Kandersteg

This year our Stake decided to go all out for Boy Scout camp and go to the Kandersteg International Scout center in Switzerland, which is one of the two first Scout camps originally set up by Lord Robert Baden-Powell in the 1920's.  It is set in a small, traditional Swiss village at the foot of the Alps.

Even though it cost us an arm and a leg, I encouraged Joe to go with Joseph and help chaperone, because last year Joe took a week of leave so I could go with Cora to girl's camp, and I wanted him to have that same quality time with Joseph.

Like I said, it was expensive - like paying for any name-brand, high end product.  This is hard to swallow when you'd rather shop at D.I.  But it really was an amazing place, and they had a great time there.  Here are some of the pictures they came back with.

Driving and first arriving at camp, surrounded by gorgeous mountains/views.

 Everybody hanging around camp.

 Our stake boys and leaders left on a Saturday, and were given special permission to hold a sacrament meeting.  Everyone else arrived on Monday.

 There were lots of hikes to lakes and waterfalls.

 Great views of the town and camp from up above.

Even just walking into town was beautiful, and I love the unique architecture in Switzerland.

In Kandersteg there were a lot of cows.

A lot of fresh water springs.

And look, it's edelweiss!

Here's something you might not find every day - a meat vending machine outside a butcher's shop. Not the greatest picture, but yes, that raw meat.

Now, the first two days they had were sunny and warm and beautiful, but that didn't last.  The fog rolled in, the temperature dropped, and then it started raining, and that was there weather the rest of the time.

Rivers became fuller and faster, and new waterfalls appeared.

And it even snowed in lower down in the mountains, closer to where they were.

Some of the tents didn't keep the water out, and extra plastic was rounded up.

Unfortunately, the first night it rained, Joseph's sleeping bag ended up in a puddle.  It was completely soaked, so Joe spent the next day trying to find creative ways to dry it out (like hanging it on the back of a fridge), because they didn't have a dryer, and it was still raining outside.

Even though Joe went there to spend time with Joseph (which he did, and Joe said he liked seeing Joseph in his element), he also ended up spending a lot of time with other leaders doing hikes, while Joseph was busy working on merit badges.

All the guys from our ward ended up coming home a day early because they were all done with the cold and wet, but they all had a great time overall, and it was definitely an experience they'll never forget.

In fact, the only really bad thing about all of this was the smell that accompanied them home.  Now, I'm no newbie when it comes to the smell of camp, but this was something special, and by special I mean horrible.  It did not go away when we washed the clothes.  It was like when you burn popcorn in the microwave - it just stays around for a really long time....like forever.  I don't know what the heck it was.  Maybe the kind of wood they burned.  Or maybe they were cursed.  3 weeks later, and I still catch hints of it now and then.  So gross.

Birthdays? Yes, I've Heard of Those Before.

This year none of the kids are having birthday parties, so their birthdays come and go, and I don't really think about posting about them.  I mean, it's not like there are any pictures, so what the heck.  But I suppose I should give them a nod, document what's happening in their lives right now, and show them some love ;)

So, better late than never for Mr. Alex, who's birthday was way back in April.

Alex.  Dude.  He's his own person.

He has his own sense of style, and he definitely likes putting his own outfits together, especially for church - he takes that very seriously.  He's dapper.

He likes to get "real" haircuts, meaning he'd rather not have me just buzz his head (although, I gotta say, this kid has the perfect shaped head, and he looks good with any kind of hair-do).

He likes Pokeman cards.

He likes spicy food.

He always says he wants to be a soldier when he grows up, although if he does join the military eventually, we will try to steer him towards the Air Force ;)

He is still really into his art.  He's good, and he's confident in his abilities, but he's always trying to improve too.  He spends a lot of time drawing.

Really, he is confident in all aspects of life.  Things generally come easy for him, and I think that is both good and bad.

He's a happy kid.  You don't often see him without a smile on his face.

Love him.


And now Miss Madelyn, who just barely had her birthday, and milked it for all it was worth ;)
Here she is a couple of months ago at the Living Museum her class did.

Madelyn is confident too, extremely independent, and self-motivated.  She's a go-getter.  She makes things happen.  She gets things done.  Of course, she has to see the value in something before she will actually do it without a fight ;)  But this is extremely helpful when it comes to homework and chores, because I don't have to remind her a million times to do them like the other kids, she just does them.....most of the time ;)

She likes to be in control, and she doesn't like to feel like she's being controlled by other people.

She responds extremely well (behavior-wise) to a good hug/cuddle.

I've decided she needs lessons from her Grandma Liddell in debating skills.  If she's going to argue all the time anyway, she might as well learn how to do it in a logical and persuasive way, right?

She loves the show Once Upon a Time.

She is a morning person like you've never seen.  Always asks to be woken early, but more times than not, she's awake before me anyway.  Going to early morning seminary will not be a problem for this girl :)

She says she wants to be a teacher when she grows up, but just a few weeks ago it was a dentist, and a few weeks before that it was a famous singer, so who knows what it will be a few weeks from now.

She loves mayonnaise.

Unlike my other kids, who usually wear their normal clothes to bed, she feels like it is ESSENTIAL to wear pajamas to bed.  She has a lot of pajamas.

Love her.

Selbstpflücken

We finally started our summer, weeks after everyone else was posting that their kids were out of school.  I really don't see the point of having school after Memorial Day.  It's a travesty.  What could possibly be accomplished after Memorial Day?!  But, better late than never I suppose.

I must say, summer is going splendidly so far.  Not to say we haven't had our share of quarreling or complaints about being bored (seriously? - shakes head), but for the most part it's been successful.

First of all, I am the most unreasonable mother on earth (it's true, just ask my kids), because I created these rules for summer.

In order to play with friends they have to do:
- their assigned chore for that week
- 30 minutes of reading
- 15 minutes of cursive writing
- 15 minutes of something I assign to them personally
      (Cora - piano, Joseph - organizational skills, Madelyn - math, Alex - history)
- 30 minutes of physical activity (this can actually be done WITH a friend, like exercise, bikes, playing at the park, anything to get them moving.

Then, in order to earn 30 minutes of TV or Video Games they have to do all of the above, plus one of the following:
- 30 minutes of creative time (sewing, Legos, piano, reading, making a video, doing a craft, drawing, or whatever else they can come up)
-OR-
- 1 hours of outside time.  They can do whatever they want, they just have to be outside.

It's all written out for them on the whiteboard.

I told them that we'll go to the library every week, and I even made them each a new Dr. Seuss library bag.  Yep, I'm cool like that.

I also told them I'd take them on one outing each week.  The first week we went and picked strawberries at a beautiful, local, organic farm.

Then I made strawberry rhubarb freezer jam, and two nights in a row we had a delicious dessert of frozen vanilla yogurt with fresh strawberries and crushed up Oreos.  Try it - you'll thank me.  The second night we had the dessert BEFORE dinner, and then all I made for dinner was homemade hummus, which we had with pita chips and carrot sticks.  That's what I call a successful summer-time dinner.  There are two things that my family attacks like ravenous wolves - 1) a cocktail shrimp ring, and 2) a bowl of homemade hummus.

This is the recipe I use for my hummus, although I usually add a little extra lemon juice and/or salt, tasting as I go.  It's good.

Let's see, what else?  Cora died the tips of her hair a reddish purple.

It faded almost immediately, but you can still see it a tad bit.

Joe built a bike from scratch for Father's Day.  From scratch, as in, he threaded the spokes on the wheels and went from there.  He's cool like that.

Earlier in the spring we discovered a nest in a fake potted plant on our balcony, and before we knew it, we had babies!

They grew up rather quickly, and then they flew away.

Recently, we were surprised to find a new set of baby birds in the same nest.  The other three eggs never hatched this time, and I don't know if it's the same mother bird or not.

We tried not to go out there much, and definitely never when the mother bird was there, but that sure made it hard to water my pretty flowers, so even thought it was fun while it lasted, I'm happy they're gone now too.

And speaking of flowers, One think I love about summer are the wild poppies that seem to be everywhere here.

It's like the Wizard of Oz, only those were pink poppies, but I can definitely hear the voice of the Wicked Witch of the West saying "Poppies. Poppies. Poppies will put them to sleep."

Unfortunately, Cora had to say goodbye to her best friend, Xandria, who moved back to the States.

Another one of her best friends, Jackson, will follow suit in a couple of weeks.

I will miss those two kids too - good friends are so important.  Such is the life of a military child in the summer.

Having never lived this far North before, it is strange to me how it is still pretty light outside at 10pm. This picture was taken by a friend of mine just after 10

And, of course, it will be this light again by 4:00 in the morning.  That means we got a pretty late start for fireworks on the 4th of July.  They started at 10:45 this year.  But the base puts on a good show, so we don't mind too much.

I can't tell you how much I've looked forward to summer, and now that it's here, I'm going to try to suck the marrow out of it.  Hmmmm, maybe it's time to re-read "Walden" again ;)