In Which Brian Returns From Florida and Leaves for Scout Camp

After a productive week in Florida, I flew from Tampa to Chicago on Monday. The plane had a couple delays, and then we landed in Green Bay at 7:38 p.m. My next flight, which would take me the rest of the way to Marquette, was supposed to take off at 7:55 p.m. But when I reached the gate at about 7:40, it had already taken off. Fifteen minutes early.

So instead of a quick 45-minute flight home, I waited about 45 minutes in the airport before the taxi came, and I ended up getting home at 2 a.m. Despite a Whopper at Burger King in Escanaba around midnight, I was not happy.

The original plan was for me to then leave the next morning, Tuesday, at 7 a.m. for Scout Camp. Because of the delays, I arranged to stay home an extra day before leaving. We went to the beach twice and played in the sand.

Just before I left on Wednesday afternoon, I witnessed an alarming scene: Jackson kissed his friend Anna, 2, in our dining room. According to Hailey, while I was gone Jackson and Anna held hands, too, and when the phone rang in our house, Jackson would say, “It’s Anna!”

While I was at Scout Camp listening to 500 preteens pounding on their tables at the mess hall, Hailey hung out with the boys and friends until I got home again on Saturday afternoon.

Grant is becoming comfortable on his feet. He can walk about a dozen steps without stumbling now, and he can stand from a sitting position without help. With this newfound power comes risk, however. This week he fell out of a grocery cart (Hailey’s still not sure how that was possible), fell out of the stroller onto pavement, scratched his nose pretty bad trying to get into our little pool in the backyard and ran into the piano at church. All in all, he’s fine except for a scab on his nose and a bruise on his eyebrow.