Camping on a full stomach..

So, upon entering the third trimester, our Hero declares that she's far from beat, she'd like to do a little camping before the weather warms up, and personal maneuvering might become inconvenient.... So, on Friday morning, we head of to that cutest of caulderas, the little volcano that couldn't, the eruption that won't happen next to the fight that never came to be; Battle Ground Lake State Park. It's a dandy little park, with a fine light hike around the extinct volcano's rim, which is covered in mature forest, with many fallen giants stretching out into the lake, attracting both fish and the men who chase them.


Besides battling the usual campsite creepy crawlies for my lady (how does one become a Veterinarian, spend her summer shoulder-deep in mama cows, bring up bowel resections at the dinner table, and yet somehow still be squeamish about ants and arachnids?), we were dealt a cruel blow in the form of the largest campground nemesis known, Redneckis Lungis Intoxicatus.
Yougotit again- drunk and rowdy classless neighbors. The particularly foulmouthed female in question could hold her liquor no better than her tongue, the latter getting sharper and louder with every empty bottle. It was the sort of situation where you resolve to call the ranger if they don't shut up within ten minutes, only to have it start all over again on the eleventh...

But we made a couple of great meals, stayed dry and almost warm, and made it home with aching legs and battered backs just in time to nap away a Saturday afternoon.

Theater in the Round

Late March brought with it the annual American Animal Hospital Association Conference in Long Beach, CA. Being the supportive spouse that I am, naturally I accompanied my wife on this trying journey. Perhaps it was the air travel (buzzing around in a turboprop always gets me excited); but whatever the reason, Ruthie took this opportunity to make herself known with clearly recognizeable kicking. During that week it got to the point that Ruby was staring at her bouncing belly all through the scientific lectures. She proclaimed that "If Ruthie can kick this hard when she's not even a pound yet, it's gonna hurt when she's seven or eight pounds!".
One feature I probably should have incorporated into this journal would be a weekly or monthly circumference report. Maybe that's yet to come. Anyway, here's the part you've all been waiting for, the monthly belly shot!