Things end, things begin, Himstedts vacation!

Saturday officially ended the summer season for Strong Rock. Camp ended two weeks ago, but we hosted two groups after that and during that time I ran two weeks of horseback riding day camp. That was a blast, though a lot of work. The kids got to ride in the rain the last two days too, which always makes it more fun. One day I went home and grabbed a bunch of t-shirts and shorts to pass out because the kids were so cold. It was great for me to get to spend so much time at the barn, and the kids had a lot of fun with my mom. Not sure my mom had quite as good of a time, but she did a good job holding down the fort and managing the chaos at the house. I'm glad my kids got to spend extended time with her, it's good for them to be close to their grandparents.

The groups we hosted at camp were fun too, and interesting. The first week there was a youth camp held by Sons of Confederate Veterans. It included a lot of old south reincarnations, including war and hero stories, a ball (with real ballroom dancing), and they even had their own cannon...which they fired before every meal. It's a wonder anyone who came back from the Civil War alive had any hearing left at all. The next week a family camp from a church near Douglasville came and they used every facility we had available. There were a lot of little kids around and most of them brought their bikes, tricycles, and scooters. One of my horse camp kids commented that it was "Biker Week" at Strong Rock.

Here are a few pictures of some of my horse campers. We took photos of them with their favorite horse and they made a picture frame to put it in. I've been blessed to collect a herd of horses that are very tolerant, sweet, and cute too, if I say so myself.

Romeo and his rider

Kiefer and his rider

And rarely will you see a post containing horses that doesn't include one of Taffy. This is Nicole, who has loved Taffy for at least five years.

There will be more groups at camp coming up in the next few weekends and during the rest of the year, but the official summer stuff is now over. Back to reality for me...and back to the grocery store, the stove, the sink, and the dishwasher. Also back to school, though I've yet to order the things I intend to use for first grade this year. I had great intentions of getting it all planned and ordered over the summer and I just didn't do it. I'm having a hard time getting concerned about first grade being a big deal. I'll pick up with where we left off several weeks ago, and plan to order books to supplement last year's learning. I'm not going with a packaged curriculum, but will pick and choose a few for math, science, handwriting, spelling, and beginning piano. White county schools start Friday the 7th but we're going to wait another 10 days or so to officially start. I also have to turn in our intent to homeschool form and start keeping attendance records that will have to be submitted. That's really all I have to do for Georgia to be satisfied. They just want to know that we did 180 days...not even what we did for 180 days. I don't mind the lack of accountability, but I can see how it would be easy for parents to let their kids fall behind.

Saturday was full, as we were attending my niece Jordan's 2nd birthday party in Marietta. It was proceeded by a maniacal packing jaunt as we prepared to head to my aunt and uncle's lake house on Lake Oconee on Sunday. But not before checking out...(cue drumroll)...CLEVELAND'S NEW WAL-MART!!

Here it is in all its shiny newness. It's set up a little weird compared to the Wal-Marts I know and love. It does have stuff though, and that's what's important. It will be nice to be able to buy a baby shower or birthday gift without either having to leave Cleveland or settle for a less than stellar Dollar General find.

Here's the view looking across the parking lot. The mountain you see is Long Mountain, where James and I built our first house. We lived there for nearly five years. Ours is the lowest cut out space in the trees (to the right), and the view from there is incredible. Now the view contains a giant Wal-Mart and parking lot, lit up 24/7.

Saturday afternoon we headed to Marietta for Jordan's birthday party. Now for one of the cutest pictures I have taken all week. My new niece Reagan!

She's a month old now, the daughter of my brother Jonathan and sister-in-law Lisa.

This kid is pretty cute too, if I do say so myself.



Jordan gets ready to bust into some birthday loot.

We gave her and Reagan matching dresses, and apparently she liked it because she put it on right away. Sort of.



She loves books. Her vocabulary and speaking skills are huge too, considering she just is two. I love seeing her point to the vent in the ceiling and say, "Air conditioning come out that vent?" Lisa thinks she's waiting for something to actually come out of the vent.

Avery is happy to help her break in her new toys.

Amelia finds a creative way to recycle ribbon. Grandad is a willing participant. Somewhere there's a picture of me putting shiny Christmas tree icicles on my dad's head in similar fashion.

Ta da! My dad has never looked so sweet.

The Himstedt kids also helped break in Jordan's new swingset. My resourceful brother found it on Craigslist, picked it up on a trailer, hauled in across Atlanta, and painted and repaired it for a fraction of the cost of the lumber that's in it.





We've been trying to teach Shannon how to pump his own swing for awhile. He nearly had the hang of it. The tongue sticking out shows the effort going into it.







My grandparents also got to come to the party. Here's my Granny, dad's mom.

Pa Pa

And Nanny, my mom's mom. I have many pictures of Nanny in this pose with a baby. She loves them.

Time for cake! Notice the stealthy approach of the pocket torch on the right...

Can you say overkill? My brother is a gear nut and just happened to have this mini acetylene torch in his pocket. They're putting them on Swiss army knives now. It's a new thing.




This is the cutest two year old I've seen in a long time. And sweet too!



Sunday morning we went to church then left for Lake Oconee, where I sit and blog as we speak. My dad's sister and her husband and youngest brother and his wife built a place awhile back for investment purposes. We like to use it for enjoyment purposes. It's one of our favorite places ever to visit with our kids and for three summers now we've been blessed to be able to use it for our end of camp vacation. To make it even better, James' folks are here with us this week. They were unable to come in June as planned since his mom had to fall and break her leg, but we're glad to have them with us now. Mimi is hobbling but is definetely getting around, an answer to prayer. We will be here until Thursday, then head home so James can spend the weekend promoting camp at an expo in Macon. He will also be taking some staffers to run an archery clinic of sorts at Strong Rock School. My cousin Adam is getting married that same day so I'll be in McDonough Saturday, then will head home to meet back up with James' folks on Sunday after their weekend trip to South Carolina. This vacation is much appreciated, and we're enjoying ourselves. We spent about four hours in the pool yesterday and have plans to ride waverunners later today.

The approach to the house.



Yeah, it's a dump but we'll muddle through somehow.

Last year she learned how to swim, this year she's learning to walk on water. We had a heck of a time finding a place that teaches lessons for that.

Cannonball! Shannon is doing pretty well with swimming now too, but it's still a bit scary to just let him go. He swims way down underwater, holds his breath forever, then comes to the surface just barely enough to gulp air before going way down again. He also makes very little forward progress, so it takes forever for him to get to the side. I hold my breath too.

Shannon practices his mad biking skills in the driveway. Long driveways are fun.

You can keep going...

...and going....

Elizabeth is enjoying herself too. She spent a long time in the pool yesterday, splashing and fighting me to drink as much of it as possible.

Well, the youngest two are now down for naps and I hear the water calling. And the kids, begging for waverunner rides. Duty calls, I must do what I must do. Pity me.

More photos to come!!