Summer Fun for Scouts Only

Yesterday evening Danielle's GS troop had a summer get-together. It was a 4 hour event on a weekend night in the summer...and it was not a family event. See why I'm not crazy about that organization?! (One family didn't see that the scout could only bring 1 guest and actually came together. The dad and older daughter quietly slipped away when they realized they weren't invited.)

Anyway, Danielle really wanted to go but I didn't have anyone to watch Tyler. Not wanting to be "that mom" again, ahead of time I talked to the mom who was hosting the event and she told me I could bring Tyler to hang out with her older daughter. She is in Enrichment with Tyler and the two get along pretty well. As it turned out, I'm pretty sure Tyler had a better evening than Danielle did, and Danielle had a really good time.

The girls played games, ate dinner, played together, and sang songs around the campfire. They did not make the promised s'mores, so that was a bit of a tease. I enjoyed watching the kids play, though, and would say the evening went pretty well overall.

Softball

Softball season is wrapping up. We have one more game next week and then regular season play is over. It has been a lot of fun to watch Danielle play. It took her a little while to get used to softball pitching (tball was overhand pitching), but she seems to have found her groove. She got on base 4 times tonight and only struck out once. The best part of all - she really enjoys playing.






Here are some pictures from tonight's game. Danielle played center field twice, third base, and catcher. (We only played 4 innings because we run-ruled the other team.)





Look at that grin!
























Playing 3rd.















Running to cover her base.

Summer Fun

Today we visited the farm. We have visited this farm several times before, including with each child's kindergarten class. (The link is to the first time we visited in 2007.) It is always a hit. It was cooler than usual today and we didn't have anything else to do, so I thought it would be a good day to fit in a visit. I was right!

We rented a "pony" for a 1/2 hour and I lead them around the ring. We fed the deer and visited the barn and played on the playground. The kids loved on the kittens and held the bunnies and giggled at the peacock's call. It was a very nice afternoon.

Horse Camp Pics

This is the first horse Danielle rode this week. Her name is Oprah and she's huge.







Danielle and Cinnamon

The girls got a day camp patch and a horseshoe from one of the horses they rode this week.

Horse Camp

Today was the last day of Danielle's horse camp. Danielle had a great time and really enjoyed everything she got to do. Unfortunately today didn't end well, though.

The entire week the instructors told the girls they would get to show their parents what they learned and would even get to ride for us on the last day. Danielle was super excited about showing us what she learned and talked about it all week. Ron rearranged his schedule and cancelled a couple meetings to be sure he could make it because it meant so much to Danielle. Then, yesterday after class, they told us we would only be able to come for a few minutes at the very end of class and take a picture of our child sitting on a horse - not riding or leading it or anything else. Just sitting on it.

Danielle was SO disappointed. I mean crying disappointed. So we tried to contact the farm or even Girl Scouts to make arrangements to come a few minutes early to watch her ride. We tried to do this because the GS made it clear in their camp information guide that parents are not permitted to stay to observe their child at any camp. No one had the farm's phone number, including the Girl Scouts who organized this camp. All the listed numbers for the farm had been disconnected. Try as we might, we just couldn't reach anyone. So, this morning I asked the instructor (who might be 18) what time Danielle would be riding and explained that Ron had already rearranged his schedule to be there to watch her ride. She told me and didn't seem to have a problem with us coming early.

When we got there, the gate to the parking lot was closed. (We opened it.) When we finally got back to the stables, the owner was in with Danielle's group and refused to let us watch. He was very rude and quite unreasonable, and finally told Ron that he was causing the girls to miss out on their instruction time. Ron is very even tempered and rarely gets mad, but he was MAD! I loved Tyler's unprompted comment afterward, "Wow! If I had talked to Dad like that I'd be in my room waiting for a spanking!"

Honestly, we didn't care so much about whether or not we got to watch Danielle, but we knew how important it was to her. We left to sit in our car until the designated time when we could photograph Danielle sitting on a horse (which we could do for about $4 - considerably less - at our zoo). While we were sitting there, we watched Danielle come out and could tell that she was crying. It was so frustrating.

Later, after the girls took turns getting their pictures taken, we noticed another girl had her head buried in her mom's side and was sobbing because she thought she was going to get to show her mom and grandparents what she had learned. It was such a sour way to end the week. There were other issues we had with Girl Scouts themselves beforehand, and I was disappointed with some of the misuse of time during this camp, but Danielle wasn't aware of any of that and was having a great time. Sadly, I feel like today cast a shadow on all that.

Despite our ending, Danielle confirmed her love of horses this week and became a lot more confident around them. She's positive she wants to do a full day week long camp next year and is hoping to get some money for her birthday to take a lesson that we can watch. Of course, we'll go some place else for those things! I will share some pictures from today in another post.

Sign of a Good Time

Photo Sundries

I liked the contrast of the shadows on the trees. Don't care much for the poison ivy, though.

Caught this insect molting from nymph to adult. I was practicing with the extension tubes Ron gave me for Christmas because I can never seem to focus accurately - as you can tell from this picture. Still need to practice!

This poor little downy woodpecker got caught in a downpour.

This little guy enjoys visiting my bird feeder. I don't mind him sneaking a bite or two, but it looks like he's stocking up for the week!

Walking the Bridge

Today was the last day of Cub Scout camp. Unfortunately it was also the most boring. They didn't get to do archery or bbs. Instead, they spent the day reviewing everything they learned this week and taking the Webelo Challenge. I joined Tyler for the last couple hours and was bored bored bored. I'm glad the whole week wasn't like that, but I'm disappointed the last day was such a bust.

After all the patrols passed the challenge, they each crossed the bridge. I initially thought the bridge was supposed to represent their passage from Cub Scouts to Webelos but I think some of the kids are a little older and have already been bridged. So, I'm not positive what it was about, but it was probably the most fun part of the day. The theme to camp this year was Knights of the Round Table, so all the kids got crowns after they crossed. They also got a day camp patch, Webelos pin, and certificate...and a melty 3 Musketeer bar.






































Although it was extremely humid today, the rain and storms held off until about an hour after camp was over. Here is a picture Ron took of our golf ball size hail.

"Knotty" Camper

Here is Tyler before Cub Scout camp yesterday morning. You can see his "necklace" with the leather shield he made and the arrowhead and bearclaw he earned for accuracy in archery and bbs. What you can't see are all the bandaids on his legs or the ticks in his hair. (Actually, it was morning so there weren't any ticks in his hair yet.) Unfortunately he wasn't feeling well today and called me to pick him up about 45 mintues after I dropped him off. He seems better tonight, though, so he should be ok to go for the final day tomorrow. I am pleasantly surprised at what a good experience this has been for him. I'm certain we will consider CS camp again next year.

Danielle came home from Grandma & Grandpa's today. It sounds like the 3 of them had a wonderful time. I'm sure this is a week she will remember for a very, very long time. She brought home a stuffed snake from their trip to the zoo. Tyler used it to show her one of the things they worked on at camp this week - knot tying. I think I was more amused than Danielle was.

Summer Fun

Our summer break is off to a good start!


We finished off last week with an outing with Mamaw & Papaw. My stepsister & her kids, my stepbrother, and my aunt came, too. We had a lot of fun bowling and playing putt-putt golf. We topped off a great afternoon with a trip out for ice cream. What a fun day!


Danielle had another softball game on Saturday. Her team won again. It's kind of fun to actually keep score this year. Of course, I might feel differently if her team didn't have a winning record. She has 4 games left.


We went fishing after church on Sunday. It was our first time out this season. Ron and I didn't have any luck, but the kids didn't do too bad. Tyler had the first catch of the season and ended up catching 3 bluegill and/or sunfish. Danielle caught 4.


Tyler is attending Cub Scout day camp this week. He is having even more fun than he thought he would and has come home tired and filthy both days so far. Today they learned, among other things, how to start a fire with flint and steel. (His 3rd grade teacher would cringe.) He's convinced he needs his own bow and arrow now, too.


Danielle is spending a few days with Ron's parents this week. A few weeks ago they sent each child a list of possible activities for them to research and choose from. They really enjoyed looking up each option and put a lot of thought into deciding what they wanted to do. Danielle was SO excited about her choice - to visit a drive-thru animal safari. They went today, and it sounds like it lived up to her expectations, and then some. These are some of the pictures Mom was kind enough to email me. It was fun listening to Danielle tell us all about her day when she called tonight. Tyler can't wait for his turn, which will be in early July.