we went to camp good news today. the camp i went to a few times with my best friend as a camper. the camp where my husband and i 'met' 21 years ago training to teach bible clubs.. the camp that hired me when i courageously sent a letter blindly asking if they would hire me to work in their wilderness camp. i only worked as a counselor there for four summers, but i loved. every. second. of it. it made the wilderness around me less wild and more comfortable. the people i worked with still tug on a tender part of my heart, and the kids who came through each week. whose own tender hearts were pushed beyond physical and spriritual limits. i went up to the wilderness camp today with my son. i felt proud and emotionally strung as i hiked him up the hill to the small camp. opening to door to the pavilion opened a flood gate of memories.

we finally found a wii. although it is kind of disturbing trying to knock out your son.

measuring up. happy to say he has grown and will not slow down.

we acquired two printers trays from our parents and kept one. my mom liked to put crafty little figurines in them and i remember buying her some when i was a kid. i finally put the tray on our wall, but had maybe three things to display in it. since the tray was hanging within reach or our son he thought it would be the perfect place to house his red plastic fire brigade.

watermelon. consumed by the pound by our five year old in a short sitting.

this picture was mistakenly taken. but i love the colors.

i hiked a mountain today. my tired feet and rickety knees held together long enough to get me to the summit. it felt so empowering to conquer this mountain.

crawling through the net

beach day two. it was insanely hot today!

beach day one. the frigid water temperature and lingering clouds did not keep these two out of the water.

our new wheels.

i take it he is thinking about how well he climbed this wooden train for the first time ever.

summer proves to be too much for him. he fell asleep watching a movie this afternoon. that rarely happens

we took our son and nephew to a local touch - a - truck event. i think they loved honking the horns more than anything.

playing on makeshift waterslide. summer begins!

hike up mt. kearsage today!

an afternoon at chuck e cheese. fun times!

our class pool party after the graduation ceremony. i have been dreading this day all year. one of my duties as the fifth grade teacher is to put on this performance called a graduation ceremony. i have been stressing out over this event. i wake up in the middle of the night thinking about what to say, what to do to make it memorable for the parents. this was my first year back as a teacher, after four years. it was tumultuous to say the least. and now it is over and i honestly see this graduation as an opportunity for the parents to sit and judge me on how i did. i know some were not pleased with everything i did. it is hard to get back on the bike and learn to ride again. i feel better equipped for next year. but i feel i did not do well this year. so they graduate. i gladly send them on to sixth grade and welcome a much tamer class for next year.