Camping!

The blog will be taking a break for the next couple of days because Rachel and I are going CAMPING at SeaQuest State Park near Mt. St. Helens with PopPop and Aunties Amanda and Jenn. Yay!! Oh, how Rachel and I need the break...

Just as I left work today, Dena, the administrative assistant in the Dean's Suite, said, "Where's Drew in all of this?" because I had described our camping trip without mentioning him.

"Um, he's away," I said. Then I mentioned brightly that we'd still get to see my father in law and sisters in law, just so Dena doesn't think something is seriously wrong in my life. Sigh.

***

Rachel scared me tonight when she said quite insistently that she doesn't want to eat animals anymore, especially chicken. (Apparently Danielle, the preschool teacher who I thought was OK but then turned out to be anti-fluoride and now evidently a militant vegetarian, told the kids that she didn't believe in killing animals). Rachel and I had quite a detailed conversation about that, when I challenged her and she kept coming back at me with new arguments, like the fact that people don't each each other, so we shouldn't eat animals, etc.

"We can't eat animals!" she explained. "We're not showing them respect!"
"Of course we are," I protested.
"They don't WANT to be eaten," she insisted. "Even though baked chicken and shells is my favorite, I don't like killing animals. You know, they have chldren. They can't take care of themselves. The mommy has to teach them how to swim!"

If anyone wants to step in here and offer me some good responses to the 4 1/2 year old legal counsel in my house, I'd welcome it. I finally told her that if we eliminate animals, that means no more steaks, sausages and salami. AND she'd have to eat more vegetables. She claimed she would really eat more greens, but when I stared her down she gave up and said resignedly, "OK, Mommy, you win."

***

"Mommy, why were you crying at the end of "Charlotte's Web?" Rachel asked at dinner.
"It was a very sad story," I replied.
"But Mommy, spiders die every day!" Rachel replied. "It's not her fault for dying!"

***

"Always remember this, Mommy. I'm still learning this," Rachel said. "You can't judge a book by its cover!"

***

"Mommy, would you marry Daddy if he were really really handsome but he was allergic to chocolate?"
"Of course I would!" I replied.
"You'd marry him?" she asked. "Even if you couldn't bake chocolate chip cake?"

Well, kid, now that I think about it....