Adventures in Sequim: The Cliff Notes Version

Now that life is slowing down a bit and I can reflect, there is no question that this summer has been pretty busy. In addition to a lot of travelling (i.e. packing, unpacking, laundry and packing again) Gavin has been getting more and more mobile, curious and active, so it seems like there has never been a dull moment.
We celebrated his 1st birthday on the 13th, but before I can share about all those festivities, I wanted to catch up a bit. So, here is the Cliff Notes Version of a few great summer happenings...

Middle School Camp

Yep, Gavin and I went with Tony, his volunteer leaders and the kids to Black Lake Bible Camp in Olympia. The Little Man and I had our own cabin which worked out quite nicely. We were able to have meals with everyone and participate when it worked with his schedule.

I even got a chance to go to some of the worship times thanks to Lainey and Mickey (some of our volunteers). It was good to be in worship and hear from the great speaker.

Gavin LOVES the kids, so he had a blast. It was an interesting week because a lot of kids got sick. And then, a week or two later we realized some of the kids had lice. Thankfully our family didn't get any of these ailments (although I will admit my head "itched" for a bit just at the mention of lice ).

This photo on the left looks a lot like Gavin's cousin Rocco (they are one week apart).

Visit from Gramme and Grampa
At the end of middle school camp Gavin and I went to Seattle to pick up my parents for a visit. They stayed with us about ten days and then we took them back to Seattle on the way to high school camp.

We had a great time with them. We enjoyed some recreation and exploration as well as some nice down time. It was great for Gavin to have such a nice chunk of time with his grandparents.

We enjoyed time out at Lake Sutherland with our friend Kevin. As you can see, the life vest wasn't Gavin's favorite but you can't really blame him. Grampa and Papa had a lot of fun with their respective water sports. Tubing was a first for Grampa and he did a great job.

While my parents were here we also enjoyed a visit from David (Tony's bro), Kei and family. It was our first time to meet Larissa-- what a beautiful girl she is. We had a great time together and loved the energy their crew brought to our home.

Our friend Kevin came through for us again and provided crab for our meal. The kids loved it!

It was a bit of a feat to get all of the cousins in the photo, but we did it. In fact, I think they are even all looking in the same direction. This one is a framer. (Left to right: Cyrus, Ivan & Gavin, Elitza, Larissa)

After a traditional (and large) breakfast at the Oak Table, we enjoyed a walk down to the Dungeness Spit. It was a bit cool, but beautiful and refreshing as usual. We finally got a photo of the five of us together-- I think just in time for my parents to leave. We enjoyed their visit and were especially pleased that Gavin started clapping again, seemingly as a result of their presence.

High School Camp

One down week (while my parents visited) and we were off to camp (same camp) again, this time with our high school students. It was the biggest group we've taken to camp so far. (We plug our students -19 of them-- in with the camp of about 150 to 200 campers.)

Gavin and I had our own digs again (this time with a kitchenette) and enjoyed hanging out with the students and Tony when we could. This week happened to be the hottest of the summer (as in record-breaking temps in the 100s) so we did whatever we could to stay cool. A couple big fans in our cabin were helpful, but didn't quite combat the heat.

Gavin started getting heat rash on his neck, back and in the creases of his elbows. Poor guy. So finally on Wednesday I took him on an excursion to Target so that he could be in air-conditioning for an hour. On Friday, it was a little overcast and I was finally able to put pants on (good thing because everything else was dirty).

In the midst of the heat, God was doing some great things with our students. I loved being a part of it and was really renewed in my passion for Tony's ministry. Did I mention that the camp provided for me and Gavin to stay both weeks? Isn't that awesome?! God's provision is great.