Summer!

June 17, 2011

Friday was my first day of summer vacation.  That's right, no work for 8 luxurious weeks.  I have lots of "projects" I want to tackle.  I'll keep you posted as to my progress.
My first of summer vacation was spent, mostly, driving.  Yuck.  I had to pick up Grace & friends from Girl Scout camp in Payson (about 2 hours northeast of here).

Before I left, I got to the gym with 4 friends for a class that I am still feeling today... in my triceps, those flabby things that won't tone up no matter how much I try.  : (

Back to summer camp.
When I got Grace & friends, I couldn't really tell if they liked camp or not.  The stories were either so funny (to them) or about some counselor or camper that was the weirdest person on earth.  The food was gross, there were lots of bugs, eco-toilets were icky.  But kayaking and canoeing, climbing and archery were fun.

This year we remembered to send the camera charger with Grace so she got some good pictures.  Here they are:

 The "pake" (smaller than a lake, bigger than a pond...but why isn't it a poke or a lond?)

 The climbing tower

 Almost there!

Archery (that's Grace's back side)

 Bullseye!

 Canoeing buddies

 The creek

They made boats to sail in the creek

 Kayaking

Looks like fun.

Camp Out Success #2

October 25, 2010

We made it: 18 fifth grade girls, 10 moms and 1 dad.  No rain.  1 tarantula.  And best of all NO girl drama!
The girls stayed incredibly busy with archery, geo cache-ing (is that a word?), wood burning (the artistic kind, not arson), climbing rocks, low ropes/obstacle course, camp fire songs (Baby Shark is stuck in my head forever), and of course making lanyards (it is a girl scout camp after all).
For those like me who had no idea what geo cache-ing is, let me explain.  I thought we would be polishing rocks.  Seriously.  Like geodes...geo-cache.  See my confusion?  It is actually where some other people hide "treasures" or in our case, trinkets, in a secret location that you find after getting the satellite coordinates and then you use a GPS thingy to find the treasure.  So more like a high tech scavenger hunt.  A little tiring for un-athletic me, but the girls had a blast.
Here are the highlights:

Grace at the obstacle course:

Grace at archery:

The whole gang: 

 Some great girl moments:

Our little hairy friend:

 Me & G: (cabins in the background)

 The bunks (yes the moms slept in these too, but the dad had to sleep in the "men's cabin"):

 The troop:

News From camp

July 29, 2010

Tommy called today...the last day of camp.  Nothing like waiting till the last minute.  I'm not complaining, I wasn't expecting a call at all.  He answered all my questions with yes or no, only once did he elaborate.  I don't blame him though, he has lost his voice.  Apparently there is a lot of yelling at camp because he loses his voice every time he goes.
The only "incident" he told me about was a boy who tried to sneak out of his second floor room by repelling down the wall with bed sheets.  The sheets ripped and the kid fell into a bush, spraining his ankle.  Sounds just like a movie.  They are at Disneyland until midnight and then Aunt Fissa will pick up Tommy, saving him from the overnight bus ride back to AZ.  He will spend the weekend in San Diego with Fissa.  Lucky him.

Question of the Day:  Did you go to summer camp as a kid?  What kind, where, did you like it?

My answer: Yes.  Gymnastics camp when I was in (I'm guessing) 4th or 5th grade.  Not sure where it was. I was not a fan as I recall.  I also went to cheer camp at NAU when I was in high school.  That was a fun experience.  I have pictures of me in my dorky hair cut & dorky clothes that we thought were so cool then.

Pictures from Camp

June 28, 2010

The report: camp was fun, but not as much fun as anticipated.  Grace enjoyed herself but would not like to repeat the experience.  Hmmm.
Here are some pictures she took before the camera battery died (on day 2 of camp).  Unprepared mom didn't send her the charger.  Her friend is Alex.

They built this "structure" 

Cabin mates (they look so much older)

Grace's bunk, so neat.

Grace & Alex 

Friendship bracelets

"purse" Grace made in textiles (sewing)

Hamming it up in the Mess Hall

Wood crafts

More Hams!

Letter from Camp!

June 23, 2010

I got a letter from Grace today!  I can't figure out how to scan with this mac (grrr), but here it is.  It says (unedited):
Dear Family,
It's 6:50 in the morning.  We're all awake playing games.  I miss you guys a lot.  I don't like what they had for lunch.  Ham and Turkey sandwitch (ewwwww)  How the weather?  It was freezing last night! I love love love love love the cool stuff you send.  Everybody's jelous! (?)  I made a poster but my beds by a window so I ahve to put across from my bed.  We made friendship bracelets. (I made two). We also made smoothies and cookies.  We did yoga and fibers (sewing) and we're going to take a hike.
Love,
Grace Halter.
Yes, she signed her full name. See...

And check out the stamp she used to mail it.  I'm glad the postman sent it (it's a return address label).

Only 2 more days till I pick her up.  Yea!