Up and at 'em

I have to write this up, because, as most of you know: I don't like to over-book. I like to have lots of interesting things to do and think about, but I don't like every hour of every day to be accounted for. However, last week turned out to be the exciting exception.

Last week went like this:

8-12:30 ScienceWorks Mammal Camp (daily)
*I taught 4-6 year-olds key character traits of mammals with lots of charades, stories, and activities. Dane and Aubrey came along daily as my helpers/students.
*Two of those days, nieces and nephews (Jude and Barrit, Indi) came and gave awesome demonstrations about guinea pigs and rabbits!
*Hence, two of those days, I rewarded them with yummies at Yogurt Hut for a half hour before dropping Aubrey off at...

1 - 4 Gym N Swim at the Y (daily)
*Aubs Gymmed and Swimmed her heart out
*During this time, I planned the next day's class, cleaned the house, made dinner, and walked the dog.
*Two of those days, Aubs followed her already long day with...

4:15-5:30 Hot Shots Gymnastics Class (Tues, Thurs)
*A certain someone can now do kick-overs (back walk-overs)! And lots of 'em. In a row.

5:30 - 11
*On Monday, a pool party with my writing group
*On Tuesday, a Styx concert for Mick and me at Britt Fest / another pool party for the kids with Jennie (until 11pm -- thanks, Jennie!)
*On Wednesday, Big Bad Voo Doo Daddy at Britt Fest with the kids, including lots of swing dancing on the hillside
*On Friday, a party at my friend Davis's 250 acre home in the woods -- with trampoline and band!

So, that was just Monday thru Friday.

Friday night, my cousin's wife Peggy and her two boys, Nic (12) and Zac (9), showed up at midnight to spend the weekend at our house to see Oregon Shakespeare Festival plays (four total!). While Peggy saw "Ruined" at 2 on Saturday (not necessarily kid-appropriate), I took all the kids swimming at the Daniel Meyer pool. Before that, though, we had lunch here -- and our friends Matthew and Bethany Nielson from Dental School stopped by on their way south with their two kids!

Sunday, while Peggy and the boys were seeing Hamlet, we were invited to a BBQ/Pool party with new friends here in Ashland. (Amazing water slide at this one. Sheesh!)

If you've read this carefully, you might notice that the real trooper here is Aubrey -- for at least two of those days, she was up and at 'em from 7am to 11pm, with a lot of activity already in her day.

This week, we're gearing up to have my parents come to town (tonight) for a long weekend. I hope to take them to Lake of the Woods to float around in the hot sun with us, and we're scheduled to do the Hellgate Jet Boat Brunch Tour, to get our stomachs satiated and our bodies soaked!

In the meantime, on Monday Dane and I took eight hours and completely emptied out (and then re-filled) his and Aubrey's room (Aubrey was at her new pal Mia's all day) and I got out this:


And their room went from two tall lofts head-to-head (you can kind of see here how both lofts were tall enough to walk under, if you're under age 9):


To one tall loft and a shorter loft tucked underneath the tall one.

[woops, can't find the camera; will post photo here when I find it]

So cool, we can hardly handle it.

I can't believe it took me 39 years to discover the joy of using a Sawzall.

Sunshine and Science

Liauids, Solids, and Other Messy Materials is going well at ScienceWorks this week. Dane and Aubrey are attending camp with 18 other 7-10 year-olds, doing projects like "Frankenstein's Hand," "Turning Milk Into Stone," and "Watercolor Holding the Brush in Your Mouth," and having loads of messy fun.

They're having a blast, but that didn't stop Dane from skipping Wednesday's class to go with my friend Jennie and her kids for a swim. (You can do that when your mom's the instructor and camp is free!) Dane swam his heart out and caught frogs from a pond with Dominic and Rees. Jennie says there was some serious boy joy there.

The day before, Dane and Aubrey had gone home from camp with their friends Ruby and Chad for a couple hours of swimming. And tonight, Aubrey's pal Sienna is spending the night: so far the girls and Dane have made fortresses for stuffed animals and cross dressed.

Who could ask for anything more from summer?

Box R Ranch Trip as told by Dane

So, on the first day, I was at the YMCA for the beginning. We packed up all our stuff and we took a long time for us to go there, and then we were driving there. And in the middle of the drive the girls bus stalled - it's true - and they had to wait there for an hour.

So, we took all our stuff into the tipi and we set up everything. Everybody had their own spot for their clothes and sleeping bag. I was with Keller, William, Ben, Isaiah, Jorge, Carson, and Mason. My camp counselor was named Tucker. I didn't know any of them - except I met Keller at a birthday party once - before I went to camp.

We went to sleep in our tipis and then we woke up for Polar Bear Swim. It was warm, but the water slide was cold and we weren't allowed to do the zip line. This was at 6:30 in the morning. And then we started rotations.

One of the rotations was going swimming again; another was art; and the last was sports. The next day we did archery. And I was not that good. So, there was hay and a target. And in the target there was a yellow, black, green, and a red and yellow. Yellow was the bullseye. I got the worst ever. Wanna know why? I got two in the hay and one in the white. But it's still my favorite thing.

On Wednesday we did a campfire. We roasted s'mores and they were yummy. It was a very cold night so it was nice doing that. That night, it was actually kind of raining.

Every night there was skits. There was a really good skit. This wasn't my group - and it was cows with guns. And my group did the midget exercise once -- we were midgets and we did exercises and stuff. We weren't in midget mode but we put shoes on our knees. It was a funny play. One of the counselors said, "So far, that's the best play."

Then there was the broncin' barrell. It's an awesome barrell ride of sorts. You'll have to see when we go. It's freaky -- I know how to work it, though.

When I was going there, I thought it would be a giant box with an R on it and it would have a bunch of ranch dressing in it. It's true. But it was really a giant ranch.

Every morning, I just put on clothes. I didn't care if they were clean or dirty. *

I want to go back next year!

By Dane Reynolds



*Note: Mom here. This is true. His duffle bag had many clean clothes in it when he returned. I think Dane wore the same clothes 3 days in a row -- underwear included.

ScienceWorks hires Miss Anjie

I sent the local hands-on museum two course proposals for their 4-6 year-old day campers -- and now I've got myself two weeks of summer teaching fun. Can't wait.

M is for MAMMAL Camp

The purring cat, the digging gopher, the swimming whale and the laughing hyena all have something in common with you: They’re MAMMALS! Learn how we mammals are alike – and how to recognize other mammals around us. Make edible elephant cut-outs, sculpt crazy clay zebras, and craft your own toothpick porcupines as we delve into the world of mammals together.

Sticky Slippery Messy Mix-y Texture Camp

What better way for curiosity to lead to learning than through the texture – and sometimes taste! – of a good mess? Whether testing the viscosity of cornstarch-and-water, the hardening powers of paper mâché, or the total tastiness of no-bake chocolate cookies, everybody will love observing, exploring and experiencing the world of the ooey-gooey.

Come on! You know you want to be there, too!

Snowballs in Summer?

Yes, that's possible when you're talking about the Snowball Effect. Piles and piles of potential blogs and pictures are gaining on me. I don't even know where to start now.

Just to check a little something off my list, though, I'll give a snappy update on life here:

*The kids are in Splash Camp every day for the next 2 weeks, with swim lessons and water play, M-F, 9 to 4
*I teach pre-schoolers at Splash Camp (circle time, arts & crafts) from 9 to noon
*Because I teach there, my kids attend for free -- that provides endless amounts of satisfaction and happiness
*At noon I come home and work on my application for Soapstone Writer's Retreat that's due to be postmarked August 1st
*Soapstone is a $3/day 2-week retreat -- I want to go there in '08. It's very competitive, but it looks amazing. (Check out soapstone.org.)
*At 4 I pick the kids up, and if it's anything like yesterday, they'll be wiped out. Ready to lounge around for a couple hours.

Things I know I still want to blog about:
1) The kids' trip to WA and their extended visit with grandparents/cousins
2) Our week home alone without them
3) The kids' flight home (yay!)
4) Our impressions of possible future living areas
5) The kids' other weeks at camp
6) Our fun Friday night one-on-ones with the kids
7) The kids' new art scrapbook albums

See how big that snowball's getting? I'll see what I can do...