Camping Out

aka, how to have fun while spending none.
aka, our first summer weekend.

Since this week marked the last day of kindergarten (sob, sob), we were ready for some summer fun!

Goodbye kindergarten!

What started as plans for a spontaneous weekend away squeezed between two weeks of visitors turned sharply when money was tallied and housework to-be-done was assessed.  And when we realized possible rain made real camping too risky, not to mention an insane amount of work, we opted for:

backyard camping!

Yes, the building you are seeing is our neighbor's garage.  We decided to camp out in our own backyard.  Our very teeny tiny backyard, I should add.  In a city.  Where it's illegal to have a firepit.  Yep, that's where we camped.

Our tent is what, 5 feet from the back of our house?

We cooked dinner, smores, and breakfast on our outdoor grill.  We don't even own an outdoor table that seats more than two, but look what can be done with a little creativity and logs we've yet to take care of.  And if you look closely, you will see that while Daddy was setting up the tent, Nolan decided to paint his face and clothes with chalk.

Faux cookout

(By the way, the deep looking woods are not our backyard.  It ends right behind the boys, who are not too many feet away from the tent.)

Despite how pathetic this all sounds, the boys climbed into the tent after a very, very fun evening and declared this to be "the best!"  Who knew backyard camping held so much potential?  Plus camping with a nearby dishwasher, bathroom, and washing machine...the benefits are endless!

As an added bonus, we have a stocked pond within walking distance of our house, so we even added two trips to the pond on either end of our campout, to round out the camping experience:

N makes a catch!

Here's to more summer adventures!  My favorite season has officially arrived!

Proud Momma

There are certain moments I do not want to forget in life.  (Others, like most of my week and my miserable failings to be anything but patient, are welcome to dissipate from my memory.)

But this moment, the one I want etched in my memory and blog, is my five year old begging me to tell him again and again and again and again my short description of his soccer success.

"I am so proud of you," I tell him as we lay in bed.  I'm sure he needs to hear those words.  Just a few hours earlier I was berating him for picking on his little brother, for whining, for not listening.  His little soul is desperate for a proud mommy.

"Every time someone from the other team would be running towards the soccer goal, you would zoom ahead and stop them."  

He beams.  "Talk about that again," he requests.

I say it again.  "The team would be running towards the goal and all of a sudden - boom - there would be super speedy Chuck to stop them from scoring."  

He's radiant.  "Can you tell me about that some more."  

What else is there to tell?  But I humor him and tell him yet again:  "I saw the other team going for the goal but then before I knew it - whoa - there you would be running so fast to stop the ball!"'

He's nearly delirious with pride.  His soccer medal he has declared is going to school with him tomorrow is next to his bed and his coach's award of best defensive player is still echoing through his ears.  

Who knew one sentence could hold so much power?  His requests continues. I tire of telling him long before he tires of hearing it and I finally need to kiss his forehead and say goodnight.

I'm reminded tonight of the power of life affirming words.  They slip so easily down my throat rather than out my mouth and I rob the people around me of life giving strength.

"The power of the tongue is life and death" Proverbs 18:21.  I know better than to hope to have a completely tamed tongue.  But I whisper now a prayer to offer life, not death, to those around me.