Tanessa's Week at Camp

Tanessa got back from Hume Lake on Saturday. She had a blast! For those of you who don't know, Hume Lake is a week long, christian, summer camp. The kids come back blessed every time. This year, Tanessa had a whole bunch of her friends going. So many kids from the valley went that they had to rent a charter bus. Middle school girls had two cabins. There are tons of activities to do up there in between chapel time and cabin time. They can swim, paintball, skateboard, ice skate, etc. This year Tanessa went on Noah's Ark which is a huge, high up rope swing that launches you into the lake. She said it was a little scary. Her friends tried to get her to go on the Blob which is a big balloon thing in the lake where you climb up on the platform and jump onto the balloon thing launching the person already on it into the air and then into the lake. They wanted her to get launched by some 160 lb. high school guy! I am relieved that my daughter is adventurous but not suicidal! Last year, she got launched by someone bigger and belly flopped into the water, got the wind knocked out of her, and the life guard was ready to come get her. Thank you Tanessa for not trying to outdo last year! They did go on the High Adventure which is a high up ropes course thing, and the Screamer which is a mini version of right side up bungee jumping. Her cabin got first place on points for the whole week and won t-shirts that said champion. They have never won before and were so excited. The bad news, they barely beat out the other girls cabin from our valley, who despite being at church camp, were not very sportsmanlike. Anyway, I'm glad she had a great time but it was nice to have her back because we all missed her!

Good-bye Miranda

So, Ali's good friend Miranda is moving to Washington on Wednesday. Up until recently she lived around the corner from us so they saw plenty of eachother. It's going to be quite a change with her gone. I decided that they needed one last wah-hoo before she drives off into the sunrise not to be seen for some time. I figured a sleepover would be the best option so yesterday about 3pm Miranda and Tayah lugged their stuff through the front door. It was just the three of them as their little friend Hannah had a prior engagement. Not that I was complaining. Three is a big relief from the eight at Ali's b-day sleepover. The afternoon started off mellow with some Little Pet Shop, trampoline, and hot dogs for dinner. Then they got this burst of energy and put their bathing suits on and got soaked with the hose. This is their only form of cooling off since the pool is still out of comission from the winter. Next came jammies. I thought, "okay, it's 7:30, we could start a movie, settle down for the night, asleep by 10." The girls had other plans. They wanted to play freeze dance. I said fine. Only for 30 minutes. 30 minutes turned into an hour and 30 minutes. We got the cameras out and took lots of pictures so they can "remember eachother" as they put it. Finally, it's movie time. I convinced the girls that Miranda should get to pick the movie since it's her going away party. Girls agree. Miranda picks Underdog. Then I present her with the photo album Marcie and I put together for her. Excitement begins all over again. I was so close. Tayah and Ali each wrote her a little note with their address and phone numbers. Then they wanted to draw her pictures too. Mix all that with the m&m's and licorice that Marcie sent over and needless to say they never did settle down! Movie ended and I made them go to bed but I told them they could talk quietly for awhile. Do eight year old girls really get that? Of course not! I don't even think they are capable. I finally went to bed at 11:30 and they were still sitting in the dark with a flashlight telling "spooky stories". But they had fun and that's all that matters. Poor Spencer. It's hard being the only little boy. They did include him a little but that only goes so far. Sometimes I really wish he could've had a brother to play with but then Dave comes home from work and all the wrestling, yelling, and ju-jitsu makes me question if I could handle another boy! Well, that's all for now. Good-bye Miranda. We'll miss you!

Wrappin up T-Ball

Spencer's first year of t-ball has come to an end! He loved it. Dad was coach and he thought that was pretty cool. He did really well this year. Someone changed t-ball rules and decided that they could pitch in t-ball. Doesn't that take the "t" out of t-ball? But it was fun to watch all the same, even if the innings did go a little longer than just using the plain old tee. It was amazing to see these little 5 and 6 year olds hitting like the pros. Spencer and a few other kids could hit doubles. His good buddy Trey even hit some home runs! Talk about exciting. Pretty much all of Spencer's friends were on the same team this year which worked out good for everyone. He knew half the team before the season even started and I had plenty of my mom friends to chat with..........I mean watch the game with. The end of year party was at the Pizza Barn complete with pizza, cake, and trophies. And a wonderful dvd that Marcie helped me with. What I mean by helped is that she did all the work and I gave her my pictures and tried to learn a thing or two while watching. Emphasis on tried! Thanks Marcie! Anyhow, it was a great season and we are looking forward to next spring and another exciting round of t-ball without the tee. We just have to make it through soccer and almost a year of kindergarten first. Piece of cake!

Go Braves

End of Year Party

Well, we are all so relieved that the school year has come to an end. I do feel sad that another year has come and gone and now my kids are another year older. But we just love the lazy days of summer! This year we did something a little different for our own little family "reward party". We took the kids to John's Incredible Pizza after Spencer's graduation. Ali had to miss school that day since Tanessa had a swim meet later that evening in Bakersfield and with gas prices I couldn't affort two trips down the canyon in one day. Now, I say "had to miss school" because she was not very happy about this. This happened to be the same day her class got their end of the year sprinkler party. I, too, was a little bummed because every year on sprinkler day, I go and take pictures of my kids with their friends. It took a while to get over it but I finally did.....I think. Yeah, for the most part. Anyway, with Tanessa homeschooling another year, she misses out on all the fun school stuff. Like end of the year parties and reward days. So, it seemed like a logical idea we do our own. And this also sufficed as Spencer's graduation present! He even said that he was glad I didn't get him a present cause going to John's was way better. So after graduation and a couple errands, we were off to play. And it was like a double whammie because later in the day, we had time to kill before swim and took them to a park to play. All in all, it was a great day.

Happy Summer Everybody!