The Wild Outdoors

It is hot.
I melted today and puddled in front of the TV watching Jon and Kate Plus Eight.
Even though it's unbearably hot, it's my favorite. I wouldn't want it any other way. I love feeling the overwhelming heat that presses against your skin and tickles your toes.

I was at camp last week. It's so exhausting chasing around 4th through 6th graders that are wild and hyped up on poweraide and High-C (thanks to the new installation in the dining hall). Apparently this generation of kids were born without ears...which is quite frustrating for the counselors. As much as you tell them to stop talking, stop messing around, stop throwing rocks at people's heads I might as well told the pine trees. They at least listen.

But, regardless of how much they don't listen and don't obey...I love them.

We decided to take them on a night hike Thursday evening and then decided that it would be great fun to get lost. I definitely didn't think it was possible to get lost in La Foret...especially me, I suppose I thought that my internal Black Forest compass would turn on and it'd point homeward. Well. There we were about an hour and half into our supposedly 45 minute hike with tired and complaining campers. The counselors trying to play it cool by having a counselor meeting about "vespers" wondering where the heck we were and how we were going to find our way back. Meanwhile a camper taps us on the back dancing around insisting that he has to go to the bathroom. Fabulous.So we dubbed Alex, our wonderful Spanish speaking counselor from Spain, to take the boggle of boys dancing around up over a hill to pee. They must have missed the "up and OVER" the hill directions (big surprise) and there they were in plain view all in a row on top of the nearest hill. Sam looked up and then yelled "LOOK AT THE SAND DUNES!!!" pointing in the opposite direction. I giggled.
Somehow we stumbled out of the woods 2 and half hours late just in time for the sun to completely disappear and s'mores to hit the hot coals. Oy vey.

Then the first animal visit came during that night. Behind Inglis Hall a bear sauntered up, knocked over a can of white paint stepped in it and left us weaving bear tracks all over the back area. Needless to say my heart jumped thinking about us wandering around in the woods the previous night...good thing the campers make enough noise to scare away a deaf heard of elephants.

Camp ended with a fabulous performance of the play "It's Good" which they worked so hard on. Afterward I went on to watch my mom play in the State Games and eventually win the gold medal in her division!! Amazing!

This week the animal encounters continued...Cami brought a small garden snake and dropped it at our feet. It curled itself into a knotted ball and pretened to be a rock. My dad and I shoved it into a box and let it go away from Cami the Great Snake Attacker. It gratefully slithered away.

I also discovered these sweet bugs thanks to Sam at camp. She calls them Sand Lions and I'm pretty sure they are a kind of spider. But they make these cone shaped holes in the dirt and wait for an unsuspecting (or perhaps a somewhat persuaded ant from my prompting...) fall into the steep incline in which it can't get out of and then all of a sudden the bottom erupts and this small spider grabs the any quick as lightning. It's so fascinating!!