Last Full Week of Summer

Hola!

I still can't quite believe tomorrow is September.  While we haven't gone anywhere spectacular these last 2 weeks, they seem to have flown by.

Our computer has been giving us fits, and it's the one with all my photos and Photoshop on it!  All the photos are backed up twice, now, so we won't lose those.  But the computer itself needs completely re-starting, from the VERY beginning, and programs installed all over again.

(That explanation was so I can tell you THAT's the reason I'm not posting tons of photos.  Maybe I can find an Internet stock photo or five...)

Anyway, highlights of the last couple of weeks:

KARA starts SOCCER again.  Yes, the chaotic-calendar of shuttling kids to sports and other activities has begun.  She's playing on a bigger field this year, and has 11 girls on the field.

TERESA starts VOLLEYBALL again.  She's been at it for a week, while they were forming teams.  Last year they had 2 teams: JV and Varsity.  This year they have enough girls for 3 teams.  She was the only Sophomore to be moved up to Varsity.  We thought that was pretty cool!  Way to go, Teresa!

DAVID finishes his INTERNSHIP.  For the month of August, David has been shadowing an Architectural Engineer, to see exactly what they do every day.  He also spent one morning in Boston, getting shown around a different architecture firm, to see some of their projects.

(When I offered to ride downtown with him, he insisted that he would be fine.  We found it on Mapquest.  He took the GPS.  Overprotective Mom says "I have my cell!  If you get lost, pull into a gas station and call, and I'll look up where you are online!"  So now, he has also driven himself to downtown Boston, where he then successfully found a place to park, took care of business, returned and lived to tell about it.)

FRANK TRAVELS.  It is the end of Hewlett-Packard's fiscal year.  Frank has shuffled yet again in his responsibilities, so now he supports new groups.  It's like he has just started a brand new job, but still within the company.  So with all of those combinations, he has traveled 3 places in the past 3 weeks, and next week will make 4 weeks in a row of traveling.  California, New Jersey, Houston, and next week California again.

He actually likes traveling, and I don't mind him going, either.  I'd like to go WITH him, mind you, but you know, our kids still live with us!  So anyway, it has been a lot of fast-paced learning for him, transitioning to new responsibilities.  Again.

He came home with a bad cold and cough this time.  Bummer, and hopefully it will go away soon.

Now -- you can choose "Alas, Sniffle..." or "Hip-hip Hooray!" for the following: SCHOOL will start this coming Tuesday for our district.  This sentence elicits mixed emotions, I think, all the way around.

ME?  I've been holding down the fort and reminding people to WRITE DOWN their events: times, places, etc.  Then we can all get where we need to go.  If it's not on the calendar, it won't happen.  That's my mantra.

I'll be tutoring ELL (interchangeable acronym with ESL: they are English Language Learners) students again this year, 2 days a week at the same elementary schools where I have been tutoring for the past 3 years.  I probably start next week.

Hope your week has been energizing (??!? or insert your own adjective??!)

Happy Friday!  Kari

Girls' Camp!!!!!

Hola!

We just finished a week of YW (Young Women) Camp in New Hampshire!  (Whew!  There are volumes to be written, from that simple sentence starting my paragraph.  I'll just give you highlights.)

This was Kara's 1st year, and Teresa's 4th year.  Since both of them went this year, I decided to go too, as a volunteer leader.  The girls are grouped by age level, and I figured it would be an even better experience for them if I was not specifically "in charge" of their groups.  (Independence, and getting to know other leaders and friends, you know.)

So I was in charge of a group of girls in their 2nd year.  What a nice bunch of girls.  I think all of them had a good time.  How did I like it?  ...well I did not expect to be on vacation, and I wasn't!  Ha.  It's a beautiful area and it was NOT stifling hot.  That was my biggest concern, actually.  Would it be in the 90's and disgustingly humid the whole week?  And second-worst: would it rain the whole week?

The answer to both questions is a resounding NO!  We had a nice mix of weather.  Lots of sun and some rain, and the worst rainstorms were while we were sleeping.  Even better.  One day was pretty sticky, where you could feel that soupy air going into your lungs as you breathe...but that was only one day.

The girls got to do all the camp-y stuff like canoeing and kayaking, archery, crafts, and the rifle range.  There is even a cafeteria and an exceptional cook staff for them, so they got yummy food the whole week.  It's also a church camp, so they read and memorized scriptures, listened to inspirational speakers, and hopefully strengthened friendships and their testimonies of Jesus Christ.

Here are some photos.

ARCHERY.  Kara in action...

RIFLE RANGE.  Teresa aims for the mark...

KARA's SKIT.  Where she's doing her hair, and putting on sunscreen with someone ELSE's hands actually putting it on her face...

TERESA the ROCK STAR.  Where she's in the skit as a backup singer.  She's playing air guitar, and yes, he's actually wearing leather pants.  Want some?  Try army surplus.

KAYAKS.  Kara at 6 a.m.!  She got into the Polar Club by getting up to swim early.

LEADERS.  These are my awesome cabin roommates.  I'm sitting in the middle, smiling so big because I'm walking that fine line of sanity and ...not sanity.  There was a lot of energetic yelling at camp.  It was a loud week.

Now...we are home!  I slept in my own bed last night.  For a long time.

I also ate dinner withOUT 100 girls shouting out chants or cheers.  Nor did anyone pound out complicated rhythms on the table in unison, with their cups.  (Did you ever see "STOMP?"  That's what they did.  During dinner.)

Better be off.  Have a great week!  :)

Kari

"The Cape"

Hello!

Summer is zipping by and I can't seem to slow it down.  We have had some beautiful days in New England, and very little rain.  Pros and cons to that, of course, but I can't complain about sunshine, that's for sure.

We also got to spend last week "at the Cape," as people from Massachusetts say.  "I'm going to the Cape," or "spending time at the Cape."  Not "Cape Cod."  If you said that, people might look at you funny.

Our friends bought a house "at the Cape" last spring, planning to spend most of their summers there.  But I knew they would NOT be there, maybe 2 or 3 weeks of the summer, so I asked if during one of those weeks, they'd consider renting it to us.  They did!

We tried to mix it up some, and do something different every day.  Evenings, of course, were mostly spent watching the Olympics--gymnastics is always a highlight, and the USA team did not disappoint--:)  Swimming was also pretty intense, and beach volleyball.

One day we went out on a boat with our other friends who live "at the Cape" during summer months.  Catching crabs and other critters in the tide pools rarely gets boring.

Another day we rented bikes and rode the "Cape Cod Rail Trail."  We took a slightly wrong turn and ended up riding about 23 miles, getting back!  But it was a beautiful day.  We stopped at a pond for a swim to cool off.

Another day was go-karts and bumper boats.  And mini-golf.  You could squirt with your bumper boats, and we saw people quite literally coming out of there drenched...like they had jumped into the pool, fully clothed.  So we called a Family Truce, not wanting to be THAT wet!  We bumped each other, but did not drench each other.  (OK well, Teresa and Frank did exchange some squirts.  But they were far from "drenched.")

Another day was Whale Watching!  I think we all liked this one.  We had a lucky day, where during the 2 hours we were out, we actually saw 8-10 humpback whales, feeding, and about 12 minke whales.

The humpbacks have some really interesting behavior patterns while feeding, where they swim in a spiral to corral the fish into the center of the spiral.

They create a "bubble-net," then scoop up the fish in their mouths.  BUNCHES of seagulls fly around them, in hopes of getting a fish that the whale misses!  Then the whales swim with their heads out of the water, getting the excess water out of their mouths. (see header photo, above.)  That was really cool.

Anyway we tried to mix up the activities to keep everybody interested.  There was a glass museum in there too, where we watched the lady make a pumpkin and a swan.  Here's a photo of a diorama, depicting the kiln in a factory where 4 glassblowers are using the same big kiln at the same time.

AND.  Did you know that in 1620 the Pilgrims landed on Cape Cod first, and stayed for 5 weeks before deciding to keep going on to  Plymouth?  It was news to me.

OK, and here's your "Clever Sign for the Day."  At the go-cart track, there was a big giraffe with a sign on his neck.  (I guess he'd been climbed on in the past, a little worse for the wear.)  So here is everybody (Kara, on Frank's shoulders, is holding the sign), and here is a close-up of his sign.  It made us chuckle.

Bedtime for me.  Have a great weekend!  Kari