Father's Day: This was probably the most quiet Fathers Day at our home in years. Phone calls from Kelly (she had to work) and Dale, a short visit from Liza and Buddy, no B's, no Mom, no Connie... just the five of us at home after church. It was just plain weird not having the whole family. I served Mexican Haystacks and a fresh fruit buffet, which were both Doug's requests. He got his nap, which was another request, and we watched True Grit later in the evening. Quiet. Simple. Calm. Doug said it was the best Fathers Day! That's all that mattered.
Datenight: Saturday, we spent the day doing things around the house. Liza dropped by in the later afternoon for a visit and then offered to make dinner and do the bedtime routine for Doug and I to get out to the Summerfest Art Faire. It was last minute, but we jumped on the opportunity and had a fun and spontaneous date. Summerfest and dinner, time to talk and visit without kids, great night. We ran into many old friends, which is our favorite thing about Summerfest! It was a great date. We were really excited to see Brooke's photograph of ZJ at the Faire. She won Honorable Mention! Cool Beans! I'll hopefully have the images to share tomorrow.
Camp report: Quayd got home Saturday morning just before noon. He was dirty. D.I.R.T.Y. And proud of it. He told me that he had changed his underwear but was quite proud of the fact that he'd not showered all week long. EEEWWWWW. BOYS! (I was not as bugged by it, knowing that he'd swam at least a few times. Still EEEWWWW.) The girls were so excited to have their brother at home!
During Sunday dinner, Quayd gave us a detailed sanguine report about camp. His worst moment was his tent buddy barfing in the tent. He said the tent smelled really bad from Wednesday night on. Triple EEWWW. The best moments were the two that I wrote about last week... their troop winning third place in the camp relay and him passing off the Swimmer Test. He said that he ate well because of my treats but he didn't like much of the camp food other than sausage. (Ironic since several of the boys got sick and Doug thought that it was from the sausage.)
We asked Quayd to tell his own version of the story of passing this Swim Test. I had thought that they walked the dock before jumping in. I misunderstood. They walked in the water from the shore until the got to the dock. Then, climbed up onto the dock and jumped in for the test. He said that as he and J were about waist deep in the water, they were deciding whether or not they could do it because it was just painfully cold. J said "What should we do?" Quayd said, "We could pray." Quayd then explained that "it was a public prayer but we needed to do it." (We have told him that he can always pray when he's in any situation, but that he should try to not draw attention to it or to just say a prayer in his heart.) He said, "Mom, we just folded our arms there in the water and I don't think that people noticed.
I asked him what he prayed for and he told us that he said, "Heavenly Father, we're thankful we are Camp Hunt and that we can have Scout Camp. Please bless that this water wont be so cold and that we won't give up. Please bless us to be able to succeed at this test and do our best." Here's where my tears started to fall. He said that they said Amen and he had a warm feeling, he felt better and wasn't as nervous as he had been. He said, "J, do you feel that? I feel warm." J said "Yeh, me too." Quayd said, "I think we can do it." I was so touched by this story. I'd been praying desparately while on the phone with Doug at the time he was walking out to the docks, but it never even occurred to me that he'd think to pray too. Definitely one of my alltime favorite mommy moments! I love this boy!
His stories of camp were so fun to hear. He told about earning the first aid merit badge, so I asked him to tell me what he'd do if I was choking. He did. What about if I broke my arm? He did. Then, I said, "What if I cut my hand open? What's the first thing you'd do?" Doug interrupted Quayd's skillful response with an unexpected, "The first thing you'd do is say, "Ralph!! YOU IDIOT!!!!" This is so not Doug! He doesn't make rude comments, even in jest, so we all just busted out into bellylaughs! It was hysterical!
So, our dinner report went from tears of laughter to tears of joy, back and forth. Quayd definitely had a great experience. He earned seven merit badges, which was awesome! I'm quite the proud mama this morning!
I called my dad in the afternoon and the girls sang for him. He seemed to like that. That was the first Father's Day in almost 40 years that I've actually had contact with my dad. I liked it. He did too. ;)
Another favorite moment...Zaylee spent the afternoon with us. After her nap, she was playing with ZJ's Barbie dolls and started "teaching" Barbie how to go potty. Zaylee undressed Barbie, put her on the potty, flushed then stood her up at Barbie's sink to wash her hands, "Scrub, scrub, scrub, bubbles!" It was too cute. And she's almost trained herself!
It was a great weekend. Family is what it's all about.
Don't worry that children never listen to you; worry that they are always watching you.
Hope Dad is feeling better soon! Just caught up again and read Thursday's entry up to this one. SYTYCD is on my official "check it out" list. Megan Carter who was on there last year is actually a teacher at Raegan's dance academy. Raegan doesn't have her as a teacher but I hear she is great.
Posted by: Trish | Tuesday, June 21, 2011 at 11:26 AM