Final Bonfire of the teen #1 crew.....

Tired....just a few pics of tonight before bed....

 

First Full day of Teen #1!!

She was a hot one today folks!!!  I drove boats after lunch for an hour....nice to get back behind the wheel of a place i feel at home.....on the water.  Isaac came along and rode in the very front.....nice that he is big enough to come along and be with me......i love him very much...he is great company.

Between activity #2 and free time, we all met out at my dock....court, trish, ben, ryan and Kristen {and mason!}....missed Kari....but it is so nice to find these little pockets through the day to be together......

I shot this during dinner....my little roamer!  He is loving just roaming....he plugs in with childcare {he loves little Sarah right now...}, or he walks around the buildings, or he plays DS in chris's office....my little elf roamer.....

After dinner was Stratego with all the teens!!!!!  Both boys played ....here is Chris giving E. a high five for getting the ACE!!!  The highest card that can kill anyone!!! {other than the joker!!!}....seriously...how did he get the Ace???  He slapped the high five and took off back into the forest!

 Here is isaac coming out of the forest to tag these 2 girls....they ran away from him...it was pretty funny.....i guess his confidence {or poker face}, is quite threatening!!

 GLOW PARTY!!! 

Here is isaac kissing his little muscle....

 KARI!!!  My fellow boat driver and wonderful friend....we have laughed alot today along with many inappropriate grabs and comments....nothing is off the table this week.

 Paul and Ben!

 Master Mind......i love this boy.

 Our life.....you know, just a typical monday night......

Mind.Blown.

Last night i was up in the sound booth to work a video for chris while he explained the game to all the excited little campers.  While i was up there, Chris introduced the "Zaps"....well, all the Zaps jump up and run out of the room..so the kids know to stay away from them in the night game.  Not to be outdone but a little slower to react, Elliot jumps up too, donned with glow sticks stuck onto his arms, and starts punching the air as he runs out of the room after the other big zaps....you know, as in "You betta watch out for ME!!!!"

Pretty sure Elliot wasn't what scared her, but after we played the video for the kids, explaining the background of the game with all the character plots, a little girl in the front row named Azriel {i know!  remember Gargamels cat??!!}, she started crying....hard enough for chris to notice as he is explaining the game.  And this is what i love about my husband....he puts the microphone down to his side, and bends down to the ground where she is sitting and starts to whisper in her ear....for a good 45 seconds....long enough for a few of us to notice.  He tells me later that she looked at him and says 'i am so scared'.....so he tells her 'this is all pretend...its all a game....you don't have to be scared....' ...she nodds and he stands up and finishes the instructions and all the kids fire out into the forest to start the game.

Azriel was given a job to help at a station enstead of playing.....and that, my friends, is what imadene is all about....discovering strengths and weaknesses of the people who surround you and plugging them in where they feel they have purpose. 

I am so proud of Chris....the mindfulness of the big picture of what we are trying to do here continues to amaze me despite all the crazy program details he keeps in line!  He really does blow my mind.....

Speaking of Mind.Blown:  the mine that he built for Legend Quest was a huge hit last night!  He had lanterns all the way through the mine as the kids stood in line to take a cart ride down the crazy slide.....the miners in the helmets and head lamps helped to make it all real.....awesome!!

End of the 6th birthday.....

It's 11:22pm....and i have a very awake little 6 year old beside me.

We are cuddled in bed after a very long and adventuresome night!  You see, we played chris's night game "Legend Quest part II"......Elliot started out as a 'Zap' {bad guys who wear glow sticks and tag the campers who are trying to save the world....}....Elliot is a fantastic bad guy....but tonight he fell a little early in the game....so when chris brought him to me on the quad, we ripped off his glow sticks and started playing the game like the campers.....

I saw Isaac one time tonight, he checked in and ran into the darkness to continue his own adventure.

Now we are home...and Elliots last request was hot chocolate....done....and i have just looked down as i type this and he has fallen asleep...it is now 11:26pm.  Our last night, just he and I.....awesome.

What a day for a 6 year old......

Elliot turns 6!!!!

The day started out with Elliot jumping into our room, he has been COUNTING down his days til his birthday!!

He was told to sit in the leather chair in the livingroom and wait for the knock on the door......daddy was on the other side with his NEW BIKE!!!

{First thing he says is "where's the helmet?" sheesh}

 And then it was off to breakfast to get his next gift from his brother who was sitting with his cabin!  Here is he heading over......they are all expecting him!!  Breakfast time = 100 people singing happy birthday to him!!!

 Here he is at lunch time with his very own ice cream cake....and again 100 people singing happy birthday to him!!!

 Yesturday was a big water day.....here is my love in action!!!

 Tonight, the big 6 year old Elliot sat on my lap as we watched "the Show" with all the other campers....this is where campers/staff/anyone can sign up to perform for the camp!  Isaac signed up to play for everyone.....i got it all on video including the warm intro he got from Jon, the explosive applause at the end.....arg--so proud!!  Picture 100 people behind him here with lights and flashing cameras and he was stoic {i also don't think he has changed out of this outfit all week.....}

When i left the show, Isaac was off running to his cabin to get dressed warmer for the night game which is happening right after chapel...and elliot, big birthday boy, i left in his dirty UV suit and runners and huge helmet, riding his new bike around all the concrete around the buildings....he seems happy just going in circles......so here i am blogging quickly to get back down for the night game!!  Dr. Livewire is about to turn evil and all the campers have to figure out how to get him back to the good side!!!

Elliot has had a great day....and mommy has had to say Yes to all his requests today "because its his birthday..." he has taken that very seriously this year......Walking down to camp at dinner, elliot got new bubbles from Jinny.....he got sick of carrying them, looks up at me and says "can you carry these?" i roll my eyes and sigh and am about to say 'YOU carry them....' and he whispers "Its MY birthday......'  I take them and continue walking in silence as he skips ahead unhindered.......

Hello Sunny Days!!!

Day 2...and very full!

Chris and i came to watch him climb the really hard wall and touch the bell!!!

This was a very big deal!!  Many can't do this wall....so he was pretty proud {as were we!!}

He did it twice this aft because we missed the first time!

 He came to visit me at the beach.....i wasn't going to mention anything to him, but if he asked to come home for a visit, or just for free time, i would have said YES!!!!!   But he didn't....and he sauntered off with his ring pop to the dinner line-up....sigh!!  {who has a ring pop before dinner!?!

I hope his cabin leaders are taking care of him well!!}

 Just me and Elliot....hanging at the beach while dinner started......he was happy, i was happy....

 Chris, on the other hand.....dropped blue dye into the 'hydrogen tanks' that the kids had to fill...it leaked a little on his fingers, and he mindlessly licked his fingers!! Hahah...oh man, i laughed..you should have seen this mad genius's teeth!!!!

 Legend Quest Part I--big hit!! Here is Isaac at one of the stations....some kids would run to the 'store' with 10$'s....50$'s....not isaac....he would stockpile $1000 and then come running....little boy after his mamma's heart!!

 Oh Mack!!!

 Isaac working the Acme Liquid Hydrogen conversion machine !  This kids all worked very hard to make money to buy ALL those pieces you see in this "kit".....

 The master mind behind it all....

 Here is Elliot....the master Bandit!!  He was having no mercy on the kids....tagging them, stealing their money and hydrogen machine pieces.....at one point, isaac runs up to chris and whispers "if i am tagged by elliot, does it have to count?"  Chris said no...carry on....hahha.....these kids work so hard and then get tagged out by the 5 year old.....

The game was a hit......day 2 done!

New Day.....

My good friend Jeffy took this picture this morning....sunrise....and i loved that it was taken by someone i care for very much, that i stole it!  The last few days have been an interesting turn of many emotions that had me quite 'bobble-headish' last night.  The different interactions that we all have with the variety of people who are in our lives will shape our character as we are all still growing up into the people we are supposed to be.  I laughed alot yesturday....we have some great staff here this week.... {Adam, the music leader from this week and an old school friend of chris's bantered back and forth together over how we both are so worried about our kids being campers this week.....we agreed that kids just break your heart.....and with that common ground we laughed alot about it all}.  The moment i knew i was going to like him was when we were introduced, i asked him if he was going to sing "pharoh pharoh" with the kids this week {a song that has killed my enjoyement for juniors chapel....arg!}....he said not too much...and that morning at adult chapel before the campers got there, he grabs his guitar and looks at me out in the crowd and says 'i thought we may start with Pharoh! Pharoh!'.......

But my point that i am thinking on this morning is that we have alot of opportunity to interact and be a significant part of peoples day.  I talked with alot of campers yesturday....even 2 of my little campers from last year came back....even MACK!!!  She was (ahem, we can't say favorite), she was an amazing part of my summer last year--and she came back!  And we hug and high five when we see eachother....here she is. 

But my family is exactly where we are supposed to be right now and i feel grounded in that.  My sister and i read this blog that we love, and this morning was amazing....punctual....timely....whatever you want to call it.  But i especially loved this part:

“We come to expect God to accept our understanding of what his will ought to be and to help us fulfill that, instead of learning to see and accept his will in the real situations in which he places us daily. …The plain and simple truth is that his will is that he actually wills to send us each day, in the way of circumstances, places, people and problems. The trick is to learn to see that- not just in theory, or not just occasionally in a flash of insight granted by God’s grace, but every day. Each of us has no need to wonder about what God’s will must be for us; his will for us is clearly revealed in every situation of every day….The temptation is to overlook these things as God’s will. The temptation is to look beyond these things, precisely because they are so constant, so petty, so humdrum and routine, and to seek to discover instead some other and nobler “will of God” in the abstract that better fits our notion of what his will should be.[It is] the temptation faced by everyone who suddenly discovers that life is not what he expected it to be. The answer lies in understanding that it is these things- and these things alone, here and now, at this moment- that truly constitutes the will of God. The challenge lies in learning to accept this truth and act upon it, every moment of every day.”
I do not want to be preachy, at all, but I do want you to know that you are PRECISELY where God wants you to be at this moment. NONE of your moments are in vain. All are for his purpose. ”For just as surely as man begins to trust his abilities, so surely has he taken the first step on the road to ultimate failure. And the greatest grace God can give such a man is to send him a trial he cannot bear with his own powers–and thus sustain him with his grace so he may endure to the end and be saved.”

How amazing that we all are exactly where we are to be?  This is the day........

First FULL day of Camp!!

Things I want to remember about this day:
Elliot and i rolled out of bed and headed right down for breakfast....i was asked 'hey, are you cabin leading??'  {pretty much based on how ragged i looked!  Nice.}

Chris and i took time this afternoon to spend some quality time with Elliot.  We took him to cold stones for ice cream and then to walmart because he wanted new toothpaste since isaac took theirs to camp!

When we got home, chris went back to work and elliot and I walked to Owens house to pick him up and bring him to camp for the afternoon.  They seem to play well...elliot seems to like him....BUT, owen has quite the dirty mouth on him and i ended up taking him home right after dinner because he kept grabbing some of the campers inappropriatly....sucky part of the day for sure. 

But isaac found us before dinner and wanted us to watch him climb the wall....he did great!  He told us what he ordered at tuck....he just feels so big!  You can tell he is happy......

But after dinner, elliot played with the rest of the campers for "Bob the Builder"....he would run and grab tags but if someone grabbed his, he would yell "i'm not playing!!"....hmm....AND when isaac would get HIS tag taken, he would get so  upset, at one point, chris saw him on the ground.  Hmmmm....he said isaacs reactions really reminded him of me and how i would play games at qwanoes....yup...i would get MAD!!!  sigh...kids show you yourself.

Chapel after the game....i noticed isaac didn't have his coat, when i asked him where it was, he said he left it on Scoop!  {haha, the tractor from camp Bob the Builder! }

Isaac sang all the songs, went up to front when a volunteer was needed, paid attention, was engaged...i loved it!!  All this time, i was sure he would be the kid who would just sit there and stare.....nope.....right in there!!

After chapel was the GLOW PARTY!!!!

i wish i got pictures, but i didn't.....too much fun! All these kids ran into the dining hall to black lights, everything glowing!!!  Isaac and i went to the program office and tried to find him something that would glow since he was wearing all black!  We found pink duct tape that i taped onto his shirt, and a couple strips along his cheeks like a warrior!!  It rocked under the black lights!!!  One corner had popcorn, the other hot chocolate, the other ice cream sundaes, and the other had the limbo!!

Elliot was busy running in circles around all the kids throwing shredded white paper around, making it all glow!!  He danced, ate, glowed with his new Imadene shirt...he was very easy to spot with his shirt and bob the builder game head ribbon still on!!  He is currently passed out beside me here in bed.....he did well...i am so proud of these boys...we are having so much fun at camp right now!! 

After the glow party...i kissed and hugged isaac goodnight before he pattered off with his friends....i got razzed by a couple of the dads who are on staff who have kids as campers who told me secretly later that they pretend to tell their kids something quietly in their ear and just sneak in little kisses....we all miss our kids....even though we are all right there!!

SO far so good.......And its only the first FULL DAY OF CAMP!!!!

Walmart Photos!!

I take alot of pictures of my kids.....but i don't normally take them for 'sittings'.  I was never a huge fan, but Amanda started me on a bit of a tradition as she does with her kids, and has a pic taken every year at walmart of the 2 boys.  But the one thing i never really liked about these 'staged sittings'...is that it doesn't really 'capture' where the kids are at, at that time!!  Well, these pictures i chose, because they CAPTURE THEM!!!

They are crazy, fun, always looking for the laugh, always looking for eachother.....they are in a great stage!

  This was spontaneous.....and i love it! 

 Remind you of anyone??!!

 Elliots new Imadene shirt!!!  Asked for it the minute he woke up!!

Spontaneous Victoria Holiday!!!

Susan booked the worldmark resort a year ago, all excited about spending another Canada Day in Canada!!  She and her girlfriends stayed from tuesday til friday, but were supposed to stay on until tuesday!  But Mike wasn't feeling well, so they cut their trip short and headed home.......leaving a perfectly lovely unit empty for the weekend!! 

We weren't planning on going anywhere, but not to pass up a chance to spend some time at a worldmark--i packed up the kids along with friend and her kids and we were off!!

First stop was the Shaw Discovery Centre in Sidney.....

 Touch pool......

 Oldest friends......

 the sun was in our eyes.....

 Getting ready to go swimming!!!

 Friday night Chris surprised us by coming to Victoria....we spent the evening down on the harbor watching Talula strut her stuff.  At the beginning of her show, she was wearing a tight, nasty red Canada tracksuit with Canada printed across the bum.....at one point, she bends over to a stranger and says "hey, you want to touch Canada?"....and now by boys think its the funniest joke to bend over and ask if we all want to touch canada.....he really wanted to do the joke to max when he gets home, and that opened the conversation to appropriate timing....like, since max wasn't at the show, he would probably just think its creepy if isaac asked him to touch canada....so, always the thinker, says, "what if i put tape on my bum that said Canada?"  Ummm.....again....still creepy honey.

 Chris said for the first time in weeks, there were a few hours here that he didn't think about camp....being surrounded by his family, laughing on a beautiful evening, was just what he needed.  He had a good sleep once we got back to the hotel and he was up and gone by 5:45am......back to work!

 I love the Victoria worldmark...here is the view from the bedroom.....

 Saturday morning, the Smiths left and we headed down to fishermans wharf to feed the sealions!  Definate highlight of the day according to both boys!

 That afternoon we had planned on coming back to the wharf so isaac to try his first raw oyster!  After 3pm, it was a buck a shuck!  So.....when Grandma and Grandpa came down to visit us for a few hours in the afternoon, we brought them down for a walk to show them the sealions.....

 The before picture.....i didn't take an after....took video enstead...but he slid it in, chewed it around a little...and swallowed.  When asked if he would do that again?  He said nope.

 Both boys got shark teeth to make into necklaces.....we will need to

wrangle kelly or rachel to help us make them at some point this summer!!

Victoria is lovely to visit, and its lovely to go home.  We had alot of fun swimming, eating fish tacos, oysters, watching movies, walking....it was a nice mini holiday!  Thanks Susan and Mike!

Dear Isaac.....you are now a camper.

Dear sweetheart.....i have been awake since 4am.  I am feeling sad.  I have been trying so hard to stay strong and happy for you and the experiences you are about to embark on.  But the feeling of loss is quite strong upon me in these early morning hours.  You are growing up my beautiful boy.  I am so proud of you and already miss you so much.  To think that for the first time ever in your life and mine, you won't be sleeping under our roof for 5 whole days!  I can hardly swallow that number....i really can't....even as i type i am tearing up and sad.  But perhaps you will realize the magnitude of what i have been realizing, and you will come back sooner?  I really don't know how you will react to this whole sleepaway camp experience....i remember waking up at camp in the middle of the night when i was younger, and feeling alone, and scared and i don't want that for you.  I always want you to feel safe.  But my mushy feelings aside, i am so happy for you...you are going to be amazing.....you will have a fantastic week...your brother and I will watch you from a distance....and i will think of you constantly....and pray consistently that you are with boys who are kind and fun and not mean.  Please make good choices, stay safe, don't roll out of the top bunk, try to eat a vegetable a day and don't buy too much tuck.  I love you so much and was hoping it wouldn't feel this hard....but it does....i miss you already...but have so much fun my dear.