The upside to everyone having activities is that this mom gets "some" time at home without any kids around. This time comes in very handy for such chores as grocery shopping and cleaning. I still marvel at how clean things can get in the small amount of time that people are out of the house, and then how messy they can become within 15 minutes of people getting home.
The downside to everyone having activities is that this mom has a lot of driving to do. Oh, well.
Anna's summer camp update first. This is Anna's third summer participating in Advance. The first summer was good; her second summer was great. We all have high hopes for this summer.
Anna set a personal goal for herself last fall of wanting to be able to use her crutches as her main mobility device for school in 6th grade. Almost all of her goals this summer are to help her achieve that milestone. The main focus is getting Anna to walk around as much and for as long as possible while wearing her 10-12 lb. backpack. In addition, she is practicing taking it off, putting it on, pulling things out, and putting things in. All of these tasks are second nature to most 6th graders, but believe me, it is HARD work for Anna. The idea is to get these tasks as automatic as possible for her before school starts so that the transition isn't so hard.
In addition to mastering life with her crutches, she is also working more and more with two single point canes (a.k.a. her crutches without the cuffs). The idea behind this is that it will continue to challenge her strength and her balance so she can continue to make progress in regards to her eventual goal of walking independently.
So far so good. This kid has an incredible focus and determination. I just hope she hasn't set her hopes too high this time.
Kate's update next. Last week Kate participated in a week of day camp at Lake Waubesa Bible Camp. She had a great time and was very chatty about her days there. (Her chattiness after the fact usually means that she is her quiet and reserved self during the time at camp.) She enjoyed the time in and around the water, the experiences with nature, and the team building activities.
Ethan was also able to participate in the same week of day camp at Lake Waubesa Bible Camp. He also had a great time, but was stretched in terms of his endurance since this was his first activity that was all day every day for a whole week. (It was good practice for Kindergarten!). Ethan was much quieter and more reserved when he came home, which meant that he was his silly outgoing self while at camp. Seriously, this boy never ceases to amaze us. Neither Matt nor I were nearly as comfortable or confident in our skin at 5 years old as Ethan is right now. Experiences like this make us wonder what he will choose to do with his life.
Friday evening was the family night celebration at camp. We all came along, in spite of the heat.
Matt participated (and WON) the all-dads WaWa Ball tournament.
The evening wrapped up with a picnic dinner and a closing program. Then we headed home with some hot, tired, sweaty kids. Saturday morning was a little rough for some members of the family ...
Harvesting update. Since our return from out west, the kids and I have been working nonstop to harvest and preserve garden produce. The broccoli and peapods are all done; the beets and June raspberries are almost finished; and Kate and I pulled the onions today. We have started picking cherry tomatoes, but the main harvest is yet to come. The cucumbers, zucchini, and green beans are in full production mode, requiring plenty of time and energy for the four of us. The kids actually argue about who gets to use the cucumber slicer; I'm guessing it will be similar for when we start shredding zucchini. After Ethan voluntarily snapped beans with me for an hour on Monday morning (and earned his $1), the girls decided that they should snap beans in the afternoon (and earn their dollars).
Our last harvesting story relates to Reepicheep, the chicken ... er, rooster.
Upon our return from the trip to visit family, our suspicions about his gender were confirmed when he started waking us up early in the morning by crowing. Oops. These things happen. After weighing our various options and trying (albeit not too hard) to find him a new home, we decided to harvest him this last weekend.
Matt and I did our research and proceeded with the task as humanely as possible. It wasn't too bad, actually, especially once you remember that I taught my 7th graders how to dissect frogs and chicken wings years ago. We plan on having a chicken dinner one evening this week.
Our second week of summer camps is already in full swing, but I'll wait and update about that another time!
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