I know, I know....I am back from the abyss again. This time it is to share an opportunity that our German Dance group has. We have been invited to go to Munich and participate in THE Oktoberfest. We have created a Crowdrise site to help in our fundraising.
Our group is a 501c3, so all contributions are tax deductible. We appreciate any help!

http://www.crowdrise.com/alpinedancerskinder/fundraiser/teridavis

Camp Tonkawa

This past weekend, the girls and I joined our friends at Camp Tonkawa for a Girl Scout camping trip. Last spring, the girls decided that they would like to go camping, horseback riding and do some archery with their cookie money. We have waited a long time for this weekend!
When Friday came around, we were worried for a little while because the weather forecast was calling for rain all weekend. We are not seasoned campers like the Boy Scouts in the family, so rain didn't sound like much fun. We also would not have been allowed to go horseback riding if the weather wasn't cooperative. By 3:00 though, it was looking pretty good up by Gainesville and they hadn't experienced the rain that we had gotten in McKinney. The girls and I packed up, went to ballet class and then headed to Camp Tonkawa.
We arrived at 7:30, just in time for the sun to sink into the horizon and the rain to start. Our friends arrived and we go 3 tents up in the semi-darkness...in the rain. It was just sprinkling, so it wasn't really interfering with anything.
The girls were all so excited. They ran around exploring and, periodically check in to lend a hand. Once the tents were up, it was about time to turn in. The girls giggled and talked until about 10:30.
We got up bright and early (some of us earlier than others) to start our day of Horse Camp.

April and Randy had pancakes waiting for us to start our day and then it was off to see some horses!

 The girls had to go get the horses from the pasture.

 Then they had to get them ready....

 Then off to the corral!

 This horse wanted to make sure everything it saw wasn't edible.

 Besides riding, the girls learned about caring for horses and horse anatomy.

 Back to the corral!

 Trotting!

 At the end of the day, the girls had to groom the horses.

 Off to the barn to get hay for the rest of the horses.

 After some play time, the girls helped prepare dinner.

 And washed dishes.

 Saturday night, we had a campfire and a girl scout bridging ceremony for one of our friends.

 After another late night and a breakfast, courtesy of April and Randy, we headed off to do archery. Well, the girls did. The moms broke camp after a morning of rain. Yuck.

 We left Camp Tonkawa, tired, dirty and happy. The girls had a great time and can't wait to go back!

Vision Mapping our school year

This year is going to look radically different than the past 6 years at our house. For the first time, we have aged out of Moving Beyond the Page and we have to venture out on our own. To help the kids understand what we will be doing, I had them do vision maps today.
Joseph really enjoyed the process (Mr. Visual). Here are Joseph and Caroline's.

Letter from Kiki Magazine

If you are not aware, daughter #1 is very independent. She frequently takes something on and is finished before I know that she started. A few weeks ago, she wrote a letter to Kiki Magazine and enclosed one of her clothing designs. I did not get to see this design. She brought it to me, sealed in an envelope, creatively addressed (we should work on the proper addressing of envelopes....note to self) and asked for a stamp. I gave her the stamp and she put the envelope in the mailbox.
Today, she received a letter from Kiki Magazine:

Family Trip

Here are some pictures from our trip to Corpus Christi last week. The girls spent the summer doing a unit on Dolphins (Intellego) with the goal of going to the coast at the end to see dolphins in the wild. We had a great time. The kids are amazing travelers. We drove down on Tuesday and drove back on Friday. On Friday, we stopped for lunch in New Braunfels and that was the only stop for the 8 hour drive. The car was like a tomb! They were reading, zoning out, watching movies, and just as content as they could be.
All three kids are ready to move to the coast. They really loved the ocean.