We've had construction on our street most of the week. It looks as if they're doing something with water lines and the gas meters. We haven't heard that they're going to tear up the street, although that would be nice to have a new street and curbs. The biggest inconveniences for us have been parking in back and Cory not being able to mow on Tuesday because of the construction equipment in our yard.

Today we've been busy packing and doing a bunch of other things to prepare for leaving for the weekend. We're going to take off after Accalia's art class in the afternoon, so we won't make it to Mankato in time for Anthony's pinning ceremony. I think our time in Mankato is going to fly by, and I think this may be one of our last visits to Mankato before the baby arrives. Family is coming out to Yankton in June for our annual camp out, and the kids and I are going back to Mankato in July for a family reunion, but that may be it. I guess our church is having vacation bible school the first full week in August, but I don't know that we'll make it. That's going to be when lots of summer activities are winding down, and frankly I don't know if I'm going to want to sit in a vehicle to travel that far at that point. We'll just have to see.

On Tuesday the kids and I went out to the Gavins Point aquarium out by the lake. The displays rarely change from year to year, but the kids still love to see the albino catfish, the huge snapping turtle, the endangered pallid sturgeon, and the buffalo fish (nicknamed sucking fish by the kids). When we went there, a school bus pulled in ahead of us, so we drove over to the campground to check out the loop that we'll be camping at in June. It's very nice and spacious. The bus was still at the aquarium when we went back, but it wasn't nearly as crowded as we thought it might be.

Cory's brother Mark stopped by to say hi yesterday. My heart skipped a beat when the highway patrol car pulled up in front of our house, so I was relieved when I saw Mark get out. He and the canine officer were patrolling Highway 81 (great drug running road), and they stopped in Yankton for lunch. Mark gave Accalia and Cole a ride in his patrol car, which they thought was pretty cool.

I think the kids and I are kind of going through an in between phase right now. We all seem restless and not sure what to do. I think Accalia told me she was bored three times yesterday, which was mostly because she wanted to play with the neighbor girls but they weren't home. I'd love to feel motivated to do things now because I know these three months before the baby arrives will pass so quickly. Hopefully that nesting instinct kicks in at some point! I know that no matter has lazy I feel right now during these last months, there's no way I'm going to want to do any of these things after the baby arrives.

Speaking of pregnancy, isn't it fabulous that I share a due date with Angelina Jolie? Considering she's expecting twins, though, I think she'll probably deliver well before me. Nearing 27 weeks, I'm still having relatively few complaints. Every once in a while I'll have painful sciatica, but it makes a huge difference after getting adjusted at the chiropractor. Our chiropractor was talking with me about how he'd adjust his wife when she started to swell and the swelling would be gone the next day. So far I haven't had to deal with any regular swelling, although there are times when I notice it starting on my left ankle especially. Taking a break and putting my feet up seems to take care of that, though. Lately, as it gets later in the day, I'll sometimes get sharp pains really low in my pelvis. That's not fun because it's really painful to walk, but at least it's not around constantly. Some women seem to deal with feeling faint a lot during pregnancy, but I usually only have one or two instances of that. One of those instances happened this morning when I was upstairs in the bedroom getting dressed. My heart was really racing (that doesn't happen very often either) and I started to black out. Thankfully I made it to the bed and only had to lie there for a minute before I felt fine.

I should get busy with some other things that I really need to do before we leave.