From the Mouths of Babes in September

Dave:  Robin come here or I'm gonna drink your lemonade.
Robin:  NO! You don't like it.  You like chai.

Me:  Mmm. You smell good.  What have you been using?
Eileen: Well I was rubbing myself with this bush...  (We think she was playing in some rosemary.)

Eileen:  Can I have screen time?
Me:  Do you have any homework?
Eileen:  Not sure.
Me:  Well, is there anything in  your folder?
Eileen:  Oh, just some fashion magazines I made.  (very nonchalantly, like it is a totally regular thing)

                                                        Sibling Picnic Play

Nevertheless, She Persisted (at rollerskating)

Eileen went to her very first roller skating party yesterday.  Eileen has been asking for roller skates for about 9 months now.  I've kindly suggested she wait to try skating before making such a purchase. I've also tried to point out the financial wisdom of simply renting skates at the skate center.

Eileen is not known for her risk-taking or physicality (other than being flexible).  She frequently refuses to do things independently or go familiar places by herself -- including the bathroom from her bedroom.

As I drove Eileen to the skate center she was buzzing with energy.  This was the moment she had been waiting her whole life to experience.  The roller skating center did not smell of shoe leather, sweat, and popcorn.  It lacked gaudy carpeting.  Other than that, roller skating rinks have not changed much since the 80s when I skated to Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the USA."  Because it was a Saturday afternoon, it was significantly less crowded than a school skating party.

I helped Eileen with her skates.  Her friend, Lucy, was equally excited to get out on the floor.

I barely turned around for a second and the two of them were out on the rink.  No adults.  They were just going for it.

God only knows how many times they fell before they made it to the wall.  It was slow going, but they made it around the rink.  We tried to get her wheels tightened by the screws were stripped. Undeterred, Eileen kept at it.  I took my life into my own hands, took off my shoes, and went around the rink once in my socks, holding her hand.  Eileen barely wanted to stop for food or cake before getting back out on the rink.

She had it fairly well figured out by the end.

Eileen was super proud of herself.  I told her I was proud of the way she didn't give up even though it was hard.  Linus was at a skating party the previous weekend and did not have quite the same level of grit.  Knowing that she did better at her initial attempt at roller skating than Linus set her on cloud nine.  They may be a competitive edge to her yet.

First Day of School (a day late)

Yesterday was the first day of school.  I'm still trying to catch my breath.  Dave worked late last night so I think that has something to do with it.  This year we did a Meet and Greet the Friday before Labor Day weekend.  It made the first day of school so much smoother, although I admit it did feel a bit weird to have the first day be a full day of school.  I don't think I've met a group more excited to be in 6th grade.

My own babies are growing up.  All three are at St. Luke this year with me, all day long.  I love that this simplifies a lot of our life logistically speaking.  Just dropping the kids at day camp before going to the teacher in-service was tricky.  So my hats off to people who don't have their kids onsite at work.

Eileen cried when kindergarten ended.  She loved every single moment.  As we moved through August, the excitement of first grade welled inside her.  She was ready and raring to go for the first day.  Normally, she won't let me take her picture.  Today Eileen wanted all the pictures and chose the tree and our front yard for posing.  Linus felt sort of meh about going back to school.  I don't think Robin knew what to expect.  He was just excited to go back to hanging out in my classroom.

The "ashing" outside from the wildfires was sad and unexpected.

The combination of heat and having all sorts of bigger girls playing with her hair this summer has made Eileen relent, and let me start pulling back her hair.

Ready for another year of 6th grade.

At school, this cutie literally stopped traffic.  Be still my heart.  Gah.  The cuteness.

The morning was a bit chaotic but things seemed to smooth out as the day continued.  The heat was sweltering.  The popsicles supplied by the principal was very welcomed.

It's funny how easily you can forget how much goes into kicking off the school year--setting up the classroom, sorting students, giving them passwords,  uploading students into online curriculums. Seriously, so much stuff that takes time.  Luckily, it's those things that you only do once.

I checked in with the kids about their first day.  Linus didn't have much to report, but that he liked third grade alright (yet he was already getting right to work on his first IB assignment so I think he liked it a lot).  I caught Eileen out at recess literally frolicking, holding hands and prancing with two of her friends. I asked her and her friends if they liked first grade, and they squealed that they loved it, especially that they had desks that opened (as opposed to tables). Robin's teachers gave him a good report.  He was a bit overwhelmed.  He had an accident towards the end of the day, but given all the changes I'm impressed it was only once.  I am happy to say he was accident free today.

I can already tell it's going to be a good year for all of us.

From the Mouths of Babes in August

While playing on an old, dead cell phone
Robin:  Download, download, download.  I downloaded all the apps.

Talking about helping homeless people more directly
Linus: I could tell stories.
Robin:  And I could build little houses.

On dying my hair to get rid of the gray at her request
E:  Do you love it more than you expected!?!

Yes, Dave is holding Robin's face.  I just managed a cool shot.  And isn't my husband kind of dreamy?

Sometimes even the big guys need naps.

Happy Birthday Dave!

Happy Birthday Dave.  Poor Dave had to work a long day.  With school starting soon, I was busy working in my classroom.  There wasn't a lot of time to do things like bake a cake or plan an elaborate meal.  The kids had swim lessons in the late afternoon.

I tried to make things a little festive.  I got some shiny gold crowns and blowers.  I decorated his present pretty.  I actually planned ahead and got his present when I took a day trip to Bainbridge Island.

We had teriyaki as requested for dinner.  After coming home from swim lessons, I placed an order through Amazon restaurants for delivery.  I then set about trying to spruce up the house a little and get laundry running and all the other things you do as a parent before he got home.

It's amazing how kids won't complain about dinner being late if you let them have free screen time....

Dinner came pretty quickly and was delicious.  It was already bedtime so there wasn't much time for celebrating.  Dave is very hard to shop for and had made no mention of anything he would like.  I'm pretty proud of what I got him.

Dave is pretty excited about it too.  It's a Growler Werks microkeg.  It holds 3 pints of beer.  The keg uses CO2 chargers to pressurize.  Basically, it means you can fill a growler, take it camping, and not worry about flat beer.  Dave has an affinity for industrialized metal.  I thought he would appreciate this copper beauty on looks alone.

We ended the night with lava cakes and vanilla ice cream and a flourless chocolate tart with almond milk vanilla ice cream for Eileen.  Dave rounded out his birthday watching the Seahawks.
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Now Dave is already for his next camping adventure.  I'm looking forward to enjoying leftover teriyaki and lava cakes. Mmmm.

We love you Dave.  Happy Birthday!

Everybody Knows There's a Place Called Skoko Lodge

Everybody knows that the best part of summer is summer camp.  And one of the best summer camps around is Camp Gallagher.  My family snagged a coveted spot at Gallagher Family Camp again.  This weekend we endured much traffic in order to bask in the magic of camp.

Gallagher is different than other camps--it's very rustic with no electricity in the cabins or flushing toilets, you don't have to wear shoes,  the dining hall has a sand/dirt floor.  What it lacks in amenities, it more than makes up for in other ways.

Thanks to our week at Cama Beach, Linus quickly went and found his pack of boys and we didn't really see him much after that.  He was so happy.  Linus led songs at campfire, wrote and sang an entire cheer by himself, and played hard.  I appreciate that the boys didn't mind the fact that he was three years younger.  Linus played the most with two boys only a year older.  Dave and I were excited because one lives across the street and yet somehow they haven't connected as buddies--until now!

The first thing Eileen wanted was to go visit the mitten (a driftwood log at the campfire circle that has one end sort of shaped like a mitten).  I was a bit surprised to find other kids called it the mitten as well.

Astride the mitten.

The kids quickly went to work playing in the sand.  Eileen and Garnett, a boy from Linus' class at school, delved into the construction of a driftwood fort.

Playing in the sand continued through Sundown.  I bathed them before we left for camp to establish a base layer of cleanliness.  Within 15 minutes of being at camp, it proved a useless exercise.

The next morning was full of playing on the beach and a little standup paddle boarding.  Paddling with two kids on your board is not the easiest thing.  Luckily, later in the day I got to take out a paddle by myself.  I really enjoy paddle boarding.  I'm beginning to think I might be ready to invest in one.  There is just something about the ease of getting out on the water that it allows.

In the afternoon, a bunch of the moms took the big canoe out to Heron Island.

It was so cool to connect with such an awesome group of women.  The big canoe is no joke.  Despite being awesome women, reinforcements were still needed to get the canoe off and on the beach.

The evening Luau was pretty fun.  Even Linus relented and got into the spirit.

    

I think it's a tragedy I don't get more opportunities to wear my coconut bra.

In case the kids weren't dirty enough, burial in the sand trumped Sundown for the kids.

I tried to keep an eye on things while enjoying Sundown.  Sundown at family camp is a little different.  Kids under the age of 10 seem to have less interest in watching the sunset, listening to people share reflections and feelings, and sing songs.  Behind the sundown log was a whole other scene full of a different kind of joy.  Some kids found the sundown log better suited to being tunneled under.  I looked over at one point and saw Robin astride poor Garnett, pushing him into the sand. I was worried until Garnett's parents assured me he was happy, even if it involved a mouthful of sand.

A surprising highlight of the weekend was the Great Heron Challenge.  A series of cooperative challenges.  Linus abandoned us in favor of joining the group of boys led by former staffer, Murph.  We joined another family from school, the Martins.  We had so much fun.  Team Wookie (our chosen name) dominated the challenges.  I was impressed by our ingenuity.  The kids did awesome.  Linus was just impressed later when I told him that his dad and I actually were friends with Murph.

Eileen didn't like me taking her picture much.  By the end of the weekend she had the cutest little dirt freckles.  This picture doesn't do it justice.

The weekend was way too short.  Next year I hope to try the vertical playpen.  I also want to try sailing.  I haven't done a small sailboat since I was a camper.  Family camp was the absolute best way to end summer.  Today was the first teacher in-service day.  Now I'm just left with happy memories of camp and a longing for next year.  In the meantime I need to remember the implicit messages of Gallagher -- to find joy in simple things, make time to play, admire beauty in nature, and put down your phone.

***My phone was down most of the time except for the few pics I took.  With no electricity, I could not charge my phone and it does not hold a charge well.  Photos were taken sparingly.

Camper for Life

This week another of my babies embarked on their first solo adventure.  Eileen went to Camp Don Bosco for mini camp.  Linus never did mini camp.  When we first broached the idea this past winter, Eileen would start screaming and crying (not exaggerating).  The idea of sleep away camp terrified her.

In the spring we went to the annual Easter Egg Hunt at Bosco.  It served as a gentle reminder that Bosco is a safe fun place.  Eileen then asked to go to camp.  We were shocked!  Of course I had already registered Linus for camp at that point and it wasn't the same session as a minicamp.  Ugh. Thus I spent a lot of time the past two weeks driving back and forth along Woodinville-Duvall Road and Highway 203.

By the time the first day of camp arrived, Eileen was bursting with excitement. Randomly, she and I both put on the same pants that morning without discussing it.

Sometimes excitement is masked by a stoic sensibility.

It was a relief to know that the camp was fully prepared to deal with her food sensitivities.  I was surprisingly less nervous for Eileen than Linus.  Eileen loves life.  She is enthusiastic about everything.  Dave and I agreed that if anyone was going to love camp, it would be Eileen.

Joining Eileen by lucky chance was the daughter of the director, who Dave and I worked at camp with back in the day.  As we checked in, lo and behold another former staffer walked up with a mini camper!  We all worked the very wet, muddy, insane summer of 99 at Bosco.  Bosco 99 forever!  Rounding out the surprises was Linus' second grade teacher showing up with her daughter.  If this doesn't say something about the CYO community then I don't know what does.

Kiernan and Eileen excited about the Glacier Lodge bunks.

Eileen didn't bother to even say good bye to me.  I'm told she was never homesick.  While she was away, the rest of us basked in all the gluten and dairy we could stomach.  It was glorious and delicious.  Linus enjoyed his time with his brother. At the YMCA, Linus was stunned that while hanging out in the tween room, in walked two of his cabinmates!  They were equally surprised.  It just goes to show that CYO is secretly everywhere.

Robin missed Eileen.  I missed Eileen too.  I couldn't wait to pick her up.  Eileen wouldn't let me take pictures, but thankfully a friend managed to snap a few shots.

Eileen at the final night BBQ.  Burgers, watermelon, canteloupe, candy, and facepaint.   

G-L, G-L-A, G-L-A-C-I-E-R, Glacier! Lodge!

Eileen acted anxious to go home, but then could not stop talking and singing on the car ride back.  She loved everything--broomball in T-bird, s'mores, crafts, campfire.  Her favorite thing at camp was chanting, "In the Pool! In the Pool!"  when a staff member had to be thrown in as punishment.  Her favorite songs were "Rattlin' Bog" and "Yogi Bear."  I had no idea they still sang Yogi Bear.  Eileen enthusiastically performed the motions as I drove and we sang together.

Cleaning out Eileen's stuff was interesting.  I am pretty sure she did brush her teeth and she changed her clothes more than Linus.  Her hair was less of a tangled disaster than I anticipated. I think about half her stuff must be in the lost and found. Another trip out to Carnation may be in order....

Eileen plans to wear her Eagle (the special leather necklace you get the first time you go to camp) everywhere so that people will know she went to CYO camp.  I'm so proud of her for the way she embraced independence.

Tonight at dinner Robin gingerly asked, "When can I be a summer camper?"  I think he's a little jealous of all the fun his siblings have had the past two weeks.  He will just have to make do with family camp for now.

Next year the goal is camp at the same time for both big kids, drop Robin with the grandparents, and then take a mini-vacation with Dave.