This week

Skipper is in nature camp this week. She says she likes it, but she also weeps heartbreakingly at drop-off. But it's Skipper, so heartbreaking weeping at departure is pretty much a given. Cook has been dropping her off every day, and he hates it, because it makes him so sad to peel her off his leg and walk away.

Duchess is at Chinese camp, which she also likes. It turns out to be pretty much a preschool- all the furniture is wee, and they have a nap time every afternoon. There are only 12 kids enrolled, and most of them are 4 or 5 years old. Duchess has a few like-aged friends, though, and, as usual, she's perfectly happy with the situation, in spite of nap time. It's a complete language immersion situation, so she quickly had to learn how to ask to be excused to use the bathroom. I figure that's going to be useful when we send her to China to work on a farm for a year. Though I guess she'll probably just pee in the field.

The babysitter continues to be excellent. Duchess has begun dressing like her, which is kind of adorable in a Single White Female kind of way.

Cook and I are still struggling with getting dinner on the table before bedtime. And I'm struggling with figuring out how to bike to work on hot mornings without arriving with a red face and damp hair.

That's this week.