last week of camp; prep for big storm

One last post before we lose power! Hurricane Irene is bearing down on us, I don't expect to have power for a few days to a week after this. Kids are having a blast learning all about hurricanes, watching the coverage, and referring to the Farmer's Almanac guide to wind types to note the increasing wind speeds throughout the day. They're also looking forward to spending the night in their sleeping bags in our windowless hallway tonight as the stronger winds come in. The things that entertain kids....

This past week Zoo Boy was in Karate Camp for half days. He would have loved to be there for full days, but couldn't come up with something packable that he was willing to eat for lunch, so decided that a half day made more sense. He absolutely loved it!


J and I found other things to do while The Boy was karate-ing. Since we were an hour from home, we explored some of the local trails (and walked atop a water control dam, which was pretty cool), did some observations on a large hatch of grasshoppers, did some bird watching and identification, did some storm shopping, and ate snack each day at various coffee house type places. We also spent an hour each day sitting in the shade reading. I finally read through the epic I'll be reading to the kids this fall, and am now totally psyched to get going with our semester! Although in reality we will take the next few weeks to really enjoy the end of our summer with friends and fun trips. All the driving around this summer has really gotten to me -- worth it because the kids have really enjoyed all of their summer activities, but I'm ready to sleep in for a few days in a row.

These photos were taken at a local park this past week. We did some fun stuff in the afternoons after Karate Camp -- the park with friends, a play date with some of the same friends, a visit to the children's museum, and bowling.

Today is The Map Man and my 23rd wedding anniversary. He got me a Hurricane. How thoughtful....

"See" you all when our power returns! Hopefully I won't have any dramatic damage photos to share. I hope all of our friends and family on the Eastern Seaboard stay safe and escape unscathed!