The Kickoff to Summer

School got out at 10:30 am.  I was out the door by 10:55.  I've never been one for long, awkward goodbyes.  I also was not done packing for our first adventure of the summer.

This year we jumped right into summer with family camp at Camp Gallagher.  The last two years we've gone in August and had perfect weather.  I was worried about going in June, especially when it was pelting rains the previous weekend.  Luckily, the weather was in our favor.  It was a little overcast our first day and it tried to rain, but gave up after about 3 sprinkles.

The sad thing about going in June is that a lot of the families we are used to seeing were going in August.  The good news was we were joined by a few of the regular faces along with new fun faces!  The different mix forced me to branch out a little more and I think that was a good thing.  Linus missed the group of boys he hung with last year, but instead ended up having fun with a friend from school who came.

A highlight for me was seeing a favorite camp person, Jak, for the first time in four years!  I got tear-eyed watching our babies play together.  The lack of electricity meant I had to save my phone battery as much as possible and thus didn't get as many pictures as I would have liked.

Gallagher may lack things like flush toilets and electricity, but it makes up for it by its perfect sandy location.  Eileen loves the sand and would just stay in it all day long if she could.

Stand up paddle boards are my favorite part.  Dave and Eileen spent Saturday afternoon sailing.

Superhero Theme!

"Helping" build the campfire

Even sleeping babies can't keep a former counselor down.

As an added treat, Tom O'Loughlin was there to give one of his famous Mariner game updates.

You eat a lot and play hard at camp.  By mid-morning on Saturday Robin was exhausted and asked for a nap.

He slept through lunch.  I managed to read a large chunk of my book and catch a few Zs myself.  We scrounged for food.  Robin was satisfied with breakfast sausage and apple slices.

Chillin' on the porch of Hurricane Ridge, just a boy and a fruit punch mustache.

Did I mention Eileen loved sand? She seriously spent every chance she could like this.

Robin developed a strong aversion to crabs, causing him to avoid the waterfront at all costs.  It was so sad/hilarious as he screamed, "Someone help me!" when a crab less than half an inch wide was near him.

We ended our time with a little Great Blue Heron Challenge.

My only regrets are that I didn't get to do the vertical playpen or spend even more time paddle boarding.

Our last day coincided with Father's Day.  Dave celebrated by getting to opt out of packing up the cabin.  Dave got sick right before camp.  He came to camp armed with prescriptions.  Dave was a good sport even when he didn't feel awesome.  He also used it as an excuse not to lead songs. Too exhausted to do anything, we had dinner out.  We all love this guy.

As a final launch to summer, I agreed to let Linus dye his hair blue.  He hasn't stopped thanking me.

It was the perfect chill, relaxing weekend.  Today Linus learned about how to clean a blue stained bathtub....