Boys Will Be Boys

Today our family was reunited under one roof again. After a much anticipated trip to camp for the boys and a great week in the mountains with Gran and Pop for MK, we all came together again. What a wonderful feeling to hear the stories and the laughter and the songs and see the crafts they all worked on throughout the week. It has most definitely not been a dull day in our home:)

Some memories for our boys first overnight camp:

• "Uh, mom, you probably want to wash these.....I have had them on now for three days!"
• One boy went to camp with seven clean pair of undies and came home with seven clean pair of undies....
• Both boys saw the "camp bear" - yikes!
• Calvin Ball, Sock Wars, Pillow Polo, Water Slide Kickball, Four Square, Tribal Council
• The BLOB
• One boy jammed his finger playing basketball. We asked him if he was ready to come home when that happened and he said, "Home? I wasn't thinking about home, I was just thinking about how fast I could get to the infirmary!"
• One boy was telling a story of how during his "rest" time, he and his cabin mates went out to look for the bear. I asked, "Rest time? Shouldn't you have been resting? Did they not make you stay in your cabin?" His response was, "Well, our counselor liked to sleep during rest time so he didn't see us." Oh.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the mountain, MK indulged herself while in the company of my parents. I checked in one day and my mom said, "Well, she had a Coke tonight before bed - that is what she asked for." She also got her favorite Pop Tarts. And cereal. And she painted rocks. And colored. And picked flowers. And did school work. And went shopping for none other than her favorite Barbie movie.

Needless to say, all went well and they were all exhausted.....

Gotta love a girl who enjoys helping out with the laundry!

Happy birthday to my mom! My dad, my sister + BIL, my brother + SIL and our combined nine kiddos were all together under one roof for the weekend! The scene was a rare and beautiful sight.

Little Kemp. The youngest of the nine. What a handsome blessing he is.

A day at the pool, a day of games, a day of playing in the rain be it on the playground or by the pool. No worries. These guys loved their time together.

Our two MKs! Mason-Kate and Mary-Kate.

To look at their faces, one would not guess that these guys were cheering the rain on.

Later, the sun came out and the balloon wars began. MK found her job and took it very seriously.

All too soon, our weekend ended and our family went their separate ways.

After waiting for a year, and after anticipating their camp adventure ALL summer long, the time finally arrived. The boys were so excited to be given the opportunity to spend a week away at Camp Ridgecrest for Boys. Me, well, when we dropped them off, I felt not one bit of worry whatsoever. About four hours later, the reality set in - I won't talk to them for one.whole.week. That is FOREVER in this mommy's world! My mind was put to rest when I logged onto the camp website and viewed photos from the boys' first day of camp and read the blog - from the looks of things, all is well with my guys! Can't wait to hear all about their fun!