This kid wrote a thank you note to our Brake Bread delivery folks, and they loved his drawing so much, they turned part of it into a sticker ❤️ What a lovely surprise in our delivery today! @brakebread thanks for the cheer!
Maggie’s been asking about dying her hair for a long time. Sarah tried dying it at home last summer, but it washed out after the first trip to the pool. So we finally made a professional appointment. The choice of color was suspenseful. Last week she wanted it to be bright red. This morning, she was leaning toward “greenish blue.” The stylist convinced her that purple would work best with her natural color.
For the first time since 2011, I was able to go to Camp Widjiwagan this year as a chaperone for the week-long seventh grade trip. It was glorious to be back up north in the heart of winter.
The overall experience was similar to my first trip (as described in this post). I still enjoy cross-country skiing, but haven’t improved much in nine years; I still have a hard time managing downhill slopes where I pick up too much speed, panic, and crash. The sauna-dip experience involved much less trepidation, since I remembered it fondly from the first trip. It was just as good this time. For bedtime readings, I warmed my cabin up on Monday evening with one of my favorite creepy stories, H.P. Lovecraft’s The Cats of Ulthar. The next night, the students requested more, so we dove into The Call of Cthulhu for the remaining nights, wrapping up on Thursday with a few brave students managing to stay awake for the ending.
A personal highlight, as mentioned in my previous post, was our Wednesday DFRPG game with Sam doing a masterful job in the GM’s chair. It was the closest my beloved character, Zafir Abrashi, has come to dying, being nearly digested by a giant carnivorous plant!
I didn’t take many pictures, but the selection below provides a sense of things. (All of the following are my photos except for the chaperone group which was taken by Molly McMahon.)
Update: My colleague, Cheryl Wilgren, shared some additional shots from the trip:
Gaming before lunch? Check. Gaming again after lunch? Check. Roaring fire? Check. Surrounded by wintery wilderness? Check. Still managed to get 17K+ steps and more than two hours of active minutes? Check! Can a day get better than this?
This kid got some pretty great presents this year, but clearly they don’t compare to the play telephone from 1979 and vintage Fisher Price helicopter at Grandma and Grandpa’s house 💕
It was this little guy’s third birthday today. Griffin and Maggie lavished love and attention on him all day, making it feel extra-special.
Quote from Maggie right after Oliver woke up:
Oliver, do you know how many times you’ve gone around the sun? Three times! You’re going to go around the sun many more times. Lots and lots! You’re going to keep going around the sun until you, um, until you … pass away. [Whispers to me: I think that’s nicer than saying he’s going to die.]
Happy Birthday to this bright star. I feel like this is such a great picture to capture the moment this three year old is in: independent, capable, and confident. He’s also silly and curious and loves his older brother and sister so much. What a light you are, Oliver Louis ❤️
