Birthdays With A "S"

I just celebrated the best Birthday weekend that I can remember in a long time.  Not only did Jack come home from camp {and let me just say his voice coming through the door saying, "mommy" was the sweetest sound I've ever heard} but Grammy, Uncle Matt, and Whit made a visit too.  And as if it couldn't get any better, my lovely Grandma was here.  Sigh...you must know how much I adore her.  And if you don't, well, you don't know me.

From back in the days of being a little girl I remember celebrating my birthday with my Grandma.  Our birthdays are only a day apart and this lady LOVES a birthday. Needless to say, it was always made into a big deal with two fabulous days of celebration.  Honestly, there is no one else I would rather share the occasion with.

As life became busy {also known as three kids later} Grandma and I haven't been able to celebrate together as often.  I was absolutely beside myself when she promised to make the long trip down to eat cake with me.  Birthdays are the best.

This gorgeous lady was celebrating 79!  

We had a house full and we were all loving it.  I had kids bunking on trundles, guest rooms filled and the sound of pure excitement running through every nook and cranny of my house.

Everywhere you turned there was some sort of excitement.  Bubbles from Grammy {who never shows up without a gift}...

Skateboarding cousins...

Cooking with GG...

And soap on the trampoline which has become ritualistic with each of Whit's visits...

We celebrated Grandma's {GG to the kids} birthday with a wonderful outdoor grilled dinner.  I was ecstatic to get to use my new patio furniture {which has been a long time coming}.  Nothing like breaking it in with a house full!

Since it was nearly impossible to put 79 candles on the cake {almost as impossible as believing this amazing lady is actually 79}, Jack had the great idea to do 7 on one side and 9 on the other.  I knew I was glad that kid came home from camp for some reason.

The following night we celebrated my birthday.  Let's just say I'm 30 something.  We went out to dinner as a family and opened more gifts.  One of which is that new dress I'm wearing from my Grandma.  79 years old and still has fabulous taste.

I truly felt beyond blessed to have this amazing family to celebrate with.  Love the one I was born with, adore the one I married in to, and can't ever get enough of the one we made.

One of the Happiest Birthdays {with a "S"} ever!

Ranch Hands

What is summer without at least one trip to the farm?  Somewhere in between missing Jack {LIKE CRAZY!} the girls and I made a visit to the ranch.  We grabbed a few friends and were on our way.

Although this was not the original farm on our summer calendar, we made a last minute alteration to our itinerary when our first choice was closed. {Ugh...the best laid plans}  I'm pretty sure the girls didn't even notice.  They were just so excited to have a few ranch hands to join them.

The most amazing thing about this ranch is that the animals are hungry and we get to fill their bellies.  It makes up for the stinch and the filth...I think.  

I mean seriously, how often do you get to hand feed carrots to a deer?

Or throw peanuts to four hungry black bears?

Or give a goat a graham cracker?

This little crew had great fun.  I assume this a day that Jack won't be too upset about missing considering it was a group full of girls.  Look at all that pink!

We ended our visit with bunny petting and lunch by the playground.  We made sure not to touch the bunnies ears per Lucy's insistent rule.  I'm not quite sure where that came from...but, she must know something that we don't.

She also took on the important duty of naming this bunny.  Wait for it...Snowflake.  Certainly fitting.

Okay, so now I'm off to stalk Jack's camp website in search for pictures of him.  I don't think I can stand another day of him being gone.  And luckily, I don't have to.  He will be home tomorrow!

I never imagined it would be this hard.  I may change my mind on this, but as of right now, my kids are NEVER allowed to move out...

Five Night Sleep Over

This may go down as one of the biggest days in my history as a mother.  I dropped my eldest off for Sleep Away Camp.

And although I am confident in the decision...and realize it's only five nights...and know that he is going to be just fine...and grow immensely from this experience...and blah blah blah, I can't help but miss him like crazy already.

Like the minute we pulled out of the gates.

But, before then, this is basically how it went down...

We arrived to the all boy's camp, way up in the woods, on a mountain, late Sunday morning.  The first day was Family Day and I am forever grateful for that.  We got checked in in a series of the most organized registration I have ever witnessed.  {and you know how organization makes my heart flutter}

The staff was incredible.  Beyond welcoming and I felt they had a true interest in getting to know Jack.  Once given our cabin number and tribe name we headed up to get this big boy settled in.

Jack immediately grabbed a top bunk which to my dismay was a bear to put sheets on.  His best buddy from school grabbed the bottom.  It seems they had this all planned out.

We I unpacked Jack's bag.  And I showed him where everything was about 82 times.  He had had just about enough of me somewhere around the 60th time.  Before I knew it the kids were in their swimsuits and were off to see all the camp had to offer.

But...not before I made Jack and his buddy take a few pictures for nostalgia's sake.

We spent the rest of the afternoon hanging on the lake and eating lunch.  Lucy loved the "river".  Maggie wasn't so sure hence the dry hair.

The boys made sure to give the zip line {which ran right into the lake} and the ginormous slide a try.  They were having a grand time.

Before we knew it, it was time to say goodbye.  I returned Jack to his cabin, showed him where his things were one more time {just in case} and gave him a bazillion hugs.  After each hug I think he was just a little more ready for us to head out...enough already!

Honesty, he could hardly contain his excitement.  He was beyond thrilled about what was in store.  It was time to let him go.

So it's only been one full day that I haven't seen him {but it seems much longer}.  I can hardly stand the curiosity of what he is doing and if he's enjoying himself.  I've already written him twice.  I check the website for updated pictures at least three times a day.  And yes, I miss him like crazy!

I keep telling myself...you can do this...only 4 more days.  And the great news is when I wake up, it will be only three.

Until then I will keep thinking of him every minute of every day.

A Drop Off Weekend

We spent our weekend up in the mountains.  Originally it was for no other reason than to drop Jack off at SLEEP AWAY camp!  What?!?!  I actually have a kid old enough and who actually wants to be dropped off at camp...and sleep there?

The answer is yes, it seems I do.

This decision was not made without a fight from this Mama Bear.  In the end the boys won out and I can say I am happy they did.  I can only imagine the amazing experience we are offering up to this growing boy of ours.  Sometimes it's just a wee bit hard to let go {apparently only on my end as we would soon find out}.

Okay, so I did get a little say in the dropping off process.  I wanted to make a weekend of it...with the entire family.  I was going to give Jack about all the family love he could stand before he traipsed off into the independent world of sleep away camp.  

We did our best to find family friendly activities up in woods and still be a doable drive from camp.  Our first stop was a local Nature Center.  And although we have one of these back home, the animals were a whole other crew.  

We are talking cougars, bobcats, coyotes, black bears, deer, and wolves.  Which, might I note, Lucy has a new sudden fear of wolves.  I'm still trying to get to the source of this one, but about a week before our trip Lu started in on concerns of wolves being in her bedroom.  Totally bizarre.

I assured her there was no such possibility, Jack assured her "wolves were nice" and then winked at me, and Maggie assured her "Mommy wolves wouldn't let their babies come to our house".   In the end she was calmed when I confirmed, "yes Lucy I will chase them away with a stick" and "yes, Lucy they will listen to me because I'm a Mommy and everyone listens to mommies".

When I saw wolves on our nature center map, I held my breath.  Happily, I believe Lucy has conquered her fear and I have the proof...

Luckily there were no other fears to contend with along our visit.  I was personally most fascinated with the bears.  This is Jack and I trying our best to get a picture with one of them.

And although the nature center had its excitement nothing made my kid's days more than swimming at the pool mountain side.  Is this gorgeous or what?

Give this crew a pool and they are happy campers.  Should have known all along that we didn't even need to leave the hotel.

We topped our drop off weekend with a visit to town.  And while my girls were fascinated with "The Pink Store", the boys were hardly interested a bit.  In fact they sat outside and moaned about "girls and shopping".

The one thing we all could find interest in were the plethora of street musicians.  Lucy being in the most awe.  I could hardly get her away.  She was a tipping fool and just about ready to get foot loose.

The next morning we rose bright and early and headed off to camp.  It was time to drop Jack off.  I'll bet you'll never guess which one of us had the hardest time.  Stay tuned...