the kampers are back!!!

I'm so happy to have my kiddos back!!! They had a fabulous time at Kanakuk this year!!! I just love that place! I loved it as a kamper many years ago and I love it for my kids now.

Anyway.... on to the photos....

Alex insisted on riding the bus to camp this year. His reasoning was that he could make friends before he even got to kamp! Who can argue with that logic, especially when it cut like 4 hours out of trip to drop him off (not to mention the trip back home).

So, on June 1st, we dropped him off at the bus in St. Louis.....
(take note of his skin tone here pre-kamp)

He made a friend before he even got on the bus and they staked out the perfect seats together.

After that... we had about two weeks before we took Clara down to kamp. Alex was at kamp for 25 days but Clara was only going for 13. We got several postcards from Alex which seriously cracked me up. I'll have to photograph them and post them here sometime.

Well... on the 13th we drove all of the way to Branson to drop off Clara at kamp.

Sadly... this is the only photo I took....
I had my camera with me.... I just didn't use it. :-)

The drop off went really well. We had worried about her a bit. We thought she might change her mind about kamp once we got there.... but she was loving it and was ready for us to stop hanging around and leave. :-)

We had secretly hoped to run into Alex while we were dropping off Clara, but thankfully we did not. We figured that they might be on trip during that time, so we walked down toward his cabin. We could hear all of the boys in the cabin so we quickly walked away.

After that I did not get another single letter from Alex.... but Clara wrote multiple letters a day. It was so much fun to get mail from her and it was nice to know that she was having such a great time.

I stayed in Missouri at my mom and dad's house so I would be close to kamp (plus it was just too long of a drive there and back to make twice in 13 days). I had a good time hanging out with my mom and dad... just like old times :-)

Finally it was time to go and see the kids for the closing ceremonies. It was so funny.... Alex was standing out by the gate looking for us while we had to actually go and track down Clara. I hardly recognized them!!! They were both taller, blonder and tan!!!

That night we went to each child's cabin for cabin awards.

Here's Jeff and Clara...
She was just getting down from her bunk.

Here is Clara receiving her award from her counselors....
She received the Heart Award... for being "loving". :-)

As soon as she got her award we had to book it over to the boys' side of camp for Alex's cabin awards.

Here he is with his fabulous counselors...
Alex received the Mighty In Spirit Award... for Strength in Character.

After that we left kamp to have dinner so the kampers could eat and shower. When we came back they gave us a tour of the kamp.

I made them pose nicely together....
And then let them do a goofy one....
The kids get to pick a clinic that they do regularly during kamp. Clara picked gymnastics as her clinic and that night they did a little show. I didn't get a good photo though.

Once it started getting dark, we went to K-Life with the kids. Clara ditched us to sit with her cabin and Alex stuck with us. They showed a movie from their term and then it was time to go back to the hotel.

The next morning they had the kamp awards.

The boys went first.

Here is Alex receiving the "Total Release" medal for Swim Clinic (he's in the orange shirt).....
The award was given for giving 110% in his clinic.

After the boys' ceremony was over, it was time to head to the girls' side.

Here's Clara with one of her cabinmates and one of her counselors...
Clara's three beautiful counselors....
See Clara up there?
She happened to win the medal for "Total Release" for her gymnastics clinic!!! How cool is that?

They both won the same award for their clinics....
(don't they look tan?... compare this to Alex's pre-kamp photo)

They both loved every minute of kamp and have done nothing but talk about kamp non-stop! They both loved the length of their terms and want us to sign them up for next year already! I just can't say enough about Kanakuk Kamps.... they're the perfect place for our kids!

Heading to camp and girls weekend

Okay.... one last post before we head out tomorrow. Yes... tomorrow we leave to take Clara to camp... sigh. I'm not sure I'm ready for this but I'm going to do it anyway. She's so excited. Jeff will be flying back here but I will be staying in Missouri until we pick the kids up at camp.

I have so much to blog about but I just ran out of time.... I have photos of dropping Alex off at the bus, I have the postcards the boy has sent us from camp (the boy cracks me up)..... but I'm just not going to be able to get to those.

However, I will leave you with a ton of photos that I took while my friend from high school and her daughter were here for a visit.

They showed up last Thursday. We dropped off their luggage at our house and immediately headed out to Ed Debevic's for lunch...

The wait-staff (aka The Ed Debevic's Stainless Steel Dancers) dancing on the counter.

After lunch we walked to Michigan Avenue and found ourselves in the Apple Store...
Above, G and Clara play games while my friend and I shop.

We wandered on up Michigan Avenue and ended up at the American Girl Store and Water Tower Place.

After all of that shopping, we needed a little snack :-)
mmmm..... the Cheesecake Factory!!!

Since we were there at the Hancock and it was a beautiful clear day, we decided to go to the top!

Here's Navy Pier....
And our shadow....
The view to the south...
North Avenue Beach...
Lincoln Park....
Clara enjoying the view....
G and Clara cleaning the windows of the Hancock :-)
From there we went back down south to the Art Institute. We hit some of the highlights since it was getting late and walked through the new Modern Wing.

We took the new bridge from the Modern Wing to Millennium Park...
And ended up at "the bean"...
Clara and "the bean"....
G and Clara...
Me and Clara reflected in the bean....
Next we were off to the fountains....

It was way too cold to be in the water, but Clara was in the water anyway....

After that, we finally went home.

The next day Clara had violin so my friend and her daughter headed out toward Michigan Avenue alone.

We met up with them later and took a few photos by the Michigan Avenue bridge...
Above - The Wrigley Building

Saturday was a day of shopping in one of the neighborhoods instead of the touristy areas. I don't think I took any photos that day.

Sunday we did the Run for the Zoo at the Lincoln Park Zoo (although Jeff was the only who actually ran)... I have photos of that.... but they're on my point and shoot and I have no clue where that camera even is at the moment. Oh... Jeff took the girls to the beach that afternoon and those photos are on that camera too. That night we went to see the Blue Man Group. So much fun!

It was a really good visit!! And it helped keep Clara and I occupied so we didn't get too sad about missing Alex.

Okay.... I've got to run! I'll be back in a couple of weeks with more photos!!!

so far behind...

Wow... I don't even know where to begin. Since I last blogged.... Alex got a major haircut, Clara had a recital, we dropped off Alex at the bus to camp (he's gone for 25 days), Clara and I had a girl day of haircuts and pedicures and my friend from high school and her daughter came and stayed with us for 4 days! Whew!

Anyway... I start with recital photos since they're edited and ready to go.

Before we left for the recital, Clara and I went out front and took a few photos in her costumes.

Here's her costume for the "bird dance".....

And her costume for the "umbrella dance".... (imagine that she's holding a parasol in her right hand)....
Once we got to the theater, they had a brief stage rehearsal with their teacher....


Then it was showtime!

Here is the "umbrella dance", which I think was offiically called "Sunny Day"....

Next Clara was in a dance called "Happy Day", but she was on the second row for that dance and I didn't get any clear shots of her.

Here is one from the "bird dance", which I think may have been called "Kingdom of Birds" or something like that....
She had a great time performing and would have loved to have basked in the spotlight a bit longer but we had to get to St. Louis that night in order to have Alex on the bus to camp first thing the next morning. We made it without a hitch but it was a LONG day! :-)

I have a bunch more photos to post so hopefully I'll get them up before we leave to take Clara to camp!