Life Savers: Cuatro Campamento de Chicas

I'm second guessing these huge posts. Fitting one week into one post is a bit much. But it is efficient and getting everything out in one shot is helpful, so I'll keep it up for now. We'll see if it lasts. Let's jump right into this fourth week of Summer, which means for you people good at math that we officially have one month under our belts. How come Summer goes so fast??

This was Girls Camp week. That means bright and early (emphasis on bright) I took the girls over to a leader's house, dropped them off, snapped a picture, and wished them well staying away from ticks!

I did not go to camp this year since I don't have that calling anymore. That may be a blessing in disguise since it means I didn't spend all my blogging time getting ready and I don't have a zillion pictures from camp. I still missed it severely, but we still had a lot of fun here (and plenty of pictures apparently).

I'm proud since I actually scheduled a couple activities while the older girls were gone. Sometimes I am a slacker and we just let the days slide together, but I was on my game. One day we went to this fun exhibit at the library. Up in the attic they had a bunch of books to read and nearby they had interactive stations for each book. It was like stepping into the story and participating. See if you recognize some of these stories.

We had a lot of fun. We also did a puppet show, and my knight in shining armor showed up. Bout time!

It was a fun afternoon of imagination building.

We had more time to work on our art than the girls at camp. I had a burst of inspiration and decided to sew something. (That doesn't happen frequently.) I picked up a pattern and some soft minky material. Can you tell what it might turn into?

We got some outdoor time in as well. I set up a day to hit a splash pad with Tricia and her kids. Somehow I didn't get a picture of Tricia or her kids, but I promise they were there. These little sun babies had a blast.

Pearl liked to brave the bucket and get soaked.

And it always good to dry off in the sun.

The zipline was a big hit. It is fun that they have one at this park. I even got a video of the girls sailing down.

Back at home, I finished my art. What do you think? Can you tell what animal he is?

Even without the older girls, we still did our routine. We watched Holes as our weekly movie. And we made a scrumptious treat. I really liked this one. They were Chocolate Dipped Peanut Butter Pretzels. They were actually pretty easy to make. I put the girls on it. Daisy dutifully measured out a tablespoon of peanut butter until I told her we needed a cup.

Look how healthy...peanut butter, butter, brown sugar, powdered sugar. What's not to love? Let's mix this baby.

Then roll into balls and squish between pretzels. The girls were great at this.

It made a ton which is really nice since we have a lot of people in the family. And yes...we planned to share with the other girls when they got home.

Final step was to dip half in chocolate. Worked like a dream. They did have to go in the fridge to set. Then we just left them there and stole a snack whenever we opened the fridge.

Then the girls returned on Friday. They made it. And no ticks!! We have such a great group of girls in our ward. These girls are all amazing.

I particularly like these three.

They had such a great time and talked for hours about all their adventures. Right up until Robyn fell asleep mid text. June took her turn later in the day, weirdly in the same spot. They just switched places. Poor Ivory had to go perform at another parade. What a trooper.

Robyn helped make a sign for meals and chores at camp. She wouldn't let anyone burn it or throw it away. So I dutifully took pictures. Even small art is worth documenting.

Saturday dawned and we had another Spikeball tournament. I'm not sure I can say another since I didn't actually participate in the last one. This was my first one playing with Janille. June played Co-ed with Mahonri who is our awesome neighbor.

It was a hot sunny day, but actually pretty good for spikeball. It was only a problem when the ball would get lost in the sun. Janille brought her shade tent. That thing is amazing. Gotta love bringing your own shade just in case.

The day was awesome and exhausting. I won't bore you with details, but June and Mahonri had fun despite the fact that June just got back from camp and she was thoroughly exhausted. Like totally wasted by the end of the day. They finished before us and I found her asleep on the blanket. Janille and I had a slow start. We struggled on serves and lost everything in pool play. But in tournament, we actually won a game. And when two other teams forfeited, we came in 3rd overall. I'll take it. We worked so hard. And got a lot better. Sadly, we didn't even stay for a picture. We were just so tired and didn't want to stay for the final match. I have been SO sore. Spikeball is really a game for kids. At this tournament was the first time I saw someone older than me. Which actually means Janille and I are doing great for where we are in life. Can you believe we have nine kids between the two of us?

Despite being uber tired, I came home and went out with Tyler in the evening. We haven't been on a real date for ages. Our list of monthly dates has fallen through the cracks into the pit of busy marriages. But we don't have to do those particular dates. We can still have fun. We went to try out a Fish Kiss Spa. This is where little doctor fish eat the dead skin on your body. You can choose hands, feet, or both. We opted for feet. First they wash your feet and you put on little flip flops.

Next, insert feet into a tank of fish. Then they go to town. It is tickly and it almost just feels like bubbles on your feet. Every once in a while, you can feel a particular fish in a certain spot. It is a little weird. I really liked it.

Then they clean your feet again at the end. Tyler loves pampering so this was right up his alley. It was a fun little date.

You have made it through the week with us! Now, finally, we have the art show. Our theme this week was Zoo Animals. You can see Daisy's wire 'Gaffie' in this picture.

Everyone submitted something, even those who were at camp. Let's see some of these entries. Pearl made several drawings. I think they all turned out very well, but her sloth reminds me of Drew Carey.

Daisy did the wire Giraffe and then also this painted snake. She made the paint out of glue, syrup, food coloring, dish soap, and hand soap. What a concoction! You could smell the syrup.

Robyn practiced calligraphy at camp and wrote a page of zoo animals. Clever.

She also did the word ZOO made out of tiny zoo animals. I think it is fantastic. How many can you recognize?

Ivory came up with an exhibit right at the end. She made a little fishing station where you could gurgle to play and you caught a candy when you fished. I'm not sure how well this fits in with art or with the theme, but it was still a fun idea.

June did some fun pieces. She wrote down lyrics from a whole bunch of songs, but all of them had an animal in them.

At camp she made a lot of friendship bracelets, but then she cut them up to create this spider. Cool huh? She titled it The Weaver.

I had three entries this time around. My manatee (did you guess) of course. (Daisy claimed him early on. She said it was an early birthday present.)

Then I also took a picture during the week. Like my zoo animals?

Finally, I wrote a poem. I hope you enjoy it.

My Life is a Zoo

I live with 5 monkeys, they are my crew

Now we’ve added a dog to this hullabaloo

To all my free time, I must say adieu

Luckily I still have my boo goo