Camp Rockfish

Madison and Luke attended their first sleep-away camp this past week.  This was the first time they have been away from home and not with other family members.  Both were so excited to go to camp and have been waiting for this week all summer.  Sunday after church, we loaded up for the long (10 minute) drive out to camp.

 This was Madison's cabin. She absolutely loved being with all the girls in there all week. 

 Luke was VERY excited to be around guys all week.  I'm really glad that he had such a nice counselor, especially with Edward being gone right now.  His counselor was really nice, and Luke loved spending the week with him. Both Madison and Luke picked the top bunks in their cabins.

 Once Luke got his bunk bed setup, he was ready for me to leave. 

 Alex and I said good-bye to our buddy.

Yes, his cabin was that close to the lake. Guess what kid was SO excited to hunt lizards and such?

Then, we checked on Madison.  She had already made up her bed and changed into her swimsuit.  She was also ready for us to leave. 

 

I am happy to report both kids had an awesome time.  Luke's camp was only half the week, due to his age. He was only upset that he wasn't staying the whole week.  He loved it very much and cannot wait to go back next summer.

 

We picked up Madison last night, all smiles.  She said she just had a wonderful week. Her biggest complaint is being tired, but other than that, she LOVED every minute.  Like Luke, she cannot wait to go back next summer. 

 

I'm really happy that both kids were so excited about camp. I did not bring up sleep-away camp; they both did.  After being at daycamp at Rockfish last summer for a week, they heard about sleep-away camp.  Both begged to go, and after talking to them about being away from home, it seemed like they were ready. I'm so proud of them. They are really showing what strong, independent, kids they are.  A lot of their strength and resilience comes from being military kids and having to "stand strong" all the time, especially now with two deployments in the last two years.  I want our kids to be strong, and I was so impressed with their attitude after their camping experience.  I asked the kids if they missed home, and both said, "You told us to remember when we missed home that the house was only 10 minutes away.  You (myself) and Alex were at the house, and everything was okay.  If Daddy go could away for months, we could do a few days."  Wow, what great kids!!  Not only did they "survive," they thrived!

 

VBS and A Day Out

The kids attended VBS at our church last week.  They really enjoyed themselves.  They were split into tribes (I had to do all of those assignments), and then each tribe had an outfit to wear. 

 

 This was the first year Alex could attend.  He loved it. The other two did not want their pictures taken in costume.

Then, one afternoon, Madison and I hit the mall. She's been begging for a day out with me, and with the boys and Edward not here, it is very hard to do.  Thanks to a camp day at The Little Gym, I was able to drop off the boys and shop with Madison.  She was delighted about our special day.

 Here, her crazy grin is after getting a "few" samples from the popcorn stand...a few.

She was delighted with her brownie treat too.  It was so much fun, and as she gets older, it is really enjoyable shopping and hanging out with her.  She's an awesome girl.

Peaches

My friend, Elizabeth, loves to can peaches.  Last year, I told her she would have to take me to the peach farm where she gets all of her peaches, so we went a couple of weeks ago. The farm did not disappoint...the peaches were beautiful.  Even better, they tasted great too. I was able to can a few jars of peaches, and hopefully, I'll be able to do more later this summer.

S'mores

We were invited over to have dinner with friends of ours from Yuma. The Mikkelsen family moved back to Bragg last year.  In Yuma, they live behind our house, and we were great friends.  Elizabeth and I love to hang out, even though we don't get to as often as we'd like. Well, another one of our Yuma friends, Sara, and her crew, were passing through town, so we all had the chance to spend the evening together.  After homemade pizzas that were delicious, the whole gang went into Elizabeth's backyard to make s'mores.  There's nothing stressful about 10 kids and a total of four parents around an open flame...

 

 Alex was very proud of his roasting skills.

 Luke was trying to cook one for Stephen.

 Madison with one of her many s'mores.

 Baby David

 Notice, there are lots and lots of boys!!!  Each family has one girl, so we had three girls there in all with seven boys!

Adam 

 Sara with Eli

 HOT!

and sticky!

 

Thanks for having us over, Mikkelsens!  We had a great time, even though all the kids were tired  :)  Sara, it was great to see you and the kids.  Maybe one day, all the husbands will be home again  :)

Beach-Day 2, Oak Island

While at Grandma and Grandpa's house for the weekend, we went back to the beach. Why not when then live near it? Again, we found some sunshine with rain all around us.

 

 Alex in the bucket now

It's a had life.

Oak Island, Day 1-July 4 Weekend

By the pictures, you would think we had fantastic weather all weekend.  What the pictures fail to show is the rain inland and before/after our beach trip.  We managed to squeeze in nice weather between all the crazy rain. It was a nice time at the beach with Grandma and Grandpa.  We did have to watch out for the horrible rip currents.  Four people (all adult swimmers) ended up drowning this weekend at the beaches here. The kids were upset they could not go in the water much, but there was no way we were going to risk the bad currents.

 Luke in the bucket...never too old for that!

 Boche

Brothers helping out

Rain!

We ended up getting well over eight inches of rain in just over a week the beginning of July. One afternoon, I snapped some pictures of the yard to show the rain. Normally, even with heavy rain, our yard absorbs it really well.  We never have puddles anywhere, so this shows just how wet it had gotten.

 

 

 The pool never actually overflowed, but it was VERY close to doing so.  The overflow valves on the side kept that from happening.

The rain ended up flooding out the garden. I had to pull everything in the two right beds. The plants were floating in water and ended up dying. It has been such a bad summer for flowers and vegetables here.  In talking to others, I'm not alone; everyone seemed to lose their gardens.  I did replant last week, so we'll see if we get anything.