My July...So Far

I spent the first week of July at Pine Springs Camp in southwestern Pennsylvania helping to watch my two grandchildren, ages 4 & 2, while my daughter & son-in-law directed a special middle school youth camp. It was called "Mission Ex", and the kids did mission projects in Johnstown, PA during the day and returned to camp around dinner time. My daughter also brought another young lady, Laura, to help watch Superman and Ladybug. As it turned out, we spent every morning after breakfast at Chrysallis, the craft cabin. We (Laura, Ladybug, Superman and myself) all did a LOT of coloring and painting, but we also did some other fun things. Ladybug & I collected some pinecones, so one morning she made a caterpillar with her pinecones and pompoms. Another morning we painted rocks we had picked up at the playground. Superman wanted to make a picture frame, and in fact made two - one with pompoms and the other with puzzle pieces. One morning Superman announced that he wanted to make a musical instrument. So, he and Ladybug made shoebox drums that day. I think their favorite project was probably the beaded necklaces they made the last day. I was surprised that they both sat and strung the beads for as long as they did. From my standpoint that craft was a huge success! We would walk back to our cabin with our treasures just in time for Lisa to pick us up for lunch. The afternoons were usually swim time and the kids both looked forward to that. I'm convinced that Ladybug has grown fins! When it came time to leave, the kids wanted to stay - what else is new? - The ride home was punctuated with comments Ladybug and Superman were saying to each other. My personal favorites?
Ladybug: You're a Bossyhead!
Superman: You're a Chicken Nugget!
and
Superman: We are inappropiate
Ladybug: Yes, we are!

Our church has VBS every year and this year it was Power Lab. The Friday before VBS I was talking with the Children's Pastor who said that a few people had kind of bailed, so they were short Crew Leaders (an adult who shepherds a crew of kids from place to place). Of course I volunteered to help, and I'm glad I did. The kids in my crew were awesome, and we all had a good time. I did miss the closing on Friday, because Holly & I left for the Sisters & Daughters Retreat that day.

So, we left here on Friday morning and went to Washington, PA to pick up my other daughter, then we headed for Sugarcreek, OH, in the heart of Amish country, for a long weekend with hubby's sisters and their daughters. We laughed, we cried, we ate, we shopped.... It was a fantastic weekend, and it was over too soon.