We've had several quiet days here, playing board games and drawing, as a cold made it rounds through the family. Between the rain from Charley and being sick, the past couple of days have left us all with a good case of cabin fever!

We all watched the opening ceremonies for the Olympics the other night, which the kids loved. Emily really enjoyed trying to spot different mythological heroes that she knew. I was rather annoyed that they had a pregnant woman who wasn't really pregnant at all, yet one more cooptation of female creativity, I thought. Why use a really pregnant woman when a slim, unpregnant one looks so much better, without the logistics of trying to make her ample belly glow. But this writer put it even better: "Paul and I couldn't decide if it was closest to 2001, Alien, or Rosemary's Baby. It was exquisitely upsetting. I am left to conclude that the future hinges either on a battery-powered translucent bowling ball, or on a radioactive demon child sending signals to the mothership from the surface of our doomed planet." Enough ranting, though. The kids loved the parade, and the DNA light show put one more dot on our recent discussions of genes and DNA. The parade of nations, however, didn't go over nearly as well, as my kids all grumbled something about "boring!" So, we ended up watching Man vs. Beast and an amazing Somoan tree-climber that gave Julia something to shoot for!

Yesterday, the kids spent the afternoon outside with several kids from the neighborhood, playing their pirate game. I love watching them up on the climber, using the ship's wheel--makes me feel good inside! Boy were they glad to see friends again and be running around outside.

Today, they've been playing Imaginext on the computer off and on; Sam's getting really good at it! This morning they went out butterfly hunting and caught 5 skippers and one tiger swallowtail, all of which are flying around in our butterfly house right now, which you can see here. The girls picked handfuls of zinnias so the butterflies would have plenty to eat. Later, they went out on the climber for most of the day, playing their game. Ahhh, summer! It's hard to believe that the kids around here go back to school in a week--and that's later than some!