We celebrated GranJo's birthday a little early this year. But before all of that fun, we enjoyed some beautiful weather with a little outside time. Lillie continues to love picking tomatoes from her tomato plant. This was a weirdly shaped cherry tomato but this very excited picker didn't care.
Hanging out on a corner of our new outside patio. It has been a long process so we are enjoying each step as it is completed.
Auntie Jen rolled into town on Friday and got to participate in Paul's closing ceremonies of technology camp. We had a yummy dinner out and a fun evening. Uncle Chris rolled into town on Friday as well and spent the evening at GranJo's house making fabulous homemade ice cream. They headed over to our house on Saturday and we spent the day hanging out inside. It was super hot and humid so we opted for air conditioning! There were lots of board games played.....
And then some fun presents and cards....Peter gave GranJo a rooster he made at school.
Goofy girl.
Being silly with a bow.
We had a yummy italian dinner and then had to celebrate with a festive cake (and the homemade ice cream courtesy of Uncle Chris). Here's the kids with GranJo for the serious one.
And then things got a little crazy. These seriously made me laugh.
We had a fun time celebrating GranJo! On Sunday morning we got cleaned up and headed to Mass. Mimi had sent some new clothes for the kids so that's what they wore!
Auntie Jen hit the road and we headed out for lunch and saw a movie. When we got home, Paul connected with his friend Nicholas to play on the Xbox. They both have headsets so they can chat while they played Minecraft together.
We recovered from KAMP and then I immediately hit the road to head out of town for work. I was gone for three nights last week returning on Friday. Needless to say, I deserved a lazy morning on Saturday....so that is what we had. Kids watched some PJ Masks while I stared into space for a while. The landscaper was working hard on our outside project so that made me feel a little extra guilty but I managed to stay in a reclined state for as long as possible. Felt great.
Everyone is having a blast watching the progress of the outdoor project. Dressed or not, watching the work makes everyone smile.
We snagged some lunch at home and then headed to the club for some pool time. It was a great day for it - nice and sunny and warm. The water in the pool was chilly at first but was nice once you were in. The bigs enjoyed the big pool and I enjoyed some shade in my chair.
Full of personality. For sure.
Peter hung out in the kids pool with daddy. He loves this pool because there are plenty of toys and a fun water feature.
Lounging in the sun!
The bigs enjoy the kids pool sometimes too. Can't beat zero depth entry where you can lounge in the water.
King of the kids pool.
Paul tried the diving board for the first time the last time we were at the pool. He wanted to jump again today and Lillie decided she was brave enough to give it a shot as well. Paul does pretty well swimming back to the side but I still hang out on the side of the deep end just in case. Lillie wore her floaty but had very little fear jumping off the board.
We grilled out for dinner and it was early to bed for me! The John Deere Classic is a PGA golf tournament that Jason and I attended on Sunday. It was fun but more for a work event since we aren't really golf fans. Did I mention how humid it was? Here we are on the way into the tournament - we looked fresh. No photo taken on the way out as we weren't so fresh.
We planted a cherry tomato plant in a pot on the deck this year. Lillie got to harvest our very first tomato and she was thrilled!
I continue to sit on the board that plans and executes Korean culture camp. It's called KAMP - Korean Adoption Means Pride. It's a great opportunity for our kids to make strong connections early in life that will support them as they get older and face different feelings about their lives and adoption stories. It's been a very busy several months planning KAMP for 63 KAMPers plus their families, 12 staff and 7 instructors. We pulled off another fun year and I am proud of our team! It was a longer drive for us this year in light of our move. We boarded the dog and left 30 minutes earlier than planned (score one for mom). We were going to be hitting our old stomping grounds right around lunch so we decided to surprise the kids with a trip to their favorite diner.
We arrived on the grounds and got settled in. Families put together posters to hang on their doors so ours was hung too!
About half of the families come on Thursday afternoon and the kids enjoyed waiting to see who would show up next! Our friends finally arrived!
We had dinner in the dining hall and then it was pool party time. Peter had some listening issues so he didn't get to swim. We hung out and went to the playground instead....until he had to go to the bathroom so we ended up in the building with the pool. We decided to check in on Dad and the bigs. There was a lot of splashing and jumping and crazy fun. Look at these smiles!
Daddy was pretty sore after all of this throwing of children into the water.....
We got kids in bed, I headed to a meeting and we all got some sleep before the first official day of KAMP. Everyone woke up in a great mood and was excited to spend more time with their friends. This year was a nice mixture of families that have come to KAMP before as well as some new families including some friends we met in Korea. They brought their three sweet kids and we all melded together very nicely. Lots of smiles before breakfast.
Yeah for KAMP friends!
The family before KAMP began. I promise Jason was happy - this was just his subdued smile.
The chaos of meal time! Kids had fun with a little more freedom of eating on their own this year.
A little bit of craziness before official opening ceremonies.
Special KAMP buddies. We are blessed to have this family in our lives.
LUNCH with our friends!
This is the entire group of KAMPers and the staff. This is our KAMP family.
And this is what happens when you are done with a large group photo. Ha!
There were plenty of screen time breaks throughout the weekend. It was super cute to see them all trading their screens and supporting each other with games.
This rock was host to many photos again this year. It is on the path between our lodging and where we eat. So much fun to look at all of the combinations of kids in our pictures on this rock this year. Here's the nice one.....
.....and here's the goofy one.
I snuck out to catch some of the classes in action. I saw Lillie's group in the Tae Kwon Do class and here she is practicing a kick. She really enjoyed TKD this year.
There is a rotating schedule of four classes including TKD, language/culture, art and drum/dance. We are blessed with wonderful instructors that have a big heart for these kids. Here is Lillie in her art class with the Hanji Crew.
The afternoon brought free time for campground activities. All of our kids chose to ride horses again this year. So much fun when you don't get to do it very often.
Waiting patiently for his turn - he very nicely let the younger ones go first.
Finally his turn.....almost big enough to put a foot in the stirrups.
Watching the others after their rides were done. Love the shirt design this year which was done by one of the KAMPers.
That face. And man is he looking older to me.
Chilling on the playground near the horse barn.
These boys had so much fun together. Paul was apprehensive to move up to the next grade group (purple shirt) since he knew his good buddies would be in the class behind him (orange shirt). It was neat to see him spend time with both the purple shirted kids and his orange shirt friends.
After dinner came the bonfire. Unfortunately the campgrounds didn't start our fire at the right time so the flames hadn't had time to cool down to embers which are much better for marshmallow roasting. The kids had no patience for that so they just fought off the heat of the roaring flames.
I am not even sure what to say about this. She is definitely more animated these days. And more confident and willing to jump right into new situations.
Who doesn't love a good s'more.....
The second day of KAMP always brings a flurry of activity to prepare a full Korean lunch while the kids are in their classes. It's a ton of work but we divide and conquer it. The results are always good and require a second trip through the food line!
The littles loved this cutout board - how cute are they?
After lunch, the high school students and staff throw a carnival for the younger kids. It's a fun way for them to interact in a fun environment. The kids make colorful bags to collect their candy and little toys.
Peter thought Nick was hilarious dressed up like a clown. He kept pulling his nose off his face.
Paul felt like he was a little too old for the carnival but he played some games (especially the soda bottle ring toss which earned him an orange crush) and moved on to his favorite carpetball.
Lillie and one of her counselors - Clark was newly back on staff this year after some years away from KAMP. He was great with the kids and Lillie really liked him.
Relented a little on normally strict gum rules.
Lillie asked me to do the sack race with her....I am a good sport so I did. My only wish was to make it through without falling down and hurting myself. Mission accomplished!
Peter did the sack race about 10 times I think. He would race anyone that would let him. Smiling ear to ear every single time.
He got his sister to race him too.
After the carnival, it was time for the zipline and climbing wall. Paul did it for the first time last year and was pumped to return. Lillie just barely made the weight requirement and was over the moon that she could try it this year too. Here's Paul and N before their first zip line run.
"Hey buddy, how high do you think that tower really is?!?"
Here's Paul's zipline run in a still shot.....
....and on video.
Here's Lillie's zipline run in a still shot.....
.....and on video. She had a blast with ZERO hesitation to slide off the platform.
This is the look of pride from Lillie after her first zipline run....right before she RAN to get in line again.
Peter had fun watching all of the kids in the action. He found a little caterpillar that he wanted to hold in a picture.
After the zipline came the climbing wall. Both kids did pretty well as the wall really isn't built for small kids. They made great effort and had fun.
We had dinner and headed to the talent show. It's fun to see all of the kids and families and their unique talents. Peter had some fun dancing before the show began.
And just like that, it was the last day of KAMP. It goes SO fast. These are the sleeping arrangements for the kids. And by the last day of KAMP, they would sleep through just about anything out of sheer exhaustion.
Paul had a hankering for Korean snacks for his pre-breakfast. Why not!
Hey look - another picture on the rock. On the way to breakfast.
Here's Peter with his two counselors - Anna and Anna!
Peter and Mina - they became good buddies this year.
Here's Lillie with her counselors - Bambi, Clark and Tess.
And Paul with his counselors - Theresa, Matt and Will.
We love Miss Theresa.
Last lunch with his buddies.
And then it was time for closing ceremonies. I think this is likely the last year I will get Paul in a hanbok for the closing. Most of the boys his age (in his purple group) didn't change into hanboks and he felt awkward. Glad I got a few nice pictures this year.
Preschoolers in hanboks!
The procession....it wasn't too hot so we could do it outside this year.
I love the smiles from Paul and Juliana. At least he had one friend in his class who wore a hanbok.
Waiting for the opening ceremonies to begin! Paul changed his clothes quickly after this photo was taken.
Each group showed off the dance they learned. Lillie's group got to use the drums.
Here's the group in action.
Paul's group performed a fan dance. This is our fourth year of KAMP and he hasn't participated in the dance during closing ceremonies EVER. This year I found out that he also wasn't participating in the first day of dance class which was upsetting. I was fine if he didn't want to perform in front of the entire group and would encourage but never force. But to not participate with his group during class was another matter. We had a discussion about how important the classes are in addition to the bonding time with friends. He took it to heart and started to participate fully in the rest of his classes. When he got up and participated in the fan dance during closing ceremonies, I literally had tears in my eyes. He really rallied even though he thought it was stupid for boys to do a fan dance. Proud mom moment for sure.
And here are the fan dancers in action:
We did a lot of hugging and then hit the road with another great KAMP in the books! We are so blessed to have such a great opportunity for our family. We came home tired and dirty but very happy. Until next year KAMP!
