"Its Here!!"

 Friday while Sophie was away at camp a long awaited delivery was finally made.  BUT we knew we couldn't dare open the goods while Sophie was away.  It just sat there, taunting us all.  We waited.  Saturday I picked Sophie up from camp and on the drive home told her "the package had arrived!"  

However, Saturday was not a good one for Mark at work and he didn't arrive home till after 10:00.  Of coarse the girls were in bed already. The box continued to sit. Surely Sunday would be the magic day we would all be together to open this brown box full of treasure.  Wrong, it was after 11:00 when Mark got home that night.  

But FINALLY Monday morning we were all home. together. and it was TIME!

 Several weeks ago during our vacation Mark found a special family activity for Friday evening.  We ventured to Pincu Pottery for a family pottery class.  

There we each crafted several pieces of pottery, some from the clay slabs and two bowls each on the spinning wheels.

 When we left Pincu Pottery our many pieces were still in raw form.  They would dry, be painted, then baked before they were shipped from the mountains to our home.  Finally Monday with great anticipation the unpacking began..

 Haleigh's snail is precious, "The first snail ever to be formed at Pincu Pottery turned our too adorable!" wrote Elise the potter/ teacher who led us through our evening.

 Mark's mug turned out remarkable.  He really does drink his coffee out of  it!

 Sophie's mug is one of my favorite pieces for sure!  The textures and pick of color just makes it perfect for a cup of hot chocolate.  You can't help but smile when you drink out of it!

 Elise encouraged us to really use all the pieces and remember the fun family time we had when we formed them all. 

I'm so glad she did encourage us to really use them.  It definitely makes dessert night more special when its served in our family handmade pottery!!

Camps, camps, and more camps!

Leading into summer each of our girls had picked a camp.  A camp, ONE camp each plus church camps, that was it.  Three local camps took squares on the calendar pages of summer.  Haleigh was the first to attend camp.  She had a great time at Animal Detective Camp at Roper Mountain Science Center!

Just a few weeks into summer an email popped into my inbox with an exciting camp being offered that would have been Sophie's pick above all if she had known about it when we were in our planning stages.  Artios Outpost, a camp that travels to each of the Artios locations around the nation.  Once Mark and I looked at the camp and he agreed to adding another camp to the list we told Sophie it was a go.  She counted down the days!  The morning of this camp she jumped out of bed and exclaimed, "Mom, this is the first day of my life dream!"  This would obviously be a drama camp!  BUT it was so much more than just a drama camp.  Each day they had praise and worship, devotionals, exercise, games, and drama.  At the end of the week they wrapped up camp with a sweet production.  Sophie beamed all week!

Next Sophie's violin teacher offered a strings camp in the evenings one week and really encouraged Sophie to take part.  By the end of the week this small group strings musicians performed a concert that developed quite nicely just as sweet friendships grew during the week.

Sharing a week with Sophie's evening violin camp Mackenzie attended Zoo camp.  She has tagged along many a year as Sophie and Haleigh cut their camp teeth in zoo camps, it was finally her turn!  Crazy about Kiko Zoo Camp sent the campers on a hunt for the baby giraffe who "must have left her area to visit all her friends around the zoo."  Each day the campers found a clue to point them in the direction of Kiko so they could lead her back to her mom and dad.  She had a great time even through the heat of the June afternoons.

We put the breaks on a bit as we headed to Grandma and Poppy's to just be for the week.  It was nice to just slow down!

We topped off our week with a visit to my sister's new house where we spent time with all the cousins, aunts, Grandma, and Poppy.  Uncle Mike grilled for us and broke out the slip and slides.  The only bad thing was.... it just wasn't nearly long enough that we were all together!

We came home from WV just in time to head out on vacation with Daddy!  Oh it was a sweet time full of adventures.

The week after we were home brought the camp we had actually given to those camp calendar squares before summer began.  Sophie was more than ready, after all the anticipation since February sign ups, for American Girl Felicity Camp.  There they learned some old time dances, baked over the open hearth for a grand tea party on the last day of camp, and learned to cross stitch.  The cross stitching has continued ever since.

The next week took Haleigh and me to Look Up Lodge.  It was such a sweet time!

And that brings us to this week....

Yesterday I took Sophie to Camp Big Time.  It hit me a bit hard.  You see, she is officially attending her first sixth grade event.  Yep, we have arrived at sixth grade, that would be middle school.

As I type she should be finishing up ropes course time and going into lake activity or horseback riding.  I will join her tomorrow for some great fun and teaching as we segway into this new chapter and stage.

A few more quick trips to grandparents' and reunions are still ahead on those calendar squares but they are shifting now to look more like lesson plan squares.