What I shouldn't be doing . . .

. . . is blogging.  I have approximately ONE MILLION projects on which I should be working, but this sad little blog has been neglected long enough.  It's hard to remember a time in which I wrote here daily.  It was a different life. 

Here's a hodgepodge summary of the last two weeks:

Jack's at VBS right now, so I've been working the last few nights from Panera.  Our church does a fantastic job and I'm so glad that it fell after camps were over so that we could bring Jack.  He asks every night if we'll be able to do it again next year!

Our summer youth camp season ended on August 3, which is the earliest it's ever ended.  The last week was rough, for so many reasons, including, but not limited to, the fact that all three kids had a mystery virus that caused alarmingly high temperatures for all of them.  That wasn't fun.  Summer is a crazy time and being forced to slow down and take care of them ended up being a good thing, but was still stressful.

The Sunday after camps were over, we left on vacation, but now we're back at it.  We have tons of cross country camps, soccer camps, rental groups, etc. and  we have adult and family retreats from the end of August through the beginning of October.  And then we start planning for winter camps, spring retreats and next summer.

Vacation . . . I don't really think "vacation" is the right word for a trip with three young children.  Don't get me wrong.  We had fun.  It was just a lot of work.

I didn't pack my usual bag of games, toys and snacks for the ride up.  I just bought a few new DVDs.  They love to watch movies in the car and I wasn't going to fight it.   All the way there.  All the way back.  Claire slept and played with the toys I handed her.  4 1/2 hours with no stops . . . easiest trip ever.

We rented a house near the campground where Kyle's entire family camped.  And while it was fun to go to the campground and beach, I was SO glad to be in a house and not in a tent or a trailer.

Claire is full out crawling and pulling herself up now, so I think a dusty campsite would have been rough.  And I'm convinced that my two-year-old ran out into the road every time we were there, simply to see the panicked look on my face.  The house was perfect for us and we enjoyed getting away. 

We hiked up to the overlook in Boyne City and it was beautiful.  Getting three kids up to the top (mostly the two youngest) was difficult though.

Ben and Claire started this way:

 And ended this way:

Yeah, that's Kyle carrying both of them.  Almost 500 steps.  Super fun for him.

But the view at the top of Lake Charlevoix was lovely.

We tried to get a "cousins" picture, but this was the best that we could get Ben to do.

I celebrated my 34th birthday while we were up there.  It was kind of a crappy day.  I just wasn't feeling well, and nothing really went as planned.  Kyle had scheduled a massage and facial for me that day, but I got a sunburn earlier in the week that would have made both of those things uncomfortable.

Oh, the sunburn.  I haven't had a bad sunburn in so many years.  I used to get them all the time.  I wear sunscreen constantly, but my back just wasn't used to that much direct sun for the 2 1/2 hours we were at the beach that day.  Even with SPF 50, I didn't stand a chance.  I had chills and felt sick almost all night and it made me uncomfortable for most of the trip.

Even though I got that sunburn, we did have some good beach time.  The boys played in the water with Kyle, I sat and dug a disturbing amount of sand out of Claire's mouth.  I sat at the edge of the water with Claire for a while and just let the waves of Lake Charlevoix splash over her legs and belly.  She was a little unsure at first, but seemed to really like it eventually.

We did get a chance to play miniature golf . . . which was pretty much the only thing Jack requested that we do while we were there.  Kyle beat us all.  I did get a hole in one . . . though I didn't even know it because as soon as I hit the ball, I saw Ben splashing in the bottom of the waterfall and ran after him.  I still kind of wonder if Kyle just hit it in the hole for me because it was my birthday.  At any point on the course where there was water, either Kyle or I had to be standing right with Ben to make sure he didn't . . . well . . . go for a swim.

I took family pictures for Kyle's sister and brother-in-law and nieces.  I worked on a few pictures while the kids were napping one day, but they're now sitting here as one of my unfinished projects.  It made me wish I had hired someone to come take our family pictures while we were there.  I have tons of great pictures of other people's families.  Very few of my own.

On our last day, we went to Petoskey and let the boys choose any toy (within reason).  Jack chose a puzzle and a license plate with his name on it.  I bought an educational toy for both of them to share.  And Ben?  Ben chose a push broom.

Seriously.  A toy broom.  And he had fun sweeping the streets wherever we went for the rest of the day.  I love that kid.

So, we're home.  We're getting ready to send Jack to Kindergarten and Ben to preschool . . . both of which I have anxiety about.  Our beloved babysitter of the last 3 1/2ish years let us know at the end of July that she was picking up more hours at her real job and wouldn't be available to watch the kids anymore.  I got the message in the dairy section of Walmart and tried to hold it together, but ultimately finished my shopping while ugly-crying.

It wasn't just that message. The message from the babysitter was just kind of the straw that broke the camel's back.  It has just been a rough summer.  We never really figured out a routine with babysitters and child care.  Logistically, camps were harder than they ever have been before.  I've been dealing with a neverending sinus infection and ear infections.  I just felt anxious and frustrated for a good portion of the summer.  And then three kids with mystery illnesses that last week?  It was just the icing on the cake. 

That said, I also think that this summer was the one that we saw more lives changed and more spiritual growth in our campers than we have in a while.  So, it was definitely all worth it.  I just need to keep that all in perspective.

On leaking

Over the summer, Jack's become friends with several of our day campers and had a great time playing with them. His babysitter would take him up there, along with Ben, to play almost on a daily basis. So, during these last two days of day camp, we've let him spend the whole day up there.

I was a little bit emotional dropping him off . . . which was weird because he spent a good portion of the day all summer up with them so it wasn't really anything new. And I hired the staff up there, so I certainly wasn't worried. I knew he was in good hands.

I don't know . . . it just felt like a milestone. Ben spent the whole day asking where Jack was and pouting when I told him that he would see him at dinner. And this morning, Jack commented on how long it felt to be away from Ben all day. They really did spend almost ALL of their time together this summer. Yesterday, Kyle asked him what he did and after talking about few of the fun things, this was their conversation:

Jack: I leaked a little during rest time.

Kyle: Leaked? Like you wet your pants?

Jack: No. Leaked from my eyes.

Kyle: What do you mean "leaked"? You cried at rest time?

Jack: No, I didn't really cry. I just leaked out the corners. You know? Like mom does sometimes when we give her flowers. I just really missed you guys.

The best worst day ever

By all accounts, Friday was a complete disaster.

We have an annual tradition of taking our staff* to Warren Dunes on Lake Michigan at some point toward the end of each summer. Friday was the day and the temperatures were insanely high. We all piled into one 15-passenger van with no air conditioning and one car with sporadic air conditioning and departed around 10. After a stop for gas, we were on the road and didn't look back. Jack came with us and was so excited to go to the beach with the counselors for one last day of summer fun with them.

Here's a run down of the day.

11:30 a.m. About 40 minutes from our destination, we noticed smoke coming from the van and we had to make an emergency stop. As we were exiting the interstate, the temperature gauge hit the danger zone and the power steering quit. Fortunately, we managed to land safely in the parking lot of a Pizza Hut.

11:45 We treated everyone to the pizza buffet while Kyle tried to figure out what we needed to do.

12:30 A mechanic tells us it will take 2 - 3 hours to repair the van. Fantastic. We stayed at the Pizza Hut talking, laughing and playing games. Our waitress, Diane, was friendly and hospitable, which resulted in a nice tip for her.

2:30 Kyle was able to get a loaner vehicle. We used it to take everyone to the nearest mall.

3;15 We had an impromptu mall scavenger hunt. I'm pretty sure the rules of the hunt broke several mall policies, but everyone had fun and no one got kicked out. The team that took Jack with them got 20 bonus points.

4:15 Finally, we were on the road again. We asked if people wanted to head home or keep going to the beach and everyone seemed determined to get to the dunes, so we did it!

5:00 The van started smoking again and we noticed that something was leaking and spraying our windshield.

5:15 So, we pulled off at the rest stop and determined that the van was NOT, in fact, going to make it to the beach. We called for people to come rescue us, but it would be hours before they could be there. We threw down beach towels and got out the frisbee at the rest stop.

5:45 It probably wasn't the greatest idea in the world, but we decided to use our one working car to start shuttling people to the Dunes. 30 minutes there, 30 minutes back. 3 trips. As I left with the first group, the "check engine" light came on in the one good car. Awesome. Turns out that it needed oil, which we managed to get on our way home, much later that night.

9:15 We're finally all at the beach together. The sun had set and as we're walking to join the rest of the group for our "picnic lunch" dinner, we saw lightning in the distance. All we could do is laugh. It was at that point that we realized the park was closing at 10. Our rides weren't going to be here until after 10. Shoot.

9:20 We took this picture to prove that we did, in fact, make it to the beach.

9:25 With dinner in my hand, I started shuttling people OUT of the park to the McDonalds near the exit at which we would be picked up.

10:15 Our rescue vehicles picked us up at McDonalds. We still had to get gas, put oil in the car and stop to get the van.

I swear to you, I'm not making any of this up.

But here's where it gets good . . . we had an AWESOME day. I don't think I'll ever forget it. We literally just enjoyed each other's company all day because there was absolutely nothing else to enjoy. With most other groups of people, it would have been miserable. We all commented on how much fun we had, we laughed when things broke down, encouraged each other when we were tired and sweaty and just had fun. Even when I put Jack to bed that night (er . . . morning), he commented on how much fun he had. I asked him what his favorite part was and he said, "going to the beach." We really did spend the whole day "going to the beach."

On Friday, I learned an important lesson about unity. This remarkable group of people taught me that true unity comes from the love of God flowing out of us into the people around us. Their joy was contagious on Friday. Loving each other is about more than just liking them when things are going well. It's more than just the meaningful tasks we do together or how interested we are in the same things. It's about serving each other and being "for" each other even when life hands us lemons.

We definitely made the proverbial lemonade on Friday.

*Kyle and I are program directors at a youth camp and supervise a staff of 15 - 20 college students each summer.

Who, me?

I've blogged about Jerry Jacoby before . . . um, right here. He's amazing and we have him speaking at three of our camps this summer, among a couple of other fantastic speakers. If you're a part of any organization that serves children, I highly recommend him. He does character education in schools and ministers at churches and camps all over the country (and even internationally, on occasion).

Last year, Jerry gave us one of his CDs and Jack has listened to it tirelessly. And when it's Jack's turn to choose a song, I don't really even need to ask him which one he'd like, because he almost always starts with "Heroes of the Bible." In that song, there are speaking parts, that go something like this:

"Oh, Moses?" - "Yes, Lord?"

"You're going to do great things for me, Moses."

"Who me, Lord?" - "Yes you, Moses."

"But Lord, I'm only a man." - "I know you're only a man, I made you remember?"

"But Lord, I don't know how." - "That's ok, I know how, and you can trust in me."

Then it goes back to the chorus. He does this with Queen Esther, and then, lastly with a child (who, on the CD, happens to be his grandson).

Last week, right before chapel he asked Jack to help him with it, which was no problem. Jack had heard the song so many times, that he already had it memorized. I so wish I could have been there, but his babysitter, Kylie, caught it on video. I'm so grateful that she did! It's a little shaky because she was holding Ben at the same time, but I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Untitled from Sara on Vimeo.

Here are the facts . . .

Here it is. A fast run down of what we've been up to. No witty anecdotes. No recaps of meaningful parenting moments. We're in the midst of Family Camp . . . and that allows little time for anything but, well, caring for the 1500 people on the grounds during Family Camp. Every time we see her, Kyle's grandma asks, "Do you wonder what you did with your time before you had kids?" Yes, yes I do.

So, here are the facts . . . starting with the youngest.

BENNETT.


Ben's few steps have multiplied and he's becoming more and more confident on his feet. He still crawls most of the time, but he's getting there. When I went to pick him up for dinner tonight, Kylie put Ben down and as he toddled over to me, I was choking back tears. He'll be 10 months old a week from now. Where did the last 10 months go? How did he get this big?

He is not a fan of the heat and the fact that we're eating outside for every meal this week has been difficult for him. But with the breeze yesterday and today, meal times have been much easier.

He claps a lot, and will give us the sign for "more" but gets the two motions confused. He says "ba ba ba" every time he see his bottle. He opens and closes his hands when we say bu-bye, but only about half of the time. When Kyle got up and left the table today, he started calling "d-da d-da." That was a first. He definitely knows that the word "brother" is referring to Jack, and sometimes will repeat a "bu-ah" sound when we say it. He only says "ma ma" when he cries, but I'm pretty sure it has nothing to do with me. Oh well . . .

He's CONSTANTLY dirty but I love watching him crawl through the sand, so I don't care. He crawls on his hands and the soles of his feet and kicks up the sand behind him. So funny. I love that kid.

JACKSON.

Jack is also consistently dirty. I can always tell how much fun my kids had in any given day based on the color of their bath water. Disgusting? Yes. True? Also, yes.

He had his three year check-up and it confirmed that he's healthy and developing normally. He's 38 1/2 pounds and 40 inches. He asked the doctor questions continuously and wanted to know why she did everything. He passed his first vision test, which wasn't really much of a surprise.

He LOVES being a staff kid and the privileges it affords. He typically has 30+ people, including his grandparents and great grandparents to give him attention at any given time. He also has two playgrounds, a lake, a petting farm, and, well, an entire camp at his disposal. He lives a charmed life. And the golf cart rides . . . oh, the golf cart rides. We can pretty much get him to do anything if bribed with a ride on the golf cart.

He'll tell anyone he meets about how he's heading to preschool in the fall, while I stand behind him trying to hold back the tears associated with my oldest child going to school. While he still throws the occasional screaming fit, they're much farther apart. I think about how challenging last summer was with him and I'm so grateful to be on the other side of that.

He still says all kinds of funny things on a daily basis. Yesterday morning, he asked which way his Dr.'s office is. Kyle said, "It's east, the direction that the sun rises." And Jack replied, "Not in my world! All things are possible with God in my world so the sun doesn't rise in the east!" There's just no reasoning with a three year old.

On Tuesday night at bedtime, he told me all about how he's going to work where his mom and dad do telling kids about Jesus. I asked what he would tell them and he said, "That he's their friend and that he loves them and that we'll see God when Jesus comes back one day." A huge thanks to our staff for the time that they invest in my kids. We talk about this stuff all the time with Jack. But when the counselors that he looks up to so much tell him about Jesus, it really sticks.

KYLE.
My dear husband spent all afternoon on Sunday installing a part on our Explorer to stop the shaking. On Monday, I drove it into town, and it died when I was about a mile from camp . . . from something completely unrelated to what Kyle had been fixing. The mechanic says that it's gone . . . totally dead. My father-in-law thinks it's still fixable, so they're going to give it a go. Otherwise, we'll be in the market for a replacement vehicle. But maybe not until the fall . . . I think we can manage with one car until then.

When they went to tow the Explorer back from the mechanic, they got caught in a bad storm and had some issues, which almost resulted in wiping out a row of vehicles at a used car lot. I gave him permission to be cranky for a while after that.

Meanwhile, we're using one car . . . the car with the air conditioning that stopped working a few weeks ago. Awesome. These 90 degree+ days have been super fun.

ME.
I've been walking/running every other morning. I've been using the C25K app for my iphone and have been fairly consistent. I can't say that I look forward to it, but I need the exercise. I've even stayed consistent through the pesky cold I've had over the last week . . . which is something of which I'm proud.

As much as I like to whine about Family Camp, I really do enjoy this week each summer. I was reminded today how fortunate I am to have my job, and how much I really do love it.

My late nights are spent getting ready for The Most Wonderful Time of the Year, and processing oodles and oodles of photos.

Bowled over . . .

And the last of the staff training pictures of my kids is from our bowling trip on the last evening of staff training. Ben and I were there just long enough to take a few pictures of Jack, but the word on the street is that Jack got a spare after we left . . . with a little help from Kyle, of course.

Take me out to the ball game . . .

We had our annual staff softball game during staff training, in which Jack scored three home runs . . . with a little help from his friends, of course. The best part was during his first one, when he was running toward home plate and took a little break to have Kyle help him tie his shoe.

My kids are so spoiled by the people we work with . . . and they love every minute of it.

And here's one of his biggest fan cheering from the sidelines.

A (cold) Day at the Beach

Here are a few pictures of Jack from our trip to Lake Michigan with the staff at the beginning of June. He doesn't look too scarred from his encounter with the pirates on our way up there, does he?

Argh!

For many people, summer signals a slow down. They take it easy. They take vacations and enjoy time with their families.

It's the opposite for me.

Our jobs at camp keep us busy all year long, but things kick into gear a little bit more during May - September. Our staff arrived on Sunday for a two-week staff training and we've been busy working with them this week.

One thing that we do every year is take them on a camp out to Nordhouse Dunes National Wilderness area. I wasn't quite ready to be away from Ben for two nights in a row, so we decided that Jack and I would just come up for the day on Tuesday. That's right . . . four hours there, four hours back. All in one day. As it ended up, we got there and it started raining, so we brought everyone home about three hours after Jack and I arrived. Oh, well.

On our way up there, I stopped about 30 minutes from the camp area to get gas. I was working on filling the car, and Jack was sitting in the back seat on the opposite side of the car. His window was down.

There was a car sitting at the pump across from us . . . just yards from where Jack was. The driver was with a little boy . . . maybe about 10 years old . . . and when they were done filling their tank, they were washing the windshield. Let's call him Frank.

And there was a car behind him, with a trailer attached and no room to back out. The man driving was big . . . and tall. Let's call him Goliath.

Goliath was finished and leaned his head out the window and yelled, "Hey buddy . . . could you move your car?" And Frank said, "In just a minute, we're almost done." It was all downhill from there.

They were yelling at each other, getting in each others' faces, etc. And then Frank grabbed his little boy's hand and said, "Do you need to go to the bathroom? Let's go inside for an hour or two" and proceeded to walk into the store leaving Goliath trapped. Which, of course, infuriated Goliath. He started calling him really nasty names. You can probably imagine.

So Frank came storming out yelling, "WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?!"

All of this . . . with my three year old watching on just yards away.

While this was going down, I was frantically trying to finish up pumping gas . . . I only had a half tank and I was fine with that because I wanted to get OUT OF THERE. The man at the pump next to me was calling 911. I didn't want to stick around to see what happened.

So we drove off and Jack asked, "What does f***ing mean?" Awesome. I was livid.

I told him it was a bad word that we shouldn't say and we talked about how those men were not doing the right thing. He asked if they were obeying God and I assured him that at that moment, they were not.

I didn't think Jack was that shaken up over it until two minutes later when we stopped at Meijer and he refused to get out of the car. He was so upset and worried that we'd run into those men. I assured him that was safe, but had to carry him through the store. Seriously. He's almost 40 pounds.

We got back on the road, and Jack was really quiet. It had been about 15 minutes and Jack finally asked, "Hey Mommy? Were those men pirates?"

It reassured me that at least part of his childhood innocence remained in tact.

The first night of family camp

The good news is . . . no one was hurt. I'll just start by saying that.

I'll also say that if it hadn't been for the torrential rain yesterday morning, you might be hearing about this on the news, rather than just reading it on my blog.

Last night was the first night of family camp, and the first night is notorious for some sort of disaster. Usually, the disaster is something along the lines of network crash, power outage, etc. I mean, you add a couple thousand people to our grounds and something is bound to go wrong, right?

About 10 minutes before the service last night, I was walking Jack in the stroller toward the nursery so that Kyle and I could go attend the service. As I was walking, I passed someone I know (imagine that . . . someone I know at family camp) and she said, "How are you holding up? Everything going ok?" I responded affirmatively and started thinking about how, even though this had been a REALLY rocky start to family camp, we hadn't had any major disasters. And it was like I said it out loud . . .

Because within 30 seconds, there was a call on the radio from Dave saying that he heard on his scanner that 911 had been called from the camp about a trailer fire and he needed staff to help him locate where it was. Gulp.

I don't think anyone with a radio at that point (with the exception of maybe, Chuck, our assistant director who was there for the whole thing) really knew how bad it was. I heard Kyle say that he had located the fire in the back 40 (lovely) and all I could think was "GREAT. NOW GET OUT OF THERE."

I listened but knew I couldn't do anything . . . I'm 7 1/2 months pregnant and had a 2 year old in a stroller. So, I just listened on the radio, prayed and kept on my way to the nursery.

It was around then that Chuck started letting people know on the radio that we had less than 2 minutes before the trees around the trailer would catch on fire if the fire department didn't get there soon.

I stopped at the trailer to get a diaper for Jack, and I heard them saying that we needed to get a particular camper from the service up to his site NOW because his car was parked dangerously close to the fire. At that point, I didn't know how close. I didn't know how big the fire was. But I knew that I was standing next to a golf cart and my sister-in-law was standing there asking if she should take Jack.

SO, I asked her to take him, I hopped on the golf cart and sped down to the tent as fast as the governor on the golf cart would allow me to. After some searching, I eventually picked up the man and took him back . . . totally unprepared for how bad it actually was. As we drove close, the smoke was so thick, we could barely make out the fire trucks. So, I stopped and the man ran. I was getting debris in my eyes, so I backed up. The fire had basically been put out and all that was left was the scorched frame of the trailer. It was horrible.

It wasn't until later that someone was saying how lucky we were to have had that downpour yesterday morning. Things had been so dry, but the hour of torrential rain might have saved the trees from catching. If they had, we might have had an entire camping area to clear out and a much more devastating loss.

Kyle said that the worst part for him was watching the family watch their trailer (which they had purchased THE DAY BEFORE) and everything in it just crumble. I mean, it's a trailer . . . not their home, and no one was hurt . . . but still, it was devastating for them. Think about how many personal belongings you might bring if you were to go camping in a trailer for 10 days.

I was proud of our staff. The fire was out, the fire department left and our staff had (what was left of the) trailer loaded onto a flat bed and off the site before the service was over. And speaking as someone who watched the whole thing . . . it was not easy.

So, that was the first night of family camp . . . from my perspective. It can only get better from here . . . right?

I totally missed it . . .

This week, I've been taking Jack home for a bath after dinner and then bringing him back for chapel in his pajamas. Last night, he didn't really want to sit with us, so he pulled a chair up next to the bleachers to be closer to the "big kids."

At one point I looked over and he was dancing and clapping in his chair and it was hilarious. I only caught the tail end of the clapping . . . I totally missed the dancing and it's killing me!

Oh well . . .

Untitled from Sara on Vimeo.

P.S. I got a new video camera (I didn't use it to shoot this clip, though . . . I used the sony)! I got it for a little over $100 and I LOVE IT! The video quality isn't as great as the sony, but it's MUCH easier to keep with us . . . which means more video of Jack to share. You can thank me later.

Loving being a staff kid . . .

Jack is taking full advantage of the camp cooking class' generosity. I have a feeling that I'll be washing stains from that shirt tonight . . .

Totally worth it, though.

Second least favorite . . .

Today, I have to call many college-aged applicants and either offer them a job, or crush their dreams of counseling at SBC this summer. This is number two on my list of least favorite job responsibilities. Number one? Dealing with situations like this.

The thing that makes it most difficult is that if we had more positions available, there isn't a single applicant that we wouldn't have hired. They are all phenomenal. But we had all but two of our spots filled by February and we only have one female and one male position left.

Ugh. Here goes nothing . . .

So you'll know where to find me . . .

We're having the world's largest garage sale at camp this week. Ok, it's probably not the world's largest, but it's pretty big. I spent yesterday pricing my stuff and putting it out. And now I have a runny nose from all of the dust! Stupid allergies.

The sale starts today and runs through Thursday. Yes, it's weird to have a garage sale during the week, but it was the only time the field house was going to be available. And, it's going to be open until 7 PM each evening so people can come when they get off of work. Smart, right?

Jack's Halloween costume came in the mail yesterday. I found it on ebay. It wasn't the one that I wanted, but I refuse to pay more than $10 for something he'll only wear once. Maybe they'll be cheaper next year. You might remember how cute he was in last year's costume. This year will not disappoint.

I have a few things on my plate for this week. I have more going on at camp that I can even list here. I'm going to add a few more Christmas designs to the shop. I also hope to finish up the mommy cards and personalized stationary that I've been working on to add to the shop in December (or maybe January . . . we'll see). I know, I know . . . mommy cards? But people are asking for them. I'm also taking pictures of the Hammonds on Thurdsay . . . yay!

Oh, and did I mention that I had a photo session with a new family over the weekend? It went really and I think the photos turned out well! The client opted to not have their photos posted online, so you'll just have to take my word for it!

I hear Jack stirring. Time to get this day started.

Jealous?

This video clip pretty much sums up what I'm doing today. ALL. DAY.


It takes a lot of time! from Somerset Beach on Vimeo.

Oh, and if you find yourself succumbing to worrying about the future (like I have been), maybe this will help.

And if you're still feeling down, look on the bright side . . . at least this didn't happen to you.

Staff training begins again in 42 weeks.

Tonight is the first non-camp Sunday and it feels weird to be sitting at home.

Even though, I'm celebrating a more relaxed schedule by going to IKEA tomorrow with Jeanette, Joy & Debbie, I was really sad to see everyone leave. I mean, I'm sad at the end of every summer, but I was particularly fond of our staff this year.

Working at camp is more than a job . . . it's a lifestyle. The people there become like family. We eat, work and play together. Jack doesn't know what to do with himself on days like today when we don't go there and see everyone. They've taught him as much this summer as we have. He looks up to these people. He's even beginning to learn who God is through the love that these people show him.

While we have a large camp staff, we have the chance every year to really get to know our program staff. We hire them and supervise them all summer long . . . and while it would sometimes be more practical to keep a boss/employee relationship, the amount of time we spend together and the amount of life we share together doesn't make that entirely possible.

I love these guys and I'm so glad for the opportunity to get to know them this summer!

Um, and don't look at the picture too carefully because I hastily (and poorly) photoshoped in two people so we could have a complete picture.

Floating

We took our staff on our annual end-of-the-summer, Warren Dunes day trip on Friday and had a great time. It was a hard choice, but we opted to leave Jack with grandma for the day. We knew he would have fun if he came along, but it was nice to get away without a baby in tow. It was a nice change to just pack a bag and towel for myself.

Some of our staff wanted to bring something to float on, so they brought our slip and slide rafts:



I, on the other hand, made Kyle bring this:


We spent a good portion of the afternoon floating around in that and jumping in to cool off when we needed to. Unfortunately, I ended up with a sunburn in very uncomfortable places. I'm pretty sure the sunscreen I was using is expired because it was splotchy and uneven. And painful.

The portion of the day that was not spent in the water, was spent on the beach relaxing. The sun was so intense, but we were comfortable under our umbrella. The group sitting next to us included a grandma, her daughters and their scantily clad daughters sitting and reading the tabloids with, um, explicit commentary about what they were reading. On the other side of us, we had an amish family . . . complete with long sleeves, skirts, pants, hats and 142 children. It was an interesting contrast, to say the least.

We enjoyed the relaxation and the company and commented on the way home that we need to do that more often. But we probably won't do it again until next year.

A dying wish

My brother was able to fulfill a man's dying wish last week.

Seven years ago, one of our retired volunteers was hospitalized for serious heart issues and wasn't expected to live very long.

Then back in March, he was told that he had a week or two left to live. Bud was older and his heart was weak, but it was still sad for all of us to hear. He kept saying, "I think they're wrong. I feel fine." He lived longer than the doctor's expected, but this time it was the beginning of a slow decline.

When April came and he was still alive, he and his wife started talking about how they might actually have time to do the things that he wanted to do before he died. He got back on the tractor at camp again, he saw all of his kids . . . but he really wanted to fly. He started taking flying lessons when he was a teenager, but never had a chance to finish. His dream was to fly again.

Is it a coincidence that one of our lifeguards is also a licensed pilot?

Last week, in a most fragile state, Bud was granted his wish. Kyle and my brother drove to Willow Run, picked up a plane and flew to Hillsdale. Jeff picked Bud up at the airport there and flew him to Coldwater, over camp and all around. There wasn't a dry eye on the ground as we watched the plane circle over the camp.


About two months ago, he was using his walker to make his way over to the Trading Post. As I passed him I jokingly said, "Hey Bud . . . are you trying to make a getaway?" He responded by saying, "For over a month now!"

Bud went to be with Jesus on Thursday . . . having taken advantage of every last minute life on earth that God gave him.

I'd like to thank the Academy . . .

A fourth grade camper spit on me yesterday.

He also threw two handfuls of sand at me,
jabbed me with a stick,
slapped me in the back twice and . . .

grabbed my hand and bit it.

Oh, and I almost forgot. He also told me several times to "shut my frickin' mouth."

Did I mention that he is in the fourth grade?

Ironically enough, yesterday was also the day I was named the "Working Woman of the Week" on a radio station that I don't even listen to. I only know this because Laura posted a congratulatory message on my facebook wall. I believe my exact words back to her were, "What on earth are you talking about?"

You might be asking yourself, "What do you have to do to be awarded this honor?" Well, I'm pretty sure my name was drawn out of a hat. 5 months after i was nominated. So pretty much, I was probably one of three names left to choose from. Though, I like to think that after the encounter with the fourth grade boy, I earned it.

When Kyle nominated me back in February, the prize was a spa package. Now, the prize is an engraved plaque.

Which is great, because a spa package lasts for like, a day, and then it's over. But that plaque . . . it will hang in my office for the rest of my life.

Sigh.

I feel like I've been sighing in relief a lot over the last 24 hours. Jack is finally back to being the fiesty, happy boy that I know and love. I was beginning to think that his clinginess and crakiness were a new phase rather than him getting over the virus. Thankfully, he's laughing when he should and throwing tantrums when he should. His bedtime routine is also in the process of being reestablished. Between coming home from vacation and then getting sick, it has been difficult. It's amazing what a full night of sleep can do (for him and for us). Did I mention that a couple of teeth have popped through in the last week too? Poor kid . . .

He's going through some crazy development growth spurt, too. He has a chunky Melissa and Doug puzzle that he's caught on to and it's become a new favorite. He'll take the three pieces out of it, carry them around until he finds one of us and then drags us back over to the puzzle so that we can cheer when he puts them in correctly. He loves to take the caps on and off of things (which isn't necessarily a new thing). He's also becoming pretty good at using a spoon . . . though it's still pretty messy. His new favorite mealtime trick is to try and hang the spoon from his nose . . . we'd like to thank our staff for teaching him that one.

It's crazy that he was only 6 1/2 weeks old a year ago. Now that Jack's one year old, people are asking when we're going to have another one. Seriously? He's one year old! We've got some time. I know I'm not getting any younger, but I'm also not getting any richer. We need to get this kid paid off before we start on another.

Besides . . . is it even possible that we could get two kids as great as this one?