Art Camp and Theater Camp

Fine Arts Institute

Once again, we decided to try something new. No only to see if the kids were interested, but I needed child care as well! 

When Zane was at Art Camp, Avery went to GG's to have some girl time!

Zane got more excited about his work than I had imagined. He's so chill that he is rarely impressed with anything. I think he did amazing and enjoyed listening about every single piece!! I love the chalk moon and earth that we "have to be VERY careful with," but he was most proud of his "Really REAL looking" cup he drew! It looks real. If you missed that.

I guess I didn't get a picture of the clay bowl he painted, but I love the accordion book with characters hanging down with string!

Avery went to Theater Camp when Zane went to GG's for some sister-free time!!

She liked this camp a little too much I'm afraid. They had many different classes like improve, stage makeup, doing tricks (balloon animals and magic tricks), etc.

Her favorite was memorizing lines and acting them out. She did great remembering it all and it was fun watching! These kinds of productions are on my level and what I can handle! Unfortunately, I think her dreams are set higher where the waters are unchartered...and filled with alligators....

The kids loved these camps but I think it was more expensive than I prefer. I've already forgotten how much...and that's probably a good thing.

July Happened

Softball is finished! 

Like every year, at least three games and most practices get cancelled because of the weather. I think we might have to switch to EASI when the weather is a little nicer.

 Avery made it to first base almost every time and Zane did a great job catching! It was a very fun season to watch!!

For the 4th, we went to my parents and rode around in the back of PaPa's truck to see several different firework shows. They live out in the country and at one point there were three different shows on both sides of the road!! The weather was perfect. We'll definitely have to do that again.

Apparently we forgot to take any festive pictures except these beauties aunt Brittany painted...

This summer I have worked pretty much full time, so play dates were much less in number. However, the few we had were so much fun!!

I had another birthday. Here's to the last year in my 20's!!

When you put these three together, it's always entertaining! On a side note, my left butt cheek is still sore from bowling this past Saturday. Ouch!!

 I had the kids go to a 2 week program at a local elementary school. It was less expensive than paying a babysitter and it included breakfast and lunch and kids and activities. Pretty perfect in my book!! There were several different classes available but we chose "Kid's Just Want To Have Fun"

This is some of the things the kiddo's made in that two weeks!! One week was Ocean Theme and the other was Rainbow Theme. They made a shark t-shirt and also a Sharpie tie dye shirt. Great program!

I got tickets to Toby Keith's Tornado Relief concert. It was tortuously hot. I was thinking it would be from 3-6, so when a friend wanted me to paint at 6:30, I agreed! However, it started at 4 and I only got to see Garth and Trisha before I had to leave! Good thing I like the person I painted with... ;-)

To be continued...

Tried Something New

 Tennis Camp

Summer is the best time to try new things. If they hate it, they aren't stuck doing it for 8 long weeks. Last summer, Avery tried golf. She hated it. This summer, we thought we would try tennis. 

 I'm not sure it was super fun to them (it was a lot of learning the different ways you stand/swing), but at least they didn't hate it!

 Zane kept getting confused with lifting his front elbow instead of his back. However, he looks cute when he is concentrating!

 Avery actually caught on quickly and may have enjoyed it. It's not really a sport that brings a lot of enthusiasm with it, so it's hard to tell the difference between being totally bored and being a good tennis player!

  Zane thought correct form was completely overrated and figured he could get away with just pretending it was a baseball. He didn't really care about getting it over the net or lobbing it to a teammate. Forget about trying to be perfect, just swing as hard as you can and call it good!

We might actually do this again next summer. In the meantime we definitely should dust off our garage sale racquets and play tennis as a family sometime. If for no other reason than to ensure my arms don't become flabby, it will be worth it. 

OC Baseball Camp

The kids have enjoyed softball the past few summers, so I asked if they would like to try this camp. I have to work part time, so I thought it would work out well for all of us! 

It didn't quite turn out as planned. Avery turned out to be the only girl (after we were told there was others) and that is apparently a BIG DEAL.

After the first day, she cried the whole time saying it was hot, horrible, it wouldn't get better, she would hate it every single day, and she was NEVER going back. I just let her vent while I sounded empathetic.

The next morning she pretended to sleep in thinking surely I wouldn't make her wake up and endure such torture again. I did.

The coaches were great at encouraging her, pointing out her strengths, and making her feel like she was just as good as the boys!

She ended up having a great time. Of course, she couldn't admit it, but I could see and hear the confidence and excitement grow each day!

Her favorite was batting and she's pretty good at hitting it about every time. She ended up getting two awards and winning some baseball cards. She enjoyed rubbing that in Zane's face, but he recovered by buying (with his money) a Thunder plaque. I wish I knew how to slip this girl some emotional Xanax when it comes to being in situations where she feels inferior. She's naturally good at sports, but very self-conscious and self-critical. We'll have to work on that. 

Zane on the other hand has never been one to take things seriously.

If there is a race, he doesn't mind prancing and coming in last.

 He is more about the socializing, but I was able to capture a few shots of him in action!



He is cool and confident with wearing the same pair of pants everyday but is a tad sensitive when people call him a girl.

I'm pretty sure this kid would be fine with never playing sports, but I love how he is so laid back and will try pretty much anything.

Camp Kesem!!!

 Kesem means “magic” in Hebrew and their goal is to bring magic to families that need it.

Monday at drop off the kids were very nervous and not happy about us signing them up. It's the first time they will have stayed somewhere where they didn't know a single person. However, the minute we got there, super pepped up and excited OU students came and told us all about the camp and showed us around. The kids immediately forgot I was there! Here they are making name tags. Everyone had a nickname and if they called someone by their real name, they would have to kiss a tree. Meet J-Lo and Mario... 

 This is a free camp for kids 6-16 years who have a parent who has had or is going through cancer. Several states have this camp, but this is Oklahoma's first year. Livestrong funds the camp and OU students help run it along with a couple national directors. The ratio of kids to counselor doesn't exceed 3:1, but they actually had more counselors than kiddos this year!

Before camp, there was an online questionnaire I had to fill out that was all about how the kids are doing and how they cope. The kids also had to fill out a two page questionnaire...

Apparently, Zane is worried he might get a swirly at camp! Ha. The staff are trained in counseling, grief and mourning, communication, anger management, etc.

Click here to learn about this camp!

 I was super excited to see them Friday during the family picnic lunch to hear all about it! The counselors and kids all seemed to have had a great time! As soon as we got there, we heard how awesome of a dancer Avery was and how funny and sweet Zane was. So glad they loved it and didn't have any problems!!!

 I will be sent a link of all the pictures they took, but I have heard they tie dyed, did paintball, paddle boats, swam, had a dance party, archery, made pillow cases, friendship bracelets/necklaces, talent show, made boats, and went fishing. They also came back with a lot of silly camp songs and hand-shakes!

 This is Squirt, Tiana, JuJu Bean, and Tiger Lily (above) and Swerve (below)!

There was 5 girls and 3 boys that showed and there were 7 female staff and 2 male staff! They are hoping it will continue to grow each year! 

When asking the kids what their least favorite part was, they both said "Cabin Chats!!" Before bed, they sit in a circle and take turns talking about anything on their mind- from thoughts on their day at camp to their experiences at home. When I asked why they didn't like it, Avery said "almost everyone cried during it!" I asked them what they talked about and Zane just kept saying "stuff" or "a lot of things" and Avery started crying a little saying "they asked about how I felt about daddy and I would say I dunno and they would say it's ok, you can talk about it, and I would get sad because I didn't want to..." So, apparently, these are indeed my children...maybe this whole "cabin chats" concept needs to make it's way into our home!! 

 We absolutely LOVED this camp!! They will have two little afternoon reunions during the year, and will be back next summer! If you know any kids that would be eligible to go to this camp, look into it and share the news!!