Mr. Manners

Etiquette is today as it has always been
A code of behavior based on kindness, consideration, and unselfishness 
Something that should not and will not ever change

Anson went to manners sleep away camp a few weeks ago. Yes, I said "manners camp." A friend of mine was looking for someone to go with her son, and when I asked Anson, he said sure. Even later when he knew what he was getting into, he still said yes (although I admit I wasn't completely truthful with him at first).

It was held at a bed and breakfast in rural NC during a week in which the temps were over 100 every day. He shared a room, with two other boys, containing a queen-sized canopy bed covered in roses, some sort of awkward daybed, and an antique dresser and wardrobe. They dressed in coat and tie for dinner every evening, and did outdoor sports such as canoeing, swimming, tennis, and croquet during the daytime. There was supposed to be fishing and sailing as well, but the instructors for each passed away and had a stroke, respectively, just before the summer. (The people who have run the camp for many years are in their 70s and 80s.)

All in all, Anson had fun while also learning how to speak on the telephone, set the table, eat at the table, serve food, host a party, write correspondence, introduce people, and speak in front of a group. They were served different food at dinner than they might have at home, and even went to a Chinese restaurant one night to practice eating out and trying new foods.

At the end of the week, the children "graduated" and hosted a tea for their parents. Each child had to recite a few things in front of the group and then hand a bouquet of flowers to his mother. Although it was extremely hokey, we parents couldn't help but smile proudly, and a few shed some tears. By the way, the quality of these iPhone videos is pretty poor considering it was about 150 degrees in that 200-year-old house and I was about to drop the phone every few seconds. But the kids don't seem to notice???

After the handing out of some awards, the children sang a few songs from The Sound of Music, which they had watched in the evenings that week. It was hilariously old fashioned!! Don't you like how the girls are holding their hands just like in the movie?

Now that was classy.

Despite the fun sporting activities, Anson had not been in home in some time after just spending several weeks at the lake house and in Indiana. He also knew we were going straight from camp to the beach. Something tells me that as the week went on, he was more and more anxious to go home and see his family.

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We missed him, too. I was so happy to see that smiling face when I arrived to pick him up, and I was even more proud to see him stand up in front of the group and greet everyone with grace.

He was responsible for serving tea and coffee during the lunch after the ceremony, and was not allowed to help himself to food until all grownups were served, and I guarantee he was the only child who followed that rule. He received a trophy for Best Host and ribbons for swimming and tennis.

The joke of the day was that the boys also received a ribbon for cleanest room during the week. Huh? When we parents went upstairs to get their bags, we realized why. Everything was under the beds...dirty underwear, trash, wet towels, balled up dress shirts, and so on. Nevertheless, aren't they handsome?

What an amazing young man my Anson is, before and now. I don't even care that his tie is tied weirdly and he is covered in dust (you can't see it, but his shirt is untucked halfway as well), his smile is always genuine and his attitude positive. He will always be my perfect little gentleman!

P.S. For more information about the camp, you can learn more at this web site.

Let's Go Fly a Kite

It has been so windy and rainy and cloudy here at the beach this week, that we have not enjoyed the ocean as much as we'd like. On the other hand, it's perfect for Russell's new kite. Mr. Photographer is probably wincing at the quality of these iPhone photos, but it's all I had on hand at the time.

Hopefully we'll get a little more of this tomorrow...

Too Busy

I'm too busy looking at this right now to blog.  See you in a few days.

Brain Dump

This summer has been so busy that I just decided to do a random post about what's been going on!  Bear with me, it's long.

You may remember that I teased you awhile back about providing some info on two photos: one of Anson and a fish, and one of Charlotte and Russell dancing. I'm having technical difficulties regarding the dancing, but just you wait, it will be worth it once I get it together! In the meantime, here is a shot of Charlotte and her two friends Millie and Anna and their ballet recital.

The lake has become an integral part of our life, and we've been spending as much time there as we can. Anson caught his first catfish off the end of our dock at the beginning of the lake season. It was a big 'un!

We also had the privilege of hosting lots of friends and family, including a distant relative of the noodle insect family. :)

We had a really lovely and relaxing 4th of July at the lake, though we didn't really take many photos.

Soon after, our good friends Tracy and her two beautiful children, Evan and Malia, as well as Leslie and Jeff and their wonderful girls, Kylie and Kelsey, came for a few days. The kids all got along so well.  It was a fun-filled but exhausting week with lots of eating, drinking, jet ski rides, tubing, wakeboarding, wake surfing, smores-making, sun deck jumping, sunset cruising, fish feeding, a few birthdays, and friendship, most importantly. We didn't get any pics, but Russell's friend Garrett and his wife and three dogs finished up a whirlwind week with the last visit.

[OK, I admit I ran out of steam and did not get to post the pictures from this week yet.  I'll do it soon, I promise!]

Before we knew it, it was time to head to Indiana for our annual visit with Mom, Molly and Jason, and my niece and nephew Jake and Reese. The kids were thrilled to see each other, and jumped right into their usual antics.

The gruesome foursome went to camp together again, this year to Connor Prairie. Each morning was utter chaos, involving packing extra clothes and shoes, towels, four lunches and snacks, water bottles, snacks for the ride home, sunscreen and bug spray application, not to mention breakfast and getting dressed. Molly and I were a semi-well oiled machine by the end of the week, just in time for camp to end.

They got to ride horses, swim, canoe, tube, cook, tie dye, and other "awesome" camp activities. They learned a lot of songs and games, including one called Wax Museum. The leader comes up with a theme of activity (for example, dancing), and everyone starts doing it. When the leader tells the to freeze, each player stops where they are. The leader's job is to try to get the person to move without touching them. The kids convinced Molly and me to join in one evening, and there was a lot of giggling.

It wouldn't be summer without fireworks, even if it is a bit past the 4th. We started with some sparklers and other fun things at home, and later in the week Jason set off some "real" ones at his office. And yes, we did let our kids outside in their pjs after they had already bathed. Oh well.

And for the grand finale...

Like last year, we went to the fair, and the kids wore matching outfits. They love pretending to be sisters and brothers, not to mention it makes it a lot easier to keep track of them. They were fearless, with Jason being the only grownup who ventured on any rides. Molly was spot on when she said "Not only am I too old to ride without feeling sick, I'm too old to even look at the rides without feeling sick."

We also spent some great time with my Mom..taking walks on the nature path at her assisted living facility, going out to lunch, and hanging at the apartment. The nature path is quite nice, with a fishing pond, trail, and an old log cabin with period tools outside. (Yes, the pond IS that glowing green color in real life.)  We even had a game of hide and seek. There are lots of ducks on the pond, as well as in the courtyard fountain, and they recently had ducklings.

I could not resist including a shot of Mom being goofy when we trying to get some normal head shots (which of course did not turn out), as Mom does not usually have that much energy. It was fun to see her that way.

On one of our flights, we got upgraded to first class (woot woot!). Out of the mouths of babes...Charlotte says, "I thought you said this was supposed to be fancy. It seems pretty old and dirty to me." And then her tune changed when the flight attendant offered her a pillow and blanket, and then a basket of candy and chips and told her to take as many as she'd like. Anson got to sit next to the air marshal and see his badge and gun. Sneaky!! We were even on the flight with Danny Glover (of Lethal Weapon fame) and his son. Funny, he was "stuck" in coach while his son was in first class since there weren't enough first class seats left. Oops, they had already given them to the Ford riff raff!!!