Week One of Summer Vacation

It was a whirlwind week here, coming off of a whirlwind weekend, coming off of a whirlwind month (are you seeing the pattern?). I realized last night I never mailed the Father's Day cards I bought 2 weeks ago. But, I believe our last week was well spent.

Back in April I applied to our school foundation for a grant to develop a summer enrichment program. It was approved and after much planning and recruiting we just finished 2 of the 4 camps, Olympic Sports and Art Around the World. Things wouldn't have been quite so chaotic except that I actually taught the art camp and purchased all the supplies. Overall things went well, but with any pilot program you see the opportunity to make improvements. One of those would be to make it 4 days instead of 5. Yesterday everyone was wild and we were running out of things to do! The other change I would make is to give the volunteers more than a $15 thank you gift card. These people worked their tails off getting their camps ready and actually running them. Trust me, I found this out with the art camp! Next year, I need to plan on giving them at least $50. If there is a next year....it is sucking up our precious summer vacation! We were at school everyday this week from 8:30 am to 3:30 pm and then running errands to purchase supplies and snacks in between. I realized that was what a full-time job feels like only I didn't actually make any money! What I did see though was well worth the effort. The kids had a blast and they learned a lot. They really are like little sponges.

This coming week we are helping at our church VBS and of course, I'm already stressing out about the gas we will use to drive an hour round trip each day. I almost called the coordinator to say we couldn't come when I opened up our credit cards bills this month. Ugh. I have to keep reminding myself that God has it all under control and that being home with the girls this summer is more important then money. I'll never get to spend the summer with them again when they are 12, 8, and 6.

Here are some pics from our summer camps at school. We actually made a recipe (Sweet Sushi) from Family Fun magazine and submitted a letter and pictures for inclusion in a future issue.


This was the "gold medal" that #2 won on the first day:


After the torch lighting ceremony there was a parade of the countries in the Olympics:


We made our own pinatas in art and I almost wondered if I was out of mind for trying this. But, the kids really liked it:


One day in art we discussed France and Marie Antoinette so #1 decided they should put their hair up:
The week after VBS we start Camp-Scrap-a-Lotta and Science Camp - Survivor Edition. Thankfully, I'm not planning any of those! I just show up to make sure the leaders have everything they need and I'll do some occasional crowd control! And, I have to submit receipts and a final analysis to the school district. That should give me something to do that week!

In July, our "real" summer vacation starts!