Yesterday Isaac fell out of a tree.  Michael was home with the children, while Laura and I walked to Downtown Bloomington to an art show.  Isaac came inside and said in a tearful voice, “Daddy, I fell out of the tree.”  Michael’s first thought was that Isaac was able to walk inside, so it must not be too bad.  But Isaac was holding his back, so Michael checked it out.  Turns out Isaac had fallen into and through a bunch of the suckers or saplings growing out of the base of the tree, so his back looks like he’s been whipped or clawed.

Fortunately he was not punctured or seriously injured in any way.

Laura and I both asked Isaac separately, “How far did you fall?” and “How far up were you?”  Finally after being questioned more than once about it he snapped, “Ya’ want me to go measure??”

I answered, “Yes!”

So he did.

Turns out, it was 11.5 feet (or 3.5 meters).

So sorry to have missed posting recently.  It’s amazing how quickly days can slip by.

I had high hopes for things I might accomplish during Spring Break last week.  But instead of gardening or painting or planning for Arts Alive, I played nurse to sick kids.  They had some sort of flu, with high fevers, lots of aches and pains, and some congestion.  Also, the sickness did not let go easily.  Kids would be sick, then appear better, and then get sick all over again.  Finally we seem to be done with all the sickness, but it took a while.

Yesterday I did something crazy.  I saw an ad for a free parrot cage, so I called about it.  Turns out, there was a parrot IN the cage.  Without thinking very clearly about the consequences, I brought the bird, and the cage, home.  Michael was rather shocked, since we had already agreed previously that we didn’t need any more birds.  (When I first told him about it, he thought for sure I was making an April Fools joke!) So I contacted a friend in the Chicago area and she said she’d love to take the bird.  Now Wally is hanging out with us until Maria can get here to claim her new feathered friend.

Isaac loves April Fools Day.  He dreams of it all year.  So yesterday was his one chance to do all the things that he’s been saving for just such an occasion.  First, he convinced me to post a request on our local Freecycle board asking for any and all NEW Apple Macintosh items.  Some of the folks on the board remembered what day it was, but others were quite irritated at such a bold request.  Isaac was tickled at all the attention our posting got.

Then, when it was time to go to bed, Isaac remembered something else he wanted to do.  When his dad wasn’t looking, Isaac grabbed the wad of hair he’s been collecting from the shower drain.  He placed the disgusting wad under Michael’s blanket on the bed.  And then the children all scampered off to bed.  When Michael was ready for bed and turned down his covers, there was that awful hairy thing staring at him.  Michael came and found me with the hair in hand.  I smiled and said he had Isaac to thank for it.  Knowing that Isaac was still awake, Michael said he would go take it up with him directly.  Apparently they had a good laugh over the hair ball.

The last joke of the day didn’t involve Isaac, but I thought it was a good one.  Michael and I were trying to fall asleep, but Michael kept coughing.  So he decided to go find some medicinal remedy.  After rummaging around a bit, he came back to bed.  He explained that he couldn’t find the coughdrops he wanted, so he just took some DayQuil, since that has a cough suppressent in it.  I gasped, remembering how DayQuil keeps a person awake for hours.  “DAYQuil????”  I said.  He didn’t answer.  I asked again, “You took DAYQuil??????”  Another silence.  Finally he said quietly, “Gottcha.”  With a growl and a laugh I attacked him, poking fiercly and telling him he was MEAN.  Finally we settled down, and I was glad that April Fools Day was finally over.