Picture of the Week - 6/24/2021

 So this was the week.  We dropped Spencer off at The Citadel in Charleston on Tuesday and drove home.  

How's he doing?  Honestly, I'm not really sure.  He is not the best communicator and I don't want to press too much for information.  I think he's good.  I hope he's good.  He's supposed to call tonight - fingers crossed!

It was so weird.  We aren't allowed in the barracks - so I don't know what his room looks like.  I didn't get to help him make his bed or organize his unpacking.  He's on his own... 

How am I doing?  Well, I'm good, if I'm being honest.  I had moments of being sad and melancholy before I left him, but so far, I just feel like "WE DID IT"!  I'm sure I will miss him and there will be times when his absence is huge here, but right now my whole house feels a little weird, so it's not hit me yet.

Right now Quinn is in Orlando getting ready to wrestle in the Disney Duals.  This is the first tournament in a LONG time that either Bob or I haven't gone, but we just couldn't make this one work.  He's in good hands - and we will get to watch the matches online.  

Zane and Beck have a week off camps and are getting to spend some time with Berber and Pappy today at Camp Berber.  They are excited for an endless stream of donuts and Sunny-D and will be spoiled rotten when we get them back tomorrow.

Zane leaves for sleepaway at Woodlands on Monday and Beckett is doing the Wet & Wild camp next week as we lead up to vacation week!  I can't wait!  Not having Spencer there will be hard...  not looking forward to that part!

Here are a couple of pictures of Spencer with his brothers from this week.  Enjoy!

Picture of the Week - 6/17/2021

 This was a heavy camp-kinda week!  

Beckett is away at Woodlands (sleep away church camp) until tomorrow morning.  Zane did a "wet and wild" day camp through parks & rec all week.  Quinn has been away at the Jeff Jordon wrestling camp all week with his team.  They are driving home from Ohio right now!  

Spencer, thank goodness, has been home this week - although since it's his last week before heading to Charleston to start his Citadel journey, he's been out socializing most of the week.  We leave on Sunday and he starts his class/program on Tuesday.  He's participating in the Excellence in Civil Engineering program (ExCEL program) for 3 weeks with 9 other students.  This is part of a scholarship he was awarded and I'm so excited about this program!  He will take most of his freshman year classes with this group of 10 and will have access to extra support (tutoring/mentoring/etc) through both the Civil Engineering faculty and also the upper-class members of this program.  For the firs 3 weeks they will dive into Calculus and a series of Engineering seminars to help them learn about the different sub-disciplines available and a bunch of other cool topics.  I think this is a pretty awesome program and can't wait to hear all about it!  If you want to read more - Engineering ExCEL-lence at The Citadel | The Citadel Today

The following 3 weeks, he will participate with a much bigger group of kids in the Citadel Success Institute, which is an intensive orientation to the school.  It also includes coursework and special events.  More on this program when it starts mid-July!

I can't wait to get everyone back into this house tomorrow - even if it's short-lived, I'm going to enjoy the heck out of my the next couple of days before we shake things up again next week.

Here are a couple of pictures of my campers this week.  :)

Picture of the Week - 6/10/2021

 Spencer made it back from his Appalachian Trail adventure.  They did fine - no injuries, plenty of food and water, etc.  They did get soaked as this week has been super rainy and humid.  And all the boys admitted that it was harder than they expected to haul gear up and down mountains.  

They also got to make a bunch of memories and met many interesting people!  I kinda love the idea of this exclusive hiker-society out there that few people know about and fewer experience.  These folks are all in this experience together and make fast friends.  They shared food and shelter.  One guy from California was with his friend, who was going much faster than this man wanted/could, so he connected with Spencer's crew and when I picked them up, he was there too.  Not sure what his plan is since his friend connected with someone else and ditched him, but he was super friendly and I'm sure will work it out.  Spencer made some "through" hiker's day by gifting him leftover cans of corn beef hash.  LOL

Countdown is 10 days before he leaves for Charleston and 12 days before I leave him there.  

The other boys are all great and already enjoying summer!

Quinn is actually pretty busy this month!  He's working, wrestling practice, and tackling some SAT prep to get ready for senior year.  

Zane spent this week at Outdoor Adventure Camp where he's gotten to hike, climb trees, kayak, stand-up paddleboard, and today I think he's rock climbing.  Tomorrow is a rope course which he's ridiculously excited about!  He's bruised and sunburnt.  He has bug bites and scraped knees.  It's kind of a perfect 11 year old summer week!  Next week he goes to Wet & Wild camp with MORE of the same - plus lake swimming!

Beckett is at a STEM camp this week where he's gotten to build a robot and fly drones.  From we hear, his robot is the biggest and the fastest and the strongest.  No idea if that's factual, but you gotta love his confidence!

Bob leaves with Quinn on Sunday to drive a 12 passenger rental van to Ohio for a wrestling camp.  Beckett leaves Monday for his sleepaway Woodlands week, which leaves me home with Spencer and Zane next week.  That's another unique combo for the summer.  Interested to see how that dynamic works out...

If anyone is curious what *I* am doing...  it's mostly trying to keep up with laundry required for the revolving door of activities and people around here.  This weekend I get the added excitement of iron-on nametags AND get to tackle building a closet organizer in the newly painted basement bedroom.  I'm living my best life.  LOL

Picture of the Week - 6/3/2021

 T minus 16 days

That's how long I've got before we move Spencer to Charleston.  Wow!

Compared to the week before, this past week was slow and boring!  And yet - it was also kinda whacky!  

Over the weekend Bob took Spencer and Zane to Virginia Beach for a big wrestling tournament.  The other 2 boys stayed here with me.  I tackled painting the room in the basement that will soon be Quinn's bedroom in between watching matches online.  Beckett mostly ate popsicles and Quinn was in and out doing a variety of social things that 17 year old boys tend to do in the summer.

This week we decided to let Zane and Beck have a week without camps so they could chill and relax.  It's been a little wild having all 4 boys around all the time (well in and out like grand central, actually).  There's a lot of motion all the time!  And my grocery shopping hasn't adequately adjusted for the onslaught of boredom eating.  Mental note - I need more lunchmeat and cookies next week.  

Speaking of next week...  Next up for us is a weekend Fellowship of Christian Athletes Father/Son wrestling camp that Bob is taking Zane and Beck to.  They get to stay in a cabin, get some wrestling instruction, and get to hang out together doing fun stuff.  Spencer and Quinn will be here with me this weekend, which should be a bit different than Beck and Quinn.  I expect to get deserted...  So I'll likely be back to painting in the basement.  My goal for the weekend is to get things ready for the closet organizer I bought.  I don't think I can manage installation of that thing solo, but I'm pretty sure I can get to the point where that's next.  

The Great Bedroom Swap of Summer 2021 will start with Quinn moving downstairs.  Then we have to freshen the paint (and replace an overhead light and the blinds) in Quinn's room so we can move Beck in there.  Then we are going to freshen the paint (WAY overdue) in Zane's room and update his decorations.  The deadline (self-imposed) for all of this is first week of August so we can get everyone settled back in before school starts.  That sounds like a long way away, but in the meantime, we have a trip to Ohio for wrestling camp, moving spencer to Charleston, trip to Orlando for wrestling tourney, vacation, and a wide variety of (all slightly different) camps to prepare for each week.  It's a crazy summer - even by my standards.  If we can get this all done by August I'm gifting myself a spa day!

Here's a quick picture of ZnB tonight after a haircut for Beck just because I really haven't taken many pictures this week.  Maybe I can get some of the new basement bedroom - complete with walk in closet and custom barn doors - for next week.