Monthly Archives: July 2020

We’re cramming in all the fun we can in our last few days. After a busy morning with Mary, we all headed to the pizza truck for our final pizza picnic of the month! I cannot repeat enough times how AMAZING the pizza is. We also got a s’mores pizza and blueberry dessert pizza. I think for the rest of forever, when I ask Augustus what kind of pizza he wants, he will say, “marshmallow” so in some ways, the pizza truck has spoiled us.

After lunch, we returned to camp and went right to the beach for swimming and jumping off the boat- really the highlight of nearly every day this month.

When we finished swimming, the boys were exhausted. They hung out with Mary and played while I prepped dinner.

After dinner, we had a fabulous cake that Meghan baked.

It was a good day. The boys were also exhausted by dinner and both had several meltdowns. By bath time, I didn’t recognize either child as they were both so crabby and tired. Both we asleep in bed before 7pm. There has been so many good, fun, wonderful parts of the summer, but it’s also been so exhausting and really hard. We are very ready to go home and get back to normal. Tomorrow is our last full day!! Nate is coming and we’re getting ready to pack.

Mary is teaching X cards. This morning he sorted them into piles by card. I was impressed he could identify all of the numbers.

When the weather is ridiculously hot or freezing cold, it’s such a bummer. Because often during the summer, the weather at camp is PERFECT. Sunny and warm, breezy, not humid- it feels like paradise. It’s been like that for several days and it is just so wonderful.

loving the toads this summer

The boys were busy with Mary today while I worked. One small project is painting the annual staff square. I can’t believe there’s just 3 squares left. When we painted the grid, it seemed like a million years before it would be filled. Now I’m trying to figure out which wall we can put the next grid on.

Our next volunteer arrived today. It’s been fun to have new people arrive every few days, because if I’m feeling tired or unmotivated, as soon as someone new shows up with new skills and full energy, I’m back to feeling excited about projects. Amanda was on lead staff a few years ago and she’s amazing, so I’m excited to see what she can help us do in the next few days! 

We worked, but still had time for a group swim before dinner. I am so grateful that the boys have so many people who will entertain them and throw them up in the water and goof around with them. It’s really nice to have such a fabulous group here.

best brothers.

After swimming, we had dinner and hopefully the boys have an early bedtime tonight because I am tired, so they must be too! 

It was tie dye day at camp today! This is the best crew I could have ever imagined for this insane, weird, crazy month of camp.

Xander asks about going home all the time (even though he can tell you exactly how many days we have left) but he is going to miss Mary so much. He eats the exact same thing she eats, he is currently trying to go to sleep on a perfectly made bed because that’s how Mary’s bed is. When Mary got up to go 10 feet down the hall to use the bathroom today, Xander said, “I’ll go with you and wait at the door.” They didn’t even want to take rest time today because they didn’t want to be apart from Mary. She’s going to need a vacation at the end of this week for sure! I’m so glad she could be here with us this month. She was supposed to be working at Disney and I’m sad for her that her plans were messed up, but I am so happy she is here.

Mary uses a clothespin so X can hold his cards.

We continue to put the boys to work around camp. They love being involved in the random projects they see us doing. It’s something new every day!

On a different note, I riled up some lake association people today with a facebook post about needing to save CYC. People like having camp here because it keeps the whole peninsula quiet and we are gone 9 months a year. I can’t imagine what this area would look like if our property was sold off to developers. Well, it turns out the neighbors can definitely imagine what it would be like and they were up in arms. I got $1000 in donations within a few hours and spoke to Lynn, a 70 year old neighbor who is prepared to whip the “who’s whos” of the lake into a frenzy too. She dropped a few names during our phone call and I hope she can work some magic. I didn’t expect to get such a big reaction and I am wishing I would have started bugging everyone earlier in the month. I’m not quite ready for our time at camp to be over!

I still have the rest of the week and so I’m hopeful that we raise some more money tomorrow!

Another gorgeous, breezy, sunny day at camp. The boys and Mary went swimming today and the water was super warm. I should have planned my day better because now that it’s almost bedtime, I am wishing I’d gotten to swim today too!

For me, it was more walks up pole barn hill today. More getting dusty and dirty. I’m so so tired.

Despite playing with Mary all day, Xander still asked me every time he saw me, “can we still play with Mary?” We’re going to miss her when we get home!

“Cheers” to root beer floats and best friends

One of their favorite past times- just hanging out (literally hanging)

It was sort of a low key Sunday today. Nate and the boys played all morning as Meghan, Sean and I had another garage sale to raise more money for camp. I can’t believe how much junk people are interested in buying, but we’re getting much needed cash and cleaning out every corner of camp, so it’s a win win!

After the garage sale and lunch, the boys and I went into town for ice cream. Dairy Queen is next to a bird enclosure that has geese, swans and emus.

When we got back to camp, they were stuck with me all afternoon. The boys played and eventually, after Xander “checked on” Mary for about the 5th time (just to make sure she was ok… I didn’t say to him, it’s her day off, of course she’s ok relaxing), she took over playing, which made them very happy.

We have more volunteers arriving on Wednesday, but we were back to our core group for dinner. We pretty much sit down to dinner as a family every night. I don’t make everyone else take 2 or 4 bites (depending on their age), but we all eat together and it’s great.

As I am typing this, Xander came over to look at the photo and said, “Mary looks good”

It was perfect sunny, breezy, gorgeous weather today, but not quite swimming weather. After dinner we hung out, Augustus practiced driving, Xander rode his bike a little, and then it was time for bath, ipads and bed. A great start to our last week at camp! The month has FLOWN by!!

We woke up to crashing thunder. There wasn’t much rain, but it was “balmy” according to Nate.

This morning, Nate and I had a good conversation about our house projects, daycare and the fall overall. It’s been a whirlwind month and every weekend is busy with volunteers, and I felt like we hadn’t talked in a month! It was so good to catch up with my husband! But while we were talking, I was feeling a little stressed and worried that I should be with the volunteers, or at least checking in. Once we finished our conversation, I went to check in with Meghan and Sean and then I felt stressed that I should be with my family. That’s a good summary of how I’ve felt all month long and why working weekends is not a sustainable lifestyle. It’s just a constant pull and while I am enjoying our time at camp, I am also looking forward to the end of the month!

After lunch, everyone headed to the beach to cool down as we were all already sweaty for the day. The pontoon is not made for tubing, but we went really slow and I think it was fine. Xander would have liked to have gone faster as he is turning into a daredevil!

When we finished tubing, Meghan, the volunteers and I headed to the pole barn to gather more items to sell. There were some giant logs that are super cool, but also super heavy. We managed to create a pulley system and get them down with zero incidents! It was hot, heavy, dirty work and by the time we were done, I was a mess.

I rinsed off in the shower and then cooked dinner for our crew. After dinner, we headed back to the beach for our nightly boat jumping.

I’m a self-described crazy dog lady. My first 2 dogs were my babies. I spent so much money on them and my life revolved around them. When I had children, my perspective shifted slightly, but I still loved them.

I was very excited to welcome Axel into our family 2 months ago. He was (almost) perfect- well behaved, calm, easy going, potty trained, didn’t chew things up. He didn’t even shed that much.

We were very cautious at the beginning, since he was new to us, but he was very patient with our kids. Even the few times they tripped on him or ran around like crazy kids, he seemed relaxed, unbothered.

He adjusted to camp quickly and I was just starting to think how great he was fitting into our family and how happy I was that we found him. I was imagining our cute family of 5 family photos for the fall, Christmas pictures… I was thinking how good the boys were being both helping out feeding him and being gentle around him. They were learning responsibility and really enjoying him.

And then on Monday, he tried to bite Augustus for no reason. Nate was right there. He left a mark, but we weren’t sure if he had bumped him or actually bit him. We were both on edge and watching the dog closely after that. So after lunch, when Nate took the boys back to the camper, he was watching closely. When Augustus walked by Axel, Axel crouched like a tiger and pounced, knocking Augustus down and biting him in the face.

Augustus is fine. He had a cut under his chin, on his face and a tooth mark in his forehead. It could have been so much worse. Every time I have closed my eyes in the last few days, I imagine how much worse it could have been. The “what ifs” have been terrifying. How many times in the last 2 months have the three of them been playing on the floor while I was in the other room- our house is small, but I wouldn’t have been in arms reach like Nate was.

Nate was on his way home for the week and so he took Axel so we could figure out what to do. I googled dog bites until midnight and I don’t recommend that- the images are HORRIBLE. I emailed everyone I know who knows about dogs- a vet tech, a professional dog trainer, a woman who rescues english bulldogs. In the morning I called animal control to ask their advice. 3/4 strongly recommended putting him to sleep because face bites are serious. They also said we could re-home him if we were clear with whoever took him about his history.

I am a dog lover but I really wasn’t sure what the most responsible thing to do was. He bit Augustus unprovoked, with no warning, out of the blue. That’s TERRIFYING. Is he safe to be around anyone if he’s so unpredictable?

I posted on an english bulldog facebook group and was very clear about why we were getting rid of him. I was surprised at how many people didn’t seem concerned about the fact that he’d been aggressive in his last home to dogs, and that he’d bit a kid unprovoked. The woman we got him from was a whole other source of drama in this. She couldn’t take him back but she was pretty hysterical about the possibility of him being put to sleep. My phone conversations with her (including the one where she screamed at me and hung up on me) as well as her text messages turned into play by play updates for Nate, Christine, Meghan, Sean and Mary. I kept wanting to respond to the crazy facebook people- HE BIT MY CHILD IN THE FACE! Get some perspective people- and that is coming from a crazy dog lady. I love dogs. But my goodness, it could have been so bad. I feel guilty and sick to my stomach that one of my kids could have been hurt. And I’m afraid someone else will get hurt.

We ended up finding a couple who had bulldogs in the past, don’t have kids, don’t have dogs, who were very excited about taking him. I’m still not sure it was the most responsible choice- I really hope he doesn’t bite them or anyone around them. I spoke with them for almost an hour, Nate spoke with them and I followed up with a written account of every detail I could think of from his history, to what his last owner said to our experiences. They have been warned. They met Axel and took him home on Friday. They were very excited and sent me photos later in the day. I wish everyone the best.

Xander cried and was very sad when he found out Axel wasn’t coming back. Augustus is fine- he doesn’t seem phased by any of it- the bite or Axel being gone. I think I’m the most traumatized one- I keep thinking about my baby getting bit and how much worse it could have been. I would never have forgiven myself if he’d been really hurt.

So now we are back to a family of 4. Xander said he wants a puppy, but I need to recover (I literally can’t stop thinking of my baby getting hurt).

What a whirlwind day! I barely took any pictures, so you know I was busy!

Today was camp’s Day of Giving. We pre-recorded several videos and then we went live on facebook about 5 times. We weren’t sure how much we could raise in a day, but we just closed out the day with $8700!

My mom was here this morning and the boys were thrilled to have her here. One of the facebook live videos was of Meghan and Sean jumping off the pontoon into the cold lake (it was about 68 degree outside this morning). Xander and Augustus went with us and didn’t jump off the boat (which is good because I think the cold water would have been too shocking), but did run into the water and swim for a few minutes.

The rest of the day the boys played with my mom and then Mary. I ran around filming videos and refreshing my email to see if we had more donations. I also sold some more items on facebook, so in the midst of the live recordings, I had to stop to meet with people who were there to buy our junk.

There was a zoom call for preschool at 6pm, so I was hurrying through dinner, hoping to be done in time. Both boys ate well and then at the end of dinner, Augustus climbed under the table and managed to smash his lip into the table.

I’ve done a lot of first aid, but I have never seen blood POUR like that. He and I were both covered. The flood was a murder scene. I threw away 3 blood soaked dishtowels at the end. He has a very fat lip but is fine. He already has a beat up face from earlier in the week, so he’s looking sort of rough. It was an added layer of chaos to an already crazy day.

But the day is finally over and we raised more money than I’d expected. We have just one more week at camp for the summer and it’s starting to feel bittersweet. I’m looking forward to being home again, but also sad to leave the woods.

It was a good day. A crazy day. But a good day!

Fundraising team!

A snuggly start to the day

Today Grandma Debbie came to camp! She arrived a little before lunch and the boys were bouncing around all morning in anticipation.

They were very excited to show her all around camp at the things we’ve been working on and their favorite places to play this summer.

Like always, she was able to play and clean at the same time, this time getting Xander working on dishes.

Later in the afternoon, the boys both tie dyed tee shirts.

After dinner, we had ice cream cones and then made a campfire and roasted marshmallows. We are going to have to do a sugar detox when we get home from camp, but it’s fine for now. 

I was busy all day getting ready for our fundraiser and I am hopeful tomorrow is a success. There is a LOT going on tomorrow- the fundraiser, a pre-school zoom call, people coming to buy some of our junk… it’s going to be a bit hectic, but it should be good.