Here at the Armed Encatment

We had a full Tuesday here at Sassafras House.

We had a leisurely breakfast of freshly baked blueberry muffins. We had plans to put up the tent in the backyard and then hit the local pool in the afternoon. After a bit of rain, we all headed to the backyard to put up the tent (a sample run for next month's camping trip). There we were, all five of us, when we realized that the cats were also in the backyard with us.

Our cats aren't permitted outside.

Panic ensued. We shot off in all directions, trying to catch cats. And cats just love that, when Mama is shouting and children are running at them in a hurried fashion. Auntie KO quickly organized a new plan, staffing the backyard. The cousins went inside to check all the doors (we'd left the sliding glass open) and JT and I headed out front, where Tiger had gone in search of adventure.

In the backyard, Auntie KO caught a frantic Lucy, though a frightened cat is quick and Lucy slid out of KO's reach, administering all sorts of scratches and loudly meowing her dissatisfaction. The yelping caught Tiger's attention and he headed to the backyard to check things out. JT and I followed and as we came through the gate, we saw Auntie KO, ushering the cats back in the back door. Safe!

After the cat escape, JT posted warning signs on every door in the house. If you forget to shut the door now it's because you are blind.
The afternoon would surely be less be less exciting. Or so we thought. We'd been at the pool a couple of hours when we headed to the snack bar. While we waited in line, we noticed that S had blotches all over his face. KO thought it was the effect of uneven application of sunscreen. But once out of the bright sunlight, it became perfectly clear that it wasn't just his face and they weren't splotches. S had large itchy hives. Everywhere. He said they itched, but he wasn't complaining of any pain. A kind mom nearby offered some Benedryl and S washed it down with some M&M chasers. We calmly packed up the towels and headed home to give S a shower and his daily allotment of string cheese. Within 30 minutes, the hives had begun their retreat.

Surprisingly, when you consider that the mamas are armed with digital cameras at all times, we don't have any picture of Hive-Boy. You'll have to trust me that they were a most impressive set of angry red hives. We still don't know what caused them, though we wonder if it was chlorine. We do know that we've had our full dose of vacation-induced adrenaline. We're hoping that today will prove more peaceful.

But, ummmmm, there are three boys in this house, so what's the chance of that?