Back from Camp/Off to Grand Cayman

We picked Tyler up from camp Friday evening. He also had a good time. He got the classes he wanted and really enjoyed them. His roommate was kind of a jerk, but Tyler made the best of it by being sure the counselors somehow knew he was sneaking out of his room at night and also stealing drinks from the their refrigerator. (I bet his mom was proud to get that phone call!)  He made some new friends, had fun playing with liquid nitrogen, got to watch lightning strike a tree during a big storm, diligently wrote down the "recipes" for making different colored fires, and seems to have lost a few pounds despite the excellent food.

Tyler was home long enough to get his laundry done, and then he left again this morning to go to Grandma & Grandpa's. They leave tomorrow for their annual dive trip. He seemed awfully tired. Hopefully he can get a little rest before they start their dives.

Danielle had softball Friday & Saturday. By the time he gets home, they will have only spent an hour together out of 18 days. At least there hasn't been time to fight!

I found this picture from the first year Tyler went diving. This will be his 4th year.  

Back from Camp/Off to Camp

We picked Danielle up from camp late Friday afternoon. She had a wonderful time, enjoyed her classes, and made a couple good friends. She can't wait to go back next year and is already busy trying to coordinate a get together with her new friends. Here are a couple pictures from the camp's FB page.

"Creative Cartooning" class. It was her least favorite class of the 4 she took.

"Family group" time.  I'm not real crazy about some of the conversations both kids have reported having during family group times. You would think that a camp sponsored by and held at a Wesleyan college would lean towards the conservative side, but no. Thankfully this was a very small part of the week.

Tie-dying tshirts during rec time. She's wearing it in the picture with Tyler (below).

Danielle made these in her zentangles class. That was her favorite. She also enjoyed "Fun with Polymers" and a cooking class.

On Sunday we dropped Tyler off for his week. He really enjoyed himself last year and was looking forward to another great week. I hope it lives up to his expectations; I wasn't impressed with his roommate and we already know he got his fourth choice for one of his classes. The class he really wanted to get into was called "Captivating Chemistry of Fire". Hopefully he got into that class at a minimum. I miss his witty humor when he's gone. I'm looking forward to hearing about his week on Friday.

Happy Father's Day!

When I look at this picture, I see two intelligent, witty, happy children who wouldn't be the amazing people they are without that big guy in the Ohio State hat. Our kids have no idea how lucky they are to have a dad that loves them so much, works so hard to provide for them, and is so involved in their lives, but I do. What a blessing he is to the 3 of us.

Little Stinkers

One of our neighbors has the privilege of hosting a momma skunk and her babies under their shed. Thankfully they're not right next door to us, but they are within smelling distance.

We first noticed the babies when we came home after dark one evening. Two of the babies were strolling down the sidewalk. They are so very cute. I went over the next day in the hopes of getting a couple pictures from a distance. The babies really didn't cooperate for pictures; My view was always obstructed and I could never get more than one out at a time. Apparently there were 7 of them! Although they looked like they were going through the motions, they didn't appear to be able to spray. Danielle got pretty close to one of them, and I felt like we were pushing our luck. Those little stinkers will work eventually.

Turns out I was right. The next day we smelled a faint skunk odor at our house. Turns out one of the babies sprayed some chickens a few houses down from them. I guess I have all the pictures I'm going to get!

Our neighbors looked into having the skunks removed professionally. You aren't allowed to relocate them, so they would have to be killed. It was $199 for the first skunk and $99 for each additional skunk. That's a small fortune! They tried to trap the babies themselves before they got their stinkers, but it seems like the process may have taken a little too long. I'm glad they aren't in our yard but I'm glad I got to see them.

My Park Pictures

Off to Camp

We dropped Danielle off at "nerd camp" this evening. This is the same camp Tyler went to last year. It's for gifted students. In order to be considered, they have to be recommended by someone from the school, have 2 letters of recommendation, complete an essay, and have high test scores on the state tests or be formally identified as gifted. Even then, not everyone who applies gets in. It's only for 6th-8th graders, so this is Danielle's first year and Tyler's last year. Unfortunately they aren't gone the same week. ;) (We drop Tyler off next Sunday evening.) She signed up for a lot of art classes, but they don't find out for sure what classes they're in until after the parents leave.

Danielle has never been gone from home/family this long, so it is kind of a big deal. She's also missing 7 softball games in order to attend...also a big deal. I'm hoping she has so much fun that she quickly forgets all about softball. She was nervous about who her roommate might be and about getting lost on the college campus where she's staying, but I'm sure all of that will work out ok. I miss her smiling face. Most of the time she is a ray of sunshine, and it will be weird to have her gone.  She's not allowed to have any electronics or contact with anyone outside of camp, so we'll have to wait to hear all about it when we pick her up late Friday afternoon.



At dinner before dropping her off

All settled in. The rooms aren't air conditioned but she was lucky enough to be in the basement, which is a little cooler. She also brought a fan.  

Danielle's Park Pictures

Danielle and I went to the park to look for tree frogs today after it rained. This is one of my favorite summer things to do with Danielle, and I'm thankful she still enjoys doing it with me. I let her use my phone and an iPhone macro lens to take some pictures while we were there today. She has a great eye. These are all her pictures. I cropped and angled the close-up one of the dragonfly to better capture its compound eyes, but she composed the rest. I love these.

Today's Pic

Rained Out

Tyler came to watch Danielle play tonight, but he didn't get to see much. They had a rain delay for about an hour before they finally decided to cancel and reschedule. Despite not getting to watch Danielle play, it really was a nice evening. The three of us sat under our canopy and enjoyed a picnic dinner with Uncle Ron while listening to the girls giggle in the dugout during the rain delay. (They invited the other team over to their dug out for a dance off.) Our evening included rainbows and rumbles of thunder and spots of sunshine and sounds of laughter and fresh sandwiches and homemade pasta salad and good company. Although it didn't go as planned, I thought it was a lovely summer evening.

More Softball

Tyler made it home around midnight last night. He had a very nice time, but he was quite happy to be back to his own bed and computer and to have some time to himself. We've heard stories here and there, but I'm sure we'll hear more as time goes on. I'm glad to have him home. He has about 2 weeks before he leaves for his next adventure.

Danielle's softball team is playing in a 3 day tournament this weekend. This tournament is huge and has a lot of very good teams in it. So far we are not one of those very good teams. ;) We are a new team and many of these teams have been playing together for years, kind of like our team last year. That really does make a difference. We also have been making some fielding errors here and there, and there are still those few that seem like they really don't want to be there. When you start having to try out and pay for travel sports like this, you like to think you weed those people out. Not so.

Danielle, however, is not one of those. She just loves to play, and it is obvious when you watch her. It doesn't matter if her team is losing badly, she hustles onto the field, she encourages her teammates, she smiles, and she always tries her hardest. Her coaches have noticed this, too. They are firm believers in only playing the players who really try hard and want to be out there. Out of 15 games, Danielle has only sat one inning. Everyone else has sat multiple innings. Some girls, entire games. They earn stickers for their helmets for good plays, batting accomplishments, and other things the coaches want to emphasize. Danielle has earned more stickers for her helmet than anyone else. Although our team has some work to do, I feel like her coaches appreciate & recognize her effort and hard work more than her coaches in the past have. She feels the difference, too, and it makes her want to work all the harder.

She has been playing centerfield because our pitcher is rather slow and the batters can send the ball flying if they get ahold of it. She is fast, has a good arm, and knows where the plays are. She made some great plays today. In one game she made at least 5 outs and had to really move to catch some of the balls. She was aggressive and very fun to watch. The other team noticed, too. Each team gives someone on the opposing team an MVP ribbon after the game. Danielle received the ribbon in our last game, and it was well earned. She was proud of herself, as well she should be. She worked really hard today.

Stealing 2nd.
She was the only person who was able to steal successfully in one of our games yesterday.
It was close, but she is fast and is a smart base runner.

One of her outs yesterday.

Danielle gave me a big smile after a nice hit today. After looking at the picture when I got home, I thought the 2 grumpy looking guys behind her were kind of funny.

Waiting to steal.

Danielle with her MVP ribbon.

Danielle refuses to wear sliding shorts. This is the growing bruise on her thigh from all her slides. That ought to look really nice at the pool.

 

Accessorizing

Danielle wanted some bows to match her softball uniform. I think they look like they'd be in the way, but all the high school girls wear them, and many of the girls on our team and at the tournament this past weekend wore them. So we made a trip to the fabric store earlier this week and accessorized.

Her braids aren't quite as off centered as they appear. There is too much angle on the photo.

From Friday through yesterday she played 10 softball games. Over the next 3 days she will play 7 more... assuming we don't get rained out. I'm so happy it's softball season. :)

Tyler gets home tomorrow night. I've heard from him several times. They are very busy, but it sounds like they're having a great time. They finish off their day tomorrow with a lunch cruise on the Potomac. I believe a DJ and dancing are involved. It sounds like a fun way to end their trip. I imagine the ride home will be nice and quiet.