Day 8: Laughed til I cried...and then the reverse

We had a wide-open day with no specific plans. A bit of cleaning and organizing to make life in close quarters a bit more managable, and a solid chunk of school (math for Kelsey, the letter "F" for Kendall!) left us with plenty of time to take the kids to "Mr Poppers Penguins," a delightful new movie. All four of us really enjoyed it, and Stan and I were even more amused watching/listening to the kids' laughter. So cute.

Back at the camper, my humor was soon gone as I battled our printer...establish a connection, paper jams, you-name-it. And at the end of my sanity, I still didn't have a working printer! Stan had the girls at the pool, so they weren't witness to my hissy fit. :-)

We've gotten a few more chores done this evening in preparation for our departure tomorrow...we have about a five-hour drive ahead of us and would like to make it two-thirds of the way--to Hannibal, MO--around lunchtime. It's the town along the Mississippi in which Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) grew up; many of his most memorable characters (Tom, Becky, Huck) and their locations were inspired by his experiences in Hannibal. The town has made the most of its commercial opportunity..."The" Tom Sawyer Cave in which Tom and Becky make live appearances, a couple of Mark Twain one-man shows, a paddle boat tour...but we'll stop just long enough for our picnic and then push on to Illinois. We'll be in the Springfield area for six nights.