Home and off again!

My kids came home!  

M- still looking a little tired after a week of being in charge of 27 kids and dealing with theft, fights, and knife issues!  There is reason to worry about the state of the world when 11 year olds have these issues at scout camp.  Other than the issues, he won the FitBit weekly contest with 117,000 steps, lost a little weight (bad food), got a little sunburned and bug-bitten, earned all of his merit badges, gained a few nicknames (Hawkeye for Archery, American Sniper for Rifle shooting, and Note Boy for taking so many notes in First Aid), and learned a lot!  He also got the Golden Arrow for the best archery score in the entire camp:)

E- had more than a blast at her Summer Workshop.  I can't even really describe how fantastic this experience is.... definitely check out her blog as you'll get a better idea of what goes on at a writing workshop.  The creativity of these teens that come to Kansas for a week from all over the country (and some other countries) is amazing.  They sing, dance, dress up (cosplay), learn, write, laugh, cry and share their talents.  Mr. and Mrs. S (founders of the OYAN program and the workshop) are amazing.  The concept of the One Year Adventure Novel, the Forum, the webinars, the summer workshop... I can't praise it enough.  If you homeschool you gotta check it out.  If you don't and you want an excellent writing program you gotta check it out.  If you are an adult who wants to write a novel - check it out!  

M- and friends 

E- and friend for 20's night!  They had swing dancing!

And today, my boys left for Philmont!  If all goes as planned they will hike a little over 100 miles in 12 days.  It's monsoon season here and sadly a scout was killed in a freak flash flood accident a couple days ago (at Philmont).  Prayers and good thoughts are appreciated as they embark on their adventure.  E- and I will be picking them up at the end of the trek and that will be another adventure in and of itself as we are staying in a haunted hotel!  Wish me luck!

Philmont Bound!

When the Kids are Away... the Parents Will Play!

I met Michael in Santa Fe yesterday afternoon and we walked Canyon Road.  I'd never been there before - SO cool!  For those that don't know it is road filled with art galleries and a few pricey restaurants (like $90/plate stuff - yikes!).  Most of the galleries were about to close, so we just walked the road and checked the outside sculpture gardens.  Definitely want to go back and spend a day going in the galleries.

Such great photo opportunities - I couldn't resist!

Loved these gardens - so many twirly things and plants... so peaceful.

This one cracked me up!  Rock, Paper, Scissors -  haha.

This one just reminded me of E- and how she takes on life:)  Such joy!

This one's a little crazy - but kind of cool

This is how we'd like to be sitting around in NM this week - 106 degrees is a killer:)!

One of the galleries had a garden of paper crane sculptures - so beautiful

Michael liked Canyon Road too!

And what is a day in Santa Fe without a margarita or two?

Cheers my friends!

It's a busy summer!

I think I told you about a busy May in the last post... well, June has been just as nuts so hold on as I catch you up.

E- organized a raft trip on the Rio Grande (Taos Box) for the Venture Crew.  That's most of the new crew above and if you look close you'll find me too!  Yep - I braved the 17 mile trip with class 2,3,and 4 rapids, thunderstorms, heavy wind and rain and cold!  Super fun - I was just a "little" nervous, but in the end so glad I got to go:)  

June Court of Honor was eventful with  Michael getting beaded for Wood Badge, officially becoming the new Scoutmaster for our BSA Troop, E- earning her next Venture award (Discovery), and M- earning 4 merit badges and rank advancement to Life Scout (next step is Eagle!).

Wood Badge Beading

Yay for the Life Scout!

Someone's happy:)

Michael's getting pretty good with the microphone.

I'm just including this picture as the setting for this event is so cool - a local park.  Seriously, look at the mountain - doesn't even look real.  And yep, that's E- and M- up there front and center.

In between camps the kids were both home for a week of TKD and Hapkido classes.  E- got to flip her brother a few times.  No fun was had obviously!

Then it was off to Denver for E- to attend L.E.A.D. and her Steubenville of the Rockies conference.  This is her small group.  She came back super energized, excited and happy:)

While E- was in Denver, I baked up a deep dish cookie sundae... Oh My!  It is not a good thing to have this recipe.  

We celebrated Father's Day at the Corrales Farmers Market with maybe the best breakfast burritos in town....

And then drove Matthew to start his next camp (a week at Gorham).  He is the SPL (Senior Patrol Leader) so basically leading all the boys from his troop (about 30 of them) as well as working on merit badges in Life Saving, First Aid, Rifle Shooting, Pioneering, and Archery.

He looks so grown up!

Later that night, we picked up E- from her Denver trip and stayed up later than I like (midnight) doing laundry and re-packing for her next camp the following morning!

E- the traveler!  Leaving for OYAN (One Year Adventure Novel) Summer Writing Workshop in Kansas!  She's been in the airport more in one week than I've been in a couple years!  

So there's June.  Both kiddos come home on the same day which leaves Michael and I an entire week of couple time before he and M- head off to hike in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains at Philmont for 12 days.  

Here's to summer!

The Slacker Blogger Returns!

Well, Hello There!  It's been awhile - over a month I just realized.  May was crazy with far too many things.... Here's the list to catch you up:  (it just covers the weekend activities!)

1.  M- hiked 20 miles for the scout Hike-A-Thon.  Many thanks to all that sponsored him to help with future scout trips:)

2.  Husband became certified in Wilderness First Aid which should be handy for the upcoming Philmont trip.

3.  E- took the AP European History Exam

4.  M- camped and helped with the Order of the Arrow Conclave and was inducted into the Brotherhood (another step up from where he was).  He cooked all weekend at camp:)

5.  We had fun celebrating E's friend's graduation.  

6.  Ellie got confirmed!

7.  Michael was "Master of Ceremonies" for the Federal Executive Board awards banquet.  

8.  The kids and I took a class to renew our CPR/First Aid certifications.

9.  We spent Memorial Day places over 1000 flags on the graves of Veterans at a cemetery in Albuquerque.  

10.  The kids had a few sleepovers and end of year parties - eating waaay too much junk at all of them!

And sometime during the month, our yard turned all green, the lily pads popped back up, the weeds proliferated, frogs and lizards came out of hiding and we have baby birds.  

The roadrunner likes to catch the lizards and flaunt them at our back door - drives the dogs nuts!

Babies!  Super cute and loud!

I have the week to myself as all left for the first of many camps on Saturday.  I shall try my best to relax for some of the time...  So hard as my "to do list" is long!  At least I can scratch off "write a blog post":)

Off to Leadership Camp!