Burning Man and Valentines

Steven in his desert garb

Doug and Steven headed out to the Anza Borrego Desert last weekend for "Rocket Camp", or what I refer to as the YMCA version of Burning Man.

Lots of sunshine, a tent city, an outhouse, and a boatload of explosives and flammable materials.

The boys sitting around the Saturday night campfire

Kind of like Burning Man without the women, art and illegal drugs.

During the day Saturday they launched handmade rockets.

Saturday night they built a really, really big fire. They wanted to be sure they'd have lots of kindling, so they asked people to save their Christmas trees.

Much more interesting than driving the tree down to the local recycling center.

Sean and I were going to drive out Saturday night for a few vicarious thrills, but as it turned out Sean got sick late last week, really sick.

A vicious stomach and intestinal bug accompanied by a 104-degree fever and severe abdominal pain that nearly landed him in the hospital.

It is impossible to properly mother a child that sick without coming into direct contact with them and their bodily fluids, so I'm praying this nasty thing won't hit each of us, particularly Steven.

So Valentine's Day celebrations have been temporarily postponed in the Bell household until everyone can keep their dinner down.

A belated Happy Valentine's Day!

- Kathleen