Random stuff

It never fails to amaze me how exhausting it is to vacuum out a vehicle, particularly a van. I tackled that job on Wednesday and I am still tired. Sure looks better, though. I think the Christmas tree debris was from 2018, so the sand and salt must have been accumulating under our feet for the same amount of time. Oy. 

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I sent Lena one of those wooden USA map puzzles where each piece is a state so she can follow along on our road trip (now scheduled for May). She called to tell me that it had arrived and we took a preliminary look at the route. 
--Can you find Minnesota?  --Yes, Mommy showed me.  --Okay, from Minnesota we'll cross into North Dakota... ---Oh no! How will you know what language they speak there? Will you be able to understand them??  I assured her that even though they might have a different political affiliation I was pretty sure that they speak English. 

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Amber informs me that Leo and Harris have progressed into true tool users and are now carrying a little step stool around the house to use in their nonstop attempts to Get Into Everything. Leo pioneered this innovation but Harris has picked up on it too. Apparently they are cooperating more and more in their depredations, which is heartwarming (right?). But since they have such different approaches and skill sets it just makes them twice as hard to keep up with. Leo is the athlete, specializing in climbing and straightforward frontal attacks. Harris is more cerebral and sneaky. His latest obsession is getting hold of Mommy's phone and dropping it into the old dead-end mail slot by the front door. He uses the same technique I've seen him use in videos of the boys playing together. He watches patiently until Mommy sets the phone down and looks away, then swoops in and grabs it, wheels around and waddles away at top speed (he is still walking on his knees, but has gotten surprisingly fast at it). 

Here's what the tactic looks like in action