Camp

In mid June, on Father's Day weekend, the five of us went to a nearby Camp/Resort for a weekend, along with a few other h/schooling families.  It's an annual event for h/schoolers around here and there are usually a handful of families who attend.  We went two years ago but couldn't last year because we were just home with Seth and Lizzie.  But we were excited to go again and had a great time visiting with other h/schooling families and getting to know everyone a little better.

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Here's Matthew rock climbing.  This is only the second time the boys have gone rock climbing and they really like it.  It was a pretty rainy weekend when we were there, but the building where the rock climbing takes place has both and exterior and an interior designed for climbing - so folks just climbed inside, given the rain.

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Seth.  That little monkey made it all the way to the top, as you can see on the right where he was pulling the chain to 'prove' that he made it the whole way.  It's not surprising, given his athletic tendencies and prowess how nimbly he was able to get up there...but impressive nonetheless!

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Geoff and Matthew playing ping pong in the rec room with the Dad of one of Matt's best friends.

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A bunch of the kids liked to eat their meals together...despite varying ages, the kids all got along fabulously.  They deepened existing friendships and started new ones - they had such a good time!

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Along with the camp rental, we were allocated our own theatre room for karaoke and movies.  There was a lot of off-pitch singing to be heard!

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Matthew jumping on mounds of pillows in the theatre.

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Aren't they adorable...especially Lizzie with her wild hair.

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The camp boasts its own skateboard/BMX parks and the kids spent hours on the skateboards and bikes provided.

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My little Bean...what a spirit!  She wasn't much taller than the length of the skateboard!

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Are you familiar yet with one of Seth's looks of determination??  Nothing stops this tenacious kid from trying (and usually succeeding) at things that are physical.

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Another intense look, but this time from the older brother!

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Matthew spent hours in a kayak - he loved it and was surprisingly great at it!

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Seth in a kayak was the funniest part of the weekend.  Geoff and I chuckled that at last we discovered a physical activity which our uber-athletic kid simply cannot do.  He totally sucked at it and basically didn't get more than a foot off of the shoreline.  What you see below is pretty much as good as it got. We were so surprised!  But you know Seth well enough to know that the kid simply did not give up.  Geoff kept offering to help, or offering to go with him in the kayak, and Seth would grimly say, through clenched teeth, "No! I do it by myself, just like Matthew."  Of course the problem was that Matthew was way out there on his own, paddling happily and competently.  Seth stuck to his non-starter tactics for a full hour and simply would not give up.  Sometimes he would grunt and almost cry in frustration, but he wouldn't stop trying.  He didn't give up until an hour later, when Matthew paddled to shore and ran off towards the skateboard park - only then would Seth relinquish his paddle and boat and go running after Matthew.  What a determined little hot dog!!  

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Here's the back of the lodge.  Such a beautiful place!  I'm already looking forward to next year.