We last checked in just before summer began, and now school’s started. Where did summer go? We were mostly busy. We each had an amazing time at sleep away camp. Asher’s spent two weeks in the CO mountains SUPing, kayaking, hiking, and biking. His tinkering was on full display, and he received the Bridge Builder and Engineering Award. Although he enjoyed his backpacking trip while at camp, it was cut short by a hungry bear that he and the other campers named Betty. Right after camp ended for Asher, he turned around and went backpacking with Dad, where he showed off his newly acquired skills. Although he saw wildlife while backpacking with Dad, they didn’t see any bears–just elk, mountain goats, and marmots. Asher also earned quite a bit for the few days he was out with his lemonade stand, and he invested that money in Lego sets with a high playability factor. That, together with the set he received for working hard on math tutoring this summer and the set he got for his birthday (Asher turned 11!), means that he now has enough new Lego sets to last for at least a few weeks. Finally, Asher did an art camp to round out the summer.
Tessa’s big summer adventure was going to Maine by herself to hang out with her favorite cousins. She spent time in the studio throwing pots and chatting with family. She loved staying up late and sleeping in, and she, as always, enjoyed the weather in Maine. She’s looking forward to going back with the entire family in October. Tessa enjoyed her sleep away camp, as well. She did a water sports camp in the mountains, where she spent most of her time kayaking and SUP’ing. She also summited a peak, which she was a bit nervous about, but she did great. After sleep away camp, Tessa had a street art camp. She created her own stencils and then used spray paint to stencil graphics onto a shirt and canvas. They look amazing.
Riley’s summer was disrupted, as both his scheduled camps were cancelled. He got rescheduled into another sleep away camp, which he mostly enjoyed. He loved the river camping, but didn’t appreciate the backpacking. He did well, though, given his flat feet. And he made some good friends that he’s hoping to go to camp with again next summer. Although he didn’t have any other camps, Riley read a lot this summer and he also spent a lot of time mountain biking on his own. This proved to be immensely helpful, as he joined the school mountain biking team, and he spent the last month of the summer continuing to train. He has his first race next weekend!
Emmett’s sleep away camp came at the end of summer, so he spent much of the first part of summer lazing around. He did have one academic summer camp, and since it was held at his new school, he was able to get familiar with the campus and meet some of the teachers, which was good. Come the end of July, he headed off to North Carolina for camp. He was gone for almost 3 weeks! He hiked, swam in rivers and lakes, caved, went to some Ashville museums, and had a fantastic time making new friends. Although he was sad to leave them, the first thing he said when his plane landed was how excited he was to start a new school.
Drop off today for all 4 of us went incredibly smoothly. Everyone hopped out of the car and headed to their classes with a bit of direction from teachers on campus, but everyone was in a good mood. We’ll check back in after this week when we have something to report about our newest adventure. But we’re already feeling good about everything on our lists: soccer, theater, mountain biking, volleyball, improv class, DND club, rock climbing, welding–the list goes on. So many new opportunities!
Chat soon,
The Pigs
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