What a Little Fresh Air Does For Mr. Edwards

Mr. Edwards is my child who will come up with 5 million excuses as to why he can't go outside. If he does manage to get himself outside then, undoubtedly, there is a book in his hand and he has plopped himself in a chair to read. I can't really complain, though, he gets it very honestly from one of his parents (uhm, that would be me). The camping trip, of course, meant that he would be outside for several days in a row. All that fresh air did have an impact. Here is a funny picture of Mr. Edwards on the camping trip. And, yes, that water fountain Mr. Edwards is drinking out of is meant for creatures of the four-legged variety. He was quite disgusted when I told him, but then asked that I take a picture of him doing it again. Mary declined her turn at it and opted for one of the other drinking spots intended for us naked apes.

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Mr. Edwards is also my serious kind-hearted child who would never intentionally hurt someone else's feelings. He does not tease or pick on his siblings, although he stoically suffers their teasing quite often. One morning as I was helping Miss Almanzo with lotion, I asked her if she had put it on her face. She replied, "No. I need some for my other face." (I think what she meant was that she needed more lotion for her face). Mr. Edwards teased her, "Let's just hope that your other face doesn't have a mouth on it." It is no secret that Miss Alamanzo can carry on three conversations and sing and hum and make nonsense noise all at the same time, but Mr. Edwards teasing was uncharacteristic albeit funny. Even Miss Almanzo smiled.

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Did you know that the ant lion larvae holds its bodily waste inside its body for three years? Yea, me either. That is until Mr. Edwards and I were sitting all alone at the campsite. He is not much of a talker. He daydreams and reads and often prefers his inner life to what is going on around him. Anyways, as we sat there together, I made several attempts at conversation. He answered my questions but made no effort to keep the conversation going. I finally asked him what he would like to talk about? His eyes and face gave me that "Oh brother" look. I changed tactics and said, "Tell me something I don't know." That is when I learned all about ant lion larvae and their impressive holding capacity.

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