Three campers this year

This summer we had THREE kids go to Camp Howard!  (We tried to make it four but they wouldn't take Gemma…I wonder why….)

at the drop off

They each had one backpack full of clothes, and one duffel
bag full of their bedding and towels.

Daddy was giving helpful advice up 'til the end.

 That was a Sunday.  On the following Friday evening, Marcus and I drove to pick them up:

A little smelly and tired… but very happy from a fun week
at camp!

helping friends

At the end of July my friend Lisa had her 4th child--who was a little early and a little "little."  Baby Clare had to stay in the hospital for a few weeks, so Marcus and I watched Lisa and Michael's 3 older children for about a week.  We had a blast!  I won't lie…it wasn't "easy"…but it was fun and rewarding and I would do it again in a heartbeat.  Hopefully under better circumstances, though!

Mrs. N is their grandmother, and she helped
A LOT while William, Thomas, and Katherine
stayed with us.

full van (9 kids)

We took the oldest 3 to camp, so we were down
to "just" 6 kids again.

We got to visit Lisa and Clare in the hospital!

We even attempted a movie…with 6 kids, 7 and under.

I did Burgerville by myself one evening.

lots of puzzles that week

so tired

Fun at the Washington County Fair

Our Washington County Fair is a free fair that lasts 4 days at the end of July.  Well, parking isn't free unless you can snag one of the street-parking spots…which I did, score!  

This year we went on a Thursday morning.  It was HOT!!!!!  There had been high temps all summer, and this weekend was no different.  By going in the morning, we were spared from SOME of the heat.  It probably was in the low 90s by the time we left around noon.

First stop: poultry and small animals.  We found
out later that a half-dozen animals died from the
heat.  :o(

I think they are saying "moo" in this picture.

cooling station

learning about mosquitoes…just like mommy
did in the good ol' days at ND

I like the crafts entries and the garden the best.  We skipped the crafts because we were tired and cranky (ok, just I was) but we did make a quick stop at the garden so I could sit and nurse Celeste.  All the volunteers said "Oh, your kids should do the scavenger hunt!" but I was too tired and cranky and I said, "No!"  Then I was just too tired to move, so I let them do it (I was probably still cranky too, but just the tiredness was showing at that point).  Their prize: a freshly-dug carrot each:

James at the South Store

Summer was a good time to reconnect with each kid.  For lunch one day, I took James to the South Store.  He never goes anywhere without paper and a pencil:

(this was on the wall--it was what he was copying)

the final product

(bonus picture of my other son)

We enjoyed our summer

It's me again!  I bet you thought I forgot the password to my blog account or something!!  No, I've just been very very busy. :o)

We just got back from a  week-long trip to southern Colorado/northern New Mexico.  As you can imagine, it takes a lot of prep work to pull that off.  So I was busy the week before the trip…then gone for a week…and now busy AFTER the trip as well.  There is a mountain of laundry to do, and we technically did not take off any school so I've been trying to cram in 5 days of schooling into just 3 days…for 2 weeks in a row.

Anyway….

I am still thinking happy thoughts about the wonderful summer we had.  Here are some more pics:

Hillsboro Airshow…in our back yard!  It's so fun to yell out,
"Everyone come outside, quick!"  Those fun little moments
all add up to one great childhood, I hope.

Birdwatching is another reason everyone runs
outside, or to a window at least.

What we thought was an ornamental plum tree
actually produces edible fruit!  (small ones)

The kids love running out and snacking.

We also made some of our own treats, like
these Mexican chocolate pops.

Oh, we got a package in the mail!!

Gemma still loves it when "workers" come to
our house.  She is NOT shy.