6.27.08

we leave for a camping trip this sunday athe 29th and will return the following sat the 5th. we are going to a private camping resort we are members of near niagara falls. now, we love to camp. we have a pop up that sleep 5 and now that everyone is potty trained and can ride bikes w/o someone running along side and swim in the deep end w/o a parent to clutch and can play at the playground and not need to be pushed on a swing, ...well, camping should be easier every year. it is work though, don't get me wrong. john does a lot of the heavy lifting; fire wood, hitching and unhitching the pop up to the minivan, etc. and while we're there we often go over to canada and do a LOT of walking in ontario and at marineland. so, in some ways this year will be easier than past years, and in other ways it will be more difficult. in any event, we are excited to be going.

on camping, ...
we go camping every year, 2 or 3 times, for 4 or so days at a shot. this year, however, it seems that we are going 4 times, for a week each time. hmmm. i'm not exactly sure how this happened. i think i'm partly to blame, as we r-e-a-l-l-y need a vacation and some family time and some good memories after the last 6 very challenging months we've had. and i think john is partly to blame, as he seems to be trying to cram a lifetime of memories into about 15 minutes. so, together we set this crazy camping schedule this summer that even healthy people think is a bit much. sooo, i don't really know what else to say about that except stay tuned.

on health, ...
john seems to be doing ok. his leg is still looking not quite right and he is mentioning some new, mysterious cramps in his leg/foot and there's a few other minor ailments but overall we're not complaining. he has a doctor's visit scheduled for after we get back from camping.
noah (our middle baby, age 9) heard we were going on vacation and promptly got strep throat. for those of you who know us, this is the norm. someone ALWAYS gets sick right before a vacation. it just is the way for us. so he's on antibiotics and i'm pretty certain that at least one of us is in incubation and will end up with strep in the woods next week. fun times. in the meantime though, isaiah (age 10) and mary (age 7) and i (age fabulous) are all doing well.

on the kids, ...
they finished the school year at the top of their classes, all 3 of them, despite the incredible amount of stress that they've been living with since new years. amen.
k