The girls have been writing in their journals the past couple of days, and Emily's been having me write out some more extensive entries. I feel so privileged hear their hopes and dreams and wishes--it's been some very special bonding time for us.

Yesterday, we did a bunch of running around, and I was able to take care of some errands for 4-H and grab some groceries. When we got home, one of our neighbors came over, and the kids picked up the ongoing game of treasure hunting/ pirateering that they've been playing for several weeks now. It's been loads of fun watching them play on the climber, sword fight and trade "de-balloons" and other sunken treasure.

Today, poor Julia woke up with a fever of 103 degrees. She's been very out of sorts all day, though the motrin has helped some. We had to cancel our 4-H trip to pick berries at Westmoreland Berry Farm, which we were very disappointed about. One family from our group went and said they had a terrific time and that it was well-worth the drive. We're definitely going to have to reschedule.

It was nice staying home today, though, and reconnecting as a family without running errands or having the neighbor kids over. We played Settlers of Catan twice, watched a couple of movies together and colored mosaic patterns. It felt like eons since we'd had a quiet day like that, and it was nice for us all to recharge our batteries.