Camp Kitaki!

I am soooo behind on my posts! I will get caught up eventually :o) I have really been looking forward to posting this one, Kyndal's first solo trip to our YMCA Camp Kitaki. She turned seven this spring, the age required to attend our resident camp located between Lincoln and Omaha. I started talking with her about the possibility of attending camp this summer last fall. From the beginning, she had a twinkle in her eye and I had a hunch that she would love the time she spent there.

We were really excited to hear a couple months ago that one of her best friends, Kaysia, would be able to attend the same half-week as Kyndal. I'm certain she would have had a wonderful experience either way, but it was comforting to know she was with a dear friend of hers.

I signed her up for the mini-camp, a half-week (3 nights). They offer it twice during the summer; the second time is the week of our due date, so we chose the first week of summer instead. This happened to fall in the same weekend of our trip to Missouri....joyful timing (NOT!) So we arrived home at 1:45 pm on that Sunday and quickly dumped out her suitcase and re-packed it with the already laid out gear she'd need for Camp and jumped back in the car at 2:30 pm to hit the highway again. The good thing about it, I didn't have as much time to worry/grieve/get nervous about the whole situation! Kyndal is the most independent of our crew and I knew in my heart that she was ready for the opportunity and would thrive just fine. That didn't make it any easier for me to let her go!

We pulled up to the Camp entrance and there were two staff waving their hands in welcome and two more staff on horseback doing the same. There were more staff all the way up the road to the parking lot.....I was sooooo excited and impressed with the welcome! All of our Camp full-time staff were there, whom I know very well, along with all the part time staff for the summer (some of them are staff that work for me during the rest of the year!) So I knew she was in caring hands.

Posing in front of the big red chair

Heading to her cabin

Official Sioux cabin mate

On the bunk she chose. Kaysia hadn't arrived yet and she was trying to save the bed next to her for her friend. I stayed until I felt I had worn out my welcome and assured her Kaysia would be there soon. Fortunately her counselor let her save the bed for Kaysia!

Her name is next to the big orange star by the "S" in Sioux

Ed and Mary Copple are very dear to the YMCA, wonderful contributors and supporters. And I visit with Ed almost every morning when he's Downtown for his workout. He always asks "How are those kids doing?" I was pleased that she was in his sponsored cabin!

I captured a picture of Kaysia and Kyndal at pick-up!

She had a wonderful experience. I missed her to pieces. She was kind of quiet at first on the way home, she wasn't ready to leave Camp and was sad about it! But once she got to talking she couldn't stop raving over how much she loved it. Her favorite things were the frogs and paddleboats, the horseback ride, the crafts, the nachos for lunch, I think you get the picture. She couldn't pinpoint her favorite, she loved it all.

I am so thankful for the opportunities that my family and my children have through the YMCA. I love that it is a safe and enriching atmosphere, with staff that love children and help them grow to meet their potential. That night due to a mix of being exhausted from all the excitement and her longing to be back at camp she became very emotional...we had some major Camp withdrawal tears. The promise of getting to spend a full week next summer helped to "soothe the pain". .......which gives me just a short year to prepare to being away from her for a FULL week, ugh!

Reconnecting

Two weekends ago we set off on another long weekend trip, to the hills of Missouri and Iowa... I was born in a small town in Missouri (Unionville) and much of both sides of my family still live in the area. My Mom's Mom lives on the Iowa side of the state line and my Dad's Mom lives on the Missouri side, the towns are only 12 miles apart :o)

We try to make it back for a small reunion on both sides each summer with as many of the aunts and cousins that can make it. Both sides had a decent turnout this year, and both my Mom and Dad were able to come for their respective reunion.

Grandpa Owen helps my niece Ashlynn and Kennedy on one teeter-totter and Kyndal and Corbin are on the other. My Grandma's house is the tall one in the back of the picture. We spent many, many days playing at this park growing up! It's fun to see my kids now find the same pleasure in it.

We hauled our camper to sleep in. The first night it rained 3 inches with a major thunderstorm. Needless to say, I didn't get hardly any sleep that night. The weather wasn't the greatest there. It is SOOOOO humid and it was in the 90s all weekend. It didn't slow the kids down though!
After the fun at the park, Grandpa Owen got ambushed by the grandkids, they thought it was totally cool that he rolled around in the grass and let them throw weeds and grass on him! He headed to the shower after that escapade!


Ashlynn, Kyndal and Megan, at our "wiener roast" at Aunt Lora's
Me and the kids, my Mom and my Grandma Lowe
Off to the other side, reunion at Aunt Leota's (Dad's side) Here is Kyndal with little Lizzie!
Kennedy was in heaven with the little puppies. My Aunt breeds boxers. Thankfully, they were only 4 weeks old, not old enough to be taken home LOL I'm sure one of my girls would have found a place to stash one otherwise!
Lots of card playing transpired
Corbin swinging Nikki in the hammock
More puppy pics, she was so sweet, treating them like her little babies.

My Dad, Grandma Cooley, me and my sisters
All the grandkids (that were present) on the Cooley side

Eat your veggies!

Even though I often find myself saying "finish your beans" before allowing seconds of the coveted mac-n-cheese, my kids are pretty good veggie eaters. Kennedy has the funniest eating habits (in a good way for the most part!) I won't be surprised if she's a vegetarian someday. She refuses chicken (unless it's in the form of a nugget...and then still doesn't usually polish it off.) She wouldn't even take a bite of the hot dog I served for lunch today. She loves dairy foods (yogurt, cottage cheese, cheese, etc.) and is a fruit-a-holic....like me :o)

The weirdest thing of all, her passion of green peppers. When I pull one out to cook with, I think she smells it a mile away; she is there instantly begging for chunks of it. I usually end up with barely enough left for what I planned. She will literally eat half of one before the meal is served.

Here's some pics of my veggie eaters...

Movin' on Up

I can hardly believe it...our little boy has graduated pre-school and will be starting Kindergarten this fall! The ceremony was a couple weeks ago (I'm behind as usual!)....but it was kind of weird for us since it is actually the daycare that he attends all day, all week. So he "graduated" on a Friday but went right back on Monday :o)

He looked so proud up there, with those huge dimples and smile from ear to ear. They were in alphabetical order, and surprisingly he was first. The teachers put together a sweet slide show of the kids and they sang a song about the 12 Disciples. We'd heard it MANY times over the previous weeks leading up to the ceremony, he got lots of practice at home. But every time I heard his sweet voice singing the familiar words, my heart would melt.

It was no surprise to us when the program had one (slightly noticeable) glitch. At the conclusion of the song, Corbin proceeded to reach up and toss his hat into the air, followed by 10 other pre-schoolers. As the teacher's quickly helped them put their hats back on the Director sheepishly smiled and commented that "the kids seem to be a little confused on when to toss the hats." The correct time was to be after they marched across the stage to get their "diplomas". Way to go Hudson!Throwing their hats (the 2nd time!)

Miss Renee and Miss Mary, they have a LOT of patience!The proud graduate

Memorial Weekend Memories

We started our Memorial weekend a little early this year. We headed out of Lincoln on Thursday after work with a trailer in tow...full of 4-wheelers. A family friend towed our camper for us and yet another family towed our boat. I think we ended up with enough toys for everyone! Our mission: 4 nights/3 days of camping at a new campsite for us, Harlan County by Alma, NE.

I lost track of how many families we met up with there...I will try to remember, but forgive me if I forget someone! From Lincoln, us, Branch's, Whitmore's, Guernsey's (my sister), Emily Wyatt, Cooper's and Whiting's (SIL); from Omaha, Sara Kelsey; from Gothenberg, the Wyatt's; from Ogallala, the Jones's; from KS, Cramer's (my sister.) And a friend of a friend from Denver. In all, there were over 20 kids, CRAZY!!!

I am not a "born camper" but my husband is and my kids love it too. I enjoy it for the most part, though at this stage in our lives (with such little kids AND being 7 months pregnant) it was a lot of work. The weather could have been worse, but I was wishing the water would have been a bit warmer. I spent the two 90+ degree with 25+ mph wind days under the shade of our new "Easy Up" constantly counting kids heads, catching up with my family and friends and working on a cross-stitch picture for the new baby. The third day was more bearable, in the low 80s :o)

The boys had plenty of recreational time, exploring the trails on their 4-wheelers, fishing and tubing. All in all it was a great trip, with plenty of new memories. Definitely the biggest group we've ever camped with and we would definitely recommend the campsite. It was the perfect meeting ground for all of our families.

Kennedy helping Daddy make some eggs for breakfast the first morning.

Trying out the new picnic table I found for them at a garage sale this spring!
Little Kennedy and Miss Ellie Wyatt....these two were so cute together!

We spent HOURS at the park in the camp. There was good shade and good fun. The kids took turns burying each other in the sand. Here it was Addison Wyatt's time. I'm still trying to get all the sand out of the girls' hair!

The water was a bitter 55 degrees, brrr! Too cold for my toes but it didn't faze the kids much!
Corbin, Kyndal and Tucker Wyatt playing on the beach.

Kennedy and Addison playing with the beach toys.

Kyndal, dumping a bucket of water on herself. Bet that was refreshing!

Kyndal and Tucker Wyatt teasing each other.

Kyndal and Addison exploring

Ashlynn, Corbin and Kennedy in the tubes; Kennedy is NOT a happy camper here!

Corbin trying to reel one in!

A nightly ritual of s'mores. My kids didn't make it long past this each night, they were begging to hit the sack every night. They never do that at home LOL!

More chocolate please!

Cowgirls Only!

Kennedy moved downstairs with Kyndal about a month ago when we found bunkbeds for them. I've been spending much of my free time this spring making things and shopping for deals to dress up their room....cowgirl style. It's hard to see the colors and detail in the pictures, but we love how it turned out. I have just a couple finishing touches left, but it's close enough to done to count!

I mixed the girls' favorite colors (pink for Kyndal and yellow for Kennedy) and it turned out pretty adorable. Now I need to turn my focus to the baby room and getting everything ready. Nesting?!

I found the pink paisley material at Hobby Lobby and made the curtain. I'm not handy with a sewing machine, so the fabric glue I've discovered came in handy! All the little wall hangings and picture frames on the dresser were from there too....I scored on a half price sale! You can't see them, but there are also little yellow stars on the dresser knobs.

The hats I found for a couple dollars each at Goodwill!
And the pencil cups were from HL. Kyndal especially loves the new horse border that wraps around the room.

I was hoping to run across some old horseshoes to use but didn't have any luck. So I bought some new ones from the Tractor Supply Company and painted them yellow and pink.

The stick horses were from the Dollar Tree!

My favorite part is how their wooden names turned out. Kyndal insisted that they be hung by their beds and it turned out to be the perfect spot. I was worried that they would mess around with them, but they've done a great job of keeping their hands off.


I stole the idea from my SIL of using some of the leftover paisley fabric to dress them up and ribbon to hang them. Definitely helped personalize the space. Thanks Erika!