The Two Bears

So, today was Day #2 of camp for the year! There are about 150 Jr. High students that have invaded camp for the week!

After church and town, we packed up, attached the dogs to the bicycle joggers (don't have a picture but it is two metal arms attached to the bike that the dogs hook onto). Then the kids hopped in the kids trailer attached to the back and we headed off to camp for the 3 mile bike ride.

As soon as we got there, the dogs needed to cool off!


It didn't take the kids long to join in! Sammie wanted to take a "swim test" like the kids and she passed the "Intermediate" test. Of course Mom isn't ready to leave her in water over her head without someone watching closely!


Kyle joined our head lifeguard Stephanie in the water.


Sammie then thought it would be fun to ride on Maverick:


After all that exercise, they all needed rest, but Sinjin sat on guard!



The Jr. Highers gathered around the flagpole for dinner...


Steve and Ryan and a few others grilled the chicken...


So, now you're wondering where the two bears come into the day. Although there are an abundance of black bears in the area lately, we didn't see any today.

However, as the kids stayed at camp with Dad, I rode the bike back home with the dogs. More than one person stopped to see if I was o.k.! You see, Maverick has lupus and his paw started acting up on the way home (pads get tender). As we stopped and rested, people would see us from a distance and thought I had two black bears attacking me. Then they would get closer and realize it was just two dogs.

This is not the first time that has happened, but it was still pretty funny!

Well, now we all need a good night's sleep to get ready for the rest of the week!

A little fun...

Well, tonight we had the lifeguards over for dinner. Molly requested spaghetti and Peanut Butter Cup trifle so she got her wish. The kids had a blast and Sammie even made flowers and welcome signs for them. Kyle made each one a paper airplane.

Here is Stephanie our head guard for the year trying to show off those muscles:


Kevin was trying to be serious and watch a movie and can't figure out what Stephanie was really doing:


Here is Sammie and Kyle along with Molly, Craig and Stephanie (I don't know how Craig got lost in there - that's hard to do!):


The guards were all nice enough to stay a little late so Steve and I could run off to a medical call.

The only disappointment? I have more leftovers than normal...I guess we haven't worked them hard enough yet. That comes starting Saturday! Camp begins!!!!

Squirrels and Bunnies and Backboards, Oh My!

Well, one of the joys of living in the northwoods, is that there is no lack of critters to see. We've gotten to see a fox run in front of us more than once this week, unfortunately not when a camera was handy. However, here are the critters the kids experience today and wanted pictures of:

A cute bunny of the normal wild type:





A squirrel eating some sunflower seeds the kids put out for the finches:





After our animal adventures, it was the night for First Responder training. The kids INSISTED on being patients. Here they are bandaged up a bit...


After all that, we all needed a rest!

Look Ma - no hands! (I mean training wheels)

So, we are now on day #3 in a row of no training wheels - for both kids! Kyle is just about too big for his toddler bike so I found him a "boy's bike" at Goodwill for about $5.00 - can't beat that! I figured it would also be good for Sammie to try without training wheels. We've tried a few times before but she'd get frustrated really fast and want her training wheels on. She's just finally getting to enjoy a bike at age 7 unlike Kyle who was already biking almost 2 miles at age 3!

Well, both tried and BOTH are getting the hang of it pretty well. Kyle was actually doing better than Sammie last night, but Sammie was catching up tonight.

Here are some pictures of tonight's efforts:

Safe! (It takes a few falls to get it right...)


Mastering the turn:


Got it down!



...and a special thanks to friends in MN who just sent me their old, but absolutely WONDERFUL digital camera so I can take pictures this summer!!!! Thank you!!!!

A little tired, but we're done!

No pictures on this post, but that's o.k. Steve and I just finished 4 days of teaching our lifeguards for Fort, for Crescent Lake Bible Camp and for HoneyRock. Scott Eppler from HoneyRock helped co-instruct. We had a wonderful group of kids this year training to be lifeguards and they will do great! It sure wore Steve and I out though! Luckily my mom was up for a week to keep the kids occupied while we taught. Guess we're getting old! :)