Mason, Nathan, Kenzie, Josh, Nick, Lane & Cheyenne...all enrolled in the A-B summer camp here at the "Secret Place" in Sycamore.

Lane and Nick lost a couple of plastic balls in the blackberry bushes the other day. Cindy told them to "fetch," and they ended up breaking an ants maze of paths throughout the entire fenced area. Nick came over again today and they offered tours. They told Mason that he had to get dressed with gloves, long sleeves and a hat. He looks ridiculous, but complied.

Kenzie has moved on from the cartwheel to the handstand. It still gives her a bit of a challenge, but she's eager to practice!

Cindy asked Cheyenne and Lane to make a list of the top things that they want to do this summer. Lane's top picks included: swimming, camping, bowling, go to the park, go to the beach, go to the art store. Cheyenne had a few more, including: go to concert (free Issaquah concert at the community center), and go to an instrument store to look at musical instruments. Innocently, I asked Kenzie what hers were. She said, "go to Disneyland, get a swimming pool, go paragliding, have a play date with all of my friends, and go to Hawaii. Again. Oh, and don't forget camping."

Well, we're working through Lane and Cheyenne's list. We went to Kelli and Jeff's on Saturday to go swimming in their pool. Lane stayed and had a sleepover with Nick. Then today after church we all met at Rattlesnake Lake with a plethora of their kayaks and other small boats, then went back to their house for another round of swimming and a barbecue.

While at the lake Mason and I decided to go for a ride in an inflatable kayak. I figured I would do most all of the paddling. When we got out there he wanted to paddle, so I handed it over. He did a surprisingly good job and went for a really long time. We floated all around, went in a few circles, saw a couple of fish jump. I took this picture when he was sitting in front of me, just working hard at taking us on a tour. It was so cute having my little dude take me around the lake!!

Cindy, Casey and Sandy took their collective clan of 9 kids to Alki for a very low tide. Weather was a bit blustery, but it didn't stop them from going in the water. Or, finding yet another critter.

Mason just came in. He said, "Mom, sorry for the bad news, but Daisy Froghopper has gone missing." One down, four to go...

Earlier in the day Lane, Kenzie and I went for a bike ride into Issaquah. We stopped along the way and got our friend Jim who lives in a nursing home on the way. He has a battery-operated wheelchair, so we thought he would like to go for a ride with us. He went as fast as he could, but those of us on bikes had to go rather slow. Lane understood that, but Ms. MacSensitive said, who is now a bike-riding expert because she took the training wheels off a week ago said, "geez, mom, why can't Jim go just a little bit faster?"

I can't even keep track of which kids will be here on which day anymore. We're just calling it Camp Bolam, and the doors are open. Today with Nick and Emilie the kids went to The Secret Place again, played basketball, and tried out the new pitching machine. (Did somebody say "new pitching machine?" Oh yes...loads of fun to come with that.)

And Kenzie got to pal around with her best bud Emilie.

One of the tadpoles, Daisy, has almost turned into a frog. She can jump, but still has a tail. We're keeping her a bit longer, then will release her in our wetlands to be with her friends that she hasn't yet met.

In our neighborhood is a place that the kids call "The Secret Place." It's a park on the creek, fairly well hidden. The clan of kids, that now includes Josh a few days a week, rode their bikes/scooted/ran over there today.

Kenzie went out on a log, spotted a frog, and grabbed it. Yeesh, that kid loves the critters. I love the look on the frog's face...he looks like he's saying, "you gotta be kiddin' me."

We also have an aquarium set up. We have five tadpoles, courtesy of our friend Corrin. Kenzie tends to them every day. And by tending, I do mean both feeding and petting.

Carol was brave enough to take the munchkins this weekend from Saturday morning through Sunday evening. They hit the zoo on Saturday afternoon. We heard lots of reports of critters and fun.

I asked Mason to tell me about it. He said, "oh, it was really fun. You heard that I bit sister? And I saw a real tiger. It walked. And it was so cute because it was rolling around in the grass. I saw a ball in the water. And I saw two real monkeys and a porcupine in the same cage. He reached out because he wanted some food. The man was holding food but he didn't see him reaching out for some, but then he reached in to give him some food and he just eats it. And when he eats it he smacks. I heard it. And I saw him smacking."

Okay, so back to the biting. I called Carol's cell just after the "incident." Mason bit his sister so hard that the back of her arm is quite black. Carol didn't see her provoke him, at least this time. She talks circles around him and lately his only good defense is a good offense. Other than that, they had a fabulous weekend in Gig Harbor!



Mason made a movie:

Kenzie made this birthday card for Cindy's birthday. It says, "Dear Ama, I will ALWAYS love you. I know Miss B has been a good teacher, but you are better! Thank you being my Mother! Love Kenzaroonie." That's about the cutest thing I've ever seen.

Yesterday was Kenzie's last day of school for the summer! This is her teacher, Miss B. She was so fabulous for Kenzie. She had a strong emphasis on learning within a structure that really worked for Kenzie. We saw Kenzie grow a lot this year, both academically and personally.

Here she is with her "boys" (plus friend Morgan)...Cameron, Carter and Jasper. These are her buds. Carter is moving to Chicago in a couple of weeks. Jasper is her bike riding buddy.

Cameron is someone we hear a lot about. He's a bit older than the other kids and she really likes hanging out with him.

Kenzie's first gymnastics semester is over. They had their skills demonstration and awards tonight. The video is longer than average...but if you think 3-1/2 minutes, just remember that the rest of us got to sit through the entire hour presentation. She did great...except perhaps the final dismount!

For the rest of Kenzie's birthday celebration, we had a full girl's day. She and Emilie went to get their nails done, followed by lunch, then hair, then the movie Up. To top it off they went to the landing pad and watched several of us paraglide...and then got to pet a one-wing, tame barred owl. Em is over here tonight for a slumber party (emphasis on the second word more than the first).

In celebration of an upcoming new century for me, four of my friends and I went paragliding off of Tiger Mountain, just by our house. Other than one crash (Lauren's first take-off landed in the sticker bushes down the hill), and a couple of bumpy landings, it was fabulous! What a way to greet my forties! The kids waited anxiously at the bottom with Cindy.

I came home tonight from work and all four kids were out riding bikes. Mason and Kenzie both had their training wheels on. I noticed that Mason's were raised and he was well balanced, only hitting the training wheels on the turns. As I was heading to the gym, I told Mason, "take those training wheels off!" He said, "okay," but I didn't think anything would happen. I told Kenzie that it looked like she was ready, but she almost broke into tears. "I can't do it. I can't ride without my training wheels." I reminded her about the cartwheel lesson, where she kept telling me she couldn't but then just put her mind to it and figured it out. She didn't seem convinced.

After I left, according to Cindy, Kenzie didn't even want to ride a bike. She and Bob took the training wheels off of Mason's bike because he begged Grandpa. Cindy told him that they would only take them off if he would practice in the grass. He said, "okay." So they took the wheels off, put him on the grass, and he had trouble taking off and fell. Cindy was going to put the seat down for Mason, but, not to be outdone by her little brother, Kenzie said, "can I try?" Cindy talked to her about how to get started, putting the pedal in the right position, and told her to try it standing up because the seat wasn't in the right spot. She went from the grass to the street and just kept on going. She never wobbled, just took off. She was an instant expert.

Mason then hollered, "hey, that's my bike!" because he wanted a turn. So Kenzie came back while Cindy got her bike ready. He jumped on with it on the pavement and took off too!

So, when I came home from the gym there were four kids riding without training wheels! They look like experts, going both on grass and pavement. Mason's dismount and breaking systems leave a bit to be desired, but that's tomorrow's lessons. He falls, brushes himself off, and gets back on. Kenzie is riding her bike to school with Jasper (and his mom) tomorrow!

Cindy is almost done with school for the year, which means the kids (all four of them) are about to start summer session. I've heard rumors, now I see the proof in the form of miscellaneous books around the house.

We have gotten the flood water permit back from Olympia and it is approved! We are waiting for the building permit, which could come as early as this Friday. I should know better than to be optimisitic by this point. After we get that permit, it's about 7 weeks until Bob and June can move into their new home next to ours. It's pretty cozy around here now with 8 people living under one roof, but somehow we're making it work pretty well!

I sneezed the other day and Kenzie said, "Bless you. Mom, did you know that your brain just cooled off?"

Um, no, what?

She told me that a sneeze is a body's way of cooling off the brain. It didn't sound quite right, but unable to consult Wikipedia, I asked her to cite her source. "Did your teacher tell you that?" I asked. "No," she said, "I read it in one of my non-fiction books." Then she proceeded to give the definition of a non-fiction book.

I decided to look it up tonight. Sneezing is, in fact, is a way to cleanse the naval cavity, NOT to cool the brain. Ha! Little Miss Smarter-than-her-Mother isn't always right. I was about to rush out to enlighten her back, when I did one more search. I learned that a yawn (not a sneeze) saves your brain from overheating. Well, I still get to correct her!

Read it yourself: http://www.infoniac.com/science/yawning-saves-your-brain-from-overheating.html

We went on a Campfire weekend at Camp Sealth. Although it's been in the 80s this week, the weather turned a bit chilly on Saturday. The ferry ride over was still exciting, especially since Cheyenne and Lane are with us now! They got in on the 2nd and are staying with us for the summer. Cindy asked them to make a list of things they wanted to do. Lucky for us, camping made the Top 10 (as we had already made these plans)!

We knew a couple of the families, but there was a flock of about five second-grade girls we'd never met. In a quick bout of girl-drama, Kenzie went into one of the cabins that had about 8 beds, the girls (who all knew each other) came running in and (presumably) one of them told her to get out of their cabin. Kenzie's feelings were hurt. When the camp-wide dance competition was announced with one of the (heretofore "mean") second-graders leading choreography, Kenzie rebuked my suggestion that she join. She looked me square in the eye and said, "NO!! Mom. I'm NOT doing it."

The four kids that we brought hung out, a little bit on the peripheral as they surveyed everything. Mason, of course, quickly adjusted and figured out that he had an unusually long leash. The camp was amazing with 1-1/2 miles of waterfront and lots to do. Everyone settled in quickly. We walked to the beach, found the aquatic tide pools and then the canoes. With only four passengers per boat, Cheyenne and I opted out so that Cindy, Lane, Kenzie and Mason could float around for a while. It was a definite highlight.

The tide pools were cool too. Lots of creatures that are slimy and touchable, Kenzie's favorite.

And, while on the beach I happened to run into the mother of the second-grade dance leader. (Please don't accuse me of meddling, it was in Kenzie's best interest.) The mom quickly offered to have her daughter ask Kenzie to be in the dance competition. Perhaps I suggested that if there was an urgent need for a perfect cartwheel it might help. Five minutes later, Kenzie, with a big smile on her face asked, "Mom, can I please be in the dance competition???" I resisted the urge to hammer home the point and just said "yes." Quickly she had five new best friends. They turned on the music and started rehearsal. Soon Kenzie was invited into their cabin to "sleep" for the night. Luckily Cindy and I had staked claim to cots in another room!

The theme of the dance was "80s-retro" so they donned the skinny belts and bangles, and practiced their routine to "We Got the Beat." (Sorry, no video...talk to Cindy about finding the battery charger for the camera.) Kenzie did her now-famous cartwheel and they won (based on audience volume...hmmm). They were so proud.

It was very cute. It's possible that we're biased because we thought the rest of the dances were lame. :)

Here they are in their routine:

And then winning the golden award:

Mason was just happy because there was good food and lots of sugar all weekend long. That, plus a couple of rough-and-tumble boys, some games with balls, a big field, and open water...what more could he want? We only had one Amber-Mason Alert. Cindy and I set off in different directions, eventually combing the beach from different angles. We scoured the grasses, the cabins, even sent Lane on a hike. After at least 15 minutes of my pulse racing, he came sauntering out of the bathroom.

Ed took the kids swimming...or, shall we say, flying?