August 18
As we were heading down a woody road towards the campsite in Virginia last night, Frodo saw a deer by the side of the road. It's not the first one we've seen while driving along, of course, but this time Frodo called out "There's a deer!", and it startled Thorin so much that he nearly drove us into a ditch! He later confessed that he thought Frodo had seen a deer in the road while he was himself watching for road signs, and that he was going to hit it.
At any rate, we got to the campsite safe and sound, but as soon as we opened the trailer door, the dog ran out (I guess she had to go really bad) and ran into the woods. A minute later, we heard her yelp, then she came running back smelling of skunk! So, yeah, as Thorin and the older boys set up the trailer, I took the younger boys in the car to get some tomato juice. Fíli and Kíli said that it works for getting out skunk-spray, and thankfully they were right!
While the older boys were washing the dog (I had to make dinner; and on top of needing to set up the trailer, Thorin couldn't take the smell!), Frodo and Gimli took it in turns running around with a Home Depot bucket on their heads for about an hour. Whenever one of them ran into something, their turn was over and the other got to wear the bucket. I've long ago given up on trying to make logic of any game these kids come up with, so long as it keeps them occupied.
Unfortunately, though, when we went to clean up at the shower house, Frodo got frightened by something and ran out, naked and screaming. I mean, all the way out. He ran out of the building and back to the trailer, and I had to chase after him with a towel wrapped around me and shampoo in my hair. He didn't tell us what scared him, but Kíli suggested that maybe the shower house is haunted, and that Frodo had seen a ghost. Now Gimli won't go in there, either.