Their Summer Camp

Wildlife report:

This morning Andrew told me that he woke up at 3:00 a.m. to the sound of either coyotes or fisher cats, so close he thought they might be circling the house. I don't know how I didn't wake up. Obviously this is terrifying.

This morning, we set up a Zoom area for us to do some interviews today and in the coming days. As I prepared for an interview, I caught a glimpse of motion out the window, in the back of the house, and when I peered closer I saw a porcupine. It was ambling slowly in the grass, nibbling on things. We all watched it for a while from the window. Eventually it turned the corner around the side of the house, where I was able to see it from about four feet away, and then it went into the high grass by the road and disappeared.

Anyway. I had an interview, and then we had lunch and drove to some tennis courts in the nearby town and played tennis for an hour. Like we're a sporty family! 

We spent time by the pond after that. Andrew took a swim then went inside to prep for an interview. I was reading when I heard hysterical screaming from Lucia. This is par for the course at the pond--anytime they actually touch the water they scream bloody murder--so it took a while for me to look up from my book. When I did, I saw Lucia being swallowed by her raft--it literally came apart at the seams and she was IN THE POND. She had to swim across open water to the dock, screaming the whole time. 

While Andrew did his interview, the girls made beaded friendship bracelets and I worked on some amigurumi. So far, here in NH I've made a stack of pancakes and an avocado, and today I started a strawberry pie. 

Tongiht we had our fried dinner, an annual tradition. Delicious as always. But Lucia was alarmed that we were having the fried dinner early in the trip--she claims we ALWAYS have it toward the end of our stay. 

It has struck both me and Andrew how sacred every single aspect of this trip is for the kids. There are certain things we do, in a certain order, and we have to go through each of them: setting up the hammocks; setting up the rope; blowing up all the inflatables. There are the big activities: our river rafting trip, hiking Mt. Ascutney, the Fourth of July parade and fireworks, going to Books-a-Million, swimming in our cousins' pool. Andrew and I always like to eat at Pizza Chef, the Weathervane, and Harpoon Brewery. 

And those are just the outings! There are also the things we do here: going to the creek, coloring at night while listening to a read-aloud (Andrew's reading this year's--Lord of the Rings), playing in the woods and on the road with old canes, lighting sticks on fire in the fire pit, playing in the pond, doing whatever our summer craft is (bracelets, this year), reading in the hammocks. There is so much to do. We are busy (in a summer way) from morning to night. 

We were talking the other night about all the different toys they've brought up here over the years--LOL dolls, Equestria Girls, Strawberry Shortcakes, My Little Ponies, Hatchimals, Shopkins, Lego Girls, American Girls. So many stages. This year they brought markers, beads, books, walkie-talkies. I can't imagine summer without all this, and neither can the kids. This is their summer camp. It is a constant, a tradition. They count on every single piece of it.

What We're Reading:

Margo: The Ferryman

Andrew: Swann's Way (he chips away at this every summer)

Lucia: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

Great: The Starless Sea