Coming Home from camp

Such a beautiful place.

Connor is saying goodbye to Laura, the camp director.

I think he's happy to be going home.  This is at the airport.

Brothers.

Connor finally got home last night.  :o)  I loved the Welcome Home sign.  In this picture, he is showing us his new mustache he got from camp.  Isn't it nice?  LOL

He's coming HOME!

(Click picture to enlarge)

I made this banner for Connor.  He comes home today!  Yea!!!  :o)  We are all so excited.  He has been at camp all week and we MISS him.  I have talked with him briefly this morning after Dave and Quinn picked him up.  But I didn't get much in the way of information out of him.  I think I'm just going to have to be patient and let it come out over time.  He did tell Dave that he would like to go again next year.  Well, that must mean he had a good time.  Right?

It's been one week

Dave and Quinn left on a plane early this morning for Nashville, TN to pick up Connor from camp.  We haven't heard from him all week.  We can only assume he is doing well.  We are all missing him desperately.  Camp is over tomorrow at 11am.  Then they will have to race back to Nashville to catch their plane.  And we will see all three boys around 8pm tomorrow evening.  Can't wait!

ETUSC

Dave and I are helping Connor pack for camp.  Camp is from August 8th - 14th.  Connor is 13 and this is the first time he has ever gone to camp EVER.  And he chooses a camp on the other side of the country.  ;o)  Not only that.  But he has NEVER been away for a week without us.  He leaves early tomorrow morning on an airplane.  Dave is flying with him.  They then have a four hour drive after getting off the plane from Nashville to Jonesboro TN.  Then Dave will fly back next week to pick him up.

Connor doesn't show any signs of being excited OR nervous.  We asked him if he wanted a calling card so he could call home during the week.  And he said "No, I'll be fine."  What!!  But what about ME ~ your MOM?  And he's just as cool as a cucumber about everything.  Doesn't seem to have the jitters At all.  He has always been the kids that could walk right up to anybody and talk to them and hang out.  Never any worries about anything.  I guess that is what is going on right now.  He knows he'll make friends and have a great time.  When I was a kid and went to camp for a week, I remember being so homesick and just scared about all the people I didn't know.  Of course I always had a super time.  But the initial getting acquainted time was so scary for me.  Hopefully he will have none of that.

We asked if he wanted a disposable camera.  And he doesn't want to take pictures.  He didn't want a camp shirt either.  "Why would I want that?", he asks.  Don't you want to have ANYthing to remember camp by?  So I ordered him a camp shirt anyway.  So if he changes his mind, he will have it.  Also, my mom is buying him a disposable camera (just in case).  You know.  Things are always different once you get there.

I know Connor will be fine and he'll have a great time and make some awesome new friends.  I can't wait to hear all about it.

Swimming at The Village

We have been swimming at The Village this spring since our pool just hasn't warmed up yet.  The weather has been so nice (read: NOT hot) that the water in our pool is FREEZING.But that doesn't stop us from swimming.  We have been going everyday.  Even Connor is getting out for a little vitamin D and exercise.AND, Connor and Quinn have been getting along for the most part.  It has been so refreshing to see and enjoy them playing together.

Today Quinn had his first basketball game EVER. He has never played the GAME.

All he has ever done is dribble and shoot. This is the first game EVER. He has had three practices. And now he is figuring out how to play.

He was so cute out there. He mostly took it all in at the beginning. Then after half-time Dave gave him a few pointers.

When he went back in, he played more aggressive. Ya know, trying to get the ball and he DID get the ball once. Dave (with the camera) was so excited about him having the ball, he forgot until the last moment to snap a photo. LOL

We were all so happy and excited. What a fun game. Can't wait til next week. :o)

Then, later we decided to shoot off our rockets. Quinn got a rocket earlier in the week from Hobby Lobby. And Connor had a rocket from Christmas that he hadn't shot off yet. So we headed out to the highschool where there is lots of room for the rocket to go without landing on somebody's roof.

Here is Quinn's rocket all set up.

Now, he is getting ready to shoot it off.

There it goes. The rocket is on the right with the parachute. And the six little white spots are the fireproofing.

Now, Dave is getting Connor's rocket ready to fire off.

Connor is really into this.

Quinn and Sloane ran to get the rocket for Connor.

Quinn is coming back with his rocket.

Sloane didn't have a rocket. So the boys let her fire off their rockets one time. Each rocket came with two engines. So each boy shot off their rockets once and let Sloane fire it once. What nice brothers!

I snapped the camera right when I heard the sound and this is what I got. The rocket was so fast, all you see is smoke.

Here is the stand after all the rockets had been shot off.

Now we are into this rocket thing. We have to get more engines this week so we can do it again on the weekend when Dave is home.

Today we went to an unschoolers game day at a friend's house in Chandler. The older kids had a choice of playing the ps3, the Wii or computer games.

The little kids played with play-dough, jumped on the trampoline with and without water, threw the ball to the dog, played on the play structure, played board games. We were there all afternoon. All the kids had a great time! I think we will try to make it again next week.

Today we went to the Buckeye community pool. Connor loves the water slide and the high diving board. So he arranged for a couple of the neighborhood kids to join us there.

Here is Connor jumping off the high board.

Here is Quinn jumping off of the low board.

Here is Sloane jumping off of the low board as well. She loved jumping. She jumped over and over again.

Here is one of our homeschool friends, Matt jumping.

And his sister, Amelia jumping. Everyone thought the diving boards were great!

I saw this meal on one of my Unschooling yahoo groups and had the opportunity to try it out on the kids tonight.  I thought it looked really fun AND yummy!  Can you see what is going on with the spaghetti?  The noodles go THROUGH the hotdogs!  It is THE coolest thing EVER!  And the kids thought so too.  Finally, all three ate a meal that I cooked.  AMAZING!

Today we went to Panda Express after running a couple errands.  The boys actually sat together and laughed and bonded.  It was so nice and refreshing to see them be buds.  Sloane was just being her own cute self.  :o)

New Year's motorcycles

Quinn got a new quad last night.  So we went out today to try it out.  Sloane is now riding Quinn's old quad.  And Connor has grown out of his motorcycle, as well.  We are still in the process of finding him a bike that is within our budget.  Oh yea, and Connor has also grown out of his boots and helmet.  This is NOT a cheap sport!

Connor wanted to try out Quinn's quad.  But, after the ride, he says he's still a motorcycle guy.  He doesn't want to switch.
Sloane is our little speed demon.  She goes FULL OUT the entire time she is on that thing.
And she loves it!!

The kids' Christmas projects for the secret santa's

This year we decided to draw names for Shan's family.  So, below you will see projects in progress for the people the kids drew names for.  They are each very excited and working hard for the person they drew.