TWO DEER

The deer have been plenty in our neighborhood the past couple of weeks!

COMPLIANT CATS

Sometimes I wonder about these two...

...I mean, these four!

SHARK WEEK!

We dressed up for Shark Week this week and made sure to watch at least a couple hours each evening in honor of Stephen. I really missed texting with him about some of the shows we watched and facts we learned.

LAUREN'S BIRTHDAY PARTY DAY

After the party we went to the Kennedy's house to catch up with our friends and let the kids play. It was a nice relaxing day!

(And apparently a very tiring day for James...)

SOCCER CAMP

We squeezed one last camp into summer: Soccer Camp! It was every evening this week (James missed the first day due to strep throat recovery) and there were a couple of spirit days (jersey day, when the kids wore their Timbers gear, and crazy hair day). They had fun, learned a few new moves, got a LOT of practice (it was 2 hours each night), and hung out with some friends they hadn't seen much this summer. If they weren't tired from vacation and sleep away camp, this week definitely sealed the deal - they're ready to get back to school now ;-)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAWPAW!

IT CAUGHT HER

All the late nights at camp and a weekend where she wanted to do all the things and still stay up late with mama and daddy caught up to her by Wednesday's afternoon piano lesson. Either that or James' music lulled her to sleep.

MAMA'S LITTLE HELPER...

...is not so little anymore!

DOG "RUN"

I tried to add a couple more miles to my long run today when I got home, taking Buster and Zy for a run around the neighborhood, but Buster refused to run after the first quarter mile and I was practically dragging him after a half mile. Too hot for Busters.

WARNER TULLY 2018: STAR WARS CAMP

It's that time of year! A new tradition for the Lindsay kids - a full week at sleep away camp! Last year they did the 3 night Mini Camp, but this year they begged to go for the full week. They chose the Star Wars themed week and ended up with a LOT of local friends there at the same time. There were a few returning counselors that they remembered from last year, favorite activities that they got to do again and again, and some new adventures (including the massive mudslide and Death Hike that are reserved for the longer camp weeks). 

Firs things first: getting packed. I put daily outfits into labeled bags for the kids to make their life easier. There were even bags specific for the Death Hike (SOCKS to wear with actual shoes), mudslide (leggings for Cora so she could slide without burns), and theme day (costume for James, simple Star Wars shirt for Cora). James made his life even easier though... He wore ONE outfit and the four swimsuits and rashguards I'd packed him (and just one pair of pajamas out of the three I'd packed). That was it. SO gross. Cora wore everything EXCEPT the special Star Wars shirt that I'd purchased specifically for camp...

They were more than ready to hit the road Sunday afternoon (camp is only about 40 minutes from the house, so we finished packing that morning and fed them a good lunch before heading out). We checked them in (turned in medical forms, picked up their camp shirts, and found out which cabins they were in) and got them settled (making beds and carrying in their footlockers for them), took a few photos, and said our goodbyes. Cora told me not to cry, James gave me a hug even though he had lots of school friends in his cabin (he's not too embarrassed of us yet), and we left without fanfare (excited to head off on our own adventure!)

On the drive down, I'd asked the kids to please pay attention to counselors with cameras throughout the week and to be sure to smile and be included. At the end of each camp day pictures are posted to the Warner Tully Facebook page, and I told the kids that I wanted to see their smiling faces so I'd know they were alive, safe, and having fun. I had so many parents comment to me that my kids were in all the photos, but really it was just that they made sure they were visible in at least one photo per day (and often waving or giving the peace sign so I'd know they were ok).

They took a few group photos throughout the week of each cabin, including the start of the week at their Sunday night pool party:

(The deck behind the cafeteria and main gathering hall is where the campfire programs and camp-wide meetings take place. It overlooks the lake and is a really nice addition to the facility.)

Thursday was Star Wars theme day. They dressed up and did a scavenger hunt type activity that took the majority of the day (completing different group tasks and games, and hunting for counselors dressed as various Star Wars characters at different key spots around the campus).

(Cora is in the middle, NOT wearing her Star Wars shirt...)

(James is in the Sith costume on the far left)

(He left his cape on most of the day. Plus the black pants and black turtleneck. In July. In Mississippi. Poor kid looked heat stressed in almost every photo this day. Next year we'll remind him to change into a theme shirt and shorts after the initial dress-up photos are complete.)

(Next year we will not pack flip-flops for her, since they were supposed to be used for the shower ONLY and were instead worn all week, all day long - we have rules about wearing appropriate shoes for running, hiking, canoeing, etc. so that they participate and don't get hurt - soccer and dance require intact toes.)

Here are some of the counselors dressed up as the various characters (I thought the Ewok girls were adorable):

 (We think she hitched a ride in a water truck at some point during this hottest of hot days)

When it was time to pick them up Saturday morning, we split the task - Jay heading to the boys cabin and myself to the girls. When I walked in, I thought "this isn't too bad at all". Most of the girls were at least partially packed and there wasn't too much mess on the floor.

When I got to Cora's bunk I was SO PROUD. She had everything packed, stacked, and ready to go. She had cleaned up all her trash and papers too, and even remembered all her toiletries from the bathroom. All I had to do was cart it out to the van!

(We had sent her to camp with a medicine that is supposed to help with bed-wetting by engaging muscles during sleep, but also packed overnight pull-ups. She's finally getting to the age where this problem bothers her, so I tucked the pull-ups into her pajama bag for each night so she could just go change in the bathroom stall and nobody would know. We've since decided that the medicine did her no good. I guess time is the only solution to this problem - hopefully it won't last too much longer. She had written herself a reminder note that she taped to her bunk - campers have to visit the nurse for medicine, of course - they can't keep anything in the cabins. She also had a cute Polaroid picture of her and Emma taped to her bunk.)

On the drive home they talked our ears off telling stories and were literally shocked when we pulled onto our street that we were already home (I guess the drive there seemed a lot longer with anticipation than the drive home). We sent them to shower and put on clean pajamas, watched a movie, and then enforced naptime. They were "not tired", so we let them stay on the couch instead of going to their beds. Over two hours later they were still asleep...

(Unfortunately, James came home with strep throat and there wasn't much we could do until Monday - small town and no after hours clinic, so he spent the rest of his weekend on that couch resting, while Cora bounced back pretty quickly after her nap. I developed strep the following week because we initially didn't know he was sick - we just thought he was tired - so I'd spent hours hugging on him and kissing that face that I'd missed all week.) Until next year and another round of sleep away camp fun!