Ralph is off today on his weekend bike trip to Yosemite! He is really looking forward to the trip, so I hope he has fun (and takes lots of pictures! He has my camera, and I've run through the features a couple of times, but.....we'll see!)

"Robert the Plumber" came for a visit yesterday....I had a leak in the kitchen. One of the vents in the dishwasher was clogged, and the water ended up running down the back of the sink, rather than down the drain. (Yes, I pointed this out to Ralph several weeks ago, and he was going to take a look at it, but......) The vent is fixed, and the cupboard under the sink has to be replaced now. What fun! While he was here, the plumber also fixed a few little drips, etc. we had. Everything but the leaky faucet in the kitchen. His suggestion for that was to just replace it. It is almost 10 years old, and even if we can get the parts for it, it would still probably still leak (because of the brand). One more plumbing problem!

I am looking forward to getting kids in school next week. Alli has done great this summer at daycare! The day care providers have been working with her a lot. Sandy said she put her own diaper and shorts on the other day! Of course, it took Sandy 30 minutes to get her to do it! But, if she did it once, she can do it again - it will just take time (and patience, and I seem to be short on both around here!) Sandy even got her to put her shoes on the other day. I don't know how long she worked on that, but probably longer than I would! Ralph talked to Alli's teacher for next year, and she was very interested in her improvements over the summer, and wants to continue working with her on them. Between dressing and her toilet training, she has definitely improved lately. One little step at a time, and on we go!