MUUSA 2022

After 2 years of being cancelled due to COVID, we went back to the Midwest Unitarian Universalist Summer Association camp this year!

The theme speaker was Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout, who I knew (of) because we'd sung along with him for a year of online church.

 

I think we were both remarkably terrible at getting photos this year - me especially. I lifted these 4 from the end-of-camp slide show.

I took a workshop on fabric dying & did this piece with ice dye & borrowed  an apron from one of my classmates. There was a whole long list of suggested supplies, which James went shopping for with me at the Dollar Tree, and then I lugged over to the Arts & Crafts building and have yet to unpack now that we’re back home 🤣 

Sam did a cajon solo at the coffee house. Leah and James were WIDE AWAKE at 9pm when it started (they were acting out plays, mostly about sword fighting, for me in the room) so we walked down to see him perform. Leah promptly fell asleep prior to Sam's turn, though - in all fairness, it was dark & the woman before him was singing folk songs/lullabies. She did wake up to clap! And then I carried her the whole way back up to the lounge. (I think she weighs 47 pounds.)

Leah eating in the cafeteria. She is a BIG FAN of root beer.

And Leah in the nursery with the baby (who was also our next door neighbor & who had a sister Leah's age). When I'd key back into our room, Leah would ask me, "Can I go look at my friend's door?" And then she'd run a little ways down the hall and look at their door number.

Walking to the Arts & Crafts building to pick up their ceramics projects and the last of my fabric that was drying on the line.

Realizing how very few photos of me that there were, I asked James to take one of us waiting on to check out on the last day. I tried to get him to take a more flattering/in focus one, but nope! He did one and was done! 

A view of the dining room - one nice thing about our room location was that we could easily go see if the dining room was crowded.

James and Leah climbing a little rock wall in the gym next to Arts & Crafts.

I liked this photo because it showed Leah deciding to jump off once she'd touched the top.

James painting his ceramic fish - so serious.

And Sam & Leah working on their ceramics projects.

One morning, Sam & I snuck out of morning celebration to do the zip line. We were the only 2 who signed up (probably because it was in the middle of morning celebration) & we had 3 college-aged YMCA workers helping us. Sam took pictures of me doing it, but I didn't reciprocate! Up so high! This is me doing the last safety check. (I would have gone back down except I knew it would be much harder to climb the pole backwards than it would be to just zip.)

 

Wheeeee!

Sam & James went out on a boat float - which is where you have root beer floats on a boat. 

No more photos!

Leah found a toad & Sam took its picture. Sam and I saw a deer out on a hike. I also found approximately 25 spiders face-first on the hike.

Sam took out a kayak one morning, since he didn’t sign up for any workshops:

He also took a sunrise photo of the lake:

And a camp selfie from our balcony, complete with multicolored yarn name tag string:

Since she's going into 7th grade, Amelie's now over on the other side of camp with the Jr High kids. We spent some time with her on the first day & then she was largely off with her group. We did get to eat a few meals together & it was like spotting a local celebrity! And then on the last day, we picked her back up & spent some time together at the end.

She chose the quiet dorm (not a big surprise there!) though she did stay up late on the last night talking Wings of Fire. 

Here's the schedule of activities for the stuff James's class did - he climbed partway up the zip tower & then climbed back down, but he said it was fun anyway. He was most assuredly NOT a fan of the mud cave, and his favorite thing was the banana boat (not to be confused with the boat float).

 

And then here are photos of Amelie's group playing in Oobleck. James was in the lake when they raced across & washed off & he was not too impressed with them. 

Our regular dog/house sitters checked in on Spark for us, and sent several updates (& a cute video which I can’t figure out on how to put here.)

Here’s the link to last time: MUUSA 2019

And here is a list of all the things we lost/left behind

Me: travel coffee mug, despite writing my name on the bottom and retracing my steps and checking in with lost and found twice

Amelie: 2 whole beach towels left on the line on the last day

James: his swim test bracelet (fell off more than lost), his name tag (later found), his room key (more than once, always later found), multiple ponytail holders, a t-shirt and a pair of socks (which I picked up at lost and found on our way out), a pair of swim trunks (which flew off their drying place on our balcony to a balcony below - I retrieved them) 

Union Red

I took a picture of myself after work the other day. 

And then I noticed James was also wearing a red shirt, so with some cajoling I got him to be in the selfie with me. 

While I was wrangling James, Leah -- who was NOT wearing red -- took matters into her own hands, as she is wont to do, and ran upstairs and changed so that she could ALSO be in the photo. 

She chose Amelie's old flower girl dress & part of one of James's old Halloween costumes. 

Perfect!

Camp Wakonda

Amelie just got back from her first week at sleepaway camp! Here's her cabin - Eagle's Nest - on the last day: 

 

The camp posted LOTS of photos to their facebook page, and I stalked through them each night looking for Amelie.

She looks hot! 

One of her clinics was "outdoor cooking." I think they mostly made desserts, though. 

And then this one is a little bit like where's Waldo, but I spotted her: 

Between me, Sam, Nana Jana, Grandma Mary, & Papaw, we sent several letters and emails - they printed out the emails to give to them each day. One of my physical letters didn't make it there in time, so we'll see how long it takes to make it back to us return-to-sender. 

Here's what Amelie wrote to us: 

To Dad and Mom

My first day and a half have been fine. I think I can remember and know my cabin mates (Zoe is now writing this for me) My camp had a very action packed day. We got 2nd place in the blue rock hunt. It's been hard for me to get all my stuff when we go places. I went swimming three times today! My clinics were high ropes, swimming, and outdoor cooking. You might receive this after I get home. But I'm still going to write :) I miss you even if you (??) my sleeping meds and didn't give them to me for camp. I have been able to sleep thankfully. About my cabin mates, our counselor charity is very competitive. Zoe is energetic and a new friend. Zohan is friendly and the best burper. I get along with the rest of my cabin. Tonight we had a really big surprise, I saw a copperhead. Thankfully I didn't die. The camp directors killed it. Tomorrow we're going to sleep at the hammock village outside. Overall I am enjoying camp 

And then here are the photos Sam took. They ate in Buffalo, MO but didn't take a picture by the sign. 

He did take a picture of the camp sign, however. 

Drop off at the cabin: 

And pick up: 

She had a good time! James will go in a couple of weeks. 

Apiary Class

I signed Amelie up for beekeeping class on Wednesday  with the Columbia STEM alliance - they put out mini courses in the summer. Last year, she’d done the stream testing and clean up at Flat Branch Park and James has done the stop-motion lifecycle of a butterfly, both big hits. 

I was afraid it would be too hot to have fun, but it really wasn’t that bad in the morning, in the shade, out in the country. They had a great time and weren’t even too sweaty. I was comfortable reading my book for 3 hours. 

I’d last-minute (after the kids had gone to bed the night before) signed James up even though it was suggested for grades 6-8 since he was home from summer school. The teacher said it was OK and then another kid from his class was there, too.

They made beeswax candles, too. James is the one who ran over to get me so that I could see him all fixed up in his suit:

They made the Trib! 

 

AJR Concert

 This is Sam. I took the big kids to see AJR in concert in St Louis. We also stayed the night at a Holiday Inn that was an easy walk from the Hollywood Casino Amphitheater.

James was also excited about the opener (“Boy With Uke”)

James was a little skeptical about me taking pictures.

They sold all 7,000 reserved seats, and there were about 2,000 lawn tickets purchased.

Such a sweet picture of Amelie as AJR played!

We were mostly watching the jumbo screens, but we could at least catch a glimpse of the band from our seats.

James was very happy during the concert, and he clapped very loudly throughout.

Amelie drinking a water that looks deceptively like an adult beverage.

Our view of Jack (the “J” in AJR) on the jumbo screen.

Maplewood Barn Theater

Our old neighbor Anne stopped by to give Amelie a birthday present & see the new house & we all decided to check out the musical You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown at the Maplewood Barn Theater the next night. Except then we thought it might be too late for Leah, so just the big kids and I went. They had a ball! But it was very cold! I brought blankets. 

Lucy really knocked it out of the park. It was super fun!

There were cutouts of the Peanuts characters, but it was too dark at intermission to take a photo. They also did prize drawings at intermission and we won tickets to another show. 

First Day of Summer School!

The bus comes at the seemingly somewhat more reasonable hour of 7:10 for summer school this year, so James said he wanted to ride it (it was 6:50 during the regular school year so Sam would drop them off at school on his way into work). They were up and excited and ate breakfast this AM! Hopefully that continues!  

The stop is a kind of far from the house, though, and then the bus drives right by our front door! I'm going to call (er, fill out the online form) and see if they'll pick them up at the closer cross-street or the door if they continue to be the only kids at the stop. 

This is Leah's first time riding the big yellow bus & her first day at regular, full-day, big kid school! 

Edited to add 2 updates: I did remember to take a picture of them at the end of the first day - they're only slightly frazzled! Eating a snack & reading books on the couch: 

And also - James had a terrible attitude about summer school & we let him drop out after the first 3 days. There were 28 kids in his class! Many promises were made about the number of chores & activities he'd do at home instead. Leah's continuing on & having a good time, though. She informed me today that she had Trix cereal for "morning lunch" at school & so I deduced that she's been eating breakfast at home & then again when she gets to school - it's free still (due to COVID?) so I guess they don't ask too many questions & she somehow wound up in the cafeteria. 

Crazy Hair Day

(This post is pretty belated! From spirit week? or kindness week? sometime during the school year.)

I think James envisioned something like Stanley's hair for Crazy Hair Day at his elementary school this year:

But unfortunately, I was unable to make his vision come to life at 6:45am. Eventually after some argument, he settled on this style:

And then Sam snapped these pictures of what it looked like by the time he came home at the end of the day: 

LOL

Tween Birthday Interview

Birthday Interview

 Amelie is 12!

I forgot all about this until the day after her party. I told her to go upstairs and try to take a nap or get some rest since tomorrow is a school day and they were up so late at the sleepover & we also have plans tonight (to go see You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown at the Maplewood Barn with our old neighbor Ann). 

So I'll use this time to get the questions ready & maybe work on a post about the party!

She was slightly grumpy when she wandered back down from her nap right before supper, but she eventually got through the rest of the questions. 

1. How old are you? 12
2. What is your favorite color? Teal
3. What's your favorite possession? Probably my shade backpack buddy. That you made? Yeah. 
4. What is your favorite game or video game?  Hollow Night
5. What is your favorite song? What Else Can I Do? (We had bit of a "who's on first" moment here when I didn't realize "What else can I do?" was the title of a song.) 
6. Do you  have a favorite animal? An axolotl 
   
   
   
   
   
7. What is your favorite book? (this proved to be a very difficult question) What is the best book you've read recently? Flames of Hope. But like most books, it got me really mad at some points. It's also way sadder than other Wings of Fire books I feel like. 
8. What is your favorite movie? (same thing as with books - favorite of all time was too hard so I asked, what's the best movie that you've seen recently?) Encanto
9. What is your favorite TV show? Probably Steven Universe 
10. What is your favorite thing to eat? Dutch Baby Pancake 
    She made this video as part of an assignment for English class where they had to investigate a significant recipe.
    (We had to take brief interlude here so James could investigate how to do the Charlie Brown dance on Youtube)
11. Where is your favorite place to go? Or if you could go anywhere, where would you like to go? China
12. Who is your best friend? Kaitlin 
13. What is something you learned last year in the 6th grade? about the Indus River Valley civilization 
14. What is something you'll learn now that you're 12 (or next year in 7th grade)? I don't know
15. What is your favorite subject at school? Science
16. Who is your favorite teacher this year? Ms. Huggins (skills for success) & Ms. Schmidt (science) 
17. What is hard for you to do? Explaining things
18. What is your favorite thing to do? Reading 
19. What is your favorite thing to do with friends? Talk and be crazy
20. What do you like about Me (Mom)? You're probably the sensible one of the house
21. What do you like about Dad? He lets me do way more than Mom 
22. What do you like about James? I enjoy our talks
23. What do you like about Leah? She's cute when she's not asking me to play with her 
24. What do you like about yourself?  I know everything about Hollow Night
25. What do you want to be when you grow up? Something in the animal rescue to veterinarian area
26. Bonus: What was your favorite part of the party last night? The ice cream sundaes because it was just crazy hyper sugar

Here's the link to last year: 

https://babybuffaloe.blogspot.com/2021/05/amelies-birthday-interview.html

Cool Dude

 I wanted to take a picture of the outfit James picked the other Sunday. 

But he wanted to play basketball. 

He made this structure in church: 

Band Concert

 Amelie had her spring band concert, and I know this happens every year, but it was still kind of amazing how much the group had improved since first concert of the year! They did so well

Amelie plays the clarinet in the 6th grade band: 

It's possible she wanted me to stop taking photos here. Leah and I sat on the front row and Sam and James came in later and sat farther back. James had won the fun day teacher raffle, and the snacks and movie were scheduled after school on the same day as the concert. 

My phone ran out of space for videos during this one - and the songs got progressively more impressive after I was out of space!