Scattered in All Directions

Sunday morning we all scattered in different directions!  Luke and Bob were the first to leave.  They flew out at 8:15 for Luke's college orientation Sunday afternoon and Monday.  Nathan got up early to drive them to the airport, which was nice.

The rest of us got ready to leave around 8:30 to drive up to WSS, and, for my parents, Aunt Claire, Uncle Jim, Faith, and Elia, on to Ohio as well!  The youngers and I drove up there for the day so we could drop off Anna, Grace, and Emily to Camp Caleb, but then we came back.  Caleb, Jonathan, and Nathan stayed back here to hold down the fort and go to church.

My mom had this great idea of having us all stop at WSS and eating Sunday dinner there.  Aunt Claire had been to the old hotel, but not Uncle Jim, and neither one had ever been to the new hotel.  Emily and Elia had never been either, but Dan also worked here during the summers, and it's a special place to him.

Faith and Elia rode with the 3 littles and me up there, and as we were getting close, Elia said, "My dad talks about White Sulphur Springs, but I don't even know what it looks like!"  Well, now she and Emily can't say that anymore!  We stopped at the old hotel first, and we got the obligatory picture of the kids on the wagon.  The counselors for Camp Caleb were all at Harrison House, waiting to be taken up to Camp Caleb with their gear, and I heard one of them say, "My family has SO MANY family pictures taken on that wagon!"  Us too!

Then we headed up to Heritage House, where we had lunch.  Mom and Dad were borne off by friends they hadn't seen in years, along with Aunt Claire and Uncle Jim, to sit at one table, and all the kids sat at another table--so that left me to sit with Amanda L., who is up working in the nursery all summer!  We had a lovely visit, only interrupted a few times by spills and the need for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches at the kids table.

The crew heading to Ohio pulled out after lunch, but the rest of us had a few hours before we needed to check in the girls.  I perused the bookstore, and I found this amazing drawing of Harrison House, which I absolutely loved.  There were a few other scenes around WSS that were also drawn like this, but this one was the only one of the old hotel, so I snatched it up.  It's a 4x6, and it came framed for $15!  Susanne at the desk told me that a 15 year old boy had painted it and the other scenes!  I was so amazed!  Then she pointed me toward another painting he had done.

This one is much bigger, and it hangs in the handicapped stall of the ladies' restroom on the first floor, of all places, lol.  It's seven of Mrs. Kent's tea cups lined up.  It's really detailed and pretty.  Anyway, I was quite impressed by this 15 year old's talent!

Then it was finally time to drop off Anna, Grace, and Emily.  They look excited here--hopefully they are having fun now!  I guess we'll get the full report on Friday.

They're sitting on Emily's and Anna's bunk beds--Emily on top, and Anna on bottom, if they stay the way they set it up originally.

Then Micah, Drew, Verity, and drove back home, with Micah and Drew bickering away until they fell asleep, lol.  It was quite a change to just have them, the 3 older boys, and me to cook for, since I'd been cooking for 18 the previous week!

Luke and Bob got back technically Tuesday morning--12:30 AM is when their plane landed.  They had a good time, although Bob came back a bit under the weather with the virus that had passed through our house the week before.  Luke said orientation was pretty much what he had expected.

I didn't have too much time to get details from him because we left at 7:30 Tuesday morning to drive to Bethesda for Luke to get his wisdom teeth extracted!  It turns out his wisdom teeth on the bottom had come in sideways, so we were not sure how complicated the surgery would be.  He just had his consult last Monday on June 5, and I was pretty worried that we weren't going to be able to schedule the extraction this summer, because Luke is hardly home after this week.  After Nathan's consult, he didn't get scheduled until probably 2 months later, which is pretty normal for them.  But shockingly, the doctor said they had cancellations *this week*, and the surgeries then were going to be performed in the regular main operating suite because of some random reasons I totally can't remember, so an actual anesthesiologist would be doing the anesthesia.  Wow!  So we were able to get the surgery scheduled for Tuesday, and we had to be there at 9:00!

The surgery went well, and it only took an hour, so there weren't any complications.  Contrary to what it looks like here, Luke has healed really well, with very little swelling or pain.  He even went to a Nationals game this afternoon with Bob, Nathan, Jonathan, and Bob's office!  

It's been quiet here without the 3 girls, for sure.  I'm looking forward to hearing the fun the older ones had at Camp Caleb, and I know the younger ones are having a grand time at Grandma/Grandpa camp!