Ulster done

And the group is safely home in Northern Ireland.  Everyone is tired and happy it's done.  Well, maybe not all the kids, there were a lot of tears at the airport. 

Gabriel is now having to read his summer reading book, which he claims puts him to sleep.  He is also at work doing handy man work for some neighbors. 

Anna did her first week of band camp this week (she is in color guard) and goes away to TN Tech for her second week of camp.  The big news in band is that someone is doing a documentary film about the band, and has been in and around during camp week this week. 

Marian is counting the days, not until middle school starts, but until the 2nd Percy Jackson movie opens.  (August 7th for those of you interested). 

School starts on August 12th, so only 2 short weeks until summer is officially over.

Cool bridge in WV

Cool bridge in WV that Bogdan just passed over, on his way to a conference there in Green Bank, WV.

Camping

Well, we all collectively decided it wasn't the worst camping trip we have been on, but pretty close.  It was terribly rainy.  On Sunday alone, we probably had close to 2 inches at the campsite, creating many lakes and puddles.  We all decided to come home a day early. 

But, the boys managed to do 2 hikes, we saw some wildlife and made s'mores and sang around the campfire.  The boys' tent was the big issue, it leaked horribly and we were pretty much water torturing our Irish boy. 

The kids were glad to come home and sleep at home. 

10 laundry loads later, we have clean clothes and sleeping bags. 

Oh, and Gabriel really hurt his foot last week and was on crutches all weekend, with a splint.  The x-ray was looked at by the orthopedist and he says it's not broke or fractured.  But, Gabriel says it's still really hurting.  This, of course, puts a snag in his plans to maybe try out for the golf team...