Saturday, November 28, 2009

Camp Pine Valley

A few weeks ago Sophie's Brownie troop went Mother/Daughter camping. "Camping" would be a loose term, as we bunked in a cabin, complete with a kitchen and indoor plumbing. But for eight 7-8 year olds and their mothers, it was perfect.




The weather could not have been nicer, sunny and about 65 during the day, and in the 40's at night. We arrived Friday night, and on Saturday morning we went on a "Color Hike" where the girls were paired off and given a color. They had to find items on the hike that were their color.


The foliage was at it's peak, and it was so nice to be outside. For me, it was a pleasure to spend the time with Sophie, to see her interact with her troop and the leaders. Just a joy to have the one on one time with her.

Here they are examining some mushrooms they had found. One was very tiny, the named him Fred and carried him around in half of a nut shell they they also found. But Fred was lost when the girl carrying him took off running. There was much trauma over Fred's fate, and a search party was even convened, with no success. Sophie still talks about him 3 weeks later.




The girls had their own bunk room. There were enough bunks for the mothers to sleep in there as well, but we decided a better idea was to pull our mattresses out to the common room and sleep in front of the indoor fireplace. ( My 6 foot frame would never have fit on those bunks!) This worked out well; we were able to stay up and chat after the girls had gone to bed. This troop is from 3 different elementary schools, so it was a nice chance for me to get to know the other mothers.

Here we are relaxing after our hike and lunch. All the moms had brought books and cell phones to keep up with the kids left at home. (Can you ever truly get away?) We decided to start the outdoor campfire early, so we could do smore's right after dinner. This also gave us an excuse to have to watch said fire vigillantly. During this time the girls played games and explored, it was very relaxing.



Sophie decided to make up a new Try It: Beginning texting for Brownies. Note the sit upons on the bench, I made the exact same kind when I was a Brownie, although they had crib bumper padding in theirs, ours were filled with folded newspaper.

Another one of their Try It activites was on Fire Safety. They learned about this by making an edible fire ring. As you can imagine, that was a big hit.



And of course, no camping trip is complete without s'mores. Just as yummy now as when I made them as a Brownie 30 plus years ago!


Wednesday, November 04, 2009

Birthday Central

Not to be outdone by big sister, Michael and Emily had some birthday fun of their own. Who knew that 4 years could go by so quickly, and so slowly, all at the same time??

They brought cupcakes to school for the big day, and making them was the best part as I let them lick the batter beaters. Something I was always careful to never let Sophie do...raw eggs, you know. What the heck, I licked MANY a beater in my day, and look how well I turned out.



No kid party this year, but we did have a family party which was a lot of fun. My sister Peg and nephew Brendan were in town, so that made it more special.

My curly haired girl. She is so independent, and really blossoming both socially and "academically"....if there is such a thing for a 4 year old. She can already write her name, and her favorite things to do at school are the writing center, and to play with the other girls. I am always hearing about who her latest friend is. Very into the friend thing these days.


And here's The Mayor. That is what Michael's teacher has nicknamed him, and it is SUCH an apt description of my little guy. He wants to meet everyone, wants to kiss every baby he passes, and wants to tell you all about himself. I will never be able to teach this child "stranger danger" and that's ok, I would rather he see the world with his characteristic optimism that everyone is as excited to see him as he is to see them. He will get that message down the road a bit, for now I enjoy his innocence and enthusiasm for new people and situations.


Cake baked by Grandma Maier and decorated by Grandpa Maier; it was as good as it looks.




The singing of the birthday song, with three seperate areas on the cake for each of their candles.


After the party was over, I stayed up to make these with Emily's new Lego set. I figure this redeems me from all the "towers" and "diving boards" I made when I was a kid.....