What Does Dad Do Here?

We came home Monday after an all too short weekend of visiting Eric in Lexington, Kentucky where he is now working and living a VERY bachelor life in graduate student housing. The boys were very impressed with his "digs." They saw things like the fold out couch and cushions and thought it made a great place for as many people in the family to sleep in all at once. I, on the other hand felt squished. They liked listening and watching the numerous sirens and ambulances scream past the bedroom window. I thought my brain would melt from traffic noise. They thought the carpet was cool. "Isaac you don't want to spill your milk on this very nice carpet" (Benjamin). I was afraid to take off my socks and thought the carpet looked very industrial and probably hadn't been cleaned for a decade. They were thrilled with the sliding door that divided the kitchen area from the hallway (which was strange because the rest of the kitchen opened up into the living room--why a door?????) That door went back and forth ALL weekend long!! It was the "elevator" after all. Eric and I were about ready to buy tools to remove the door.

We also had a great family day that the "Explorium", a children's museum. We got to watch snow, throw it and Benjamin even tasted it (Hey, it doesn't really snow where you live--it's a bit of a novelty). We played lots and didn't worry about dishes or what we ate. We had a lovely time "making new friends" (Benjamin) at Eric's work get- together. We enjoyed church services and even got a shout out during the Bishop's talk.

Mostly we were so happy to be with Dad-Eric. None of the boys wanted to leave Dad. We drove away with big tears dropping down Benjamin's face while Dylan screamed, "MY DA-DA....DA-Daaaa!" Thank goodness we managed to get the DVD player to work just a little bit longer (there's a loose wire so the picture comes and go) to lift their spirits and keep me from crying too! Let's just say that kudos go to my husband Eric! I may be home with the three boys. But I am HOME. He's a great guy to be up there at the new job making sure that we can buy our groceries and preparing for our adventure--NOT living in any kind of luxury. (Yes, Eric WITHOUT television...) I'll take my side of this bargain.

So Benjamin asked at some point, "What is it that Dad does here in Kentucky?" I told him something like, "He works on projects to try to understand mosquitoes better so that he can keep the mosquitos from getting people sick with the diseases they carry. He's trying to help people that way." Benjamin responded quickly. "That's nice of Dad!"

Yep. We have a nice Dad. Sure miss him!