Both of James' Jeeps made the trek. It was his first outing with the new one. Daniel (Scoot- his camp nickname) drove the other one. Looks like it may have found a new home as of today, James tells me he thinks he's sold it. Also on the journey were Lee's Jeep and Michael's, with a couple of tagalong staff riding for fun.
James and his newest passion: The Motor. Just two short years ago he said to me, "I think I'll always have my oil changed instead of doing it myself. I have no interest in working on cars." Turns out he's pretty good at it!
Here at Strong Rock Camp we always stive to hire nothing but the finest quality folks. Knowing they are role models for children, they work hard to set an example young people of today can emulate. Parents can rest knowing that at Strong Rock, their kids are in excellent hands. (Lee (Flash) and Sarah (Scuttle).)
Here's Michael (Cricket)...oh, you say they're CANDY cigarettes? Whew, we thought for a minute there we'd have to let a few of you go.
Shannon's pretty pumped about holding a WHOLE Gatorade. 
Everybody tested their Jeeps' manliness by climbing a rock. That's James going up with the camo top.
Not as impressive as the usual obstacles, but better than nothing.
Yep, we climbed a rock.
Sarah (Scuttle), Jackie (Snaps), and Mary Beth (Trip- who also happens to be Scoot's sister, one of our camp program directors, and a triplet). Snaps is our camp photographer and took these photos, plus about 278 more.
"Dad, I think it's the flux capacitor..."
Scoot and Daira.
Though just your average driving Jeep, Flash's managed to prove its Jeepness on the rock.
Scoot demonstrates most excellent driving skills.
All in all, a fun day on the trail. Once we invest in either a stretch Jeep or a hayride wagon this can be a Himstedt family hobby.
James and Mini Me.Friday of this past week the staff had some time off before the new session started and the barn gals and I took them on a trail ride. Nothing like 13 people heading down the trail at once! The horses were very good. It's such a blessing to have nice horses because guiding a ride full of beginning riders can be nerve wracking. It went off without incident and everyone had fun.
Jill (Grits) and KC.
Michael (Cricket) and Maverick. Nearly everyone who meets Maverick asks if he's a donkey, poor guy.
James (Shuffle) and Kieffer.
Priscilla (Hugs) and Onyx.
Sarah (Scuttle) and Taffy. I included this picture to show off how good my horse of 22 years looks. She turned 34 in January, which is about 102 in people years. If she didn't still truck on pretty well we wouldn't use her at camp, but she's still going! And now to introduce our Fourth of July guest:
He forgot to knock, but we saw him out on the porch anyway. Naturally, we opened the front door.
We didn't invite him in, though.
He was young probably about two and maybe 100 pounds. Still a bear, nonetheless!
He stepped in the kids' pool first, and took a chomp out of their plastic wagon (teeth prints to prove it). I thought it was nice of him not to eat our shoes.
He didn't wander off very far, even with us standing on the front porch.
James protects his family, armed with a pistol...and a soccer ball.
Is the bear going to front him? Ask for a bullet? Or a vinyl sphere?
Target sighted.
Note the soccer ball to the right of the bear, behind the bushes. James chunked it at him but mostly missed. The bear moseyed over to sniff it, maybe hoping the human had thrown him some food to make his job easier.
At this point I'm still pretty amused, pretty much enjoying getting to see a bear this close up. James is mad, as the bear had no right to peruse- and destroy- the trash. He's still working to scare it off. Had it been: a) bear season or b) the family not home, I feel sure the bear would have met it's demise by pistol that day.
James discovered that by walking toward him making a loud hissing sound he would run off.
I think if he had a tail it would have been tucked between his legs. He wasn't too scared though, he came back twice more that morning.We celebrated the 4th by having friends over for an impromptu cookout, swim, blob, firework event at camp. It was a lot of fun, and as usual kids outnumbered adults by at least 3 to 1. I often think if the kids just realized that they could easily mutiny and we couldn't do much about it. We won't tell them.
Rebecca takes out some canoers. When Amelia was three we drove by the lake and she pointed to the canoes and asked me when we could ride in the "comodes" again.
Avery and Lydia chat about the importance of July 4th and what it means to us as a country. Maybe.
James and I had the son and daughter of some friends in Canada come in a day early before the start of the next camp session. Kaleb and Abigail's folks are missionaries (from Arkansas) in Canada, and they were excited to spend the 4th in the states. Here's Abigail demonstrating some decent height on the blob. 
This is Eli, who just turned six. He is fearless. He did a full rotation and landed a lot better than it looks like he's going to in this photo.
Eli's dad, Ryan.
Evan
Jenny and kids
Me, Shannon, and Thomas.It was a very enjoyable evening and we played until dark, then did fireworks and sparklers. It's a little worrisome how much Shannon likes fire.
My favorite quote of the evening came from Amelia. She has been holding her nose while swimming lately, so I said, "Last year you never held your nose. Why are you doing it now?" She said, "I don't know why. I disgust myself."
Here are a few random shots from our last week.
Results of Amelia's bike wreck last week. The knees are nasty, but wrapped up good thanks to our camp nurse. (The kids think I can't even put band aids on when there's a real live nurse around.)
The boys worked on their Jeep for at least half an hour the other morning.
At one point Shannon said he was fixing the up pipe (or something like that). Then he looked at me and said, "What's an up pipe?"
All mechanics should wear overalls so we don't have to say no to crack.
Shannon's ingenuity kicking in. A screwdriver can be used to prop up the hood.
Repairing the Jeep is a lot more fun when Daddy's tools are available. Not that they actually were, this is a case of not asking first. As usual.
Have a happy day!
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