Camp Kulaqua

We made it! It was touch and go there with Colby but when he awoke Sabbath morning, all was well. We left about 7:15 so we could get there in time for Sabbath School and church.  We did change our arrangements a bit though.  We always stay in a mini-lodge with the Isidros and Bergherms.  Once again, we were lined up to do this (minus the Bergherms as Bruce's brother was graduating from college).  However, considering that the Isidros had recently gotten over the stomach bug themselves and we didn't want to pass on any germs (much easier to do when you're sharing a common area like the mini-lodges do), I changed our plans on Friday afternoon so that we were staying in the "hotel" instead.  The camp built three lodges a few years ago that are basically like a hotel.  The quandry has been, do we start staying in there instead of the mini-lodge?  It's a hard decision with pros and cons on both sides.  What would you do?

Hotel
Bedding and towels provided
Nice and new
Microwave
Fridge
Wifi (although we don't care about this because we have a lot of data)
Can get noisy
A lot of traffic coming by due to proximity to entrance to camp

Mini-Lodge
Almost half the cost of the hotel
The building is old
No bedding or towels provided (or soap, etc)
No microwave
No fridge
No wifi
Great location - back of camp so hardly any cars driving by
Common area for parents to sit and chat after kids go to bed

Hard choice? We obviously have already had a preference since we've never chosen to stay there.  We are now even more confident in our choice.  It was very nice not to bring bedding since we were only staying the one night.  And you do feel like you're in a hotel (it's very clean and the bed is comfortable) but you know what they say...location, location, location.  It wins every time.  I'm glad we'll be back in the mini-lodge the next time and I won't have to worry about the kids getting run over or something!

The "hotel"

The kids cracked me up though.  When we said we were staying in the hotel instead, they flipped out.  "But we love the beds in the mini-lodge SO MUCH.  They are the MOST COMFORTABLE beds ever!! We fall asleep so fast." I'm like, "Are we talking about the same thing here??" Because they're literally a thin mattress like the ones they provide at camp meeting. I told them they fall asleep so quickly because they're tired from all the bike riding but they kept insisting it was the beds.  Go figure!

They brought in a neat guest speaker who is a beekeeper.  Here he is doing Sabbath School for the kids.

Calleigh got picked to come up and don the beekeeping attire.  All I could think of when she put that thing on her head was, "Arghhhh, watch out for lice!!!"

Someone from the church took a bunch of pictures and put them on the church's FB page.  This made me smile. It must have been during prayer and Colby was completely oblivious.

The two 'C's' as I like to call them.

Duncan and the older three on a canoe ride in the afternoon.  They came upon a lady who was stuck and ran out of energy to paddle so Duncan had to "tow" her in.

We had a big potluck with friends (see first picture of the post) as we do each year for Sabbath supper.  Before the meal, Brady was mingling with a lady friend (Molley Whitaker).  It seemed to go well.

Games in the gym after sunset.

Duncan and Karis pulled the kids around on blankets which was very tiring work.

Sunday morning.  Since Colby doesn't ride a bike on his own, he got to drive the car instead.

Brady was so tired when we got home late Sunday morning that he just went up to his bed all on his own accord and went to sleep.  I guess Kulaqua was a success!

While we were gone, the dogs were at the kennel which served a dual purpose...while there, they got neutered.  I was hoping this would somehow have a magical affect on Dasher who is quite a troublemaker when it comes to trying to eat our food, chewing on stuff, etc.  How many times have I said, "Why can't you be more like you're brother???" A child would probably be in counseling by now for serious psychological damage if they were Dasher but alas, he's NOT a human no matter how many times he insists that he sit at the table and eat our food off it.  Donner is the far "easier" dog in that he is contented to just lie outside in the yard most of the time.  If there is a dog making trouble, 90% of the time it's Dasher.  Considering it's now seven days post surgery, it appears the "magic" did not happen.  Thankfully he apparently has good behavior while in the kennel because the lady who brought them out was raving about how good they were.  I said, "Well, sure they were. You probably didn't have human food sitting out on a countertop, did you?" Not to mention a mangled baby gate that tries to block them from going up the stairs.

Picking the dogs up Monday morning from the kennel.  Who was happiest?  The dogs or kids?  If you noticed that "Mom" wasn't an option, you are very astute.

This week we didn't have too much going on which was fine with me after a busy week last week.  The kids had their last night of skating for the current session on Tuesday night and the girls (and their parents) were thrilled to see that they had moved up to the next level, called "Alpha." It starts with Beginners, then Pre-Alpha, and now Alpha. Brady, however, stayed at Pre-Alpha.  There is another 4-week session starting next week until we break for summer and the boys have decided they don't want to do it anymore (I'm hoping that is only the case until August).  I asked the girls if they wanted to keep going and they both said, very emphatically, "We want to take skating forever!" I was very happy to hear that. The teachers are all really so nice and I know that adds to the girls enthusiasm.


A couple of other pictures from the week:

Making a new friend at PE.

Learning a couple of martial arts moves at PE.

On Thursday during quiet time, Aubree and Brady discovered this bird book in the book shelf and ran downstairs to tell me that "We are into birds now." So we added some bird stuff to Aubree's birthday list, got some bird seed for the feeder, and a bird watching outing is planned for tomorrow.  They've been spending time in the back yard looking for birds but they think the dogs are scaring some of them off.

While Brady and Aubree were bird watching, the two 'C's' were playing soccer.  Calleigh is so good to Colby.  The day before I heard her say, "Colby, do you want to go up and play cars?" and then the two of them went up together and just played cars.  Or in this case she said, "Colby, let's play soccer!" She has always been good with younger kids.

Just trying to get some laundry folded at midnight and had to contend with this.  Dasher, of course!

Today we went out for some homemade ice cream at a local shop called "Sweet Jessie's." The girls do math drills every day.  They have 3 minutes to try and do as many of the 98 addition problems (or subtraction, multiplication, or division depending on the day) as they can.  I told them at the beginning of the year if someone got the whole sheet of 98, we would get a special treat.  At long last, someone finally did it. Aubree! Calleigh has gotten 97 but Aubree just beat her out.  Calleigh did feel pretty bad about it for a few minutes but she still willingly ate the ice cream.

This afternoon I was working on cleaning out my closet for a Goodwill run (Corey day coming up!!!) and Brady was being very whiny about something.  I basically ignored him and a few minutes later I looked over and saw this.  Bless him.

Finally, a little Colby story to end.  Duncan took the kids out to the ball field a few days ago to work on their batting and catching/throwing.  When it was Colby's turn to bat, he lined up at the plate and put his hands on the bat.  Duncan, about to pitch the ball says, "Colby, choke up a little bit." Colby then proceeds to move the bat so it's across his throat. Not that kind of choke, Colby!! Oh my.