Camp Chateaugay 2012

The girls are fortunate and blessed to attend Camp Chateaugay in Upstate New York, just 5 miles from our lake house. They get to go because their Grandpa Schroyer gives up some time every morning and evening to be the camp doctor. Thank you, Grandpa! This is Cassidy's 3rd year and Kayla's first. They go for THREE WEEKS! And they have more fun there than they ever would at home. The pictures speak for themselves (lifted from the camp website):

Cassidy, as a seasoned veteran of camp, was greeted by shouts of, "It's Cassidy! Cassidy is here!". She quickly grabbed her belongings, set everything up, and was off. She didn't even say, "Goodbye". In fact, Brian helped her settle in, and by the end (only 5 minutes) Cass had her arms folded across her chest, foot tapping, and pointing to the door, "You can go now, Dad.". Bitter sweet. Mostly, we just feel good knowing that she is SO happy and SO comfortable.

KK's introduction to camp was a little more traditional. We helped her get settled, and sitting in the bed next to her, we met Annie...who may very well be KK's "separated at birth" double. We learned that it was Annie's 2nd year at camp and she had already been there for the first session of camp....we asked her what her favorite activities were and she replied, "Arts and Crafts, Cooking, Gymnastics..." to which Kayla responded, "You are my new best friend". The 2 of them hit it off from the very first moment. Annie was wearing high pink socks with white dots on them and a camp shirt that was WAY too big for her. After a few seconds Kayla said, "You know what that outfit needs? A BELT!". The girls quickly found Annie's head lamp, secured it around her waist and declared it a smashing success. We are confident that this friendship is charmed. We only got a quick hug good-bye before KK and Annie rushed off to catch frogs and go to lunch together.

The girls have been at camp for almost a week (on Sunday). 2 more weeks to go. And while they are there, we are at home, packing. packing. packing. When they come home, we will be in our NEW home. And, just in case life gets too busy (likely), I'll probably post again once we are in the new home (move date: August 13th). Here's to a wonderful and super busy summer!

4th of July with Family and Friends

This year the girls (Shannon, Aunt Shantel, Cassidy, Kayla and Zoey) all went to Canobie Lake Park.... with THIS group of handsome boys (and their mom, Shantel...NOT "Aunt"):

Cody, Blake and Dom

Of course, the first oder of business is to consult the map and determine where to start.

We started with a roller coaster and just kept on going from there. We went to the water lagoon to cool off, rode all the water rides, and stood in only a few lines for more than a few minutes.

Traditionally, we end our day at an amusement park with a ride like this:

KK and Cody were ride partners

Cassidy and Dom were also ride partners

The bumper cars is always a favorite. Our group pretty much filled the cars.

We were SUPER excited that Zoey and Aunt Shantel also joined us. Zoey was a HUGE fan of all the rides. It was HOT, but, sadly clouds rolled in and the fireworks planned for that evening were postponed until the following night. Still...it was an EXCELLENT day! Perhaps a new tradition has been born?!

She can dance...

This year Cassidy discovered a new calling in life: Ballet.

She dances with a company, "Easter Ballet Institute".

It's serious business.

And she loves it.

She takes her dancing very seriously and has even informed us that if she were to get sick, and there was a CHANCE she would need to miss practice, she would rather go to the doctor and GET A SHOT, than miss rehearsal. And, for Cassidy, that is a Very Big Deal. Shots are probably the one thing is life she dislikes most of all. We are super proud of her and love to watch her dance. She is graceful and poised. Beauty in motion.