Summer vacations ... ahhhh the sound of silence!

My house has been silent for the past two days. No drama, well, not as much. Ryan and Jenn are both off at recreation camp this week with the FFA Chapter from their school. I said not much drama because last night around 11:00 p.m. Ryan called home to suggest that I come pick Jenn up. When I asked why, he said that Jenn (right) had claimed to be sick early in the day, and ended up hanging out with her friend Trish (left) all day. That Jenn had not participated in anything all day. He was worried about my $100 investment in the cost for the camp. I asked that he have Jenn give me a call in the morning so I could check on her health.

Not to sound sarcastic, but this sounds more like a big brother who would have preferred his younger sister had not come along on the trip. However they are both in the FFA and 1/2 of the trip was paid for by her fund raising efforts. So, he'll just have to get over it. I called him back this morning and reminded him that he needed to act maturely about this and enjoy his time at camp. As you see from their goofy picture below, Ryan and Jenn have their good moments!

As for Jenn, she called this morning and said she had "tossed her cookies" and did hang out with Trish for the day. I suggested she hang out some with the students from her school too, not necessarily her brother. This is to be a fun week with her classmates and others from around the state who share the same interests in agriculture, or at least in the FFA adventures. When I asked her why she got sick she said she was upset because her brother's girlfriend had said something to upset her. I suggested she talk to her and get it straightened out as promptly as possible. She is supposed to call me later to let me know how she is doing.

It was apparent she had an attitude, after all, who likes their older brother acting like a parent when you are on vacation?

I left a message on the teacher's cell phone to have her check on Jenn as I was concerned about her health and her participation with the group. I also mentioned why she said she had been sick. I thought I was going to get a break from the drama. So let's see if the night passes quietly.

the stories from the lake ...

Yesterday my son returned home from his adventure at the lake, or should I say adventures? There were water-ball games, canoe races, a talent show, tug-of-war, softball, four-man race, underwater swim, and block parties each night. No way for these kids to get bored! On top of all of this the weather was beautiful most of the time they were there, in fact, it was unseasonably cool during the night and low humidity during the day. He managed to come home without a sunburn and other than the exhaustion from the activities, he was no worse for the wear.

He even managed to sneak in a dance on the last night with a really good friend; she also happens to be "Madam President" of the FFA team for the 2007-2008 year. He performed in the talent show and was quite comical in the face of technical difficulties. He is much happier that he chose to go this year than to have spent a week at home doing chores ... hmmmm ... wonder why?

More later ...