Summer camps: Camp Invention and Camp Friends!

David returned to Camp Invention this year.  (Last year enrollment was really high, so they organized it differently, and I think it was a little more chaotic.  This year was back to "normal"--and it was great!)

On Friday we joined David for the Inventor's Showcase.

First up was the slide show.  There were some great shots of David in it!  Then it was on to see the inventions.


The highlight is the Take-Apart workshop.  The kids bring in something (like an old VCR or computer keyboard--there are guidelines), then work meticulously to take it apart using real tools and safety gear.  Then they create something new out of all the pieces in the workshop.  This year David took apart our not-so-old computer tower.

 I'm not sure what his new invention was, but this is what he had to say about it: "You can never use too much duct tape!"

With some extra time and supplies in the workshop, he also created this robot.  I think he mentioned it was to help me clean the house!

In another module, David and some friends were given real-life problems from around the world to solve.  They worked together to build this contraption that would help you survive a tsunami.

Now of course I can't remember the details, but it was quite well thought-out!  I was impressed.

This year they also built devices to launch rubber ducks (fun!) and learned a lot about geography and weather and ecosystems around the world (all of which is right up David's alley).

David is not as much interested in the actual hands-on construction part.  He's not a details guy.  But he has great ideas and a big imagination.  He also knows a lot about a lot of stuff.  And he's generally pretty enthusiastic.  He likes making new friends, and I love that he has a whole week of high-quality structure and fun.  Camp Invention has been a good fit.

Meanwhile, Mary had her own camp here at home!  It was best friend camp.  Mary got to spend a whole week with her best friend Brooke.  Brooke's mom is attending AMI-Montessori training in Milwaukee this whole summer.  So it's a busy summer for their family.  I persuaded them to let us have Brooke for a week while her dad was at work and her mom was in Milwaukee.  It made for a very special, unforgettable week.

These girls are pretty amazing together.  They can play and play and play.  It's not entirely without conflict, but they are wonderful problem solvers.  They always manage to work things out on their own.  I am always so impressed by the way they give and take and how they each seek to be peacemakers.

They had an idyllic week together.  They built forts, painted each other's nails, danced as ballerinas, baked a cake, enjoyed popsicles on the deck, curled up in blankets to watch movies, ran through the sprinklers, and spent hours and hours outside riding bikes and scooters and relaxing in the shade eating blueberries.  They had a few outings, like one to a splash pad and another to the Children's Museum, but for the most part they entertained themselves here.

A few pictures from the Children's Museum ...

One morning their other best friend, Abby, came over to join in the fun.  Those three are peas in a pod.  They must be the only kindergarten-age girls on the planet who can have a three-girl play date and not have it go south.  They get along so well!  (For those of you who don't know, normally having THREE kindergarten-age girls over to play is a recipe for disaster.) The girls had a marvelous morning together playing dress-up and doctor and house and babies.

Then, later in the week Abby's family had an emergency and Abby ended up spending the night with us.  Abby got here late at night, long after Mary had gone to bed, so Mary was so surprised to wake up and see one of her best friends asleep on her bedroom floor!  As soon as Brooke arrived the girls got to work painting nails and riding bikes.

It all made for a busy week.  (Mary was exhausted by the end!)  But it was a gift to have Brooke and Abby here.  Truly, these girls are special friends.  The trio is breaking up soon.  Mary is moving.  Brooke and Abby will be in different classrooms next year.  So glad we had this "friend" summer camp at our house!

A "summery" of not

Labor Day, the official end of summer, seems the perfect time to look back at the last few months.  A summary of the summer, a "summery," if you will.

The day-to-day of this summer was pretty boring, and not in that idyllic popsicles-in-the-backyard way.  It was more of a "please go downstairs and watch five more hours of TV" way.  But we did drag ourselves to a few activities.  And we were very fortunate to have a few visitors to break up the monotony.  So I certainly can't complain that it was all bad.  (In fact, I'm already feeling a little nostalgic about this summer.  Yikes!  Who feels nostalgic about laying in bed for hours wanting to die knowing your kids are on their 14th episode of Hannah Montana that day?!  Ah, the power of the human mind...or lack thereof.)

In keeping with the general rosiness that is most mommy blogging, this weekend I will be posting a disproportionate amount of fun and happy and cute from the summer.  But, before we get started, to even out the scales just a tad, allow me to offer a list of


Some Things We Gave Up on This Summer Before Summer Even Began

1. Arts and crafts
2. Piano
3. Learning to tie shoes and aprons
4. The summer reading program at the library (Who doesn't do the summer reading program at the library??!!...Us.)
5. Any and all projects
6. Family reunions
7. Laundry*
8. Lots of play dates with lots of different friends
9. Limits on electronics and T.V.
10. Snacktime
11. Lunch
12. A clean kitchen counter
13. A clean anything
14. Clothes that cover your kid's rear end
15. Socializing
16. Regular outings
17. Blogging
18. Fun

*Okay so I didn't completely give up on laundry.  But I did go out at the beginning of the summer and buy everyone lots and lots of extra underwear.  It's AMAZING how long you can manage to go without doing laundry if everyone has five thousand extra pairs of undies.

As you can see, I started out the summer with very low expectations.  And, for the most part, my expectations were met.  But there were a few bright spots, made all the brighter against our dull background.  

Pictures and a few comments of said bright spots coming up in the next few posts.  A summer summary.

The Big Dig

Whoops.  I kinda forgot I have a blog.  (I knew there was something missing!) We're adjusting to fall schedules.  But mostly I am trying to dig us out of the disaster that became our home this summer.  

When I see this. . . 

. . . I just have to remind myself that we had a good summer.

(I have lots of reminders of our good summer--on every surface and in every corner of my home.)

Actually, I've spent most of the last few weeks avoiding digging ourselves out.  Because shoving everything into closets and piles in the basement doesn't really count, does it?

Some summer wrap-up

Back-to-school was yesterday.  And now Labor Day is upon us.  It seems like the perfect opportunity to post a random assortment of pictures from the summer.  Aren't you excited?

This summer included lots of playdates.  It was especially fun to bring together David's buddies from church.  They all live spread out through three different towns, so there's usually not time for many playdates with them during the busy school year.  This is Ellis, Owen, David and Jack.  

Mary enjoyed having friends over, too, this summer.  She and pal, Lea, have become great buddies.

We went swimming this summer!  Okay, so most of it was in Texas (where the following pictures were taken), but we did take the kids swimming a few times here in Wisconsin too.  (I'm not a hang-out-at-the-pool-all-day kind of gal, so my kids should realize how lucky they are to have gone swimming as much as they did!)

Gymnastics, gymnastics, gymnastics!  David definitely enjoyed gymnastics this summer.  It was great to see him really improve.  His class was small, so he got lots and lots of practice.  I think we're bidding farewell to The Little Gym.  It's not cheap, but I feel like we got what we paid for this summer (yay!).  And they have a great staff here.  But sometimes you just have to say good-bye.

It's tragic I took no pictures of Mary doing gymnastics.  She's really quite good!  She was even invited to move up to the "invitation only" advanced class.  But our commitment to mediocrity in this family is unwavering!  Now that she's catching on and beginning to excel, it's time to quit.  She wants to try dance.  But maybe we'll be back to gymnastics in the future.

I did take a picture of Mary and her teacher, Miss Ashleigh.  Look how happy Mary is!  Did I say the staff at The Little Gym here is great?  They make up for the  vaguely-creepy corporate gimicky-ness of it all. (Okay, I have to stop looking at this picture or I'm going to ignore good sense and sign my kids up again.)

This summer did have a few outings that had nothing to do with European immigrants.  For instance, Greg took them to the zoo for reptiles, giraffes, and snow cones.  See how nice we are.

Mary learned to play!  By herself!  It's a glorious day in a mother's life when her child learns to entertain herself for more than three minutes at a time.  This is Mary dancing with "Whaley in her boo-tiful dress."
"Whale-y in her boo-tiful dress" was Mary's playmate for a few days.

This summer included a few Brick Buddy meetings at the library.  Every season all year round includes lots of Legos in this family.

And that just about wraps up our summer.

It has been many years since I have a had summer that did not include moving, having a baby, or both.  In fact, the only summer I can think of that did not include moving, having a baby, or both was the summer I spent potty-training David (which made it the worst summer ever, no offense to my first-born child).  Last spring, I was a little freaked out at the prospect of three whole months with no baby, no moving, and no potty-training.*  What would we do???

But it turned out great!  I think overall we found a good balance in our schedule.  And guess what!  I really enjoyed spending time with my children.  I loved sitting by David's side as he progressed as a reader and watching Mary write her name over and over.  I even liked shuttling them all over tarnation to different activities.  I loved how tired they were every night after a full day of swimming, play dates, gymnastics, or whatever.  And I am so grateful to my children for being such good sports when we dragged them around "Europe" on the weekends.  (I had to keep my sanity somehow.)  But it's definitely time for new routines.  I started to burn out on summer by the end...so thank goodness for September.  It rescued us just in time.


* Hugs to Skye.  Who spent her summer moving, having a baby, and potty training.  She's a hero!



P.S.  We wrapped up our summer with Greg's nose wrapped up! Wednesday he had septoplasmy.  I am telling exactly what the procedure was for good reason.  For a few days, in conversations with people, I was politely vague about the details, saying only that Greg was having some minor surgery he'd been meaning to have for a while.  I mean, who wants to know the intricacies of Greg's left nostril?  As a result of my caginess, I got a lot of knowing looks and "Oooh, oookaaay" in response.  Finally, much later, the meaning of those knowing looks computed in my brain.  And now everyone in the neighborhood thinks Greg had a vasectomy this week.  Oh, well.  At least no one will wonder anymore if we're going to have more kids.

P.P.S.  Greg is doing fine.  In fact, he's doing quite well.

Summer schedule

I've been obsessed with schedules this summer.  No lazy, unplanned days in this family!!  Mostly because lazy, unplanned days turn into warfare between my kids while I hide in my closet taking deep cleansing breaths that only seem to make me more irritable.  So my goal this summer has been to have an answer every time someone asks, "What are we doing today?"  And I have been, for the most part, successful.

I think this kind of freaked out my kids at first.  In the past, they would ask, "What are we doing today?" and I would bark, "How should I know?! Go play with your toys before I take them all away!!"  Now they ask, "What are we doing today?" and I shoot off a list with more items than they have fingers, leaving them wide-eyed, bewildered...and happy.  (Heaven forbid they have to think of something to do on their own.)

Here is a peek at our schedule the last couple of weeks.  Almost everything was planned in advance.  This is not the summer of spontaneity.  I think we all have found comfort in having a plan every day, especially Greg, who is swamped with schoolwork and knows that the kids and I are more likely to leave him in peace if we know what the heck to do with ourselves hour to hour.  I know I'm weird about recording daily schedules.  It's just sort of fascinating to me, to look back and say, "Oh. So that's what we did all day last summer/when David was a baby/after Mary was born/once David was school age etc."  It's so easy to forget what day to day life was like during a certain period of time.

Here it is:

My schedule, my friend.

Monday
Laundry
Clean house
School work
11:05 Swimming lessons
Sonic slushes
Lunch
Quiet time
Afternoon schoolwork
Watch TV and leave Mom alone
Dinner
Family Home Evening

Tuesday
Schoolwork
9:30 Gym
11:05 Swimming lessons
12:30 David to Jack's house for play date and lemonade stand
12:30 Mary to Lea's house
4:30 David to gymnastics
Dinner


Wednesday
Schoolwork
9:30 Gym
11:05 Swimming lessons
Sonic slushes
Lunch
2:00 Sariah over to play with Mary
2:15 Bailey over to play with David
4:15 Mary to gymnastics
Dinner
Bike ride with Dad
7:00 Mom to Young Women activity

Thursday
Schoolwork
9:30 Gym
11:05 Swimming lessons
Sonic slushes
Lunch
Quiet time
Afternoon schoolwork
Play in the backyard 
Watch TV and leave Mom alone
Dinner
6:30 David to swimming lessons

Friday
Schoolwork
9:15 Gym
Early to swimming to play in sandbox
11:05 Swimming lessons
Sonic slushes
Lunch
Quiet time
Afternoon school work
Library
3:00 Presidency meeting at the twins' house
Watch TV and leave mom alone
5:30 Missionaries over for dinner

Saturday
Cornwall

Sunday
11:00 Church
3:00 Home teachers
5:30 Dinner at Baby Emmeline's house

Monday
Laundry
Clean bedrooms
11:05 Swimming lessons
Costco
Quiet time
2:00 David to Bailey's house
2:15 Mary visiting teaching with Mom to Baby Jacob's house
Mary plays at Bailey's house too!
Watch TV and leave Mom alone
Dinner
Family Home Evening

Tuesday
Schoolwork
9:30 Gym
11:05 Swimming lessons
Lunch
12:30 Big playdate (Lea, Ellis, Jack, and Owen) here
4:30 David to gymnastics
Dinner

Wednesday
Schoolwork
9:30 Gym
11:05 Swimming lessons
Sonic slushes
Lunch
Quiet time
2:00 David to Bailey's house
Mary with mom on errands
4:15 Mary to gymnastics
Dad picks up a pizza
7:00 Mom to Young Women activity

Thursday
Schoolwork
Gym 9:30
11:05 Swimming lessons
Lunch
1:00 David to Michael's house
Quiet time
3:00 Mary visiting teaching with Mom to Molly's house
5:15 Pick up Dad for dinner at Culver's
6:30 David to swimming lessons

Friday
Schoolwork
Gym 9:15
Early to swimming lessons to play in the sandbox
11:05 Swimming lessons
Sonic slushes
Lunch
Quiet time
1:30 Bailey comes over to play
5:00 Bailey goes home
Watch TV and leave Mom alone
Dinner

Saturday (today)
No plan!  Yikes!  (It's too hot for the county fair--our original plan--so I offered to take David and Mary to a movie.  They CRIED at the mere suggestion!  What is wrong with my children???)  As it turned out, I spent the morning playing Wii with the kids while Greg studied, and then Greg took the kids swimming for the afternoon while I cleaned the kitchen.

Here is what I have written on our calendar for the next few days:

Sunday
11:00 Church
3:30 Dad goes home teaching

Monday
Clean bedrooms
Schoolwork
Gym
Lunch
Quiet time
Afternoon schoolwork
Haircuts
Library
Watch TV and leave Mom alone
Dinner
Family Home Evening

Tuesday
Schoolwork
9:30 Gym
11:15 Mary to gymnastics
12:30 David to play date
Quiet time for Mom and Mary
Packing and organizing
4:30 David to gymnastics
Dinner
Mom to Target

Wednesday
Laundry and packing
Schoolwork
10:00 Playgroup at the splash pad
Lunch
Quiet time
2:00 Bailey to our house
4:15 Mary to gymnastics
Dinner
7:00 Mom to Young Women activity

Thursday
Drive halfway to Texas
Go swimming


Hmm...looking over our schedule, I notice that it fails to illustrate how much time I spend in the car shuttling people around.  It also fails to show how wiped out the kids are by the end of the day.  The fact that David and Mary fall asleep instantly at bedtime is, I think, a sign of a fun summer.  The only problem is that I want to fall asleep when they do--these fun summer days leave me pooped!--but after waiting hours and hours for some peace and quiet, there's no way I'm going to bed when they do.  The silence is much too blissful, even though morning comes all too quick.  The life of a mom...

Anyway, as you might have noticed, I'm driving to Texas on Thursday (with David and Mary, of course).  We'll all be back in Wisconsin on August 11.  My posting might be erratic for a while--or more regular than it's been all summer.  Who knows.

What I do know is that I hope you're having a wonderful summer (or winter, depending on where in the world you are).

Swimming finale

For better or worse, we're finished with swim lessons this summer.  David's final Thursday evening class was yesterday, and both David and Mary finished their two-week session this morning.  They had a great time!  But I think lessons ended just in time...I think we're all starting to burn out a little.

That adorable picture up there?  From his lessons.  The lifeguards took them as a fundraiser.  I love that picture!

Of course, Mary wasn't up for having her picture taken under water.  So here's the above water shot they took of her.

I love the melted chocolate chip on her chest.  Beautiful, isn't it?  I guess that's what happens when you feed your kids in the car--they go to swimming lessons filthy.

Today I brought my camera--and I actually watched their lessons.  I have enjoyed so much sitting under a tree in the shade with my nose in a book and NOT watching their lessons.  But today I purposely left all books at home AND packed my camera.  I figured with a camera and no book, I would feel slightly more motivated to watch.  They both did a great job!  And they were so dang happy!  It was like the happiest 30 minutes of their lives!

With that camera, I did of course take a few pictures.

We arrived a few minutes early, so David and Mary played in the sand beach area for a while.  Building a river is serious work.

Then it was time for lessons.  I spied on Mary.

And I spied on David.

And I spied on Mary again.

And back to David.

I also watched David go down the big water slide!

Then it was time to get their progress reports and give big hugs to their teachers, Carly (Mary's teacher) and Gabby (David's teacher).

This was Mary's first swimming lesson, and she loved it.  She is one of those kids who is "a joy to have in class."  She follows directions, tries hard, volunteers (but not too much), and has a happy demeanor.  Seriously, this girl seems to thrive in any teacher-student scenario.  She did a great job practicing her skills.  Carly was great, and even decorated their progress reports.  She also included helpful tips for working with Mary on certain skills in the future.

My pal David surprised us all and passed level 2!  (Remember, it's not like I'd been watching his lessons.  I had no idea he was so good...until today, when I was like "Holy Triton, that kid can swim.)

David spent 14 years in Level 1.  Yes, I know he's only 6 years old, but remember that time is relative (ask Einstein), and, trust me, he spent 14 years in Level 1.  Level 1 is fine.  My kids can spend 40 years in Level 1 if they need to.  But David could swim!  But he was not progressing at all in swim lessons.  Until we realized the problem.  He would act like he couldn't swim.  So his teachers (he's had about four thousand different ones) wouldn't make him swim.  He had a good gig there.  I mean, who wants to go to the effort of doing the front crawl when instead you can have an attractive young coed carry you around the pool?  David spent years (14!) faking out his Level 1 teachers.  Until this summer--when I finally wised up and had the sense to just register the kid for Level 2.  And that was that.  The kid is a fish.  And apparently going into Level 3.

The swimming grand finale comes in a week, when we head to Texas.  The kids will have plenty of opportunity to practice their skills because there's nothing else to do in August in Texas other than hang out in the pool.  So we have plenty more sunshine, water, and piles of wet bathing suits this summer.