More Camp Out Pics

Great news! The camera is working well now and I discovered campfire photos from Friday night that I had forgotten I had taken...

See, the happy memories are already taking over. It was a good night.

Can Girl Scouts Earn a Misery Badge?

Camping is an awesome idea. Even now, when I think about sleeping under the stars, cooking in creative ways, finding your way around by flashlight, eating S'mores and singing songs by the campfire- it all sounds like something I want to do. I do wish those were the memories at the forefront of my weekend camping story...but they're not...
I know some of my readers love camping, so this blog post will not be a rambling story about all that went wrong on our Girl Scout camping trip. It will just be a list:
freshly-charged dead camera battery
freakishly fast little frog nestling on my sleeping bag
exhausted (and mildly pissy) daughter
a million bitey ants in my backpack
sore everything
sticky, hot, Thailand weather
sudden and violent thunderstorm
tents flipped and blown around the campsite
soaked sleeping bags, pillows, and brand new expensive camping stuff
saturated bag of clothes
wet camera and phone
menstrual cramps

Oh boy, I better just stop there.
One troop leader asked at dinner last night, if Girl Scouts offers a Fun Badge for rainy camp outs. I'm not sure she appreciated my laughter and comment that "It should be classified as a Misery Badge."

We all did our best to prepare and enjoy this staple in the Girl Scout experience. But it was not meat to be for our little Daisy Troop. Our 3 first graders still made great memories. They are fantastic, resilient little people. They had begun work earlier in the day on a skit for an evening performance by each troop. Since we decided to depart early, we asked if we could show the skit while the girls waited for dinner to be served. Julianne, Mia, and D delivered camping jokes, performed their own original skit, and led a fun Daisy Scout chant. They received wonderful applause before we ate Sloppy Joes and loaded up for the ride home.

With the dead camera battery, I wasn't able to take all the photos I had planned. But, I was able to take a few with my phone at the lake.

I'll post more photos when I get some from the other parents on the trip.

Thanks for letting me share my boo-hoo story with you. Perhaps, before too long, the more memorable events will be the S'mores, the canoeing, and the brilliant jokes from our sweet 6 & 7 year-olds. It won't be long.
And, call me crazy, but if next year's trip is planned a little earlier in the year, I remember to pack everything in plastic bags, and take a few other preventative measures, I'll probably go again. Optimism is a curse!!!

The Fun Run

 We had a busy weekend at ISB! On Friday after school, was the Job and Maria Charity Fun Run. This is an awesome effort organized by the school and parents in memory of a 2 ISB 1st grade students, brother and sister, who perished in the 2004 tsunami. The kids and I ran with lots of others to raise money for the educational needs of several Thai students. C ran the 200 meter, D and I ran the Mother/Daughter 400 meter, and then I ran the mile. It was terribly hot, but free ice water and cookies made it all better!

C, getting in zone, focused on the track.

Go! Go! Go!!!

Green ribbon winner!

What a team. Hopefully Daddy will be here to join us for the next one! We love you T!

Good Stuff

We are home now from another wild and crazy International Food Fair. We are tired, and STUFFED, and happy! Who had the falafel pitas at the Israel booth? Curry at the India booth? Sausages and onions at the Aussie booth? Pie and pulled pork sandwiches at the American booth? Yum!

D, Tess, and I worked all day on our apple tarts. So proud of my girl. She's got great technique!

 We love the food fair, the chance to bake together, and all the excitement! Our other project was helping out in the games area with our Girl Scouts Daisy Troop. We helped run the treasure game. 10 baht- win a prize every time! My Daisy Scouts were great little money earners!

Happy little American girl.

Budding Author

D: You know, mom, some kids are so dumb that when they get put in time out, they tip their own chairs over so their moms will worry about them and forget about the time out.
Me: Really? Where did you hear about that?
D: I didn't really hear about it.
Me: Then where did it come from?
D: I just kind of thought of it. You know, it's like realistic fiction.

Pitching In

The parents, staff, and students at ISB have been doing something amazing over the past 2 weeks. They have launched a flood relief effort that is supplying food, water, medicine, and other necessities to flood victims in our area. (See my facebook page for an awesome and moving video of the middle and high school kids)
I took some snaps of D's class taking a shift in the Flood Relief Room at ISB today. Those 1st graders can pack a bag of necessities like nobody's business! So proud of our global citizens!
Here, they sit and listen to instructions.

 Ready at their stations. (D was in charge of the insect repellent)

 Fill those bags!

 They make a great team!

So proud of our kids!!!

We Ran to Rebuild!

With all the devastating flooding here in Thailand, our PTA organized a charity run for this afternoon. The kids and I ran to rebuild!

The kids loved running with their buddy Reid. All 3 were so fired up to do this!

Their age group was asked to run just 100 meters, but our little over-achievers were determined to do a full 400. So proud of them!

Mommy runs!

 D was very proud of my 3rd place trophy. Here she is, celebrating.

Prayers for Thailand please! The worse may be yet to come.

A Movie & Popcorn

D recently completed some extra reading that I had invited her to do. She knew the reward was an afternoon with friends, watching a movie and sharing popcorn. Today was an early dismissal from ISB so it turned out to be the perfect day to have a few friends over for a fun afternoon.

Sweet little note and gift from Talha.

And, of course, since Jeah joined the fun too, there was some rabbit match-making.

Might have to do this each time there is an early dismissal. Great kids and a nice, relaxing way to get them together.

Fabulous First Day

It was hard getting out of bed this morning, and her new shoes felt a little stiff, but D has begun first grade!

En route.

Beside the bulletin board.

With Mrs. Hardman.

 And, who's hot stuff this year getting to hang the big playground before the bell rings? First graders!

The report from D this afternoon- She could tell me the names of all the kids who sit at her table. The best thing was seeing a familiar friend when she went to Spanish class and the worst thing was that her new Spanish teacher isn't as funny as her old Spanish teacher. Not too bad! She did come out of the classroom this afternoon frowning and declaring, "MOM! I have HOMEWORK!" (This was her biggest concern with starting 1st grade.) She is thoroughly enjoying her "homework," searching the house for 5 things that tell about her.

It's going to be another great year!

Play Date

Tomorrow is the first day of 1st grade. So, today D had her friend Jeah over for one last summer play date. Jeah is a great kid who has appeared in previous posts. Delightful to have around because she is funny, polite, and she and D have a great time together. Once she was asking us if we had ever seen "those machines that grab animals with their claws...and you can keep the animal. Some people call them money-wasters." I thought that was hilarious and showed one of the best things about sweet Jeah, she has no idea how funny she is!

C was at school so the girls had the toys to themselves. They played Littlest Pet Shops, read a book, admired the rabbit, and then consoled each other for a bit over not being in the same class this year. Each was reassuring the other that they would still see each other around the playground and at lunch. And they could still have play dates and sleepovers.

We then decided to watch a movie and have an indoor picnic lunch.

Another thing that cracks me up when Jeah comes to play...

the girls are convinced that Thumper will fall in love with this stuffed toy rabbit. I let them keep trying. It's hilarious. Once they petted Thumper and then rubbed their hands all over the stuffed rabbit to spread Thumper's "scent." Ha Ha!

Finally, we wrapped up this last summer play date with a tea party. We made real tea and put sugar in the little sugar dish and served little biscuits on the picnic rug outside. Happy girls shared their snack and said good-bye to summer.