"Gucky Gacket"

We took care of Mother and Gary's house and animals for a week while they were in Paris. They got back Saturday evening, so you're too late if you were contemplating pillaging their supply of veggies and tostadas while they were away (Laurie knows what I'm talking about, if she ever reads this). We drove out there every day to feed the chickens, dogs, and cats. Eleanor loved helping out, and looked forward to the trip every day. "Food chit-chens!" she would yell with elation. I love how she says chickens; it seems to change every time. I'm going to miss all her adorable mispronunciations once she masters this language. After dark one evening, we went out there as a family, and all of us walked down the hill to feed the chickens. Grant and Eleanor wore headlamps. Eleanor looked like a little miner with this huge headlamp on. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera. Grant took a few shots on his phone, but who knows if we'll ever figure out how to get them off his phone.

Grant stepped into the chicken coop first, and I followed, holding Eleanor. Eleanor loves to feed the chickens, but they still make her nervous when we're in such close quarters with them all around us. Without thinking, I pushed the door shut after me by nudging it shut with my shoulder so the chickens wouldn't get out while we were in there. Then, I realized my mistake, but couldn't see the damage until we stepped out of the hen house and Grant shined his light on the sleeve of my jacket. Oh the horror! My arm was smeared with dusty, cobweby, chickeny guck! Our conversation up the hill went a little like this:
Eleanor: "Gucky Mommy."
Me: "Yeah, Mommy's jacket got yucky on it, didn't it?"
Eleanor: (pointing) "Gucky Mommy gacket."
Me: "Mmmmhmmm."
Eleanor: "Gucky gacket."
Me: (feeling more and more disgusted) "Yup, Mommy's jacket is yucky."
Eleanor: "Mommy gacket ucky."
Eleanor: "Ucky gacket Mommy."
Eleanor: "Mommy gacket gucky."
. . . and that's just a smattering. I took the jacket off as soon as we got to the house, and Eleanor continued to tell me how yucky it was. She doesn't miss a thing, does she? I love watching her learn. After being grossed out by the gunk on my jacket, I made an executive decision and we "borrowed" the bag of Fritos that had been tempting us in the snack cupboard. I think it was only fair, don't you?

This is what my jacket looked like, but it was much more gross in person.

The confiscated Fritos, next to my jacket, which immediately went into the washing machine. My mother didn't mind that we took the Fritos. Besides, they were in (a little) trouble with us for unplugging the hot tub while they were out of town. We could have just turned it back on, but we didn't know if it was off because something was wrong with it (they never have it turned off), and we weren't going to call Paris to ask about the hot tub.

Have I mentioned I LOVE fall? These are some pictures I took at my mom's house one of the evenings I was out there. I just love the colors when the leaves start to change. I wish my camera did them justice. I always loved fall on the OSU campus. It relieved the stress when I could walk from class to class and admire the beautiful colored leaves on all the trees.