First Pull of the Summer

Mike took us out for our first ski of the summer. It was a bit choppier than it looked from the pier, but still great fun. I had one good wipe out on a rough spot: came out of the skis, flipped in the air, and rolled on the water... totally awesome.

Staff Week

Here's a few random shots of the sights and actions around camp during staff week. Our first full week of scouts begins Sunday.

These three are my attempts at a panorama beach view from our cabin:

Our neighbors, the bald eagles, who live in the trees above our cabin.

Dining hall from Mystery beach:

The pier from Constane point:
Swim beach from Constance point: Staff Ceremony:
Playin' on the beach:

Baby Ella!

Monica and I snuck away from camp long enough to make a quick visit to meet Baby Ella (and Amy and Mike too). She was born Tuesday morning and measured in at 19 inches and 7 lbs 5 oz, I think. Totally adorable!

Smores

We found a warm enough evening this week to roast marshmallows at our outdoor fireplace (the old fireplace from Hamma Hamma). Dad was teasing us about being dressed for the arctic blast, even though it wasn't really THAT cold. Monica downed 2 smores and was ready and willing for a third. She also insisted that to make it a real campfire we had to sing songs, so we sang a couple. :)
People have been asking for photos of our digs up here at camp.... I don't have many photos yet but in this first picture you can see our cabin (Queets) behind the fireplace and Mystery Beach beyond that.

Happy 90th Birthday, Cp!

Lunch with Scott, Kristine, and Andrew

Can you find Grandpa Mike?

Ahhhh, the 90s... what happens in the 90s stays in the 90s.

And now, onto 2008...

The Drive

Quick update

Just a quick note to say everything is great up here at camp. It is SO good to be back! The kids have settled in well and are wearing themselves out daily. Anton and I are busy with our jobs, but once the first week of scouts comes along next week I think we will settle into a good routine. It seems like an excellent staff this year, very enthusiastic. Our cabin is perfect... even the shower scrubbed up nicely in the end and you can't beat a porch right on the beach with the salt breeze and bald eagles flying overhead. I can already feel 10 months of smog exhaling from my lungs. Will write more soon...

Staff Reunion

We had a blast at the Cp staff reunion tonight... as you can tell by the late hour I'm writing.

Ding! Me & John hamming it up.

Olympus reunion! Look: we're all in one piece!

Ken and Mike talking about something. yada yada yada

Peek a boo Jim and Cari!

Yay, Mom and Dad were there too!

The old guard, and the new... current camp director Ken and previous camp director Bob. Ah, the Bob years at camp: those were the good times...

Finishing Touches

We are pretty much packed up now, which is really quite something considering Jack keeps unpacking my boxes or moving my piles. It really will be a miracle if we arrive in Brinnon Saturday with both kids, the cat, and everything we need. But so far so good, alhthough I keep throwing more and more stuff in the piles to take up there. Will it all fit in our cabin? I am pretty much taking every piece of clothing the kids own, as one of my main goals for the summer is to do as little laundry as possible. It's been kind of fun to unearth our old scout stuff and gear. In searching for my old tevas (to take to Goodwill, since I now have new ones) I found a belt that I lost in about 2002. I also found several of my favorite t-shrits "hidden" (I say kidnapped) amongst Anton's t-shrits. Thief!
Tomorrow during the day I'll just be doing last minute double checking that we are ready to go, since in the evening we will be at the staff reunion dinner in honor of camp's 90th anniversary. I'm not sure how I feel about wearing heels the night before scout camp starts, but I'm sure I'll survive.

Monica: "Don't forget the Polly Pockets!"

Jack: "Don't forget me!"

Even with so much to do, there's always time to be silly!

"Hmmm... a pile of swimsuits just waiting to be scattered around the house!"

"Mommy already packed these sunscreen bottles, but they're so much fun to take out of the box and arrange in a line on the coffee table." "C'mon Mom, enough of this packing, let's PLAY!"

A Day with Baby Kate

I was lucky to spend today with Baby Kate. And despite her mother's claim that she cries a lot, she and I got along quite well snuggling on the couch while Jill got a few things done.

We love B&T's

Yes, that's B&T's, not G&T's... although we like those too.

It's really a tough duty, you know: going shopping at the outlet mall, playing in the sprinkler and on the beach w/ the kids, eating a feast of a BBQ. A tough job, but someone's gotta do it!!! :)

A Couchful

Now that Tim is traveling for work we've had the Martin kids over more often. Bedtime is especially cute.

Wait, I thought I only had to watch 4 kids!