Girl Scout Day Camp

For the past 4 years the girls and I have been participating in a local Girl Scout Day Camp. They are held throughout the city, the one by us is a local park that lets us come and take over for the week M-F from 9-2:30. When we got started I didn't realize that I would be right in the midst of it all but it has been a great time for all of us. This year was different because Paige was old enough to be a PA-program aide. Instead of attending for herself she is a youth leader with a unit and helping the girls in her unit with their activities. She chose to be with a Daisy unit-5-6 yr olds. It is always very hot but we try to keep cool with lots of water/ice which is what my job is. Lexi is already looking forward to when she gets to be a PA and she already has her camp name-cowgirl.



Each unit gets a EZ-up for some shade. The girls keep all their things in a 5 gallon bucket with a lid which is also their seat. We had 14 units with 10-14 girls in each unit.


Paige with her bucket with her camp name of Starburst on it. The PA's real names are a secret throughout the week and Fri. at skit time is when their names are revealed.

The girls participate in many camp activities rotating through them each day. Lexi was a bit hindered with the cast but still got in there and did what she could. Knots were frustrating with only one hand.

A favorite pasttime is snocones. Paige cooling off with the other PA in her unit and some of her girls.

Lexi at crafts.

The old schoolyard games are still the favorite. Red Rover was at the top this year

Paige helping one of her girls get her life jacket on. It didn't take long for Paige to realize how much work it was to get little ones ready and going in the right direction. A lesson for a future mother.

Paige was a bit apprehensive about being the one in charge on the canoe. Especially when the breeze picks up and makes it hard to get to where you want to be. She did great and got them all back to shore. This lake also has fishing and is open to the public so the girls had to be careful to stay out of fishing lines.

Lexi didn't really get to participate a lot in archery, obviously. The leader in charge was willing to help her pull the string as she aimed the bow. She made a bullseye-1st time. They get a special mark on their shirt showing their accomplishment.

My camp name is Ice Queen and this is why. Every morning we stop at Sam's Club and load up with ice before heading to camp. Usually about 16-20# bags. I take care of filling 5 gal jugs with ice water and keeping them filled around the camp throughout the day. I also do snocones in the afternoon. About 250 each day. This is lots of fun and the other mom and I have a great time. Anything to stay cool.

Joy and I working the sno cones. We had some PA's help this year, they quickly learned that it can be very messy also with the flavor juice not always squirting into the cup.

The last day of camp is wet and wild. We bring in inflatables with water and the girls wear their bathing suits. It's a fun wrap up to a awesome week. Paige and Lexi racing on the giant slip and slide inflatable.

After lunch it's time for skits/awards. Each unit does a skit-which usually involves water and dousing the director. Paige helped her girls and Lexi was one of those with the water.

We had a great time and are completely exhausted by the end of the week. Luckily there is a whole year before we do it again.

Cast #2

The day after school was out it was back to the Orthopedic to see how the arm was doing. The nurse said that the purple cast was off, then x-rays. Lexi loved the few moments of freedom, but they were short lived. It was time for another cast. Being the fashionista that she is, Lexi decided on light blue this time-it matched more of her clothes. Another bonus, a new slate for people to sign. So another couple of weeks and we'll see from there

School awards

With the end of the school year comes the "Celebrations of learning" . It was very weird to be down to one child's awards program. Lexi did awesome in 4th grade. She had a teacher that really helped her to develop her writing and could even go with her personality. We will miss Ms. McKiernan but as a parent I am so grateful for the hours of time and teaching that she put in. Teaching is truly a labor of love. Lexi received awards for all A's all year, excellent citizenship, 3rd place for the 4th grade in accelerated reader, choir participation, and the bluebonnet award. Way to go Lexi

Reagan is here

Reagan was finally ready to leave her momma the end of May. We brought her home the 28th of May. Ken is crate training her, she does okay if she is put in late enough and gotten out early enough. That is Ken's thing-I did 4 children. She has already chosen her favorite spots to crash out, but it's dependent on where the shade is. She will even go for the rocks. We got her a freezer bone that she can lick to stay cool. She loves attention and is already keeping the kids entertained. She just needs to learn to stay out of my flower beds.

Taylor waterskiing

Taylor has decided that he likes waterskiing, hmmm, I wonder where he got that from? He has only had a few times to really try but he is doing great on slalom. He cuts from side to side and can usually get up 1st time. We didn't take the wakeboard this time but it's a natural with his skateboarding background.

Memorial Day weekend

After all the arm drama we decided to do a quick trip to Nacogdoches for Memorial Day weekend. We hung out with my sister Amy and her family. On Monday we went to Lake Nacogdoches and enjoyed some water fun with their boat. It was nice to just have time to relax and enjoy the time together.

Paige and cousins on the tube. This is the first time Claire went on without a adult. She was having fun until the water got bumpy and then she was done.

Paige hanging with the cousins on the bow of the boat.

Lexi all bagged up so she could at least wade in the water. She was a bit frustrated that she couldn't go on the tube. She got in as far as the bag would allow.

Taylor and Harrison chilling together. It's funny that at such a young age Harrison is looking for the male bonding. Since there is so many girl cousins he looks to Taylor for comraderie. Even when he first woke up he was calling for Taylor.

Broken arm

Lexi and her big purple cast. She didn't realize that it would be so dark and was concerned that people couldn't write on it. Black Sharpies work just fine. And we got a smile out of her too.

Getting the cast on. She was not happy when the Dr. was molding the cast in the curve that he wanted the arm to heal in. This was probably the most painful part of the ordeal.

You can see that Lexi is not in pain with the broken arm. No tears here.

The night Lexi broke her arm was her choir concert. She had a solo for one of the songs and she was not going to miss her chance to perform. She did a great job and of course got lots of sympathy as well as praise for a beautiful performance.

On May 21st just as I was leaving the grocery store with a full cart of groceries I got a call from the school nurse-Lexi had fallen off the monkey bars at recess and thought she had broken her arm. I got to the school and they had Lexi's arm in a sling and with ice. she seemed to be able to move it around just fine, no tears or anything, but we decided to have a Dr. look at it. We went to the urgent care facility and the Dr. had her move the wrist, no problem, he bent the arm at the elbow, no problem. He was feeling the forearm and that's when she said it hurt. After a x-ray, it was confirmed that indeed the arm was broken. The Ulna between the elbow and wrist. The Dr. at the urgent put a splint on it and sent us on our way. I called our othopedic and they wanted to see the x-ray before scheduling a appt. When the orthopedic say the x-rays he said that it would need surgery and he wanted to see us on Fri. Fri was a mess and we ended up seeing him on Sat. He x-rayed the arm again and decided that she would not need surgery but that he would go ahead and cast it. It was a answer to many prayers. So Lexi now has a cast most of the way up her arm for 4-6 weeks. She couldn't finish her end of season softball tournament and is also out of swim team. The biggest bummer is just not being able to swim. This is our main form of entertainment during the summer. But she does get lots of attention and help with chores. I guess that's a trade off.