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Mom's Camp Out

Monday, September 19, 2005 11:59 PM CDT

Moms Camp Out

Lisa, Mimi and I took the kids, well except Zach and Drew, who had a b-day party to go to and were chicken to camp with the moms!....we went just for overnight. We had a wonderful time, the kids splashed in the water, we sat around the campfire, we slept on tree roots that worked their way through air matresses. The weather was perfect and the dirty eggs were the best food I've tasted in a long time.

Arrival was sketchy. We went to Fishhook...closed. We went to Charbonneau...full. Finally, we found a space at Hood Park. Whew. Thought we were going to have to go back to all the guys who weren't sure we could pitch our own tents with a failed mission. We pulled into the campsite, beautiful, right on the water. Moms unloaded gear, kids ran to the water. Moments later, Kate and Allie come running up the hill. "Mom, look at this rock!" I'm thinking, "Seen one rock, seen 'em all." So I glance over and begin to say something like, "In a minute, honey...." and she and Allie both insist that Lisa and I look RIGHT NOW. Kate holds out a rock. It's a roundish rock, broken in half. An ordinary rock. On its side it says:
DAVE
Really. The rock says Dave. Someone had written on it in green marker. And Allie found a shell. So we had Dave and Shell at the campsite. Mike was disappointed, 'cause he couldn't go, but Dave got to.



Other happenings:

Kenny has had 3 football games. In Yakima, in Lewiston, and in Walla Walla. Their team is undefeated. Kenny's got to play in all the games. He believes that they save him for the last quarter so he can come in and save the game. Cracks me up. We should all have so much confidence. He has a date for homecoming. A very sweet girl named Kendra. She goes to our church and is on the volleyball team. She's terrific. She wore a shirt to Kenny's home game with his name and number on it. At the home game, when Kenny went into the game (5th quarter), half the crowd exploded, cheering for him, and the guys on the sidelines started chanting his name. It was awesome.

Zach had his first football game last Thursday. Pioneer won 48-6. Zach was soooo fired up. I have never seen him like that. Our theory was that he was playing LOUD so his Dad would be sure to hear him. He was excited...and played incredibly well. He had two touchdowns, several sacks, two really long runs and ran for a ton of yardage. He was named one of the players of the game, which meant he got to be on the sidelines with the WaHi varsity team when they played on Friday night. It was great to see him down there on the field, walking among the players, just like his Dad did. Although Dave never had to carry water.

Kate's started dance, and is loving it as always. Dance recital is December 17 at Cordiner Hall for those of you who need to mark calendars. She's excited for choir and dance team at school to get started. She's enjoying school and loving her new teacher.

I went back to work today. It was good to be there. Thought I'd do a few hours. Ended up working most of the day. It was good to be busy with things that were interesting. It was good to see the little preschool faces coming back, having grown so much over the summer. Toddlers start tomorrow. I can't wait for that.

Thanks, camping buddies. It was the perfect cap to a miserable summer. Just what I needed.

Love, Shelley

PS. You won't believe this. I completely emptied Kate's room and started from scratch, got it cleaned and organized. Did the same with the garage. Thanks, Alex, the "Clean Sweep" with latte was fun. Thanks, Cindy for the truck. Thanks, Mike, for running a used carlot across the street. Thanks, Matt, for getting Kenny to school. Thanks, Cyndi, for getting Kate home from dance. Wow, there are so many people to thank. You are the best. I couldn't do this without you.

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