swim camp 2012

Jun 3, 2012

We are home from our 9th Annual Homeschool Swim Camp. I took exactly zero pictures of our fun. What is wrong with me? I hope Jessica will have a lot of pictures and let me steal them!

We are red, tired, chaffed, sore, and happy. Most of all, happy. I spent much of the week with a filled-up heart of gratitude for this week of sunshine and dear friends. I spent my days in a horizontal position which was the perfect vantage point to look around at everyone. As I looked, I remembered the varied experiences I had had with the person and would feel my heart bubble up with love for them…and then I would cry.

I am so blessed.

I am surrounded by people living full lives of service, action, dream fulfillment, vibrancy, and goodness and not only am I able to be near them, I am able to be intimately entangled in their lives. I am able to create a thriving community with them. I am able to reach out to them and they reach right back to me.

It is quite magical.

The children played hard and swam hard and slept hard. Capture the Flag was an ever-present part of every day along with catching bugs and minnows, searching through the trees, roasting marshmallows, going on hikes, and swimming…always swimming. Miss Annes spent about seven hours in the pool every day. She could not get enough of it and everytime someone asked if she was ready to get out and go get some food, she would shout out “I’m a fish!” and dive underwater. She passed Level 2 as a four-year-old! She has her back stroke, front crawl, and back float down solid and totally surprised us all with her fishy-ness. Fisher passed Level 3 and finally dived correctly instead of belly flopping. Super proud of him! Keziah finished the second year of Level 6 and much to her relief, is all done with swimming lessons. Blythe finished several years ago so she filled the role of chef for the week. It was lovely to have all our meals ready for us when we came back from the pool each evening. She needs a whole pile of gold stars!

Swim Camp Top Ten

1. The myriad of hugs I received.

2. Watching Fisher swim across the pool and his big smile when he made it.

3. Waking up each morning to the sunshine and the call of the lonely sandhill crane.

4. Listening to Mary Beth’s gentle words and remembering once again that I want to be a refined woman of truth and goodness.

5. Watching all my children play Capture The Flag like their lives depended upon making it across the line. Add to this…watching Liz play and biff it time and time again. She is one fast mama!

6. Lying in the sunshine and having wonderful conversations on everything from delicious food to the atonement of Christ.

7. Watching Bob teach his class of nine distracted little ones…permasmile, lots of energy, and superb teaching that took each child into a whole new skill level.

8. Blythe’s smile after she floated down the river. I want to remember the joy on her face forever.

9. Keziah treading water…she finally mastered it!

10. Reading the scriptures with my children at night in the dark and hearing Fisher say he would tell Korihor (an anti-Christ that is trying to convince others that there is no God and you cannot know there is a God because you cannot see him) that there is a God and he is lying…with a firm voice and a believing heart.

I love this week SO much. I am so grateful to be able to give this gift to my children and my community.

p.s. My lips are now the size of Gibraltar and full of a gazillion fever blisters. I can barely open my mouth to eat and kissing is absolutely out of the question. I am covered in Lanolin and essential oils which are keeping the burning pain to a barely tolerable level, but the second it wears off I am ready to rip the lower half of my face off.

p.p.s. Tomorrow is ozone injection number four. I am hoping it is at the pain level of injection number two and nothing like numbers one or three. Please pray for healing. Fast for healing. Visualize little pieces of cartilage knitting back together. I am so ready to have my life back.