going to be made anytime soon, I think.
And that's the news dump for today! I hope you're making lots of stories and memories to tell us about when you get home! We love you and we're thinking about you!
Dad
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hey Shane!
Sorry, but I guess you're receiving this email a day late. I didn't write it before the cut-off time. I'll have to do better tomorrow.
Unless the camp calls. Thursday was the day you tried to break the diving board with your head last year! I'm hoping to make it through the day without the nurse calling me about any emergencies! Ha!
Today has been quiet here. Mom is napping as I write. She managed to hurt her arm yesterday, so I went out and did all the horse chores while she took care of the animals inside and worked on some work for Grandma. She made some homemade ice cream for me: Lemon Ginger. She plans on making you some Mint Chocolate Chip, so don't worry! I'll probably eat all of the Lemon Ginger before you get home!
Loki went to the groomer. He looks thinner, cleaner, and he no longer smells! I've been washing my hands after giving him a ton of scratches, but no more! We have a clean dog! Is it not glorious? Loki's not as thrilled. He peed on the floor at the groomers as I picked him up and as we left. I'm not so sure it was a direct insult to the groomer so much as he wanted to leave a nice smell for every other dog to waltz through the door.
Grandma and Grandpa are looking forward to picking you up tomorrow! Make sure you tell them you're excited to see them. They've been looking forward to having some fun with you. They're still worried about Mom, too, so picking you up is a way to help us out and show they care for the whole family. Be a blessing and use your winning smile (The same one in your day one photos!).
I plan to write again tomorrow, so you'll have two emails instead of one at lunch. I love you! I hope you're having a fantastic week!
Love,
Dad
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You made it! It's your last day of camp! There haven't been a lot of pictures online, but the one with you swinging up high in a harness looked fun! Your mom and I are proud of you for being brave enough to have an adventure without us. I want you to tell us all about the week when you get home!
Mom is doing a little better. She's been working on a project today. I can't tell you about it, because it's a project and you know how she likes her surprises. It's related to the pets, so don't expect a new video game or the like. I'm on call for whenever she needs me. Mom spoke to Grandma on the phone today, as well. They talked about work, you, and Ms. Marvel. Mom's avoided conversations and texting with people she already knows, so I consider it a step forward.
There are some other things in the works I'll tell you more about when you get home. Mom is looking very closely at the fjord foals. One was born yesterday from the mare she liked. If we do go forward with purchasing the foal, it wouldn't be old enough to come home until December. Mom traded emails with a woman who may be interested in breeding Maddy. It would help us financially and we're all set up for it from Kitsune. Maddy's had three healthy babies already, so she knows how to be a good mom. We'd move her out to where Eowyn is when the time is right.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed camp! Vacation Bible School is next week, so we'll be driving up each morning for that after chores. Maybe we'll hit up the pool each evening afterward. There's lots of summer to go!
I'm looking forward to you coming home!
Love,
Dad
No comments:
Post a Comment