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On Friday, July 1st, Mark and Anne became parents!  They induced Anne that morning, but after many hours of labor realized the baby was not descending and had to opt for a c-section.  I was able to get there around 6 pm (everyone else had been there for hours), and he was born around 6:15 pm.  He was 9 lbs 5 oz and 21 inches long.  A little after 7, the nurse came and got Kathy (Anne's mom) and Nancy (Mark's mom) for their first visit with the baby, and then they came and got the three "aunts" who were waiting – me, Lizzy and Amy.  Poor Amy had been on antibiotics for a throat infection and was being cautious with a mask.  Graham is a beautiful baby – he's perfect!  And I'm such a proud aunt.  Way to go, M & A!  We love you!

 

 

And my favorite of all…

 

Me, Samuel, and…Maggie.  A summer nap on my bed.

 

My title is a throwback to "Ernest Goes To Camp" – anyone remember that hideous movie from our childhood? 🙂

When I was in 5th grade I was nominated to attend a YMCA Leadership Camp held at Possom Kingdom Lake.  It was quite an honor, but I was NOT having it.  I cried and begged my mom to not make me go.  She put me on the bus anyway (and worried about me all week long, she says).  It turned out to be one of the highlight's of childhood – such a great experience!  And such a confidence building time for me.  I have great memories of that camp…meeting a red-headed girl named Casey who became a fast friend, making friendship lanyards, flashing our lights at the boys across the lake at night, sleeping in an open-air cabin, leadership seminars, skit night, etc. 

So I was especially tickled when Jacob was nominated for a similar (but completely different) Leadership Academy through Education in Action.  He did not seem to have the same trepidation that I did…although I did get 3 BIG hugs when we said goodbye – but I also got a huge smile and a happy wave.  His buddy, Will, from down the street was also going, so we carpooled out to Keller to drop the boys off at EIA's offices/dorms.  They waved at us from the bus window until they were out of sight – so sweet!

They broke them up into small "Leadership Groups" and had break-out sessions each day with those groups…including their assigned faculty member who is a teacher from somewhere in TX (Paul was the name of Jacob's leader).  Here's a breakdown of the places he got to visit:

Monday – Summit Rock Climbing, Cowboys Stadium, Place of Wax Museum

Tuesday – Ft Worth Stockyards, Amon Carter Art Museum, Cowgirl Museum

Wednesday – JFK 6th Floor Museum, Dallas Museum of Nature and Science, IMAX and Electric Theater

Thursday – TX Civil War Museum, Bureau of Engraving and Printing, Ft Worth Botanical Gardens

Friday – Rangers Ballpark in Arlington (ending at 1 pm)

I was so tickled to get a letter from him yesterday (he's not able to call us!).  He sounded so good!  And they post pictures from the day each night on their website.  Derek teases me because I get anxious if they are one minute late with those pictures (around 9 pm) – I'm so eager to see his cute face each night before bed.

What a neat experience for him to have!  I am so proud of the young man that he is – and spending a week without being able to communicate with him has just reiterated to me my affection for this boy of mine.

ETA:  We went to pick-up Jacob on Friday afternoon at Rangers stadium.  He greeted us with eager hugs and tired eyes.  But he also said "it was the best!" and "I could have stayed another week!".  He LOVED every minute of this camp and made tons of friends.  I was especially pleased to see pictures of him with girls because that species is not usually high on his chart of people he ranks as "cool".  I guess "cool" girls were at this camp and he enjoyed it.  He's already asking to go back next year.

 

 

Today was the last day of swim lessons for Caleb and Samuel.  They've been taking from a woman named Ruth Henke.  Lots of friends kids came to her too.  Caleb has turned out to be a strong swimmer – part of me is wishing I had put him on a swim team (which would have meant packing up and heading to a pool everyday for practices – so maybe not).  He's strong!  And he practices everyday in our own pool.  Samuel is comfortable but not exactly "swimming" yet…but definitely feels happy to be in the water.

 

Then we headed to Grapevine to spend time at the Legoland Discovery Center.  It was a ZOO…packed with people.  But we had a great time – riding the rides (2 of them), seeing a 4D movie, building and racing Lego cars, playing in the playscape and most of all, seeing the DFW sites built with Legos.  We especially loved seeing the DFW airport, all of the major sports arenas, a farm, and the Dallas skyline…very cool. 

 

 

Since the LDC was IN Grapevine Mills Mall we decided to shop a little.  It goes in a big circle and once you commit, there's no going back.  After some Sonic drinks, we decided to "commit" and did some shopping (Old Navy, J Crew, Gap, etc) which ended with a visit to the candy shop.

A successful day!  Now I'm exhausted.   But the boys are wired from the sugar.  Bedtime, anyone?!

Jacob was able to go to Scout Camp this year as an 11-year old only if his Dad went with him.  He's been looking forward to this for years and Derek took the time off to be able to accompany Jacob.  I think it was a great bonding time for them, and a great relationship-building time for Derek as a Bishop too with the other boys who were there.  But, poor Derek spent 2 weeks on a cot if you include High Adventure, so he was ready to be home by the end.  Scout Camp was a great adventure for Jacob – fishing, swimming, rifleing, first aid, environmental science, wilderness survival, etc.  For wilderness survival he had to go out one night with a group, build a lean-to and sleep under it.  Derek said he's never seen a boy as dirty or as tired as Jacob was that morning.  He lost his knife (a prized Bear Grylls knife that he had paid for himself) and his bathing suit (found later infested with ants). 

 

One fun sidenote: Derek build a penny hockey game when he was in high school and he brought it out and took it to Scout Camp.  It turned out to be the highlight for some of the boys who would have hockey tournaments in their tents going regularly.  Love that!

Derek, as Bishop, got to accompany the Young Men ages 14-18 on High Adventure this summer.  They went to a camp for disabled children called "Camp for All" in Burton, TX.  Funny thing is, Burton is the same town where our family farm is located (population 300)!  The boys camped at nearby Lake Somerville, which was very low due to drought conditions.  They worked each day, preparing and serving food, and they built a ramp that attached to the stage for one of the boy's Eagle projects (that ended up taking several days).  Derek took them all out to the farm one night for a devotional (he took pies from Royer's as a treat).  But they were all convinced that the farm was haunted (it's a desolate place since no one lives there).  Derek had lots of funny stories to tell when he got home and was glad to spend the time with these great young men…but also glad to shower and sleep on soft bed.  He left for Scout Camp two days after getting home from High Adventure…more to come.

 

Last weekend we had THREE parties – all of which involved a pool (is there any other way in June in TX?) and all of which served hot dogs and hamburgers (although one had grilled tri-tip for the adults!) and fruit and chips! 

Friday night – party at the neighborhood pool with friends from our ward

Saturday day – end-of-season baseball party for Caleb's team at the Horton's

 

Saturday evening – start-of-season football party for Jacob's team at OUR house – 60 people here; it was fun to get to know some of the families better

And that little picture of a cake is all I have to show for it!

 

I love Cub Scout camp!  It's just good-old-fashioned fun.  Archery, bb guns, crafts, nature, wood-working, games, etc.  This was my fourth year to go (Mon and Thurs) and I enjoy it more every year.  I especially being able to hang out with my own boys, but also the good boys of our ward/walking den.  I especially love it when we win the coveted spirit award (two years in a row!).  Caleb's first year was so fun and he loved every minute of it. 

 

 

 

 

For Father's Day, Derek rewarded himself with a chance to sleep in (by cancelling his early morning church meetings!).  He got breakfast in bed, a new Mavs Championship t-shirt and a candy-gram.

This man is a great father.  I think when I was dating him I intuitively knew that he would be good, but I could never have imagined that he would be this good.  Active, fun, energetic, caring, and completely hands-on. 

We're sure grateful for this guy!

 

Celebrating at the Mavs Parade just seemed like a no-brainer for me when the Dallas Mavericks won the NBA Championship.  Afterall, I am a Dallas-born girl!  And have watched the Mavs year-after-year, playoff-loss after playoff-loss, late-night Pacific time game-after-game…cheering loud from the comfort of my home!  This playoff season was especially fun to watch and nail-biting at the same time – especially those games against the Miami Heat.  I was elated to see them win!! 

Derek and Jacob were at Scout Camp, but I was determined that I would take my little boys and join the 250,000 projected people and cheer for my Mavs.  We bought t-shirts and dressed in blue!  Luckily, my across-the-street neighbor Lyn wanted to take her two youngest boys too, so we were glad to be able to carpool (she drove).  My brother offered his parking garage downtown which would save us a lot of hassle (thank you, Mark!).  We decided to leave at 7 am for the 10 am parade with drinks, snacks and playing cards to keep the boys occupied.

But then we had a little "bump" in the road…

 
This car hit us from behind, causing us to hit the car in front of us…on the Dallas North Tollway.  Not fun.  As most of you know, I've been in plenty of car accidents (8, to be exact) – but Lyn and her boys + my boys had NEVER been in one, so you can imagine how traumatic it was.  Being rear-ended (hard!) without warning is NO FUN.  After getting everyone's information and wating for the Trooper to fill out his report (the Hyundai was not driveable and Lyn's Expedition has since been declared totaled because it bent the frame), we decided to still try to make it to the parade.  Lemonade out of lemons!

Well, all 200,000 people got there about 5 minutes before we did, so it was a little hard to find a spot that was good.  But thankfully we were able to find a shady spot (since it was reaching the mid-90s at this point) in front of a building.  It was impossible for the kids to see much, since we were about 8 people deep, but my camera was able to catch some faces.  And overall, it was a fun atmosphere.  NEXT time though, I will enjoy the parade from the luxury of my couch, I do believe.

But – I love saying that we DID IT!  We celebrated – we cheered – and we survived it after a car crash, with 4 children!  That's an accomplishment…