First Day of School 2012

School's actually been in session for about a week and a half now... but nyone who knows me knows that my free time ends the day school starts! Because of that, these photos are late!

 

Dylan is 12 1/2 and in 7th grade this year. He started at the middle school last year so no new schools this year. He's almost as tall as I am! And his voice is starting to sound so manly!

 

Lyndsi is our 9 1/2 year old 4th grader. She will be at school with me for another couple of years. She's getting taller as well, but her voice isn't changing...

 

Here they are together...a rare occurrance!

 

Nest up - fair! By the way, Lyndsi came home from camp after 3 nights!

I've Abandoned my Baby!

At least that's how I'm feeling! Yesterday afternoon, a beautifully sunny day, Steve, Dylan and I drove Lyndsi and her friend deep into the woods and left them there....

OK - nothing quite so dramatic! But we did drive deep into the woods and leave Lyndsi and her friend - at camp. I had a hard time when Dylan went away to his first Boy Scout camp and I'm having a hard time now that Lyndsi is away at her first church camp!

Here's how it all went down: Lyndsi's little friend (seen below) invited her to go with her to Camp Ortoha, a Lutheran based camp about 40 miles away. Very nice gesture - except that camp is 5 nights long! I wasn't sure how I could handle it! However, Lyndsi seemed to be able to adjust to that fact pretty quickly, despite my reminder that there was no cell service so I couldn't call her to check on her...

So I agreed to let her go - with a little encouragement from Steve - and now, she's gone....for 4 more nights. I shed a few tears on the drive home yesterday but Lyndsi was truly excited to be going, and even more excited once we got there. I guess that makes me happy.....

This is What Happens When I Don't Have My Own Computer...

I pout....and I refuse to accept that we have a perfectly good family computer that I can use pretty much whenever I want....and therefore, pictures remain on my camera's memory card and blogs remain postless....and no one knows what's happening in the very busy lives of the Streeter family....

So my computer went kapooty in June. A very good friend of ours tried his best to fix the problem (and he's a computer fixing whiz!) but couldn't. Since then, I've had to share the family computer with the rest of the family. And apparently, I don't like to share! I'm trying to improve myself in this area but I'm not making any promises...

Our busy May, that I was so diligently beginning to document, turned into a busy June. School ended and we began our trek across Canada from Vancouver, BC to Ottawa, ON. No - we didn't trek by road, but rather by air! We had 2 fabulous days in Vancouver with Jill's high school friend, Yvette, and then 6 more fabulous days in Ottawa with several strangers. Steve was enrolled in Study Canada - Summer Institute, an intense class designed to teach American teachers more about Canadian history and culture. Fortunately for the kids and I, companions were welcome on this trip. We had such a great experience! While Steve was in his lectures, the kids and I walked around Parliament Hill (our hotel was a block away from parliament), rode bikes along the Rideau Canal, and swam in the hotel swimming pool. With Steve and his classmates, we took VIP tours of parliament and met Mr. Galipeau who gave Dylan some very special treatment, went to Montreal for a day and learned a bit about the French speaking city, visited La Sucre de la Montagne and ate a traditional Canadian dinner with lots of maple syrup...oh and so much more!

Now, if I had my own computer, I would have already downloaded all my pictures and I would have so many to share with you. But I don't, so I didn't, so I don't. I also don't have any pictures of the annual Father's Day camping trip with friends that we took in July this year. Or any pictures of our annual Schumacher/Streeter family camping trip we just returned from. So you'll have to take my word for it when I say that both trips were relaxing, fun and absolutely beautiful!

One of these days, the pictures that are resting peacefully on my camera will show up on the computer I'm sharing with my family. When that happens, maybe I'll get them out and shared with you. Maybe....

Camp Progress

Just one more May event in the lives of the Streeters - Camp Progress!

Sixth graders in Okanogan get to spend a week in the beautiful forests of the Colville Reservation at a small camp named Camp Progress. When I say small, I mean a few tiny cabins, a covered mess hall and a tiny kitchen -  just enough!

Both Dylan and Steve got to go to camp this year. Steve went with his class and Dylan with his. As a teacher, Steve had a bit more responsibility than Dylan! In fact, on his first night at camp, with 16 kids in his cabin (that sleeps 4) with him because of the scary stories they'd told around the campfire, Steve wasn't sure he was going to make it the whole week! But - the stories died down, as did the fears, and the adventures got interesting and the week was a huge success! Lyndsi went to visit on Family Night (Dylan and I went to a soccer game) and came away with a lot of stories of her own.

Dylan went to camp 2 weeks later. The boys in the photo below were his bunk mates. They were quite the combination - would have loved to have been the famous fly on the wall!

Leo, Dylan, Trevor, Max - ready to show off their cabin

One of the highlights of the week at Camp Progress is the mud pit fight that takes place every year. The mud for the brawl is along the bank of this little creek that runs by the camp. Dylan said that playing in the mud wasn't as fun as he thought it might be because after the kids played in the mud, they had to be washed down with cold water!

The creek at camp is so cute! It's a very narrow little stream of water that has cut a 6 foot crevice into the ground and runs off into the woods. I was so intrigued by it! I would have followed it had I not been worried about the bears that kept hanging around camp! On Dylan's Family Night, Dylan had fun showing Lyndsi the banks of the creek.

Speaking of bears, on his way to the outhouse one afternoon, Dylan spied a bear as it stood up, next to the toilet, to check out Dylan, who was running up to use the facilities! Not sure who was more surprised! Dylan turned and ran back the way he came and the bear found the bear pit (the hole where all the excess food was placed)! Glad the bear wasn't too interested in the humans invading his quiet home.

Dylan and Lyndsi near the mud pit by the creek

This is Dylan's class....I'd type all their names but I don't know them all! Love this picture though. Steve has one of his class as well.

More May!

I know - it's June, not May. But awhile back I promised to post more pictures about our busy spring. And May was crazy busy! So, as I said then, I'll post one event at a time until I get them all done!

We spent Mother's Day weekend with Nana and Papa, Robyn and Kim, Erin and Ali, and Aunt Coy in the Methow Valley at this beautiful cabin in Carlton. The cabin was originally a family home so had everything we needed to be cozy and comfortable. 5 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms, fully equipped kitchen, comfortable living room, game room, sun porch, long deck, media loft room, hot tub, pool (in the form of a pond!), shelves of games and books, bar-b-que......wow!

 



This pond was filled with filtered water and became the cabin's pool. The kids braved the cool water and floated on the pond in our kayak and a blowup boat.

Our Mother's Day started with this yummy brunch that was created by all of us.

The primary reason my parents rented the cabin for us all was due to this tremendous accomplishment. Robyn has been training for this marathon for quite some time and this was the weekend she completed the run. The Sunflower Relay and Marathon is a difficult run in the mountains on the edge of the Cascades. Robyn ran the marathon and Kim and Ali were part of a relay team. All 3 runners were so motivating and inspirational. Dylan wants to put together a relay team for next year!

Our family has had so much to celebrate recently. This weekend became the perfect opportunity for this celebration. We were so happy together that the kids both cried when it was time to go. Made it hard for me to leave as well!

Bloomsday 2012

What a perfectly crazy, sunny, exhausting, non-stop weekend! This year, Dylan, Lyndsi and Jill drove to Spokane after Lyndsi's soccer game on Saturday, met Julia, Aidan, Satya, Hannah, and Erin and drove to a bar-b-que at Amber and Brian's. Yummy food and good company!

 On Sunday morning we got up early in order to get downtown early to meet Erin and Ali at the Pink Lady warmup area. Our start color group was lilac this year so we didn't need to be there too early! Dylan ran the race all on his own, though didn't do as well as he has in the past due to sore legs. Lyndsi stuck with Jill and they both beat last year's time.

The kids and I hurried from the run to Erin's graduation from nursing school. We grabbed a quick bite, changed clothes in the car, and were only a couple minutes late! Woo hoo! Another great meal with fun people followed the ceremony.

Erin's Pinning Ceremony

One Event at a Time

Every night this week I've had the greatest intentions to sit down and share snippets of life in the Streeter household. And every night this week I've been so exhausted that my droopy eyes force me to shut the computer down and go to bed! Of course, when your night begins at about 10 and you have another full day ahead of you.......well, you all know what I mean! So, I now have 15 minutes before we leave for a soccer game and I got some pictures uploaded - success!

This is Dylan - Dylan is in 6th grade this year.

Sixth graders graders get to go to the middle school dance. Sigh......BIG sigh......

Dylan and Max tolerated our photography session....after all, when you go to a dance you expect to have your picture taken! Even when your "date" is your best friend!

Trying Something New......

I've never uploaded videos before so this is definitely a trial run!

Dylan and Lyndsi performed in Saturday Night Lively last weekend. Saturday Night Lively is a variety/talent show in one of the teeny towns near us. Maybe you've heard of Conconully, WA? No? Well, maybe you're familiar with their annual outhouse races, or the Snowdog Supermush? Hmmmm.....OK - maybe cowboy caviar is more your taste. I won't even begin to understand that competition.... Anyway, the kids' piano teacher is the pianist for the cutest little white church in Conconully and she organizes this party 2 times each year. For 2 hours we were entertained by pianists, string groups, silly "commercial breaks", an accordian player with a beautiful voice, and a singing chicken. Yep - loved the chicken!

I took these videos with my IPod Touch. Such a fun toy!

Lyndsi on the Piano

 

Dylan's Duet with Mrs. Palmer

Shutterfly Project #2

Lovely Branches Green 5x7 folded card

Shutterfly offers exclusive graduation announcements and invitations.

View the entire collection of cards.

Here's another Shutterfly project. This card will be for Steve's mom who has been dealing with the awful symptoms of Shingles!