A view from camp.

Peter made it home from Boy Scout camp on Saturday afternoon.  He was a little dirty and a lot happy to be home.  He had lots of stories to tell and he had a great time - even though he was  a  bit homesick.

He earned his Camping, Forestry and Wildlife, Kayaking, Citizenship in the World, and Woodworking badges.  He is slowly but surely meeting his requirements for Eagle Scout and will hopefully make it there in the next few years.

Dan spent Wednesday through Saturday at camp with Peter and took a few pictures of him Kayaking.  Peter said he had a great time working on this badge and it was his favorite session the whole week.

Dan and Peter always hike to the top of Raven Knob together and they always take a selfie.

And here's a picture of the whole motley crew.

Until next year!

Busy but oh so good.

Wednesday was a busy day.  Sarah and I were going to lunch with my mom at the Flour Box Tea Room and Cafe. Sarah was very excited about this special lunch so we decided she could swim practice in favor of fixing her hair and getting dressed up. 

The Flour Box is new and it's located in historic Old Salem. They had part of one of the streets closed off which made parking an adventure but we managed to find a spot and we made it to the Flour Box.

I'm so glad we went.  It was delicious!  Here are a few pictures of our girl's out lunch!

My beautiful mom and my beautiful daughter

My girl and me!

Sarah got the flat bread with pesto, tomatoes, red peppers and onions!

I got the croissant filled with melted brie, sliced green apples and fig preserves with a cucumber and tomato salad.

My mom got the turkey club with a side of potato salad.

It was all so delicious.  We literally ate every bite of food on our plates and decided we would go back again.  In fact, I'm thinking of taking Sarah and two of her friends from school for a proper tea to celebrate her birthday.

After lunch, Sarah and I headed back home for our next adventure.  We were going to visit Peter at Boy Scout camp.  Wednesday was Family Night and his troop does a big pot luck dinner and then the families stay and watch the camp fire and the Order of the Arrow tapping out ceremony. 

I've never gone because Dan always heads up on Wednesday evenings after work and stays until camp is over on Saturday.  However, on Monday evening, Peter called me and asked me to come.  He was a little bit homesick (his friend Colton didn't go to camp this year and I think he was a little lonely).  How can a momma say no to her baby?  She can't. 

So, Sarah and I headed up to Camp Raven Knob armed with enough Bojangles Chicken, biscuits, and fixins to feed Peter and quite a few of the other boys. 

It takes a little over an hour to get there and Sarah was good company.  We made it, found where we were supposed to be and waited for Peter and the rest of the scouts to meet us. 

And y'all, I got the biggest hug ever when they finally came to the shelter.

I love this man child.

After we ate, Peter showed us around the camp.

Crossing a rope bridge. And yes, I crossed it, too.

I made Peter pose in front of this totem pole even though he didn't want to.  He said it made him look like a first year scout.

 And then we headed to the camp fire area to wait for the ceremony to begin.  They play music until it starts and a lot of the boys get down in front and dance.  Here are some of the campers doing the YMCA.  And no, Peter was not one of the kids dancing.  He's my kid after all.  He's not about to do anything to draw attention to himself.  :) 

I don't have any pictures of the actual campfire and the ceremony because it was dark and they asked us not to use flash photography.  It was a long ceremony but I'm glad I got to see it. 

And Peter was very happy that we came.  Dan made it just as the ceremony was beginning.  Sarah and I got home at 11:00 PM and went straight to bed. 

It was a long day but a good one.  And I am very ready to have my boy home on Saturday!

Camp and Father's Day, and strawberry moons.

Dan made it home from Tucson on Friday night and on schedule for a change.  We spent Saturday doing yard and garden work and getting Peter packed up for Boy Scout camp. Since the boys were leaving on Sunday morning we went to Mass on Saturday evening and then went out to dinner.

After dinner we headed to Sonic for 1/2 price shakes.  And by we, I mean the other three got shakes and then I slurped up whatever leftovers there happened to be.  Dan loves to go get the 1/2 priced shakes but I try to be good and not get one.  But that doesn't stop me from taking any and all maraschino cherries that are offered to me and/or any leftovers that happen not to be consumed!

Dan took Peter to Camp Raven Knob and I snapped this quick picture before he left:

Sarah made this card for Dan for Father's Day and allowed Peter to sign it:

There was also a big red glittered heart on the inside which was a dead give away that Peter had nothing to do with the card except signing it. I really appreciate that Sarah allowed Peter (and even asked if he wanted) to sign the card.  A couple of years ago that probably wouldn't have happened.  They seem to be liking each other more and more these days.  I guess that comes with age and maturity?!

Sarah and I went to lunch with my parents, my brother and my uncle to celebrate Father's Day.  Here's a picture of Sarah with my dad outside the restaurant.

 And a mommy/daughter selfie...

Did everyone see the strawberry moon last night? It was gorgeous here. This cell phone snap is the best I could do. The strawberry moon on summer solstice hasn't happened since 1948 and won't happen again until 2062. If I make it to that one, I'll be 93! YIKES!

Quack Quck!

The Arcadia Ducks had their first swim meet of the summer on Tuesday.  The weather was perfect.  It was sunny and warm but the humidity was low.  And low humidity meant that no potential evening storms ever threatened to move through.  Which means we were able to complete the swim meet with no long delays!

Our team won.  Peter and Sarah swam well.  They executed their flip turns perfectly and they had no disqualifications. (whew!)  And now they both have times for their events and can work on bettering them through the season.  And, best of all, they had fun hanging out with their friends.  

Not exactly how we had planned but it was the weekend...

On Friday afternoon, I took Peter, Sarah, Colton and Cheyanne to the pool for a little fun.  Not swim practice, just fun.

We had been at the pool for about 45 minutes when they called pool break.  The kids got out and Peter told me he was freezing as he wrapped up in a towel.  I thought that was odd since it was 90 degrees but I figured the water must have been extremely cold.

At the end of pool break, Peter was still wrapped up in a towel and everyone else was finishing snacks so none of my group had gotten back in the water.  A couple of minutes later, the lifeguard blows her whistle and yells, "Everyone out of the pool!"

The kids asked what was going on and I told them it was probably a Code Brown.  (Use your imagination...)  However, we quickly discovered it was what I will now be calling a Code Orange.  Someone had thrown up in the two foot. Which meant, the  offending matter had to be removed from the water, new chemicals put into the pool and then we had to wait for up to an hour for the new chemicals to kick in.  Since we were only planning on staying another hour anyway, we left.

When we got home, Sarah asked if Chey could spend the night and then go to Peter's basketball game with us the next morning.  "Moooooooommmmmmmmmmm, I'm going to be so totally bored at the basketball game without any friends to talk to and nothing to doooooooooooooooooooooo."

So, I agreed. Sarah and Chey went over to get Chey's clothes. Peter meanwhile was wrapped up in a blanket on the couch watching tv.

After Colton left, Peter went upstairs and took a two hour nap.  I then realized that perhaps I should take his temperature and low and behold his fever was almost 102!  Yikes.  So I gave him meds and he laid around some more.

I had to text his coach to let him know we wouldn't be playing ball the next morning.  Peter said he felt like he was letting his coach down but I told him there was no way he was going to feel like running up and down the basketball court for an hour the next day.

We decided to see how he felt the next morning before officially saying we weren't going.  He woke me up at 5:00 saying he was having trouble sleeping so I gave him more medicine and he went back to sleep.  And of course we did not go play basketball.  Instead I let him sleep in and then he laid around the house all day.  However, he was fever free the whole time so that was good.

Since we weren't going to the basektball game, I took Sarah and Chey to a special swim camp/practice and they were both excited about that.

Dan had come home on Friday after work and had gotten all the yard work done since we were supposed to be at a basketball game on Saturday.  We looked around and were like what should we do.

Don't get excited though....after swim practice we went to lunch at Chick-Fil-A and then headed to Lowes.  Dan decided to use his free time repainting the front porch swing and the trim around the front door.  I used my free time ordering special stain/paint for the actual front door because it looks like a hot mess and could definitely use a fresh coat.  That will be a future weekend project for my husband.

We grilled pork tenderloin skewers for dinner (which the kids proclaimed as very good) and that was our Saturday.

On Sunday we headed to Mass and went out to lunch.  Peter attended a friend's birthday party.  A laser tag company came and set up in their back yard and Peter had a great time with all his friends from school.

While he was doing that, Sarah, Dan, and I headed to Kohl's to spend a gift card that Sarah had received for her birthday.  And just like that, the weekend was over.

And because no blog post is complete without a picture, here's the freshly painted porch swing...

7QT - It's Friday!

It's been a long time since I've done 7 Quick Takes.  But y'all, it's summer and I feel like I've got so much free time on my hands that I thought, why not!  Here we go...

1.  Peter was scheduled to have a basketball tournament this weekend. One of the other catholic schools was trying to put it together. The coach thinks its a great idea so the boys can get practice and Peter agreed to it last week.  But I know Peter and I knew the closer it got the more he would not want to go.  And then I found out that there would be at least three games involved and I decided I didn't want to go.  But one of the other teams backed out so it will just be more of a scrimmage game.  I have to admit that I was not disappointed that I would not be spending all Saturday inside a gym!

2.  Swim team is in full swing.  We've been having night only practices but now that the public schools are finally out, we start having morning and evening practices next week.  You don't have to go to both but we try to go to as many as we can. 

3.  This cat...

I was trying to do a little devotional reading and studying this morning but he had other plans....

4.  Sarah has been working on an ombre technique for painting her nails.  This is only her second attempt and I think she did a fabulous job!

5.  My dahlia's are starting to bloom!

6. Dan heads out of town yet again next week.  I had gotten spoiled what with him being home two weeks in a row!   I am trying to focus on the positive aspect of all these trips....when he's gone I don't cook!

7.  It is finally supposed to be hot here this weekend.  It has been an unseasonably cool spring but I think we are about to pay for it.  Literally - the power bill is always huge in the summer!  :)

Have a great weekend everyone! Head over to Kelly's for more 7QT!

The birthday weekend.

My sweet Sarah turned 12 on Saturday  and we celebrated all weekend.

Her Aunt Cathy came from Alexandria so to celebrate her arrival, Sarah made individual chicken pot pies for lunch.

They were very good!

After lunch, Cathy and Sarah headed to the mall to go shopping for her birthday gift.  Sarah had been wanting a new pair of Converse.  I received a text from Cathy with this picture and the question Sea Foam or Raspberry?

Well, it was Sarah's lucky day because it was Buy One Get One Half Off at the Rack Room so she came home with both pairs!  Sarah likes to have options when it come to shoes.

Later on that evening we grilled out and tried a new recipe that involved taking slices of onions, coating them in BBQ sauce, wrapping them in bacon and grilling them.  We also tossed on a little brown sugar before grilling them because you can never go wrong with brown sugar and bacon. They were actually pretty good but we need to work on how long to grill them to actually get them perfected. 

On Sunday morning we headed to Mass and then met my parents, my brother and my uncle at a restaurant for Sarah's birthday lunch.

After lunch we headed back to my parent's house for cake and ice cream and present unwrapping!

And this is the long awaited swim bag she's been talking about for months.  She was  excited to finally get to carry it to swim practice last night. 

I'd say my little lady had quite a nice birthday and I am definitely looking forward to seeing what this year brings for her!