Mount Hermon 2012

After being brought up by another family, a reoccurring theme this year was "Mount Hermon: Better Than Disneyland?"  I would call this a debate, but it wasn't.  One hundred percent of the people who've experienced both said Mount Hermon was indeed better than Disneyland.  This includes all kids.  Which means it includes my girls, who answered without even thinking about it, a second after they were asked.  We had a super time at Disneyland last year, so I really think it's saying something that everyone who's spent a week enjoying the glorious peace, loving fellowship and wacky fun that Mount Hermon offers knows its superiority!  Once again, we just feel so blessed to be a part of this Christian family camp ministry and are already counting down to Mount Hermon 2013!

Here are a few snapshots of our better-than-Disney adventures in Mount Hermon this year:

On our arrival day, we always look forward to the big party on the field house lawn.  Face painting, inflatables, games, a giant picnic and program get us all fired up for the fun week ahead.

Ella made more strides in the pool this summer.  She is now swimming totally without floaties and loves going underwater.  In this little pool, while I laid back relaxing on the steps and chatting with mom friends in the warm sun, she learned how to do handstands and somersaults.  It's so nice to be in this stage-- be assured, it's coming for you too, moms of real little ones! :) 

A favorite part of Mount Hermon for the kids is the time they get to spend in their own programs.  The above pic shows the tradition of all the counselors cheering and exploding out of the building at drop-off time.  At Day Camp/Child Care, the kids are engaged in Bible lessons, do fun activities like slip 'n slide or scavenger hunts, watch wacky skits and sing wacky songs.  Ella and Delia always danced out with huge smiles on their faces, singing the praises of their sweet and crazy counselors.

One of our favorite nights is always s'mores night!  After s'mores, we stayed for something new this year-- whole camp Dance Dance Revolution in the dark with glow sticks.  The girls jumped right into the crowd and busted out their sweet dance moves.  Yes, it was hilarious and awesome.

I always have to take this picture because at home, Delia is our alarm clock.  She needs the least amount of sleep and is always the first one awake.  Well, guess who is the last one out of bed at Mount Hermon?  She and her sister sleep deep, even through lights and noise as I get myself ready.  It's usually only information about all the fun things they'll be doing during the day that finally gets these girls up!

Another best part of Mount Hermon is the time we get to spend with friends.  The group we go with remains unchanged and as the kids get older, it gets better and more fun each year.  This year we ranged in age from kindergarten to middle school.  The older ones look out for the younger ones, with the lower elementary kids growing especially close. (Above: Ella, "K-Love", aka Caleb, Camryn and Michaela)

Something new for us this year was an early morning hike up to Pancake Ridge.  This is offered every year, but the 20 minute, straight-uphill climb never felt worth it in the past.  This year, our first being stroller-free, the kids assured me they could do it.  The reward at the top of the climb is an amazing pancake breakfast.  Fire-grilled pancakes as big as your head with all toppings, fiddle music and pancake-flipping contests are some features.  The best feature is that Pancake Ridge is located in Dave's camp, so he was able to sneak away from Hi Camp and see us!

We got to see Dave a total of 4 times this week.  Thursday is always a favorite day because we get tons of Daddy Time as he spends his day off at our camp.  This year he and I took a nice hike along the Sequoia Trail while the kids were in Day Camp.  Then, as a whole family, we checked out the boats.

Another favorite part of Mount Hermon (do I keep saying that? :) is my hour of quiet time when my morning worship service has ended and my kids are still in their programs.  I spread a blanket on my sunny cabin porch and get to dive into another fabulous book (Gary Schmidt's "Okay for Now" for me this year).  It's amazing what a good book, a good cup of coffee, a patch of warm sun and a view of thousand-year-old redwoods can do for your soul.  I highly recommend it!

Our last night, like our first, ends with a big camp party.  After an outdoor communion service, we all give our smiles a work out as the kids perform their end-of-the-week program.  I was teased this year for "sweeping the program" as both my girls were the ones picked from their classes to be interviewed in the microphone.  I was very proud! :)

  After the program comes the sugar shock!  These kids were cracking me up-- totally freezing, but unable to pass up a snow cone!

It was while we were singing The Revelation Song in a worship service that I thought about how this was supposed to be our last Mount Hermon and the finale to our years of service in California.  When we went through that interview process this winter, Dave and I planned a time line that would include a cross-country move the week following Mount Hermon.  The tears sprang to my eyes as I thanked God, once again, for his plan for our lives and for the clarity with which he revealed that to us this year.  (I think the possibility of this Mount Hermon being our last may have made me a little more long-winded than normal, so thanks for persevering, Reader!)  How blessed we are by this church family and this place!  In some ways, Mount Hermon is a week-long celebration of all our favorite things about our lives.  And yes, I'll take that over a princess or a thrill ride any day!

Good for the Lawn, Good for the Kids

Taking "Eat a popsicle while running through a sprinkler" off the Summer Bucket List...

I'm Gonna Gush (Consider Yourself Warned...)

Even though we've been counting down for a while now,  I can still hardly believe that our preschool years are officially over.  Today we all walked to preschool together and bid farewell to the classroom and all the landmarks on the walk we've made 4 times a week for 4 straight years now.  ("Goodbye speed bump", "Goodbye black widow spider living in the gas meter", "Goodbye cherry tree and birdies that eat all the cherries on the cherry tree", "Goodbye yappy dogs".)  It's bittersweet as we certainly celebrate good endings and new beginnings, but also mourn this special chapter coming to a close.

Tonight was the Preschool Graduation and Kids' Praise Program.  She told us very little, but we knew Delia had some part involving speaking and singing in the microphone.  We just learned today it was, in fact, the lead part!  She and two others served as the narrators for the familiar Psalty musical and Delia sang two solos-- one song was completely her alone while the whole class just did motions behind her!  We were proud, smiling ear-to-ear, almost crying and laughing with joy over the super cute job she did.  In her own words, Delia raced into our arms and said, "I was spectacular!"  Miss Debbie told me we have a future actress on our hands.

Each of the Star students donned a cap and gown, marched across the stage to get their diploma advancing them to kindergarten and then spoke their full name into the microphone. 

We just got the girls to bed and Dave asked me, "Did you ever think it was possible to be SO proud?"  I have always said that my favorite part of being a parent is when your child totally exceeds your expectations and does something so amazing, you can't help but just be in awe.  Proud parents, yes we are!

And a proud sister too!  Ella was also smiling so huge and was happy to have small roles tonight too.  She got to pick out the flower bouquet we surprised Delia with and when Dave went on stage to present the teachers with gifts from the class, Ella went along to help hold things.  When it comes to a love for attention on the stage, our family definitely plays the "One of these Things is not Like the Others" game! 

Over the course of 4 years, I know I've already said quite a bit about the blessing Miss Jenny and Miss Debbie have been to our girls and our family.  We just love their ministry and feel so thankful that our kids have gotten to be subject to their positive influence.

And of course, no preschool program or year is complete without a little ice cream to celebrate.  I guess it's officially summer now!

More Than S'mores

Continuing summer tradition for the third time now, we loaded up the van with all our gear and headed to Pinecrest for 3 days of camping.  Mostly due to site availability at this popular and perfect camping spot, we took our camping adventure at the very start of summer this year.  Yes, we come home tired and stinky and we each have our moments of crankiness, but overall our camping tradition proves to be one worth keeping as we all just love it!

 

Each year we look forward to seeing how the number we reserve in January translates into the actual campsite that will be our home for a few days.  This year we had another great spot-- a large space with little traffic that was filled with pine cones and rocks for the girls to collect and play with.  While Dave and I set up camp, the girls did this scavenger hunt I printed out. 

Fun this year was adding geocaching to the list of outdoor activities to keep us busy.  Right away we took a little walk around the campsite loop to find the first cache that was "for kids, hidden by kids."  It was a canister full of toys, pretty easy and fun to find.
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Besides some hiking, beach play and geocaching, we didn't try to cram too much into our days.  We're learning that the best parts of family camping are just hanging out at camp-- reading, enjoying the fire, playing cards and letting the girls run around setting up stuff like their "Rocks for Sale!" stand by the road.

I spent an entire morning slicing fruit and veggies and cooking chili, burritos and potatoes to wrap in foil and cook over a fire.  We take hours setting up a nice camp and then taking it all down.  And I'm working on 3 loads of smokey-scented laundry.  But, it's all worth it when we take those first bites of delicious s'mores-- possibly the greatest dessert ever invented.  To try something new, we also made these campfire cones and they were yummy too.  Just take a waffle cone, fill it with mini-marshmallows, chocolate chips, diced strawberries and bananas, wrap it in foil and then let it get toasty (but not burned) over the fire.

Creature-loving Delia was on a mission to catch every butterfly and caterpillar she could find.  And at this time of year in Pinecrest, there are tons!  She said letting this fuzzy caterpillar crawl all over her arms was her favorite part of this year's camping trip.

Like last year, we spent half a day taking the 4 mile hike around the lake.  Having not slept great our first night, this wasn't the happiest of hikes and, honestly, Dave and I are both nursing sore back and knee muscles from carrying 40 pounds of girls through some rough terrain.  However, scenery that can only be seen by walking and some more "treasure-hunting", as the girls call geocaching, made us still glad we did it.
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The hike is really one of my favorites, some places are shady pine-needle-covered paths, some places you have to carefully step through streams and some places require actual rock climbing. 

(Can you find Dave, Ella and Delia in this picture?)

As you hike, you're rewarded with a constant view of the blue mountain lake water and eventually the rushing rapids of the river that feeds into Pinecrest Lake.

After the footbridge and at the halfway point, we needed to just take a rest.  Ella started this boulder-lounging and we quickly followed her lead!

In total we found 3 caches and each got to take a turn navigating with the GPS.  Dave likes to print out a few clues too and one cache clue said, "Watch out!  As I was reaching for this one, I found a rattlesnake!" Yikes!  We were super careful of rock cracks and crevices and I am extremely happy to report that our only reptile wildlife encounters were fun ones-- lots of lizards and the cute little rock frog pictured below.

The girls were rewarded for persevering through the hike with the choice to do whatever they wanted next.  They just wanted a nice long time to put their feet in the icy lake water and play on the little beach.  Ella dug and filled holes.  Delia chased and caught more butterflies, while somehow managing to get in the water all the way up to her waist with her clothes on.  That girl!

I said s'mores alone make all the work of camping worth it, but so does the fun that naturally happens when the sun sets.  I just love those moments of playing cards by lantern light or getting giggles in the tent over something goofy, like how many people you can squeeze into the mummy sleeping bag. 

All these things described add up to equal one of my favorite family traditions.  I guess it's safe to assume that you'll be reading yet another very similar camping post in about a year!

Last Week of Preschool

As we write the last tuition check ever to the preschool and get the details organized for a whole-class gift for the teachers and order a copy of the upcoming graduation DVD, we are faced with the reality that our 4 years of preschool are drawing to a close.  We've been so blessed to be able to send our girls here and we truly give thanks for their wonderful teachers and all they taught-- both school stuff that has made the girls kindergarten-ready, but more importantly, about Jesus and His love for His children.

There have been a number of special things going on to celebrate Delia's preschool time ending.  First, all the 4/5 year olds took a special class trip to a nearby zoo.  Dave was able to go along as a parent chaperon and said all the kids had a nice time seeing the zoo animals who have been helping them learn their alphabet letters, eating a picnic lunch in the park and then getting to go on a few rides.

And this week, Delia's summer birthday was celebrated at preschool.  She loved being the center of attention as Miss Debbie showed her baby pictures to the class and they sang "God's Blessings on You!".  She even received a special birthday present from her teachers.

Delia wanted her treats to be butterfly everything, so we filled goodie bags with butterfly toys and sunglasses.  We picked out butterfly napkins and we cut the brownies into butterfly shapes.  We heard this theme was a hit!

Next week is full of practices for the final preschool program.  Delia has the songs from the Psalty musical they perform down and she can't wait to sing in the microphone and do finger twirls in the dance number.  Note to self: bring a handkerchief for when she walks across that stage in her little cap and gown! 

Reason #729 Why I Love Living in the Valley:

When you're out running some errands and you get a hankerin' for some cherries, you can pull right over for some unplanned U-Pick in a local cherry orchard.  Fifteen minutes and just a few bucks later and you have several pounds of sweet, juicy, perfectly ripe white cherries to bring along on your weekend camping trip in the mountains!

Road Trip!

My good friend Amy and I have not connected in person in a long time.  Busy months/busy stages of life have left us without any play dates for far too long.  We've been really looking forward to the June 4 date we had reserved with one another about a month ago.  When our first two ideas (blueberry picking and a children's museum) were a bust, we scrambled to put some new plans together this morning and came up with a new park.  I told the girls we'd be exploring a brand new park with our friends, but strangely, my little park-lovers were most excited about riding in the big-kid backseat of Miss Amy's minivan!

Good thing this was such a thrill because, little did they know, they'd be spending about an hour and a half in this van!  When the confused GPS took us to the totally wrong destination, we literally drove in a giant circle for over an hour.  (I'm gonna keep blaming Susie the Nuvi, but the fact that I typed in a bad address probably had something to do with our long detour!)

We finally got on track and made it to our new park destination.  And the park was actually pretty cool!  Worth an over-an-hour drive?  I'm not sure.  But, bless Amy for being such a good sport.  She pointed out that the kids were more than happy in the car and there was no other way we would have gotten such a long uninterrupted time to just sit and catch up!  As I sipped my Starbucks mocha and listened to the kids playing their own goofy version of Rock, Paper, Scissors in the back seat, I had to smile and agree that our Plan D actually couldn't have been any more perfect or any more fun!

I am an Awesome Mom

The Chevy's that we had Ella's pre-birthday dinner at in Monterey a few days ago had a Chuck E. Cheese right next to it.  When the girls saw it they said, "We know that place!  We see the commercials!  That is a kid restaurant!"  Having no desire to ever spend any money on the type of food and entertainment Chuck E. Cheese offers, I gave the girls this explanation: "Oh yes, that restaurant is for kids.  They serve pizza and they have lots of games and some kids think it's pretty fun.  But, they also have a guy dressed up as a giant mouse who roams around and talks to you."  Just as I knew she would, Delia immediately said, "I don't ever want to see those scary guys!  I don't ever want to go there!"  And with that, I gave myself a little pat on the back for taking Chuck E. Cheese off the table before it ever even became a request.

One of the great delights in a getting a hotel room is mixing up our sleeping arrangements.  Dave and I each get to cuddle with one of the girls and it's a sweet time.  I got Delia on Monterey night and smiled as she rubbed my back while we were falling asleep.  During the night she was super restless, though, thrashing around the bed and even yelling out at some points.  In the morning I asked her what happened and she told me about her horrible nightmare.  "I dreamed the scary Chuck E. Cheese guy was chasing me around!"  In my efforts to avoid crappy pizza and money-wasting arcade games, I gave my daughter nightmares.  Great. I got the Mom of the Year Award all sewed up!

And in the spirit of keepin' it real, thought I share an honest picture to go with my honest story.  In this popular photo spot at the aquarium, Ella is pretending to be a beautiful mermaid while Delia is toooo tired to possibly have ANOTHER picture taken (Guess why she's tired?  Yep, because she was too busy being chased by nightmarish Chuck E. Cheese guys to sleep!)  Need a new screensaver, Grandpa? :)