Camp Sacred Heart

Several weeks ago, Jare-jare-binx attended our church's annual summer boys' camp: Camp Sacred Heart. It was his first year and he was greatly excited about going, having heard so many stories about its awesomeness from big brother and his friends. He wasn't disappointed and came back brimming with fun stories and happy memories.

                                   The boys arrive at camp and begin the fun with a relay race.

 

                                       Dodgeball was the official camp sport. Four times a day.

                                         Anyone who steps out of line is awarded push-ups.

Everyday the boys took time to thank God for their day by attending daily Mass.

Here the younger boys learn their catechism from one of the camp counselors, a seminarian of the FSSP.

The boys enjoy a wild game of capture the flag.

                                     After capture the flag, the boys get an icy treat to cool down.

The boys took two hikes: one long and easy, one short and difficult. Here they are setting out on the short hike

The seminarians stop for a snack break.

Jare-jare-binx and his team work on a design for their flag.

Voila! The finished product.

The boys begin their highly anticipated water war- three hours of water guns, colored water, and tons of fun.

The result of the water war? A bunch of crazily colorful boys.

A newly ordained Jesuit priest visits camp and the boys line for first blessings.

At night, the boys gather around the campfire for s'mores and weenies. 

The camp songs repertoire includes "Battle Hymn of the Republic," "The Fields of Athenry," and "Four Green Fields." 

Big Bother Brother even made it up for the day and accompanied the singers with his guitar.

The boys cooled off in the Lake Spalding - the destination of the long hike.

Jare-jare-binx took the opportunity to go fishing. He caught a dozen fish but didn't keep them because they were too small.

More dodgeball.

 Jare-jare-binx was "cone guard." It was his duty to guard the cone/trash can with his life. 

After mud dodgeball the boys hang up their things to dry. 

The "tan-van pull" is part of a set of grueling competitions that make up the Iron Man, the "Olympics" of Camp Sacred Heart.

The obstacle course is also part of the Iron Man.

The "mattress wars," racing with a wet mattress, is yet another component of the Iron Man.

All the campers and counselors with their team flags.

Sliding into Summer

Jare-jare-binx has a go at our impromptu slip-n-slide

Angel pulls out her penguin move --- 

Jare-jare-binx trying to boogie on a board......

 

Ooops -- something gets left behind!

Wipe out!

Little Man's turn......

Slip-sliding the day away!

The Girls' Retreats

   This week Meemz went on retreat with the Rosa Mystica Girls Society, a church club that teaches domestic arts like sewing, crocheting, knitting and embroidering.  The 8-14 yo's make blankets and other baby items which are then donated to a local maternity home.
   The annual summer retreat offers other arts and crafts projects that promote our Catholic faith and spirituality.  In keeping with this year's theme, Love of Family, the girls sewed table runners made from fabric with family-themed prints; they decorated magnets with pictures of the Holy Family; and they decoupaged picture frames to hold family photos. Other crafts included painting an apron, embroidering a bookmark, and making rosaries. The first two days also included Mass, a talk from our priest about the virtue of familial charity, Benediction and praying the Rosary. The third and final day was held at the coordinator's house where the girls finished up their projects, feasted on a summer brunch, and frolicked in the swimming pool.  Meemz has been attending these retreats for nearly five years and has learned plenty of wonderful home-making skills while having lots of fun.

   While big sister was at her Rosa Mystica retreat, Angel attended a one day retreat for Little Flowers.  This club is for younger girls and teaches them virtues through the lives of the great female saints.  At the retreat, the heroic life and martyrdom of St. Joan of Arc highlighted for the girls the importance of obedience. Then it was craft time: the girls recycled old ribbon spools into bracelets decorated with a carnation, the flower of obedience.  They attended Mass with the Rosa Mystica girls, grabbed a bite to eat, then burned off some energy jumping rope, swinging hula hoops, tossing frisbees and balloons. While the girls frolicked, their Little Flowers leader and her helpers (Edna was one of them) prepared t-shirts for tie-dyeing.

It was a messy but fun project as the girls transformed plain white tees into brightly colored shirts emblazoned with the Sacred Heart on the front.



They were then joined by our pastor and several seminarians who kept them cool with wet activities: creating bubbles bigger than themselves,

spraying water guns in a race to fill a bucket, even getting hosed down for some extra giggles.  The girls ended the day by praying a decade of the rosary. It was a delightful day for them all and they couldn't wait for next year.
photos from http://joyfilledfamily.blogspot.com/

Summer Fun!

The summer continues to be full of summery fun times. Yesterday we met up with some homeschooling families in the area and had a park day. The kids really enjoyed themselves despite the nearly triple-digit temperature. The moms and older girls tried to stay cool in the shade and also had a hair party.

Coco puts her shoes on before heading out to play. She ended up taking them off again five minutes later so she could play in the sand.

                  Little Man had plenty of fun making sand castles or volcanoes as I think he called them.

         I finally managed to get him to look up so I could take his picture and even then he wouldn't smile.

                                 Angel and friends used their empty chip bags as impromptu shovels.

                                         Meemz blew bubbles to entertain several of the babies there.

                                      What's better than burying someone that's not you in the sand?

                     The ladies shared and learned different braiding techniques and hair styles.

Parties, and swimming, and grads....oh my!

School is out and summer is in! Although we had hoped that not having  school would free up more leisure time, we seem to be busier than ever. Jare-jare-binx and Angel just completed their swimming class. They can now do a variety of strokes and dives and are hoping to have plenty of practice time this summer. Little Man wants to swim like big brother but still doesn't understand that he needs to come up for air. Coco is still trying to overcome her fear of water in the face but we're working on it.
As always with June there have been a posse of graduations to attend. This year two cousins and some friends finished their high school years and are off to college. Meemz has also hit a milestone and graduated from eighth grade, making next year her first year of high-school.
June also meant Dad's, Nana's and Edna's birthdays. Edna celebrated her sweet 16! Happy birthday to her!
Aside from those things there have also been relatives coming into town, wedding anniversaries to celebrate, and just some good summer fun. We've been partying non-stop all month. And the fun doesn't stop there. Jare-jare-binx is going off to Camp Sacred Heart, the boy's camp held by our church. It will be his first time going and we can tell he's quite excited by the prospect. He talks of it incessantly. Meemz and Angel will be attending separate girl's retreats this week held by their Catholic girl's clubs - Rosa Mystica for Meemz and Little Flowers for Angel. Edna gets to stay home and help babysit. Fun stuff! So that's all for today, kids. Stay tuned for your dose of pictures of previously mentioned events and enjoy!

                                                                       Gearing up

                  

                                                                             Angel

                                                        

Watching swim lessons

                                                      Getting ready to take the plunge

                                                                          Angel's turn

                                                            Three cakes for three birthdays

                                              SEVENTY-FIVE CANDLES!!!!! yup count 'em up.....

                                                                  Sweet Sixteen!

                                              
                                                    A HUGE donut at the donut shop!!!!!

                                                           Congrats to the 2011 grads!