The Miami Druekes Are Here! By Kate & Sarah Drueke

Grandma & Grandpa Drueke, Aunt Elizabeth and Aunt Abigail arrived from Miami today! We took them to their respective rooms and helped them unpack. Then we showed them every single toy we own in the playroom, even the stuff we couldn't identify and a few things we think may have been food at one point. Then we took them out to lunch at Fox Brothers BBQ and it was HOT but we sat outside next to the fan anyway, which we all regretted. The food was delicious, though. Then we went home and mommy blew up the big pool for us and pulled up a lawn chair and sat swatting mosquitoes while Elizabeth and Abigail played in the water with us. There were several shark attacks and Sarah claimed she had a heart attack (I'm OK!). Then, we went back inside to watch a movie while the old folks sat around waiting to get hungry enough to make dinner (they drank, like, 3 bottles of wine while sitting in the kitchen with all the lights off. Old people are weird).

Anyway, mommy made fresh burger buns and daddy made the patties and lit the grill and then we zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

These Girls Are Going Places...

...I'm not sure where, exactly, since the bike is stationary, but last time I asked I was told they were going to see Cousin Ro*. It occurs to me that this bike may take them more places than the real ones.

She's No Skater, But the Girl Can Shred

Kate had a mid-morning doctor appointment near my office, so I planned to bring her to work with me early, then go to the appointment, then take her to daycare and work the remainder of the day from home. It all seemed sensible to me.

Knowing Kate would be joining us, my very helpful co-workers started saving stuff for her to put in the shredder. I brought the portable DVD player just in case. Kate was thrilled not to be going to daycare. She talked about everything she saw along the way to my office. When we got there she said "let's go say hello to everyone!" but I get to work very early and at that hour "everyone" is me and maybe 3 other people. So I showed her the shredder. She loved it. Before we left for the doctor, we did go say hello to everyone.

This was our first trip to the allergist. I'd been told they wouldn't do any testing this go-round, that it was just a consultation. I'd made the appointment for us both for various reasons and the doctor decided to test us both right then and there. "Do you have time?" he asked. Reasoning that I didn't really want to come back again later and said I did. What I did not realize was that this would mean we'd spend a total of three hours at the allergist's office.

Kate did not enjoy the skin prick tests. She cried a lot but sat very still and as soon as the actual skin pricking portion of the show was over, she was as cheerful as ever. She was so good, and I hate so much to see her cry and not be able to do a thing about it, that I told her she could have a treat when we were all done. "I want to go back to your office and shred more paper!" she requested without hesitation. We had scheduled a mini-celebration of a co-worker's grad school graduation that would involve some cupcakes I made, so I told Kate we'd go back, she could shred more paper, have a cupcake and I'd just take half a sick-day from there.



When we got back she went right back to Glynnis's desk where she knew the big box of shreddable documents sat and pulled it out to the shredder. She fed that thing every bit of paper available, having only once to be stopped from shredding the financial reconciliation I was working on, one page at a time.

Jeremiah called on my office line to ask how she was doing. At that moment she was sitting on my lap while I returned email messages. She took the phone from me to speak to her father. After about a minute of answering his questions about the doctor she told him "I have to get back to work, I'm very busy bossing people around."

When I arrived at work Friday morning I was relieved to be able to get something done, but I missed having Kate around.

Kate's 5th Birthday Party

Princess Jumpy Thing. Free reign of the entire house and yard. Tons of friends. Belle cake. I'd call the day a success.

Let me begin with some pictures I took of the cake I made before its dismantling, mere hours after its completion. It may seem regrettable for a thing that took so long to create to be decimated so quickly, but I got what I wanted - the look of sheer delight on Kate's face when she saw it. That will be burned in my memory for a lifetime, so it's all good. These photos are kind of crappy, but I will replace them when I get a hold of the ones Joy took - hers were better.



As always the tattoos were popular particularly among the adults. But the kids were covered in them too. Also entertaining to me was watching the boys pillage Kate and Sarah's dress-up box. I like the photo of little Alex in the witch's dress. Anyway, I'm pretty well plum tuckered so here's a bunch of unexplained photos of the event.

Kite-flying on Tybee

Photos from the Bee-ach

At last our cable has been fixed and I can share the photos from our exciting trip to Tybee Island. Kate and Sarah loved the ocean. They wore themselves out completely, which was no surprise given the level of frolic they maintained the entire time we were there.


At a gas station just outside Metter, Ga, there's a little farm where you can feed the goats, emus and a llama. Tina, eat the ham!

Oooooh, the water...




In the shot of the girls standing on the dock, Kate is explaining to Sarah how they fishermen are going about their task. "See?" she's saying, pointing to a buck of bait "they're catching shrimp."


If Kevin doesn't grab this and PhotoShop her onto a surf board I'll be sad.