stats...

That old adage... do as I say, not as I do? Or maybe ... lead by example? ... can sometimes get the better of us. I set out to prove a point tonight when a certain boy started to cry when I suggest he write in his journal before lights out. 

You see, he started a journal shortly after boy scout camp in June when he met a camp leader who shared a few of his own journal entries. The leader was in his 50s and he proceeded to share some amazing entries. For example, he started his first journal when he was 18 and wrote in it daily... for the past 40 some years?! I can't even remember the numbers of journals that Jaiden told me this man owned or the number of entries this man had made but it left an impression on Jaiden. He challenged the boys to write a journal entry and turn it in the next day, Jaiden did. He received a very small black notebook and a couple of pieces of candy. 

Jaiden came home on a mission. A mission to write one page every night in his journal. He missed a night and was a little upset but carried on. Then he left for camp, and halfway to camp, he realized he'd left his journal behind. Yahir (a boy we were driving to camp) noticed how distraught Jaiden was and suggested Jaiden go to the craft cabin. Yahir was certain there would be paper inside. Jaiden appeared to recover.

But tonight it went downhill and thus began my own journal entry while sitting on the bed of a boy who is devastated  that he has missed 12 days of journal writing. I began some calculations... he had made 25 entries in his journal over a possible 37 days of entries since he started. He has a 68% success rate currently. 

Then began my calculations for myself and I naively compared that to my journal (aka the blog) and calculated since I started this blog how many entries I had made which was 601 entries... doesn't sound bad does it? well... until I calculate that there was a possible 1814 days of entries... which gives me a whopping 33% success rate... yikes! 

Well, he seemed quite pleased that his success rate was double that of mine! I told him I planned to change that stat. He asked how? and I said I would go backwards and add in some entries with the photos and stories I remember. He told me I was cheating! I say that it won't matter years from now, that in the end I will be glad I captured them anyway even if I was behind, and he, too, will be glad that he continued his journal even if he missed 12 days because it will be a lot more fun reading what his 10 year old mind thought about when he is 50 years old, than it would be to try to remember what in the world he was like when he was 10!

I better get busy and get this blog caught up... in the meantime, I told him...

 do as I say, not as I do!

Pondo rules...

Going backwards again and remembering camp... this year there was no blog updates from our secret spy but there was a few Facebook photos showing up randomly. I missed the kids a lot that week and when we came to pick them up, it was like they both had grown and changed so much that I hardly recognized them. 

We always meet them in the main lodge for a slide show and the awards ceremony. I should have known better but I didn't prepare. So this next photo is blurry but it's definitely not a moment I want to forget... Jaiden receiving his award for attempting to poke himself! Yes, he did and WOW! I told you they changed over that week. He poked a leadership boy and Nurse Kim (she's the nurse to his left) successfully but when he went for his own vein, he missed. He was crushed and super upset that he did not succeed but the amazing thing is he tried! And he doesn't realize how totally proud we are of him.

Then it was off to gather their gear. Yahir rode home with us and here he and Jaiden are waiting outside Alyssa's cabin. Such a sweet boy he was!

 Oh and I forget the name of the award Jaiden's cabin received but it allowed them to hang the banner...

Pondo Rules! 

Apparently they had wrote their name everywhere. Pondo was short for Ponderosa and that was another super cool thing for Jaiden this year - in all boy only (even the camp counselors were boys) cabin. And he came home with all sorts of stories and new music he wanted to download to his iPod!

On the way home we made a quick stop at one of the truck stops and Jaiden found his own coke bottle - Tyler! 

And that sums up camp. The kids continue to sing songs from camp and occasionally I get to hear a story but for them, it's their own world, their own place where they get to be themselves with mom or dad hanging around... and that is truly special for both of them!

yea camp!

Wow! Let me just ask, where did summer go? I can't believe camp came and went... in a flash but we took the kids up to camp on Sunday. This year I felt much better about leaving them and having almost an entire week to myself! Yea camp!

We brought another boy up with us in the car this year. He was hilarious, and got along perfectly with Jaiden. I checked Jaiden and Alyssa in first as that line was the shortest (goes by last name) and then checked in Yahir which took much longer than I expected, but I got him to his cabin while Dennis had already helped Jaiden and Alyssa settle into their cabins.

Of course, before I left I had to capture a photo or two of my cuties so Dennis and I ventured to Alyssa's cabin first... she was in Alpine and already talking up a storm and offering Harry Potter jellybeans to anyone who was daring enough to try one. I pulled her outside for a couple of photos and the first pose went like this:

"c'mon Mom, it's time for you to go!"

 Uh, yeah, thanks I'll miss you too!

 But then I coaxed her into one more and I love this one... so happy and excited!

Then it was off to Jaiden's cabin. He's in Ponderosa this year... an all boy cabin - even boy camp leaders!

 Here is the outside of his cabin and it is looking pretty quiet... hmmm, strange!?!

We go inside and there is literally no one to be found...

... just his stuff already rummaged through... looking apparent that he was trying to find something and off they go. I figure this might be as good as it gets for any documentation showing him at camp.

In the meantime, I am beside myself because I have to find him to say good bye. So I drag Dennis around trying to find him but this place is huge and there is lots of woods and trails and to my utter sadness, I can't find him so that photo of his stuff rummaged through... 

yep, it really was as good as it gets! 

I should have left him a lipstick kiss on a piece of paper saying love Mom ... maybe next year I will be more prepared for him to vanish without saying goodbye!

summer adventuring

Serious warning here folks... 26 photos so I will keep the writing light ... maybe (insert smiley face!)

Ahhh, yes, camping with friends. 3 families or more realistically 3 moms, 6 kids, no dads for the first 3 days and 2 nights for a total of 5 days, lots of rain, plenty of Attack Uno, crafts, and yummy food cooked on an open fire ... yep, you read that right - 5 days and no shower... only Jaiden was in seventh heaven about that bonus fact.

We had two campsites between the 3 families right next to each other. It was awesome. We did most the cooking at the upper campsite where Joan and Noriko set themselves up. We took the lower campsite (separated by a small hill that we could go up and down between the two campsites). It was perfect.

We arrived to the campsites which was nearly swamped in rainwater but classic weather here, it dried up for us to set up our tent. The mosquitoes were horrendous so this year because I knew we would have two campsites, I invested in our own canopy and I splurged and bought the mosquito net... totally worth it.

First morning Ken and Jaiden organizing, sorting and trading baseball cards.

 Girls were found at upper campsite annoying Noriko... watch - Ellie poses for every photo! The first afternoon involved lots of exploring and adventuring. some crafts but mostly games, riding bikes or scooters and making fairy houses.

We shared dinner duties. The first night was me so no photos and it also poured but the second night, Jade requested foil dinner. The weather held out much nicer and we made delicious hobo dinners are she referred to them as. 

 Foil dinners are just that - wrapped in foil but you start out with cabbage leaves so the food doesn't stick to the foil and fill with potatoes, carrots, beets, celery ... any veggies you prep beforehand. I precooked and chopped the potatoes to help them along, then you add your choice of meat. Joan cooked up chicken and ground beef ahead of time. Top it with spices and cheese. Then wrap in foil and set on the fire. Yum!

 Some of us preferred roasted marshmallows...

 Thursday night, my kids abandoned me and slept with their friends. Girls in with Joan and boys with Noriko... me? all by myself in the lone campsite but boy did I enjoy that morning!

 Not only did I boil water but made yummy coffee and read my photography magazine. How appropriate was that article? called Daily Grind!

 My peaceful morning was soon interrupted by girls who wanted hot chocolate and more Attack Uno!

 Then it was crafting all afternoon long! The girls made God's eyes and the boys? No idea where they were. Totally kidding of course, they were riding scooters and bikes primarily and would check in when they were hot, tired, thirsty or hungry.

 Jade's God's Eye... well one of the many she made!

 Ellie's yarn wrapped stick...

 more God's eyes...

 decorated walking sticks too...

a fun bracelet weaving technique Noriko taught us... 

 and more God's eyes...

 and hungry boys...

 camp was seriously decorated!

 and it was lovely!

 Finally a break from crafting and some exploring in the woods...

 Actually the girls set up a hiking trail for me to follow with various signs to show me which way to go... that was fun and part of badge Alyssa was working on called ... yep, you guessed it ... Hiker!

 The boys attempted to follow the path and then create one of their own...

 but instantly went back to scootering on this crazy scooter!

And then the rain came again...

 but we still managed to cook with fire, umbrellas and lots of raincoats!

 Serious camp cooking! Fantastically yummy kabobs compliments of Noriko...

 ... and foil mac and cheese for the kids!

Yes, adventuring and camping with friends is the ultimate summer vacation... even in the rain!

happy 4th!

Well, I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July. Ours was fairly non-eventful except when Nasser brought out his blow torch to light the sparklers!

We had our first BBQ at our house with 4 other families and it was splendid. One of the best parts was that we took a chance and Dennis bought fresh Alaska sockeye to BBQ, we had hot dogs and chicken sausages for back up but everyone ate the salmon! You never know when you might encounter non-seafood eaters around here, but that certainly wasn't the case with this crowd.

The other fun addition was everyone brought something to share - everyone brought a side and a dessert... the patriotism was fabulous in the dessert display.

Compliments of Noriko - small tartlets with a sweet cream topped with berries.

Compliments of Malia and her mom, Mary. Chocolate strawberries are always a favorite but I love this take on them!

Compliments of Sophie, Lilia and their mom, Homa! I like the mix of good ol' fashion chocolate chip cookies with pretty star sugar cookies. 

Haleh brought cherry pie which I wish I would have known earlier because that was fabulous. She used cherries straight from her cherry tree which prompted Dennis and Alyssa to pick our cherries and make a cherry crisp last night... yum, yum!

We had the perfect mix of kids - 2 older girls, 2 boys and 3 younger girls. They all played fabulously together and bounced between many of the outdoor games we put out or came inside for a quieter game or activity and probably to cool off a bit.

We did sparklers... of course!

luminos! My little Harry Potter wizard!

Oh and Betty - can you believe she can still wear that sweet dress? She tied the ribbons funny this year so she could have a "sash" but I loved having her wear it one more year!

no idea what this boy was doing but he refused to wear anything patriotic with the claim the material is "too itchy"... I am not sure I blame him though because it was a very hot day with a massive rain shower around 3 pm that left the evening muggy ... muggy for us!

After the sparklers, most of us headed towards the sledding hill and waited for our local fireworks. Malia and Mary cautioned us that we'd have to move and trees may be in our way but I think it was probably our best viewing area... ever! The show this year was amazing. They really outdid themselves and it was something crazy like 40 minutes long!

Hope you had a fun 4th!

more and more paint

Our morning started like this...

... and I instantly wished I had taken several before photos, because the difference is going to be amazing! 

By afternoon, it looked like this...

... no shutters, new color and plastic over all the windows. 

We hired a local company and I love that. The painters are great and polite. It's fun because they speak Spanish to each other and two have really good English, but what makes it fun is the challenge of speaking Spanish back to them. I forget how much I love to speak Spanish until I start doing it, and I loved watching their look of surprise when I started speaking - that is always a bit hilarious or even cuter is how Alyssa will yell "hola" and "adios" to them, and they get a real kick out of that.

They worked until 7 pm tonight, and the house is looking amazing. A neighbor that I don't know was walking his dog and he even commented on how much better it looks and that was with all the supplies in the yard, ladders on the house, plastic covered windows. Alfonso (the lead painter) said they will be done tomorrow and ready for the 4th of July?! I feel like I should go get streamers and firecrackers for the celebration!

One more project to mark off the long honey dew list!