Sept 2 2006

Well, to celebrate the first few days of school, and also the end of summer, the kids and I spent the night at camp last night. This is the first time we've done it this summer...we originally planned to stay a full week up there, but it never happened, and we never even got around to an overnight until last night. The kids were really excited that we were doing it (I hadn't asked them, just announced after they got home that they needed to pack up, we were going).

Mark parked himself on the futon downstairs in the "big camp" (the main building) and pretty much didn't move from there the entire time. He read a couple of books (he reads fast, just like his momma), and that's where he slept, too. Kira and I slept upstairs in the big bed.

Unexpectedly, last night someone a few houses down from camp did fireworks. That was kinda cool, although I didn't actually get to *see* any of them. By the time we worked our way in the dark (with flashlights) down to the dock to look, there would be a long enough lull that we figured they were all done, so we'd walk back up to the camp....then they'd start again. So we'd work our way down to the dock and they'd stop. We did that several times before I finally gave up. But it was fun to hear them.

We also heard lots of woods noises that I missed this summer. An owl spent about a half-hour hooting repeatedly. Several loons were calling back and forth to each other in the dark. Crickets, of course, thousands of crickets, but we hear those at home, too. And some screeching noise that I have *no* idea what it was, but I'm kinda glad we were inside when it was going by. It sounded almost like fingernails on a chalkboard, but an alive sound to it. It sounded three or four times over the course of several minutes, progressing past the building and eventually fading away. I need to remember to ask my dad what that could have been.

Kira only needed one escorted trip out to the outhouse, which was good. She slept like a little rock through the whole night. Mark read a little late, but then he dropped off, too. I stayed awake most of the night, probably because I'd had two Mountain Dews and I'm very sensitive to caffeine. (you'd think I'd learn by now, wouldn't you?)

This morning was cold, in the 50s. I eventually made a speed run back to the house for jeans, socks and sneakers. (it was warmer at my house, only three miles away. weird) Kira actually went swimming....TWICE. And biking up and down the camp road. And for a couple of walks. She was definitely the lively one of the three of us.

So now I'm sipping on a Smirnoff Ice and getting ready to go to bed. I'm all showered and in some comfy pj's, the kids are off with their dad. I'm in the middle of a book about King Arthur (love books about King Arthur....and Robin Hood), and I'll probably read some more before I go to sleep. It was slow going to get into this particular book, but now I'm hooked.

OK, off to cuddle up under the covers and see what happens next. Derfel is currently barricaded in the fortress at Mynydd Baddon with less than 300 men against the entire Saxon army (some 2500+ men), who have been tricked somehow into believing Arthur is there (to Derfel's dismay). This should be interesting.