Even My Inner Extrovert Has a Limit

This has been the summer of back-to-back-to-back events.

Some were scheduled, like the summer drama camp and our July 4th camping trip; some were unplanned, like the flooding in our basement and my grandmother's funeral. Sometimes lots of great things fell all on the same weekend, like this past one--in the space of Friday night to Monday afternoon, we were taken out to dinner twice by Papa Rooster's parents, who spent the weekend with us; saw two theater productions, West Side Story and Mulan (tickets bought long ago because of friends in the shows), entertained old friends, the Bergners, who were serendipitously passing through our area with time to spare (enough for a trip to the beach, my first this summer!), got two kids packed for two weeks of camp and delivered to the bus stop nearly an hour away, and had an electrician friend here all day Saturday to help us pick out and install new lighting in our formerly dim kitchen.

It's all been such fun and so wonderful, but you can't imagine how relieved I am to view a nearly-clear calendar for the next few days! And how appalled I am to realize that if we're going to use our four free passes to Six Flags, we'd better go this week, because next week is all booked up already. Sigh.

I am excited about next week though: two days of retreat with the other Area Coordinators of our Christian theater group, and then two days at the Willow Creek Leadership Summit, compliments of my new employer.

Just hope my inner extrovert (I test right on the border, but come out as an "I" for introvert) is recovered by then!

Well, I better get back to enjoying my couple of unscheduled days here...

...wondering how Bantam14 and Blondechick16 are doing at summer camp
...praying for good Christian influences on them there
...thinking and praying about our educational decisions for the fall--some changes are in store
...catching up on mending and other lick-and-a-promise piles around my house
...thinking about my new job responsibilities
...feeling guilty (not really) for enjoying the absence of teenagers pestering me to take them places and let them do things that require discussion, discernment and decision-making (B18 is a teen, true, but he's usually a content homebody)
...getting back to the beach!

Seein' the Sights

We had such a fun visit with Professor Brother's family! All the way from Kansas they came, so we had to show them a good time. (Photos compliments of Professor Brother.)

First stop: the Jelly Belly Factory!!

Waiting in line, as the anticipation builds...

...for the 35 minute train ride through the factory! Hats are FDA regulation. Also part of the fun!

After the tour, you get samples in the gift store. How'd you like to try these flavors?? (Click to enlarge.)

Next stop: Frank's Diner. (Photo from Frank's website.)

Frank's is an old streetcar that was converted into a restaurant, and it has been featured on the Food Network and Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.

The food is great, and the ambience?

Most instructive.

A visit to downtown Kenosha would not be complete without a 25-cent trolley ride!

It was while waiting at the trolley stop that Bantam4 did his Superman impression...

...landing in those bushes in this position, face down. "He's stuck in the bushes, he's STUCK!!" the girls yelled, and Professor Uncle and I rushed to his aid, expecting writhing and tears. Instead, he looked up at us with a cocky grin and jumped off the bench as soon as he was retrieved. Completely unfazed.

Next we stopped at the park...

...and then we had to dip our toes into Lake Michigan, of course!

Stay dry, they were warned, or ice cream will be withheld!

Our next stops were for ice cream at Sandy's Popper and for dinner fixin's at Tenuta's and Aldi.

Yum, those brats are good!

But what was priceless was seeing these cousins having such a good time together!

Thank you, P-Bro and family, for coming to visit!!!

High School Musical Summer Camp

Summer camp ended, and Professor Brother's family arrived!! And I had wrap-up paperwork and a house to clean in between, so I just haven't had time to blog about camp.

But it was a great week all around--the kids had a great time, parents were positive and enthusiastic, the staff was super, and everyone is talking about enrolling in classes and auditioning for the fall production! I just couldn't be more thankful.

Papa Rooster took some great shots of the final day: Showcase!!

Here are the big kids (7-12 year olds) lined up in the gym beforehand, enjoying a freeze pop each to whet their whistle. Bantam10 is front and center in the orange line there, next to his good friend from church. Wish I had more informal pics, but they did spend a lot of time in this gym, playing games and practicing songs and dances!


The Yellow Team (5-6 year olds; half-day campers) opened up the show.

Chicklet6 (2nd from L) was delighted to have her best friend from church (on far R) in her class!

Everybody who wanted one got a solo:

That is Blondechick's head and arm adjusting the microphone--she was an aide for the Yellow Team.

The songs from HSM (1,2 & 3) lend themselves to cute poses!

Bantam10 was on the orange team, with his two best friends from church--the boy on the far R, down on a knee, and the boy to our R of B10.

They were both on the improv team, who formed a machine of moving human parts...

...and reacted to various situations the teacher described.

"Oooo, I don't want to go down there!"

"What a surprise!"

"Livin' in my own world..."

I had my moment at the microphone too, welcoming parents and talking about the fall session. I also got to tell them to check out the story and pictures of camp in the Kenosha News!

We took team pictures on the last day, too--here is my wonderful staff! They were just fabulous. It was great to work with my own kids too--Bantam14 is wearing the hat and the Red Team t-shirt, Blondechick is in gray in the middle back, and I'm on the right.

And I got the word...that I'm hired to continue the job into the fall! I'll be hiring teachers and coordinating classes, while another area coordinator will oversee production details. It will be much more manageable than doing the whole job myself. I am so excited!!!

Last Day of Camp is Tomorrow!

And so far, no major disasters!

Actually, all is going exceptionally smoothly, as far as I can tell. The staff is great, the parents are happy (as far as I know!), and the kids are having a blast and learning tons. (Glory to God!)

And the Kenosha News came today to take pictures! It was Create-Your-Own-Superhero-Costume Day. --They kept trying to figure out what show we were doing!

Team pictures, Showcase and other wrap-up festivities are tomorrow.

Then maybe I'll have time to post some pictures!

Summer Camp Prayer Requests

My friend Amy asked, in the comments awhile back, if I had prayer requests for the upcoming drama day camp that I am running next week--and I should have posted them a long time ago!

I especially could have used prayer when I was UNABLE to work on preparations for summer camp because I was too busy dealing with a flooded basement and outfitting boys for a funeral (I tell you, it had been long time since we made sure they all had suit coats, dress shirts, belts, dress socks, ties and church shoes!). And ATTENDING the funeral, and then going on the camping trip that had been planned a long time.

My anxiety level has been gradually raising with all the things I should be doing to prepare--and then it turns out that the bulk of it all happens the weekend before. Which is NOW.

So pray for me and my family to get it all done. Before Monday! My kids are folding t-shirts and writing out name labels and stuffing zip-loc bags while I email my staff, helpers, and parents of campers. And purchase supplies. And make copies. And comb my manual for details I haven't covered yet!

For next week, pray for:

--good health for every one involved--kids and staff
--protection from accidents
--that each child that comes would be pointed toward God by the words and example of the staff and by the presence of God among us
--for unity and grace among staff and with kids and parents
--for a good foundation for CYT Kenosha to be laid by this camp
--for connections to be made
--for my memory, to be able to remember parents, kids, names!
--that the details would all get covered without too much stress--my first time doing this!

Praises already:

--112 kids signed up!! Since we are a brand-new area, we would have been happy with half that many. It is really exciting to have so many kids coming!!!!

--a wonderful facility to hold the camp, and great support from the family pastor there!

--experienced, enthusiastic staff to teach the classes and run the rehearsals. They will make my job much easier!

--two more helpers volunteered this week, bringing my total up to 8. We could use 11 for this size camp, but I'm greatly relieved to now have 8 (vs. the 6 that I had at the beginning of the week). God provides!

THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRAYERS. I am so excited to watch what God will do next week!!

Something I Miss

Here's something I wish my younger kids could be involved in at our old church...like the older ones used to...

Time for a Nap, Dear....

We were headed home from our camping trip, and I was driving Papa Rooster's Prius while he drove the van pulling the trailer. Chicklet6 had ended up in my backseat, and 2 minutes into the 20 minute ride home, I could see her head nodding in the rearview mirror. A moment later she asked,

"Mom, what does it mean when someone can't keep their eyes open?"

All God's Creatures

Since the weekend weather for our camping trip was unseasonably chilly for the first week of JULY, we took our Illinois friends that we were camping with to the Milwaukee Zoo instead of the beach on our first day. It was our first time to visit the Zoo, too!

Papa Rooster is still having fun with his new camera and lens, and the animals were interesting subjects.

I love giraffes. What comic grace! (Graceful comedy?)

This bear was cool. Sadly, he reminded me of a bear rug. I love the way they swing their heads around.

Don't you love the intensity in that cheetah? He could be on a motivational poster. "FOCUS." "DRIVE." Or something like that. (Sorry if I just ruined that picture for you. He was for real!)

Those were all taken outdoors. These next ones were all taken inddors, through glass:

There is nothing like a gorilla. What an immense, soulful creature!

God must have had fun creating all the monkeys:

What variety--and oddity! You know He has a sense of humor when you see one like this.


The most amazing creature we saw was this lion, who rested near the glass so everyone could admire him. He was totally comfortable with the crowd that gathered. He even got up and paced back and forth for five minutes or so, next to the glass the whole time, so we could clearly appreciate his supple power.

Since we just re-read most of the Narnia books, of course I couldn't help but think of Aslan. This is my favorite Aslan-ish face:

Doesn't he look wise and stern and splendid? Yet possibly gentle and loving underneath--and maybe about to speak? I think so, anyway.


Do you know the song "All God's Creatures Got a Place in the Choir"?

Fun Times Too

Blogging has been sparse because...once we got back from the funeral, we turned right around and went camping for four days! Not the kind of thing you announce on the internet, though. Papa Rooster took many pictures so I will have lots to share this week, which is an excellent thing, because I shall be busy with final preparations for the drama camp I am coordinating--which is NEXT WEEK!

In the meantime, a few more photos from our trip home to Ohio for the funeral.

To relieve congestion in my parents' home, we brought our trailer. It looked surprisingly at home, I thought, next to the old chicken barn where I used to keep my pony.

"Knee high by the Fourth of July" is an adage I grew up with, but this year's crop came nearly to my shoulders, with the Fourth of July a week away!

How do you work this thing?

Ah, ya gotta put your weight into it!

The tire swing and swinging rope are perennial favorites.

But the big attraction this trip was the cousins!

At last, Bantam10 found someone who would play board games with him all day long. (Click to enlarge and see if you recognize Score Four, a game our family played all the time back in the 70's.)

A little drama:
Chicklet6 got her fingers slammed in the trailer door. :(

Look at those toes!

Funeral and Photo Ops

This is the old Baptist church that Papa Rooster and I were married in.

My dad's side of the family has attended here for generations. I used to sit in that balcony to sing with the Junior Choir, and I was baptized in that baptistry.

My brothers and husband helped carry my grandfather's casket through these same doors nine years ago.

This time, two of my sons were old enough to join them. Grandma would be pleased!

And here we are at the family plot at the cemetery. It's a beautiful spot. The headstones all around bear familiar old family names; names I've grown up with, but people I never knew.

Until now. Now Grandma and Grandpa are both there, and the plot is full. Future generations will have to be buried elsewhere.

***

At the cemetery, Bantam10 managed to snap a good picture of his dad! Gotta love that sun hat.

Papa Rooster was determined to get a nice portrait of me.

Back at home, he snapped this candid of my niece...

And captured Professor Brother and family the day before.

We think this one of Bantam4 is a winner too!