Last Day of Groompa Camp

Tuesday, July 8, was the last day of Groompa Camp so we made the most of it. There were still a few traditional things we'd not been able to do yet, and JC and Trinity voted that those be on the day's agenda.

 Which meant a trip to the Lindy Freeze!

Trinity, Aunt Lisa, and I waited outside while Boompa and JC got our food. The weather was beautiful - I could've sat outside all day!

 Aunt Lisa had some nail polish in her purse, so I gave Trinity an impromptu manicure.

 Sipping a chocolate shake while displaying her pretty nails.

 JC had a peanut butter shake and a tenderloin sandwich.

The Monon Railroad Museum is only open on weekends, so we had to skip that. But the park across from it and the Lindy Freeze was open!

 Trinity was pleased that this year she was able to climb up on the pipe independently without my help.

Making the family "I love you" sign which we promptly texted to Uncle Cole. (Made ya look, Uncle Cole!!)

 The new double slide was fun - it had bumps on it that were a bit odd, though.

 The Linden water tower looms over the park but is part of its charm, too.

 We did a fun selfie at the kids' request.

 Boompa and Aunt Lisa enjoyed the warm weather with a book and electronics.

Next up? A trip the the Romney Toy Shop.

Everything in it is second hand and it is JAM PACKED with toys. But things are clean and well organized, you can find things easily. We love going there!

 Trin is making a tough decision as to what she'll get.

When we got home, Trin asked me to pull out her Great-Great Grandmother Honeywell's dolls. She hasn't asked me to do that in years, so I was happy to do so.

She also helped me organize them so I know who gets each doll. See the paper tags? Trin made those. The dolls are lined up in sibling order, left to right, from oldest to youngest. (Uncle Curt's doll was still in the curio cabinet.)

After dinner, we played Aunt Lisa's new game, Heartthrob. She'd gotten it at the Romney Toy Shop for her classroom, but it proved to be a pretty insipid, shallow game with you determining which guy you would date and guessing who the other players would choose to go out with.

We had a good laugh at all the "dates" in their eighties finery!

It was sad to wind down camp. Boompa and I LOVE having the kids come every summer - it is a highlight of the year for us. But, all good things must end, as they say, and so, too, does Groompa Camp 2014.

Reading to the Kids

Just before hitting the road to return to Florida, Addie asked me to read to her from my pop-up The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. I was delighted to, and she and Whitney were mesmerized.

 Boompa? Not so much.

Perhaps it was from the week-long go-go-go-go-go of Groompa Camp.

Whatever it was, he could NOT stop yawning!

Lisa - Getting the Classroom Ready

Lisa has been hard at work getting her classroom set up for the start of school. That's a difficult task for any teacher; she's under the added onus of having to have a theme and decorate accordingly. At her own expense.

She came up with a detective theme, and for a surprise, Vanessa designed a logo for her and I had it made into notepads and post-its.

I absolutely love it - Vanessa is so talented. And Lisa loved it, too, when she saw it. She's even had a banner made of it for one of her walls.

That wall has to be painted navy first, so Craig and I went to her classroom this morning to help her get that accomplished.

After taping the edges, Craig started in with the navy paint.

Lisa continued working on the footprints she has been stenciling on the walls.

We didn't have a ladder, so she climbed onto the counter to paint the edge of the wall and the top concrete blocks.

 A look at the stenciling process.

While they worked on that side of the room, I did some cleaning of things Lisa had gotten second hand for her room.

These chairs are so bright now that the dirt and grime have been scrubbed off. I think they'll look nice with the navy and gray that are her other colors.

This drawer unit was FILTHY. Lisa found it in our neighborhood - someone had put it out with their trash and so she snagged it and brought it home. I sure wish I had taken a before picture - it was so dirty, I would have left it at the curb. But it, too, cleaned up beautifully.

When I finished cleaning, it was off to the laminating machine for me. I laminated a bunch of Language Arts prompts for reading - 38 pages!

Later in the evening I returned to Burnett Creek and cut them all out for her while Craig second coated the navy wall and Lisa worked on still more footprints.

I have a feeling we're all going to be a little stiff and sore in the morning.

Old Friends Visit

Two of Curt's long time friends came over today for a visit, and they asked if we could come join them for a chat. Craig and I were glad to - out of all of Curt's friends, these two (along with Ella) are my favorites and so it was good to see them again.

Curt, Murph, Ian, Bridget, Eliot (Murph's daughter.)

Curt has known Murph (his real name is Michael) and Bridgette since he was in 6th grade, and although he and Bridgette were never romantically involved, they were close friends and went to a dance or two together. Before he left on his mission for Brasil, she made a film of all his friends and his soccer coaches wishing Curt luck and saying nice things about him - it's an hour long and a real treasure! Bridgette has been teaching special ed in Pekin, Illinois for five years, and Murph just finished his Masters in political science and is looking for a job.

Vanessa, Curt, Ian, Melissa (Murph's wife), Murph, Bridgette, Eliot, Nick (Bridgette's boyfriend.)

We spent about an hour catching up, and then they had to leave as Bridgette was meeting her parents for dinner in Urbana. The time was short, but seeing these old friends of Curt's, even for a brief time,  was wonderful.

The 2014 North American Nationals

Wednesday Craig and I drove to Lexington, Kentucky for the 19th North American Nationals (NAN). 

Kentucky - a place after my own heart. Where else can I get my favorite drink out of a vending machine with a horse on it??

We ate a late dinner in The Horseshoe, the restaurant next to the motel. Only one other table had customers, and as I glanced over at it, one of the women sitting there looked up and our eyes met. It was Karen Beeson, a long time hobby friend who had attended the University of Illinois! And with her was Chris Wallbruch, another U of I alum, hobby friend, and fellow teacher! I hadn't seen either gal in at least ten years - who'd have thought??

We had a nice chat, and they gave me some tips for showing at NAN the next day. I was disappointed that they would not be there, but they'd shown on the previous two days of the show and needed to get back to Chicago and their families. (The third day of NAN was for china, resin, and collectibility classes.)

The next morning we drove to Heritage Hall/Rupp Arena in downtown Lexington and got in line to be admitted to the show.

I'd shown at the inaugural NAN in 1995 and the third one in 1997, so I was a bit rusty at showing on the national level. Surprisingly, I wasn't nervous, although I did not have high expectations of winning much - 212 people were entered along with 5,600+ pieces over the three days of the show.

The show hall was massive and sprawling, with 23 tables (rings) for exhibiting.

It was a very well-run and organized show and a volunteer manned a whiteboard where classes that had been called were posted, their status as to whether entries were being loaded or if the class was closed, and which ring the class was in. I took my clipboard and entry list up there more than once just to keep track of where my pieces were going.

My show string for this year's NAN.

That's Kristina Lucas Francis in the green, a friend from Tennessee and a sculptor for Breyer and Disney (she did some of the The Nightmare before Christmas Christmas ornaments), and other commercial companies as well as her own sculpting. (She specializes in horses and dinosaurs.) It was fun having her nearby and getting to chat throughout the show.

Another good friend, Beth Dickinson, who I have known since we became pen pals in 1971, was also in attendance. She works for Hershey (the chocolate company, not the school!) and brought me some special chocolates to try. Thanks, Beth!

Classes started being called at 8:00 AM.

My Breyer Icelandic and my HR Misty.

My North Light Welsh Pony.

My Lakeshore Belgian Warmblood and my Cheval Friesian (he won two Top Tens, one for Breed and one for Collectibility.)

My HR Sherif, a piece that usually does very well at shows. I found it for $4 at an auction in Fairbury, Illinois in the early 1990s. It's from the 1950s and has exceptionally nice detail which is why it often wins the classes in which it is entered.

I thought it might Top Ten, but to my surprise it was Reserve National Champion in Breed!

And my other surprise was when my HR donkey foal, Harry Potter, also was Reserve National Champion in its Breed class!

The show wrapped up in the early afternoon, and so we were home by 7:30. I came home tired but happy, and still more than a bit surprised that I had had such a successful day.

Groompa Day Camp!

Monday was Boompa's birthday (even though we'd celebrated the previous day) and it was also Groompa Day Camp for Braden Addie, and Corinne.

Cole and Emily were heading home after lunch, so Ian and Julie got some final play time together on the play mat while their cousin, JC, watched.

 I love that JC is playing with Julie's piggies!

 A close up of the babies.

The adults (sans Craig and me) went to Route 66 for lunch and we had Groompa Day Camp at home!

 First up? A craft. 

Corinne and I partnered to make a cowboy lantern. (I am not sure why she looks so put out!)

 Braden and JC were partners, making a fish lantern.

 And Trinity and Addie worked together on a macaw lantern.

 Corinne was happy with her cowboy!

 The finished fish lantern, ready to hang.

 And the macaw, ready to go!

 We hung them in the dining room from the chandelier.

When the others got back from lunch, we trooped out to the barn to visit Abby. Trinity worked as the carrot/sugar/candy cane handler while I stood at Abby's and Diablo's shoulders.

 Abby reaches for the treats Braden offers.

 Addie's turn with help from Dad and Trinity.

Abby hopes Trin has something for her, too!

After dinner, we had "pie-palooza"  (two lemon meringue pies and a cherry pie to celebrate Boompa's birthday) and watched The Lego Movie. 

 I LOVE the expressions on Braden's and Kyle's faces. They loved the film!