My mother says that she first learned my sister S. could talk when my sister A. left home. If the ride back from picking up Day-Hay at camp is any indication, we�re about to discover just how much Day-Hay can talk. Kat is about to leave for camp for a month and Day-Hay will be an only child.

Kat was very tired so she slept in instead of going up to get Day-Hay. She slept in so long that she was still asleep when we returned at 11:00. She would have slept in longer but I decided to practice my alarm clock routine. You never know when a dingaling will come in handy.

Just Mr. Philately and I picked Day-Hay up and drove back with her from camp. I had to check my backseat several times just to see which child I had back there. Day-Hay, my generally quiet child, talked about camp for the entire trip back and the trip took almost an hour. I could have sworn that was Kat back there. Kat�s generally my incessant talker�the child who recites whole scenes from Shakespearian plays at me rather that have silence.

Day-Hay obviously loved camp even though only one of the two friends she came with lasted the week. Sportsgirl stayed. Homebody got homesick and left. Day-Hay rode horses three whole times and got a bull�s-eye in archery, but lost the cannonball contest. (Actually, I�m not surprised at this last bit of news. Day-Hay is very petite and, despite going into sixth grade, weighs just over sixty pounds. It�s hard to make an impressive cannonball when you have no tush.) Her only complaint was that they did not have any healthy snacks at the canteen. (Who is this person who returned and what has she done with Day-Hay?)

Now that Day-Hay has returned, it�s time to send Kat away for a month. She leaves on Tuesday with one of her good friends, Red Riding Hood. She and Red plan to take their camp by storm. Red has been there before and was teaching Kat all the songs in advance. (Now that I have those blasted tennies painted, I can allow Kat to go.)

I wonder what I�ll learn about Day-Hay while Kat is gone. I love both my girls dearly but there are advantages to occasionally having them one at a time.

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