We began Connor's Birthday celebrations bright and early on his birthday morning.
No one actually ate that crepe.
Connor got a new bike!
Nana and Grandpa sent Connor a new LEGO set.
After presents, we packed up the car for a trip to Red Top Mountain.
Connor didn't want to have a birthday party this year. He just wanted to hang out with his friends. When we found out that his friends had picked his birthday for a camping trip, he decided that sounded like exactly what he wanted to do for his birthday.
He didn't really want a cake, either, but he did want a giant cookie.
Papa Kirk and Grandma Ella joined us at the park, too.
We spent the afternoon swimming in Lake Allatoona.
The kids floated on that giant foam island hours.
They also had awesome wrestling matches and gladiator games on it.
They piled up all these rocks on a log in the lake.
We had a lovely campfire potluck dinner.
Most of us made pita pocket pizzas on the fire.
And then it was time for s'mores and watermelon.
I'm not sure if this was about chopping the wood or about feats of strength.
Finally, we met up with some park rangers for a very special night hike.
There was a presentation about animal furs and poop, and then they passed out blacklight flashlights to everyone in the group. We went on a hike in the dark and looked for bioluminescent plants and bugs.
These centepedes were awesome. We saw a lot of them. We also saw one neon green scorpion. It was a lot smaller than I had expected it to be.
And then we all made our way back to the camp for the night.
Over Labor Day weekend, Connor went on a camping trip with his new Boy Scouts group (den?) (pack?) (club?). Anyway, they went to Cumberland Island. He was exhausted when he got back (just in time for the first day of school), but he had many wonderful stories to tell us about the fun that he had. They went took a ferry boat out to Cumberland Island, hiked and hiked and hiked, saw some wild horses and ruins. He had a really great time.
While he was away, other people sent me photos, which made me happy.
Maybe someday the rest of us will get a chance to take a trip to this magical wilderness.
There were tons of photos of the kids at camp that were posted online for the parents to see while their kids were away. Which was super nice. I saw Connor in the background of several of the photos, and there was one in which he was front and center:
In all the photos, all the kids seemed to be having a wonderful time. There was a pool with a diving board and a slide, laser tag, mini golf, obstacle courses, and all sorts of field games.
Connor came home covered in all different colors of paint. It still hasn't come off. His once gray sneakers are now rainbow colored.
He said the food was amazing. He had so many things to tell us about camp, and he wasn't ready to sit still yet.
And then he fell asleep on the couch before dinner and slept for the rest of the night.
I think he had a great time at camp. I'm super happy for him.
Papa Kirk and Grandma Ella were on a big trip with their camper when they stopped to visit us. So, we went to visit their camper for an afternoon with the boys.
The boys got into the forest and had an imaginary war. The pine cones were grenades. The branches were swords and guns. It's just what boys do in the forest, I guess.
I guess you can take the boys away from the video games, but then they just play their war games in the woods. At least there was fresh air and nature.
