One Day

The Dream:

• Four whole weeks with all four kids in different camps
  
• Being alone with Nick
  
• Getting caught up with paperwork, housework, decluttering, homeschool planning, and ripping out carpeting to make it safer for our dust allergy kiddos
  
• Maybe even going out and doing something fun with Nick

The Reality:

• One day alone with Nick
  

Last Monday was the big day. GracieGirl and E went to camp, and Nate and J went to my in-laws' house at the beach. Nick and I went for a quick swim together after being ordered by our therapist to do something fun! The rest of the day was spent on paperwork.


And, as of last Thursday, Nate is the only one still going to camp.


That was the day that Nick went to pick up GracieGirl and E at the YMCA camp. All of the kids were down at the little public park at the bottom of the hill. As Nick parked, he watched GracieGirl and E run through the parking lot (which is a shared parking lot for other businesses and is also a narrow back street), alone, up to the office. The building was unlocked, and when he got there, he found both children in there, alone. He signed out both kids and started to leave with them, without any staff members present.

He was not happy,
and after gathering up their backpacks,
he spotted E's EpiPen bag in the office!!!

After our initial fiasco with E's EpiPen, the camp director held a meeting and assigned someone to carry E's EpiPen bag so that it was with him at all times, no exceptions. They put up signs and made it a peanut-free facility. They sent home notices to the parents. There are two other kids there with peanut allergies and we were happy to see those changes implemented.

After all of that, I was shocked to hear that it had happened again. Nick said that we simply couldn't send them back, so we withdrew both kids. Once again, I contacted the camp director, who was appalled, apologetic, and furious with her staff.

So...we had our one day this summer. The house is still a dust-filled, disorganized mess, the paperwork still out of control, and Nick and I often resort to emailing each other because there's no time to talk. E is back to life at home without the structure of camp, which is always an adventure. But, he's alive and healthy, and we're thankful for that. I was so skeptical about sending him to camp because it's really hard to trust strangers with your child's life. It was the first time the kids ever went to camp, and it may be the last. We'll see.

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1-2-3 Gluten-Free

I tried a gluten-free cake mix from 1-2-3 Gluten-Free for E's birthday. The mix is free of gluten, wheat, dairy, casein, peanuts, tree nuts, corn, sugar, eggs, and soy. I had both chocolate and yellow, and decided to try the chocolate first.

The mix calls for eggs, but also has an egg-free version using flaxseed. Since E can eat eggs in baked goods that have been baked for at least 30 minutes, I used eggs and made a 9 x 13" cake. It rose beautifully and although we didn't get a single picture of it, it was a great looking cake!

I'd never used a cake mix to which you have to add your own sugar, but I ended up liking it because they have an option for making it with agave syrup and maple syrup. It was very sweet and I don't think that anyone would guess that there was no refined sugar in it.

Everyone who tried the cake really liked it, and these are people who aren't necessarily used to GFCF, refined-sugar-free cakes!

Personally, I like the chocolate cake I make from scratch better, because I think it's just a bit moister. This was very good for a mix, though, and I'll definitely make it again. Next time, I'll try making 9" round cakes because I think I'd like it better with the extra icing in-between the layers.

Ingredients: Rice flour, potato starch, tapioca starch, aluminum-free corn-free baking powder, natural flavor, xanthan gum, salt. Manufactured in a dedicated allergen-free facility (NO gluten, wheat dairy, casein, peanuts, tree nuts, eggs, and soy!).