Max's Opinion of People

Max and I were talking about animals when we visited the store Outdoor World.  He was asking why animals become extinct.  I told him that some people treat the planet badly and that destroys the environment and homes of animals.  He thought about it for a minute and then said, "I care about the planet I think because I don't drink beer."

A few weeks later, I reminded him that he had said that.  All I was expecting was a yes or no answer from him.  He did say yes, but he also clarified, "People who drink beer are crazy and lazy."

I have no idea how he came up with this opinion.



This afternoon, Simone and I were talking about herbivores vs.  carnivores.  I informed her that there's also the classification of a pescavore for animals that eat only fish.  I then added the -tarian suffix to show her how to label humans and their chosen diet.  Then I asked her, "So knowing that, what do we call someone who eats meat?"  I became stumped because I realized that the word wouldn't be carnitarian.  Or would it?  I've been called a carnivore, but I haven't heard "carnitarian."

But Max came to the rescue and said, "Somone who eats meat is 'Fat and Lazy!'"

Summer Camp 2015

Michael thought it would be a great idea to send the kids to Summer Camp this year and I excitedly agreed.  Having the entire day to myself sounded glorious!  And getting the kids to practice more socialization was going to benefit them greatly.

Even after 8 years of parenting, we are still learning what it means to have kids.  I guess we would have learned this sooner if we were sending the kids to regular schools and I were working and having to find something for them to do during summer vacation.  As that is not our situation, my research brought up a startling surprise.  It is so expensive to send kids to summer camp!  Just for one week, you can spends hundreds of dollars having an organization teach / babysit each child for 7 hours.  If you plan ahead, you can enroll your kids in the more affordable military base-sponsored camps.  If we had thought of this back in Colombia, we might have gotten Simone and Max into some swimming camps, but we were only 1 month away from when we would send them.

Michael and I had envisioned sending them for a couple of weeks, but that had to be quickly reassessed.  For the same amount of money, we could have bought them airfare to their grandparents!  Since our goal was to get them to socialize, we pared down our expectations to one week and went to the YMCA 45 minutes away from where we lived.

Simone chose Beads, Baubles and Jewelry for her camp's focus.  Max chose soccer, but I had to enroll him in a camp that did more than just soccer.  I told him that "Pee Wee Sports" was going to teach him football, too, and thought he would have been excited to hear that.  See ... Michael had been throwing the ole pigskin around and Max had been catching and launching some excellent sprials for a kid his age.  But Max was not pleased that his camp was not going to be 7 hours of soccer.  I signed him up anyway.  The hope of time to myself burned too brightly to be dampered by his possible tantrum.

The first day of camp was so stressful.  Since I had not ventured farther away than a 20-mile radius since we arrived in D.C., I was imagining a horrendous traffic-filled morning.  My fears came true, but I had luckily alotted one hour to get to the Y.  After dropping them off, I enjoyed myself at Starbucks with a venti soy latte and free wi-fi internet!  I texted my mom and sister, "Freeeeedom!"

When I picked up the kids, they could not stop talking about how fun their day was.  At one point they paused to think more about their day.  We were still in the car so I decided to turn on the radio again.  Simone asked if I could turn it off so we could all talk about camp again!

One morning, it was so hard to wake them up

The next couple of days tired them out and more stories came up.  Simone talked about seeing the dance camp next to hers and how she and her camp mates tried to follow the routine.  Max learned how to play "Capture the Flag" and field hockey.  Each day they were exhausted.  In addition to the their regular camp, the kids got to visit the Y's swimming pool every other day.  They were getting their daily sun exposure for sure!

Midway through the week, however, they did not want to go to camp anymore.  They claimed it was boring.   Whaaaaa?   How could that be, I thought.  I asked if they were getting along with their fellow campers and nothing seemed awry.  They were just b - o - r - e - d.  Well I told them to stick it out and they did.  

On the final day, they "showcased" what they did.  

Jewelry for You!

Shy Max still joined in the fun.

I had a sushi camp of sorts that week because I had sushi for lunch everyday.  I'm the only one in the family that really likes raw fish and since Michael was gone almost the entire month of July, I took the opportunity to have my favorite food every meal I could.  One day I couldn't have it for lunch, but I did take the kids to a Japanese restaurant for dinner and still kept my streak.  

The kids are still shy and camp did not change their bashfulness, but I think they had fun.  I think we'll do it again next year, but I will be better prepared.  I will have my list of camps on an Excel spreadsheet by February 1 and will be ready to enroll them the first day possible!  I don't know what will interest them next year, but I have a feeling Simone will not want to do anything jewelry related.  Based on what Max does at the goal while waiting for the soccer ball to come, he might want to get into martial arts.   I wonder if I will go on another sushi binge.  Either way, it'll be fun.

IHOP musings

The kids and I went to IHOP one morning and gorged on pancakes.  After Max and I had finished, Simone was still working on her meal and found something interesting.  She asked us to look at her plate and said excitedly,

"Look what happens when I press my fork on my pancake!"

Lots of syrup oozed out and I thought we could talk about saturation.  I asked her,  "What do you think all that oozing tells you?"

She said, "It says, 'Yuummyy!"



Another time that we had dined at IHOP, Simone declared at the end of her meal, "I'm a 'teddy human!'"

I had no idea what she meant so I asked her to clarify.

She said, "I'm stuffed!  But I'm not a bear."

Overall Growth

The kids have grown in the past year, of course, but it was never more evident when they put on their overalls for the first time in year 2015.

The last picture we took of them with them on was 15 months prior when they were painting a boat on Dick and Nettie's Florida property.

Max's pants had to be folded and Simone's hem was just right.  

Now look at them!

Giants!!!

New Campground

It's fascinating how pavement can vastly improve one's mood.

We moved to a different campsite in July and the upgrade in the condition of the roads is amazing!  At our previous campsite, only the pads on which the RVs parked was paved.  Everything else was a gravel road.  It was fine enough for riding a bike -  in fact, this is where Max learned how to ride his bike - but forget about using one's scooter or roller skating.

Now at our new campsite, the kids can do all three sports!

This site also has so many more families with kids Simone and Max's age.  Unfortunately, our kids are so shy that it's difficult for them to play with the plethora of kids running around.  They say hello, but never approach the kids and ask to join in.

We're here for another month.  Hopefully they'll start getting used to the new kids.