20 GALLONS of trash.

As Melissa helped point out, I've been a bit lax in my posting since arriving in Maryland. Many apologies!!! No excuse other than I've been having fun catching up on the local news, playing games with the kiddos, dealing with a #$%^&* doctor in California, settling back into a routine, and laughing a Beth.

The title of tonight's post comes from the amount of trash the girls and I accumulated from Gardner, KS to Lexington Park, MD. Melody helped me on Sunday afternoon to pull out all the YUCK from the truck. We filled one and a half 13-gallon trash bags with crumbs, papers, petrified food, and various objects of unknown origin. It is very humbling to have someone else witness the depth of disgust we created on our journey! It is so nice to actually be able to fit back into the truck though.

Today has seen several "firsts" for the Stringer Zoo. We finally got back into our school routine this morning, while Alec and Kaitlin were in classes as well. It is funny how quickly the girls settle back into a routine after almost a month of randomness. Hailey began taking 2-3 steps unassisted, today. She has discovered that she can have my undivided attention if she stands with Auntie Mel and totters toward me. It has been fun to laugh with her as she gradually builds the confidence she'll need to keep walking. The other exciting first was that Emily is now officially riding a two-wheeler. Rich took a few moments with her outside this evening, and once her confidence was built up, she took off! YEAH! What an exciting day it has been around here.

I'm going to get to bed at a decent hour tonight, REALLY! I've been staying up way too late as I enjoy adult conversation with good friends, and as I deal with the emotions of missing Scott. It is funny how being here has reminded me that Scott is oh so far away... Two months down.

Just for giggles, here are two pictures taken by Beth when we visited the Meteor Crater. Beth's perspective sure is curious - enjoy!