Apparently, it is a lot of fun to drop things into toilets and hear them plop. Larry discovered that the basement toilet was chock full of Duplos. Upon realizing that Susie was using the toilet as a receptacle for any and all items she could carry, Larry and I told the kids to keep that bathroom door closed at all times, etc, etc. Our pleas fell on deaf ears; yesterday we found a jumprope trailing out of the same abused toilet. Maybe Susie was fishing for the phone she had left in there. Yup, that's where we finally found it. Apparently, aggressive interrogation techniques don't always yield accurate information - at least, not from 4-year-olds. So we aren't even bothering to ask Rachel where the new phone, the phone that I bought to replace the phone in the toilet, is. In fact, she's not even a suspect this time. Everyone but Theo and Anna was out of the house at the time of the disappearance. Which leads me to believe that my eldest 2 children are trying to make me insane. Anyway, we all get to go to Target tomorrow morning and buy yet another telephone. I'm getting pretty good at this. Everyone needs a hobby.

Garden? Don't ask.

Larry and Theo are off white-water rafting this weekend. And I'm here. Someday I hope to write that Larry is home with all the kids for a couple of weeks while I bicycle around the country with my friends. I assure you, we will be intelligent enough to have overnight accommodations that include chocolates on one's pillow and, of course, indoor plumbing.

Our pool season is officially over - the pool we frequent closes tomorrow, and there is no other pool nearby where I can successfully keep an eye on all the children and still relax. I have no idea what to do with the children for the rest of the summer. Eating ice pops is fun, but it is not a full-time activity. Nor is visiting Target. It seems that, after 14 years of taking care of young children, I am finished - I just cannot think of one single entertaining/educational/amusing activity with which to divert the little darlings from the fact that it is hot, humid, and boring around here. The thought of Anne Frank and her family hiding from the Gestapo in that attic for 2 years keeps popping into my head. We wouldn't have lasted a month. Maybe I'll just let the kids watch TV non-stop for 2 weeks. Or, better yet, someone should give us our own reality show - something akin to Survivor would be appropriate, don't you think?