Off At Camp

This week the kids have been at Camp! Here's some pics of my two having fun! Thanks, camp photographer!

We actually don't get them back until this afternoon, but I can tell from my notes from them and these pictures that they are having a great time. I think the most fun they've ever had at camp! 

Camp was a very big part of my life when I was growing up, and I am so glad we can let our kids have this experience. 

M was initially very mad at me because this year, I made the decision that they were not going to camp with their friends. In fact, last week there were 5 of her friends in the exact same cabin she is in this week. But part of the magic of camp is figuring out who you are without the preconceived notions of your friends from home. This was her 4th year going to camp. We did a short 2-night, with friends at our practice camp, then 2 years at this camp to get the lay of the land. She was ready for her own experience. 

And she really did have a good time. This was her Wednesday note, where per the multiple-choice questions I asked, she indicated that camp was more fun than last year. 

If you want the rest of the translated answers:

• The salad bar (she is my picky eater but actually loves a salad) was good. 
• Something other than canoeing, sleeping, and capture the flag has been her favorite activity.
• She has been to the art yurt (her favorite space) So many times. 

I can't wait to hear more but I am so thankful for them to have had time with new friends, nature, and Jesus this week. 

As we waited to drop them off we listened to a summer camp classic. Yes my car screen is dusty. I swear I dust it multiple times a week and it doesn't seem to matter! 

I am excited to see them and thrilled that the week, from what we can glean from some notes and pictures, was a success! 

All the Summer Things I Haven't Shared.

So in between and before VBS/Dino Digs/Indianapolis/Totus Tuus, there were other things our family did. Here's a little recap from June until now!

Our kids were in Camp rock the Musical. C was a Camp Star-er. M was a Camp Rocker. 

And friends came to see the show, and it was really great. 

I went to a string art class with my mom! We had a nice time, though I am really bad at pounding nails. 

M had her follow-up echo. I think she is good. The doctor would like to run some different kinds of tests to check on some other things, but we decided to hold off for a while since we aren't worried. 

I went out with my friend and ordered the jumbo margarita that was on special. It was massive. And I couldn't finish. BUT they had to go containers that factory seal so I brought most of it home to Husband which worked out incredibly well!

We literally never go to Wal-Mart but decided to go on a family adventure to Wal-Mart but like a small town little Wal-Mart, and it was quite delightful, actually. It was very much empty and we just browsed. 

4th of July was the most low-key. In the best way. 

We had red, white, and blue Jello. We had our traditional glow stick fireworks on TV party. 

It was delightful. 

This past few days the kids went to my parent's. 

Husband and I went to see a show. 

3 of my cousin's kids stopped over to visit. They live in North Carolina so don't get to MN often. 

C is the baby baby in this picture. And the blonde kid is another cousin's son who wasn't at my parents and obviously M wasn't born when this pic was taken. But still. 

C went on a fishing trip with my dad. 

M got to go to iHop with my mom. 

Husband and I went to a card-making class, and it was fun!

M also got to go to a fishing pier with my dad. She didn't catch anything, though. 

And today is a normal day, and we're all at home together. But that's the other update on what we've been up to this summer that I haven't already written about. 

A Totus Tuus Recap

Last week was Totus Tuus. 

And that's all I care to say about that. 😂

No, I will tell you a little bit more. 

The night program was delightfully easier than I anticipated. We averaged 50ish kids a night. 

The day program was exponentially more difficult than I anticipated. We were about 60ish kids every day. 

I had never experienced a Totus Tuus before. Sure, I've heard the name of the program plenty. And I can see the merits of the program to be sure. 

But... are they allergic to fun in Wichita? Have they met children? Because the material is great! Who wouldn't want their kids to learn about the Joyful Mysteries of the rosary and the sacraments? (The themes of this year. They rotate annually. But they're all good.) 

But there were zero elements of fun or hands-on activities in the "Power Learning Sessions." And so many of them could have really greatly benefited from something or anything. Also, I am pretty salty that I printed Sacrament books and brought supplies for all the kids, and the missionaries never used them! 

Don't these kids look bored? Faith learning doesn't need to be boring! (It's not the deep dive into theology I disagree with, it's the 40-minute lectures for 10-year-olds I disagree with.)

Yet, overwhelmingly, we got positive feedback. Parents and kids loved it! I think it was more the skits and the other stuff they loved though.

But I worked a 53-hour week, and I do not think the juice was worth the squeeze. I would be hard pressed to run a Totus Tuus ever again. 

Also, to be fair, this was a diocesan initiative, and we were meant to work together with many other parishes in the area. And it basically tuned into me and one other person doing it all. That added an element of stress that I couldn't have foreseen. 

If it had been just at my own parish with just some of my parish kiddos, it would have been entirely different, I am sure. I am not far enough away from the week to think back fondly yet. But I am relieved it's over and that we tried it. 

The Real VBS Recap

I'm not going to sugarcoat it for you here. VBS was hard. The hardest one I've ever had. This was not my first rodeo. For my own sake, here are all my previous rodeos:

• 2017 Maker Fun Factory: Crew Leader
• 2018 Shipwrecked: Sing and Play
• 2019 Roar: Sing and Play
• 2021 Rocky Railway: Sing and Play
• 2022 Monumental: Director
• 2023 Stellar: Director
• 2024 Scuba: Director

Bringing me to 2025 True North: Director. 

So it could have been a "been there, done that" sort of thing. And it was not. 

I have never struggled so hard to get volunteers. And then once I got volunteers, it was a problem to get them there every day. There was a huge volunteer puzzle to solve. For example: Susan can be there M, T, and F, and Erica can be there T, W, Th. So together they were one person doing one job. 

But not isolated. There was so so much of it. 

To top that, we were at full capacity of 150 kids. 100 elementary students going into 1st- 5th grades and 50 preschool participants going into 4-year-old PK to Kindergarten. And I had a massive waitlist of over 40 kids. 

But we persevered. And the theme of True North is Trust Jesus, so I did, and it all worked out. Did it work out as I planned? (No. Though I gotta tell you my plan was pretty good and involved volunteers who showed up on time and every day so while that makes God laugh, I still think it might've been nice.) 

The week felt long. With Husband gone and unable to talk it was very much like being on my own VBS island. It was weird. I was surrounded by people. Nice people, some of them I even love, and I felt very alone. 

Here's what I can say: I have for sure perfected the car line drop-off and pick-up. The week truly, overall went well. Trusting in Jesus really worked out. It always does. But it doesn't change the fact that this was a really stressful year. 

That One Time When Husband Dug Up A Dinosaur

So while the kids and I were off at VBS. (More on that soon.) Husband went to the actual middle of nowhere Wyoming to dig up a triceratops. 

Yes. You read that correctly. He went to dig up a triceratops. A real one. 

Like Cera. But a lot deader than this. 

Cliff Notes version: His museum is going to have a triceratops skeleton. But in order to get that skeleton they have to first dig it out of the ground over a series of trips. He got to go with to document and do some digging. 

It was the worst possible week for this to happen but seriously. How could we NOT send him to a dinosaur dig? Who does that?!

So on Sunday we dropped him off at work. And the rest of the crew. 

Then we watched them drive away to Wyoming. 

The town closest to where they were was Lusk, Wy. Then they camped 50 minutes from there. And the dig site was 15 minutes from the camp. There was no cell service so we went days and days without hearing from him. Which was not my favorite. 

This is where he slept. 

This is the rib bone he uncovered. He's very proud of this rib bone!

Please note his VBS shirt because even being far away he supports me on VBS shirt day! And somehow I got a message from him that morning and I really needed it. Turns out, I am really into talking to him every day! 

This was the picture he sent me. He was excited. 

He flew to Indianapolis to meet us and came bearing gifts. 

I am not entirely sure what we will do with a bag of dinosaur bone fragments (these are not from the triceratops) but they live at our house now. 

He had the experience of a lifetime, and it sounded... horrible to me. I am glad he went alone! 

But I am also glad that he went and that they were safe. At some point in the next few years, I can't wait to show you the whole Triceratops! It will be the only complete dinosaur in Iowa!