Wildwood Wrap Up

There's something about little people at the beach! We did enjoy the beach a few times this summer, and almost always with the Lamb family. That's their daughter standing between Anna Kate and Lucy.

 Will loves those beach shovels!

 This is the Lamb's little boy, who is Will's age. I had to capture this picture . . . . they had some difficulty communicating. :) The best of friends, the worst of friends . . . . they are two!

 Will's ride from the car to the beach.

 All the kids really, really enjoyed boogie boards! 

 Even Will

 This sequence made us all laugh. Samantha had built this big mound. Then, Will discovered it and decided he would enjoy it, too. It was a lot more like king of the hill . . . .

 The girls and Dad really wanted to ride the Ferris Wheel this year. We're looking at it . . . . the first day we tried. It was closed that afternoon. Dave went back again, and he couldn't ride it alone with the three girls. Good thing there's next year.

 We made up for it by choosing to ride another ride.

 Some New York state staff & students (& staff kids)

 Will is so affectionate! Love that little arm around Samantha!

Mini-Golfing at Duffer's

The other day, a staff woman asked me if I like returning to the same place year after year for Summer Project. What a good question! As staff, it becomes normal to do something different every summer - a little of this and a little of that. But, for our family, one of the small things I am thankful for is the familiarity of returning to the same Summer Project. There are lots of reasons for this, but as the kids get older, I really like that there are parts of the Project they know and expect. One of the special events the kids started talking about once we arrived was our night at Duffer's, a local ice cream and mini-golfing place. 

 Sweet Buddy. It seems that most of what I forgot this summer belongs to Will! 

Good thing he doesn't know it yet! So, I forgot his baseball cap. He's wearing mine. 

 We are so thankful for this little girl, Abbey. She and her family are becoming awesome friends! 

 This is the 18th hole. When (if) you can get your ball through the gate under the shark, there is smoke and your ball never comes back. Will was so concerned and fascinated. We kind of held up the line. oops.

Blueberry pickin' in NJ

Maybe my geography skills aren't what they should be or maybe I'm just slow to put it all together, but here we are, in our third year leading the Wildwood Summer Project, and I finally realized that blueberries come earlier in New Jersey than in New York. It doesn't feel like we are much farther south, but apparently we are . . . . and the blueberries are ripe about a month earlier! Amazing! Because one of the things we really miss when we are not in Albany in the summer is berry picking! 

Actually, I learned last year that we could pick blueberries before we returned to Albany because our dear friend Robin had loads of blueberries! Yay! So, this year, the six moms and twelve kids packed up and drove a ways (some of us drove longer because, well, we might have gotten lost) and picked blueberries. So fun. So good. 

Anna Kate works hard.

 Will is eating blueberries, sometimes! 

 Samantha picked a lot, too, and when it was time, she added all her blueberries to our family pick.

 Ellen and Maddie Mae are with us in Wildwood, too. And Maddie Mae really, really likes blueberries. She was like little Sal (from one of our favorite books Blueberries for Sal), putting her hand in her mom's bucket and trying to get a tremendous handful. Unlike little Sal, she really only got one blueberry at a time!  

 Look at these amazing moms, picking blueberries with toddler children, and carrying infants along with them! Amazing! 

 There was lots of running up and down the wide aisles.

 Some are faster than others . . . .

 Sweet Caroline also really, really, really likes blueberries.