A preCURSEor

I know precursor is spelled wrong in the title, but have you ever noticed how the root word in there is "CURSE"?

I have now.

Dax and Jillian are back (yea!) and the house is a hustle and bustle of activity. This time they brought with them Grandpa Kurt so we get to refer to our Kurt as "Mini K" for a day or two. We are lucky to see him, even if it's only a minute.

As they're all planning and preparing for the Yukon trek, it's a little surreal to think I won't be up there this time. My heart goes out to Jillian with her two babies and I keep her in my prayers every night hoping they stay safe, warm and happy.

Having them back was a little hard for Kurt. See, he and Phi have basically been only children for their entire short little lives. They're both settling into the idea of having babies around all the time, and are now getting a real taste of sharing.

First it was sharing mom with the baby(or babies). Now it's sharing toys and books and time and attention. There were some great moments where life was grand and everyone got along.

And then there were moments that were not so great and Kurt wanted nothing more to do with us, the babies and especially the camera. Tough day for that kid.
With so much to do, there was barely time for naps (but we did sneak them in there somewhere!) and so the day was quite a long one. It also ended quite abruptly with the hill behind our house catching fire. I knew we were safe, but as I watched Grandpa Kurt and Chase water down the back yard and the firefighters use the fire hydrant in our backyard, I ran through my mind of our evacuation plan and how we'd get all 5 (yes, FIVE) kids up, packed and out of there if needs be.
Thankfully, our wonderful fire and rescue teams did what they do best and soon it was receeding. Not before the house, and in turn, we began to smell like smoke. Huh. Seems fitting as everyone was planning to head back up where everything you own smells like campfire smoke. Thank you for that gentle reminder of just how glad I am NOT to be going this year.

So, now as we prepare to say goodbye, we know we'll see them soon. We know they'll see lots of fun things on their adventure. We're jealous of the peace they'll feel (sometimes), the lake, the berries they'll eat, and especially visiting with the Swensons.

We know that Chase (or as Kurt sometimes calls him, "Da") will be back in two short weeks.
Without phone contact or interent service though, it might as well be 1945 during WWII. That's how far away he feels. Except instead of fighting the Germans, he's battling the cold, the gold and the bears.

Don't worry, Da. I'll keep the factories afloat here.

I'll keep telling myself, WE CAN DO IT!
I just may need a gentle reminder here and there.