Our daughter's school only operates 133 days per year compared to the 180 days required by public schools. We took her out of school for a week to go to Disney World, so she's had even fewer days of school. Almost every other kid I know would LOVE to have so many days off from school. The kids at our daughter's school, however, dread Christmas break, spring break, and teacher workdays because they enjoy school so much. We have to try REALLY hard to make our daughter's breaks from school as enjoyable for her as school seems to be.
She got to start her spring break early. She had to miss the last day of co-op for the year on the day before spring break began so that she could attend the Y Princess spring outing. This year's camp had a pirate theme. Arg!
Camp always begins with a sugar fest. Ironically, she missed my heath and PE class that day in which I taught about the harmful effects of eating lots of sugar. After feasting at the ice-cream sundae bar that first night, her body rebelled and expelled. She later told me that even when I wasn't there to
nag encourage her to avoid eating too much sugar, her body sent the message for me. My son's AWANA verse this week just happens to be
Ephesians 6:1. I think she believes it, now.
What she doesn't know is that my adorable and thoughtful PE students gave me a boatload of scrumptious treats that day, and I, too, was guilty of overdosing on sugar that same evening. Oops!
Considering that my husband slept in a bunk bed with four other
snoring fathers and five lively, giggling girls, he did not sleep well that night. He was up before sunrise. Surely the view that morning helped offset any negative emotions that sleep deprivation could have evoked.
The weather was absolutely perfect during last year's outing, but this year brought lots of rain. So, the kids had to be entertained indoors. Of all the inside amusements available, I would have never chosen to play with snakes, but my girl loves all God's creatures both great and small.
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| Jake, the black snake |
She could not pass up the opportunity to earn a patch by unlocking the secret code through a series of riddles. Can you decode this note with only the clues shown below? My husband didn't photograph all the riddles, but they did solve the puzzle using all 7 riddles.
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| Fill in the blanks using the riddles below. |
Last year, when the weather was warm and sunny, she enjoyed archery best and the zip-line least. This year, when the air temperature hovered around 50 degrees F, she decided she liked the zip-line best. Rumor has it that one of her tribe members took a video of my girl and her daddy shivering down the zip line with their lips all shades of blue. I can only imagine how cold the water must have been.
I'm disappointed that a lad walked in front of my husband's camera at the wrong time, but at least it serves as a reminder that both the Y guides and Y princesses attended the camp at the same time this year. I was concerned that the boys would be a distraction, but thankfully, our princesses were too busy enjoying each other's company to notice the boys.
My little boy always wears a smile on his face with dimples gleaming. Our deep thinking daughter, however, usually has a serious expression on her face, especially when she is asked to pose for a picture. Or perhaps in this case, she really is upset about being asked to stop her play and stand still for a photo.
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| Ferocious Fireflies |
Last year, our girl cried a river when she had to come home after that wonderful weekend at Y Princess camp. This year, there wasn't enough time for boohoos. After they came home, my husband only had 45 minutes before he had to go to church to rehearse for praise team duty that evening. Those 45 minutes were just enough time to restore my son to equilibrium after he missed his daddy so much that weekend. He kept his nose glued to the window pane for much of the afternoon looking for them to return Meanwhile, I rushed my daughter to her own choir practice, and then we washed their soiled camp clothes and packed for a week at the beach.
While daddy and daughter were away, my son and I enjoyed a nice long visit with some of our favorite neighbors. The kids had a blast playing outside and all over the house inside. We went for a nice walk around the golf course and ate a semi-healthy dinner together. Then the kids worked together to bake and decorate horribly unhealthy desserts. I guess sugar has become the theme of this post. The evidence of our sugar crimes are pictured below.
Disclaimer: While I did let the kids create these sugary concoctions, I did not let them eat them. That permission had to come from their parents.
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| Boys like tools...even egg cracking/separating kitchen tools |
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| The boys' colorful brownie cake |
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| The girls' Easter cross brownie cake |
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