Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Oops . . . I was wrong, again!

I learned just today that Bryant was given a CD of pictures from the canoe trip from which to make a Court of Honor slide slow for tonight. What? Actual photo evidence from that crazy trip?!

So basically, the purpose of this post is to add a few pictures (that I convinced myself were nonexistent), and to admit that I was wrong, again!

Bryant and/or Christian are in each of these pics . . . see if you can pick them out.







Saturday, August 20, 2011

The Truth About Camp . . . and Other Summer Matters

Well . . . when we really get to the bottom of our summer schedule, we soon come to understand why a school semester was dragged out until yesterday. Yes, Yesterday! The last of the school assignments were finally turned in by about 4:00 p.m., and now we can all relax (for about a week) until school starts up again on the 29th! Flexibility is one of the perks of homeschooling, right?

But truthfully, no one is complaining about school or summer schedules here at our house -- we had girls camp in Baumholder, a "turning 18" birthday celebration in Berlin, EFY in Blaubeuren (which overlapped with a two-and-a-half week fun-filled visit from the Clark boys), and a 50-mile scout canoe trip down the Neckar River. I've actually been holding out on this post because I was hoping for some pictures from the canoe trip, but here is where the truth comes out: Boys (and leaders, for that matter) do not take pictures on a canoe trip that includes a large amount of capsizing, chasing, and dunking! If they had taken pictures, I'm quite certain the pics would have ended up on the "lost or ruined" list by the end of the week. In fact, here is a list of the items that were either completely ruined or quickly sank and settled to the bottom of the river:

Christian -- 2 pairs of shorts, 1 towel, 3 shirts, 1 backpack, 1 duffle bag
Bryant -- 1 hat, 1 shirt, 1 pair of shorts, 1 towel

You may be interested in knowing the following --

1) Christian was wise enough to store his ukelele in the transport vehicle.
2) He wore only underwear for part of this trip (yes, his mother was horrified).
3) My boys now have a keen interest in jumping off of bridges.
4) Camp showers can be very tight, brief & towel-less.
5) Watching out for barges is imperative -- they are bigger than canoes and errant swimmers.
6) Every single item (including themselves) was wet and reeked of river water when they returned home. An immediate shower and many loads of laundry were a must as soon as they stepped through the door.
7) The above mentioned backpack and duffle bag actually made it to the "things ruined" list because they disintegrated in the washing machine.

Smelly Mess was swapped for Shredded Mess!

I should briefly mention highlights from girls camp too -- Lissie did a record amount of hair braiding, and a five kilometer hike in the pouring rain -- but was one of the few who did NOT jump in the lake; she also got to know a pet pinecone named Gerald, was cast as Taylor Swift in the ward skit, and apparently only lost one thing (our camp chair bag!).

When asked to share highlights about EFY, here were the kids' answers: testimony meeting, dances, classes, the variety show, and all of the new friends from 31 different European countries!

And finally, a few pictures to remember the summer by . . .

Matthew and Bryant playing their duet!

Lissie and "the Sailors" performing at the variety show

Klara and Lissie

Matching ties (How did they manage that?)
Christian, Ezra, Taylor, Bryant

Braiding marathon

More camp fun!

Our summer is quickly coming to a close -- and that's the truth!