Water Park

Friday I took Monica on a special girls' day out, which involved swimming at Henry Moses Aquatics Center in Renton, lunch at McDonalds, and a visit to the kids' area in the newly renovated Southcenter Mall. It was a little pre-kindergaren treat for her. The pool was definitely the highlight!

Today we've just returned home from a family sleepover at the Carters'. Unfortunately our poor Huskies started off the season with a major loss to the hated Ducks and as a result the four of us downed more than our share of martinis. But thanks to good friends and good guacamole, we still had a great time despite the loss.

The Big Return

What can I say... today was absolutely crazy. The day started off with 'galeforce winds' and a wake-up call from a lady from one of camp's neighboring properties yelling that her boat had been beached. And that was just the start of it all. But we are home now, more or less in once piece. We had the Martins and Erica over for thai food tonight and it's good to get back with the old crowd. Although I'm already having camp withdrawals...

Final blog from Cp

We are in our final week of the summer and tomorrow I had into town for three days of meetings at Kennedy. I'll be back up Friday night and then we move home on Sunday. The last part of the summer really flew by, much more so than the beginning. And while I love the start of school year, meeting my classes, seeing all our friends at home, watching Husky football etc., of course I'm sad to be leaving camp. We've had an incredible summer up here. I love that Monica and Jack get to spend 2+ months learning to swim in salt water and getting dirty in the woods, and I think the summer's shown us that they love it too. Everyone has been asking us if we'll be back next summer... and while Anton and I have only had a few brief conversations about it, at this point we're planning on coming back unless the rest of life somehow dictates otherwise. Yesterday I was browing through some of the old staff annuals (yearbooks) and came across the one from year 2000 (ironically I was Head Commissioner that year too!) and read the "personal statement" I had written. Among other things, I said something like "if I have the choice between camp and any other way to spend a summer, I will always chose camp." Looking back eight years later, I'm floored that my statement has held true. The only summers I've missed since '96 were the ones where I took classes at Seattle U. And I'm fortunate that Anton loves camp (almost :) ) as much as I do, so I'm sure this summer won't be our last!

T.G.I.O.

Thank Goodness For Oxi-Clean!!!

More Martin Fun

We've had fun having Tim and Kyle with us all week. Tim volunteered as a commissioner and Kyle hung out with Mo and Jack. Here a photos from a few highlights, namely: nature trail hike and swimming at central beach yesterday.

Spencer Creek is SO cool!

"You mean I can throw rocks here too?"

Tim and Anton carrying the older kids up an old logging road.

Soaking our feet.

"I'm not scared of jelly fish anymore!"

Jack's Birthday... Part 2

The second part of Jack's birthay was celebrating with the staff. In fine Camp Parsons tradition, we sang both versions of "happy birthday" including a run around the dining hall. Definitely a birthday to remember!

Jack's Birthday... Part 1

After lunch yesterday Jack opened his gifts, with a LOT of help from Monica and Kyle.

This one looks interesting...

Big sister gets a present too!

Oh Boy! Fiber One! (Luckily the box contained something else.)

The Little People airplane was a fave.

A Look Back...

Here's a look back at what we were doing one year ago...

Hoo-Rah for Mount Olympus! 7965!

Our Only Child

If you're wondering how Jack has survived for the week without Monica, I think his smile says it all! He has had plenty of friends around to keep him company.

Storms last week

Last week we had some significant wind storms. It was quite a sight to see. The photo here doesn't capture the sound of the howling wind and crashing waves very well, but you can use your imagination.

The kids and I spent some cozy time inside the cabin during the storms. They enjoyed a video under a blanket with Cinder, while I delved into my next read over a plate of leftover thai food from this weekend.

The other interesting event last week was a small earthquake: 3.8 off of Port Townsend. I was sitting quietly watching one of my many versions of Jane Eyre when I felt the couch jolt. It felt like Ken had rammed the backhoe into Queets. Realizing what was happening, I started panicking at the possibility that it had been a preamble to the "big one" that could hit any second, and how would I get both kids to safety by myself while Anton is over at Dose? Luckily, nothing else happened, except for the following exchange over the camp walkie-talkies:

Anne: Did anyone else feel a small shake, like an earthquake.

Patrick: I think I might have felt something.

McNellis: No, we didn't feel anything... (followed by several comments about me being crazy and imagining things.)

I enjoyed a "told you so" moment with Mike the next morning when we heard on the news that yes, there was indeed a small quake!

Weather Weirdness

The weather this week has been crazy. Sunday started off sunny, then got some significcant rain. Monday was hot and sunny and the kids spent the afternoon swimming. Then yesterday we had a huge windstorm with massive whitecaps on the water. Today is overcast, but the sun is supposed to be out increasingly over the next few days. I could have used a little more rain... at least enough to lift the fire ban so that the entire camp isn't having their campfires on the beach in front of our cabin every night.
This week is going well. I'm really busy with a full load of troops to commission. Next week should be a little more chill. And Monica will be at daycamp with Kyle all week in Renton.
Now off to work a little more. Got Bon Jovi in the background... oooohhhh, we're halfway there!!!

Whidbey Whirlwind

We had a fun overnight at Whidbey last night. After playing on the beach and having dinner, we watched the Seafair torchlight parade on TV. Made me feel inspired to get out there and attend more community events as a family. Perhaps a good new year's resolution for 2009? Anyway, we had a great visit. Here are a few pictures:

Aunt Liz in the kyak

Great Nana C and Lolo

Comfy Cousins

Clean Cousins!

Oddities

Who's that listing staff assignments with Adam?

Camp directors in training

This one even I can't explain.

Loves

OK, I have to be gushy for one moment. Yesterday marked 11 years since Anton and I first started going out. Normally I don't think about it, but since we are here at camp (where it all started!) it crossed my mind.
Maybe we should have a smooch on the pier for old times sake.
(OK McNellis, you can stop puking now.)

A visit from the "BFF"

This past weekend, Monica's "BBF" (as we fondly call her) Eva, and her family came for a visit. The excitement was overwhelming, at least for those under the age of 6. Scott and Kristine also visited, although they were really just using us as a base camp to climb Mt. Townsend Sunday. Aside from visitors, Anton and I had duty crew (cooking, garbage run, and fire duty) which made for quite a busy weekend. Next Saturday we are headed to Whidbey for a little more R&R.

Sweet Victory!

Yesterday morning after the troops left we had a staff Hullabaloo race (this is the relay race that the troops do on Friday afternoons, so we had a staff version). The race is made up of running, canoeing, and swimming. The teams were made up by area, so it was office/camp management, beach crew, Scoutcraft crew, eco/craftlodge crew, and one final team made up of staff from the clmbing tower/medical staff/trading post crew. You might think that beach crew would have done well, or perhaps some of the teams with "younger" guys, but no, office/camp management RULES! The minute I heard that Ken and Mike (our camp director and assistant camp director) were our canoers, I knew we were going to kick butt. Others on our team doubted them, but I knew that when you've seen as many races as they have, they would know how to win (I've also seen Ken uproot a live tree with his bare hands, so I figured canoeing would be a piece of cake). Here's our victorious team photo. For a blow-by-blow, read the description on Mike's blog:
Go to www.campparsons.com, then click on ACD Blog.
Really, it was a blast.

End of Week 3

Well another week has come to an end and here it is Saturday morning where I'm up at 5:30, in the camp office by 6. I really shouldn't blog on Saturday mornings, it kind of taints my perception of the experience, especially since outside of the things I need to get done, no one rarely comes into the office needing anything until after 7.
Whoops, OK, a scoutmaster just came in with a question, so I guess my feeble presence is worth something.
Believe it or not (you may want to sit down to hear this) I have actually cut back on my mountain dew consumption this summer. By the spring I was up to 3 cans a day including one for breakfast and I finally decided that was a bit much, even for me. So now I am down to one can a day, usually in the afternoon. The only exception being Saturdays since I have to get up at such an ungodly hour and there's no way I'm drinking the sludge coffee in the SMG lounge. So yes, it is 6AM, and I am Doing the Dew, but I am generally moving in the right direction in this area. I've also been running a lot, which has been fun, although no matter how cool the weather gets it always seems to be 10 degrees hotter on Bee Mill Road. The other day I was baking so bad halfway through my run that I actually leaned over the barbed wire fence of the Yelvick's pasture to try to steal some of the spray off the sprinkler. Unfortunately I barely got any and the cows appeared to be laughing at me. But I was more worried that the ghost of Old Lady Yelvick was going to jump out of the shadows with a shotgun and blast me into the next county. The price one pays for exercise! On the hottest days I go the other way up the trail behind the dining hall and then down Pulali Point Road, which is mostly shaded.... or I just forget the running and jump in the water and then sit on my deck to stay cool.
It was a pretty lax week for me since I had 4 volunteer commissioners in camp, but this week coming up will be a little more intense. I had time Thursday to go on the "Mike McNellis Camp Parsons History Tour" (the real one, not the black tour) where I learned quite a lot I didn't know about camp's past and the history of the Puget Sound / Hood Canal region. If you ever wonder why I don't travel, that's one major reason: why spend time seeing a place I don't care about for a short time, when I can spend my whole life learning more about the region I love and call home? OK, I digress.
Several people have asked how Anton and I are getting our jobs done up here with such active kiddos, so here's a little sampling of our daily schedule:
8AM Anton goes to the dining hall for breakfast, I usually feed the kids breakfast in the cabin so we don't have to deal with 3(!) dining hall meals for Jack
9AM I come over the camp office while Anton is on kid-duty
10:30 or after the scoutmaster's meeting, we switch and Anton goes to work
12:30 lunch
Afternoon- depends a lot on the day, usually one of us does some work for a while, but it's also a good time to do family stuff like go for a swim or a hike
6PM dinner
Evening-- try to get the kids to bed at a reasonable hour, unless it's a campfire night. Then we either hang out at the cabin or one of us goes socializing.
We've been lucky to have some combination of our parents here off and on, which is great and means the kids are entertained while we go off and do whatever.
Well, off to do my work this morning and then to enjoy 24 hours of peace and quiet in camp (except for my own children, of course). Anton and I have duty crew this weekend but should still have time for some R&R.