Waffles on Sunday for breakfast and oatmeal on Monday averted any requests for pancakes. I am sure before she leaves though, there will be at least a couple more pancake shape breakfast sessions.

Staying at home means lots of playing of games, working puzzles, drawing using templates, Play-Doh and swinging. We didn't even suggest going swimming and so far she has not asked. It is actually going to be a lot of work to take her into the pool. We will have to take the net and cover off then put them right back on when she is done and I suspect she won't even stay in very long because she won't have her siblings around to keep her entertained.

Monday we did go out for a bit: to Target and to the toy lending library knowing she would enjoy seeing other kids and would like to play with different toys. Although there weren't many kids, she had a wonderful time playing with ducks in soapy water, a doll house, the train and pulling toys off the shelves to play with. Surprisingly the activity center entertained her for a very long time. Since she is so into puzzles, today we opted to use our limit of three toys to bring three puzzles home. She made sure we didn't forget them and kept asking about them when we stopped at Target, on the drive home and as soon as we were out of the car. She worked them while I packed a lunch to go on a picnic in our woods.

Sierra seldom misses an opportunity to be in the kitchen to help with cooking. When she sees me in the kitchen she asks, "Can I watch you?" This usually means pulling up a chair so she can add ingredients and help with mixing—and not just when I am in the kitchen. Monday night, while I was at my meeting, she and Grandpa made cookies to take on our upcoming outing to Angel Island!

When Sierra talks about her family, she tells us Mommy is working, Daddy is working, Rylan is at camp and Aubrey is at camp. She doesn't seem to understand (or remember) they have gone somewhere on a vacation without her. I am not sure I want to tell her because she may be reminded and become upset that she wasn't included.

So, it sounds like Sierra is doing great but how is Sadie doing you ask? She is her usual crazy self. The park walks have definitely helped keep her from being absolutely nuts. One thing for sure, she has surprised us with how well she is doing with the cats! She has basically accepted them as part of our household. I say basically because she does chase them every once in a while but for the most part, she just watches them as they wander out of the barn and around the field and even into the house. And Kennedy and Galveston are handling her quite well too. They seemed to have decided she is just another dog who lives here. They have not stopped their morning and evening routine of coming into the house to hang out with us for a while. I really thought they would totally hide out in the barn until Sadie left.