First week of summer

Summer has been pretty good so far. A couple of glitches, but nothing we haven't been able to get through.

Jack: Twilight camp started for him on Monday. It's the Cub Scout camp that goes every day from 4 to 8:30 p.m. and is filled with a ton of fun things to do. They earn accomplishments for their requirements, which is good because sometimes it's hard to get it all done during the year. He had a little trouble with some friends on Monday night. One called him a "baby hippo" which was an insult about his size, and that hurt his feelings. I think it bothered him more because it was someone whom he considered a friend. We had to talk about that on the way home and then he talked again about it with his counselor. There was another kid in his group that jumped on the "baby hippo" wagon and that bothered Jack as well. He learned some good coping strategies, and even had his sister show him how to make the "you're such an idiot" look that she does so well when she thinks you've made a dumb statement. Things seemed to be looking up and he had fun on Tuesday at camp, but then Wednesday was a little rough. During one of the sessions where they made a bat house, the instructor was asked what they should do with the houses once they were built (which is a logical question). His suggestion: "Give it your dad for Father's Day." At that point everybody in Jack's den turned to look at him. There are several things that bother jack, two of which happened at the same time: 1) remind him his dad is gone, 2) Have everybody stare at him to see how he's going to respond. Jack wanted to go at that point, but I couldn't because I was the walking den leader that night. Things picked up for the water bottle rockets, but he didn't stick around for the retiring of the flag. He went to the car and cried.

He has had fun with his friends in the neighborhood. He's been here and there almost every day. Today we're going to The Beach in Little Elm for a little lake swimming. Should be fun. And cleaner--no oil.

Caroline: After the disappointment of having tennis camp cancelled, Caroline found ways to occupy her time. She had a friend over to play on Wednesday which was fun. That turned into a sleepover at the friend's house (which usually happens). However, this turned into a day of sassiness on her part. What it boiled down to was this: her friend and her dad went to go see Shrek 4 after Caroline was brought home. This reminded her that she can't go to the movies with her dad anymore. Which made her sad, which made her testy, which made her take it out on the one person she knows will lover her no matter what: Me. As we were brushing her hair last night, I reminded her that her dad wasn't able to go to the movies with us very much. He'd been a couple of times, but that was last year. And that was actually the first time he went with us. He couldn't go to the movies with us most of the time because he wasn't well enough. So while it is a nice thought and I can see why this would have made her sad, in our reality it didn't happen enough. At least now dad is with us when we go to movies, even though we can't see him. She then mentioned someone at school who had pointed out repeatedly that she still had her dad (kids can be so mean sometimes or it can just be how Caroline is feeling and the kid didn't say it really). My response was, "That's true, but at that moment the kid's dad wasn't there and yours was." She liked that idea and was fine after that.

She's been swimming and likes to play in our sprinkler ball. So all in all I think she's enjoying herself.

Me: Well, I started canning again. I know it sounds corny, but it's fun. I've made blueberry jam and jelly, peach jam, apricot jam, and strawberry jam. I'm working on pear preserves (Caroline won't eat fresh pears, but she loves canned!). I've also come to the conclusion about one aspect of Jason's passing: I'm more sad for the kids than I am for me. That was kind of a breakthrough of sorts.

I'm planning our trip to Alabama which is fun, and trying to decide if I should stop in Vicksburg for a little bit and show the kids. When Jason and I went on our honeymoon we took a sort of tour of the south. We went to New Orleans, La; then on the Natchez, MS, then to Vicksburg, MS. Jason was a big history buff so we toured some of the places that were big during the Civil War. We went to the battlefield at Vicksburg (which was amazing), and I thought I might try and show that to the kids.

That's been it for the week. Twilight camp ends tonight, we're going to "The Beach" today, I'm meeting with a friend for dinner and we're getting our annual Father's Day pictures taken tomorrow. Not bad for the first week.