Boyd Bear Tracks

We only have a week and a half of school left. Yahoooo! I can't wait to be done! Although, these last couple of days we seem to be finishing school earlier than normal. Maybe it's that there's not as much work; or, it could be that I'm starting earlier!

We had a nice "Pastor's retreat" to Melgar (a city down the mountain, so it's hotter). We decided that it would be a good way to let us all get to know each other better. We really only see each other on weekends (at least the wives--the men get together more frequently). It was kind of strange to take a "vacation" after just having gotten back from one. But, we had a nice time together.

One funny/not-so-funny story (always gotta have one of those :-)!):
We left Melgar later in the evening and it's pretty much all uphill to get to Bogotá. Plus, our car is not the most powerful vehicle there is, so it was taking us quite a long time to get up the mountain. We practically had to go up in second gear the whole way -- I could've jogged faster! Anyway, since it took so long, we needed to stop to eat something. Most of the kids in the two cars were sleeping so we put it off as long as we could. Which meant that by the time we stopped there really weren't any restaurants around (at least not very nice ones).

After supper as we were getting into the car, "someone" stepped in dog poop! It was really stinky! We tried to clean it out but it was dark and we couldn't see anything. Another "someone" got the bright idea of spraying cologne on the floor to help the smell. That does not help when you have a propensity for car sickness (like me)!

The dog odor was not too bad on the way up the mountain (we had all the windows open). But, when we got to Bogota, at every stoplight, that smell--mingled with the cologne--wafted up and filled the whole car! We were all getting sick (well, those of us who were awake)!
So, when we got home I pulled out the flashlight and the carpet cleaner and went to town on the car floor! But, I couldn't really get rid of the cologne smell.

On Monday, Jon took the car to get all vacuumed out and cleaned and they finally got rid of the cologne smell. Unfortunately, I don't think I will ever enjoy the smell of that particular cologne again! Fortunately, Jon doesn't wear cologne!

Lucas just did part of his post-test for P.E. yesterday. He had to run/walk a mile. He did it in 11 minutes and 23 seconds. I think for his age group they're supposed to do it in 12 minutes; so, he did really well! Tomorrow he'll finish up with the other part of the post-test (sit-ups, pull-ups, push-ups, etc.). Ellie is all excited for when she starts school and can do them too! She tries now, but she doesn't really know what she's doing (or even have the coordination to do it, yet). It's pretty funny when she "does a pull-up" --really only hanging from the bar. Or, when she does "flying" (you lie on your stomach and lift your legs and arms up off the floor). She doesn't lift, she just stretches out her arms and legs. It's cute, and it makes us all laugh! I'm just glad I have one more year with only one grade level. I don't know what I'm going to do when I have to coordinate two grades! Oh well, like I've said before, we'll cross that bridge when we get there.