Headlights in the Fog

Summer Update

Above is Kitty's camp photo. Isn't she awesome? She's been having a great time... even this past week when she couldn't swim due to an ear infection... said she had fun hanging out with her favorite counsleor during swim times. 

Jack finished his computer camp and says he'd like to go back next year. I think he really enjoyed hanging out with all of the other kids... boys between the ages of 8 and 18. There was a part each day when someone could give others a 'golden bead' for things the person had done. One day one of the older boys gave Jack a bead for being 'The Best Little Kid.' I guess when you are 18 you think of an 8 year old as a little kid. Jack came home the last day with a flash drive with all of his work on it. He proudly showed us his video game which was amazing... my game playing skills are lacking because I kept getting sent back to the beginning of a level for touching a sword or spider. He also showed us his flash animations and the robot he built. It's awesome what he has learned... though he also learned some 'sick' new sayings ('sick' means cool) from the older kids. 

By the time bedtime came around each camp day, Jack was exhausted. One night Jack knocked something over and started to walk away. Thom told him to pick it up. Jack sighed heavily and said, "I wish I was the kind of kid who didn't listen to his parents!!!" We assured him that it is, in fact, good to be someone who listens to his parents.

Beach, Camp and a Song.

We spent the last week of June at the Outer Banks with my extended family. It was so relaxing and so fun. We're always so excited to get there and sad to say good-bye. The week before our beach getaway, Jack and his cousin Mason went to camp at my mom and dad's retirement village. They had such a blast... not only did he get to spend the week with Meemaw and Ghia, but also with his cousin! Plus that there were awe inspiring activities... one day they went down a coal mine in small carts/cars. That was Jack's favorite. Having Jack be at camp was a big adjustment for me... My Baby! Out on his own!

Thom has been building a wall. A retaining wall in front of our house. It moves ahead slowly due to the back breaking work and sparse number of days available to work on it. Thom is doing a great job. One day Ed and Karen came over and Ed was a treasure trove of information. Below are their feet:

Summer is in full swing here: the kids are both in day camp, we go swimming at our neighborhood pool every night, we get lots of books out of the library and we stay close to our ACs in 90*+ weather. Kitty is spending the whole summer (until the second  week of August) at FCS camp... about a 15 minute drive from our house. It is her third summer there and she adores it. She is specially enamoured of a 12 yo CIT (Counselor in training) who is named Daisy. Jack's first day of computer camp is today. It's a two week camp where he will work on programs learning how to make video action game, build a robot, and design flash web animations. That last one is blowing my mind. He is the youngest camper there and is in the 8,9,10 year old group which they call the 'kilobytes.' You don't have drop off and pickup time, you have 'login' and 'logout' time. I hope Jack likes it... he had such a crappy camp experience last year... I'd really like him to go to a camp he'll enjoy.

Yesterday Thom was walking out the door to pick up some takeout for dinner. Jack said, "Don't forget to get me a taco!" Thom said over his shoulder, "We'll see." After the door closed behind him Jack said, "What he means is HE'LL SEE." A very astute observation indeed.

A couple of weeks ago Kitty opened a gallery, a 'painting shop' if you will. It took up the majority of the floor of my studio. She had run out of many core colors of paint and so she had a very limited palatte. Each painting was between 5 cents and a quarter. I think I bought about $6 worth of paintings.

My next project is redoing our side garden. My friend Angela loves gardening and is taking me on as beginner. I feel like what she does is being a 'Garden Coach.' Give information, resources, teaching as we go. I'm excited. We won't be able to plant anything until the fall. Here is the 'before' pictured and below that is my dream garden sketch. Below That is a house nearby that gives me hope and inspiration: