Camp Casey

Last year, Aubree went on a three-day, fifth grade science field trip to Camp Casey, an outdoor education camp located on Whidbey Island.  In typical Aubree fashion, she loved the whole experience.

This year, our Parent Partnership Program offered a family field trip option to the same location.  Aubree insisted we attend; she couldn't wait to show us all her favorite places and activities. So, for better or for worse, I signed us up and tried not to think too much ahead of time about spending three days at a camp with five kids, on my own (Mark was slammed at work and is saving vacation days for this summer).

Getting to camp is part of the adventure because it involves a short ferry ride to the island.  It's so short, we only had enough time to park our car, have a potty break, and take a quick picture before it was time to run back down to our car to prepare for departure. 

Once at Camp we were assigned to our room and had a little bit of time to set up before lunch. Likely because we had Nellie, we got to have our own large room in the "Quartermasters" building. Our room consisted of two sets of bunk beds, one full size bed, and an extra twin. 

There was plenty of space, but there were also 5 other families who had similar rooms in the building, so I spent a LOT of time "reminding" the kids to BE QUIET!

Being "statues" in front of the Quartermaster building

We were attending camp with an enormous group of other homeschool families, but we didn't know anyone ahead of time.  This was both a benefit and a drawback. It would have been wonderful to have friends with whom to share the experience, but it was good for all of us to have to leave our comfort zones and reach out to strangers. It was also really interesting to see how the personalities of each of my kids became apparent and how they all reacted differently to the situation.

After lunch, Aubree and Bryce went to a class about Orca Whales, while Thane, Graham, Nellie and I went to a class about birds sponsored by the local Audubon Society. The first half of the class was a fairly dry power point presentation during which Graham could not stop talking (this became a common theme). For the second half, we went outside for a bird hunt.  

The Audubon ladies had hidden realistic bird models around the property, and the kids got to search them out and mark them off on their papers.  Such a fun idea! Thane found all his birds quickly (he does everything quickly) and then went around trying to help all the kids who were still missing birds.  

Can you see the bird?

After the classes was a couple hours of free time.  We used that time to let Nellie have a short nap.  That wasn't super exciting for the bigger kids, but I guess that's the downside of having a baby sister and it was necessary to allow us to survive the trip! Graham stayed with me in the room, while Aubree, Bryce, and Thane took their books into the lobby area of our building.  When Nellie woke up, I discovered they'd made their first new friend - Rachel.  Rachel was just a couple months younger than Aubree, and they shared so many common interests (like reading and writing), that they decided they'd be best friends on this trip.

We had a little bit of time before dinner to go play outside, but the boys refused to use their quiet voices inside, and earned themselves some extra quiet time in their bunks instead. Whoops.

We had seven cafeteria-style meals during our time at Camp Casey, and every one of them had so much food! Most of it was solidly mediocre, but that's better than I expected. I was quite impressed with the kitchen staff - they were fantastic.  Not having to cook or clean up for seven meals just might have been my favorite part of the field trip!

After dinner the first night, we made our way to the campfire (after exploring the beach for a few minutes), met some new friends, and enjoyed s'mores. The big four did a reasonable job falling asleep that night after I promised them that the quietest would get an extra s'more or treat the next day (all four earned the privilege). Nellie, on the other hand, didn't get the "go-to-sleep-easily" memo.  She flat out refused to go in the pack-n-play, and couldn't/wouldn't fall asleep in bed next to me.  It was 11pm when she finally passed out, and she tossed and turned all night long. I began to question the wisdom of attempting this trip.

The next morning we were up and ready early for a 7:30 am breakfast.  Following breakfast, we had a full day of classes scheduled.  We totally lucked out with weather for our field trip - it was sunny and pleasant and downright gorgeous.  

 

Our first scheduled "class" was a tour of Fort Casey. In my experience, tour guides are notorious for talking too much, despite having a young audience, and this was no exception.  It took us a while to get moving and out to see the actual fort. Once we did, we all enjoyed seeing the enormous guns hidden behind the embankments and learning a bit about how and why they were operated.

Our next class took us to the infamous Sea Lab.  Here, the hilarious instructor pulls out sea creatures he's collected from the island from his classroom tanks and tells the kids all about them.  Unfortunately, Thane, Graham, Nellie and I missed most of this class because we needed to change a diaper and take boys to the bathroom.  Not an easy task when everything is so spread out and we're traveling at 4 year old speed.

The next class was probably my favorite.  We went down to the beach and were instructed to get into two lines.  A small boat went out in the ocean and spread out a large net.  Then our two lines helped haul the net back to the beach, pulling in sea creatures as we did so.

As soon as the net was on shore, the workers quickly pulled out all ocean life and put them in buckets.

Then the Sea Lab expert pulled out each creature and talked about what it was and what was interesting about it.  We saw crabs (one of which had molted in the previous 24 hours and so was soft and rubbery), shrimp, and all kinds of fish. Fascinating!

Nellie did not appreciate being stuck on my back.  She wanted DOWN (which was sure to be a disaster in that environment) and made her displeasure abundantly clear.  Aubree saved the day by giving Nellie a rock to hold in each hand. Whatever works!

 

Thane clambered on top of a fort made of driftwood.  I wasn't sure as to the sturdiness of the structure, so I made him get down right after taking a picture.  He assured me it was perfectly safe and was quite annoyed that he couldn't stay on top.

After lunch, Aubree and Bryce went to a class about plankton.  Nellie desperately needed a nap, so I took her and the two younger boys back to our room.  Thankfully, Nellie conked out quickly, and woke up much improved in demeanor.  

We met back up with Aubree and Bryce for a class on taking care of the ocean and environment, then had our last "class" of the day, a tour of the island's light house. Again, the tour guide talked too much.  

Graham, aka Mr. Gregarious, could not stop talking. Really, I'm not sure he stopped talking the entire three days we were there! He's no respecter of persons; he made friends with everyone - old, young, black, white, boy, girl... I lost count of the number of times he declared, "I'm four and a half!"  

While the sweet old tour guide yammered, I kept having to try to keep Graham quiet.  "But Mom!" he objected, "I'm trying to talk to my friend!"

Eventually, we did make it inside the lighthouse, and were even able to climb up the steep steps to the top (a task made more challenging with a baby on my back).

We had a small window of free time before dinner, so we hurried to our van and made quick trip to Coupeville.  Aubree had been filling the boys' heads with stories of the Coupeville candy and ice cream shops for months.  When we got to the candy shop, I laughed inwardly.  I was expecting a big store full of candy, but this shop just had a couple rows of candy.  The kids, however, thought they were in heaven.  They'd all brought their money, and managed to put a dent in their spending envelopes.

I even splurged and got them an ice-cream at the famous ice-cream shop.  Aubree was disappointed that the worker was different than the one she'd encountered the previous year, because this one didn't give a complimentary second scoop to kids who were polite.

We made it back to camp in time for dinner, a little time to play outside, and an evening campfire program.

By this time, the kids had made some friends, and really enjoyed getting to spend time playing outside with their new buddies. Of course, they didn't mind a second night of eating s'mores either.

This second night, Nellie had no trouble falling asleep - she was completely wiped out.  A full day spent in the sun left us all a bit burnt, and quite exhausted.

Wednesday morning we still had to be up and ready early.  Aubree, who had stayed up later than the rest of the kids the previous night (attending an evening Native American performance), was not the happiest of campers.  "I am not a morning person," she grumbled. She gets that from me.

After breakfast, we cleaned and packed up our room, then headed out for our final camp activity - a guided hike.

Our tour guide kept a brisk pace, which Bryce appreciated.  His explanations and teachings were great.  One highlight was an old tree he pointed out that grew in unique and marvelous ways as a result of the harsh weather conditions it regularly experiences. I'm sure there are some good life lessons to be learned here...

Our experience at Camp Casey was marvelous.  Sure, having a toddler made the whole thing a lot harder, but even Nellie loved it - being outside is totally her element.  There wasn't one particular thing that made it great; I think it was just the chance to spend time together in a beautiful environment.  I'm sure it helped that the weather was perfect all three days we were there.  I'd probably be singing a different tune if we'd had to spend three days outside in the rain and cold!

In Seattle

At the beginning of May, I took the big three to Seattle for a series of field trips sponsored by our parent partnership program.  First, we went and saw a production of "The Secret Garden." Although I factored in traffic time when deciding what time to leave the house that morning, apparently I hadn't been liberal enough in my estimates, nor did I remember to consider parking delays or long entrance lines. We managed to get to our seats just two minutes before opening curtain. Sometimes I hate city life.

There were 2,000 other kids and chaperones in the theater that morning from 37 different schools, yet I was quite impressed with the level of order and respect.  It's a gorgeous theater and the production was well done.  I think it was geared more towards a 10+ crowd.  Aubree loved it, but Thane kept asking, "Is that the end?" Two and a half hours is a long time for a little guy to sit still!

After the theater, we walked the six blocks down to the piers and went on the iconic Great Wheel.  I was worried the kids might be scared, since the Ferris wheel is enormous and goes 175 feet in the air, but their initial nervousness vanished once the ride began.  We were promised a minimum of 3 revolutions, but instead went around 5 times.  

The views really are glorious.

For our last adventure of the day, we used our field trip tickets to try out the new Wings Over Washington simulation ride.  Again, I was unsure how the kids would react. They LOVED it.  It was definitely the highlight of their day.  Aubree insists the only downside of the ride is that it was too short. They keep begging to go back and ride again.

By this point, we were all starving, so we treated ourselves to a late lunch at Miner's Landing before heading home. It was the warmest day of the year thus far, so we were all sweating as we made the long, uphill walk back to our car.  

Mark "worked from home" that day to watch Nellie and Graham (based on how much time he had to work later that night, I don't think he got much work-work done during the day). Nellie refuses to nap for him, but otherwise they had a lot of fun.  Nellie really wants to be a big kid.

Graham still gets mileage from his "shaving kit" Christmas present from a year and a half ago. 

Take a Hike! Get Lost! (Sometimes both)

I know it's super trendy to make statements insisting that something is the best or worst ever, but this winter really was the wettest winter EVER. It actually made me super happy to hear that this was a record-breakingly bad winter, because it reminded me that it's not normal. I love the PNW, but the excessive rain and dreariness was taking it's toll on us all. 

Given the extra rain, we have to be intentional about taking advantage of every possible opportunity to get outside and take a hike.  One Friday, we dropped all our plans when we saw the forecast called for sun, and met up with friends.  We were concerned about mud on hiking trails, so we decided to traverse a more well-traveled path.

This path led us right behind a local doughnut shop. The smells were enticing, and on our way back we decided to be spontaneous (not a strength for either of us moms) and stop for a treat.

Nellie spent most of the walk on my back, but I let her out for the final leg and she was so cute holding hands with her little buddy Caroline.

Another day, we met up with some of the kids and families from our middle school co-op and hiked to Franklin Ghost town. It wasn't exactly a sunny day, but neither was it rainy, so it worked out.

The hike up is tough on little legs.  Aubree's friends spoiled Graham.

Audrey providing a lift

We love spending time outdoors, especially when we get to do so with friends. 

Isn't Nellie adorable in her rain boots?

One day, we didn't make it out on a hike, but we did meet up with friends to take a walk through the neighborhood.

 

Aubree asked if she could practice on her new roller blades.  I didn't think it was the best decision, but figured she's old enough to make that choice for herself.  The hills were tough for a novice skater! Thane was so good to her.  He held her hand on all the challenging up and downhill sections.  Of all my kids, these two have the hardest time getting along, so I'm counting this moment as a sweet and tender mercy.

To keep it real, I should also note that not long after this picture, Aubree fell and tearfully blamed Thane and I for "pushing her." Argh.

On our last hiking adventure, we met up with friends to re-visit our favorite local trails.  The kids love these trails because we let them choose our course.  Things went well until we reached a point that was impassable because of mud.  We turned around and began retracing our steps, but soon the kids were far ahead of us because we were walking at one-year-old pace (Nellie was on my back, but Jamie's son, Mac, insisted on walking).  Jamie and I got to a fork in the path and weren't sure which turn the kids had chosen. Usually, the kids are pretty good at stopping and waiting as soon as they get out of sight of vision.  So, we paused and called out to them.  No answer.  We yelled louder.  Still no answer.

Our best guess was that they'd continued the way we'd come originally, so we followed that path, still yelling.  After a while, Jamie decided to run ahead while I plugged along with the slow little people.  She's a runner, but after a good jog up the trail, she still hadn't spotted the kids, so she ran back to me and we devised a new plan of action.  

I turned around and went back to the fork to follow the other path option, while Jamie continued on the original path. Nellie didn't love being jostled on my back as I hurried as quickly as I could down the trails.  By this time, it had been nearly 30 minutes since we'd seen or heard our six kids.  I never got totally freaked out, but it was beginning to be a bit unnerving.

Finally, when I'd completed my loop with no trace of the lost children, Jamie came across them.  They had taken the path we expected, but had moved at a quick clip for a long time before finally deciding to stop and wait for us. We had a "good chat" afterwards about hiking etiquette.

Performaholic

A few months ago, Aubree was invited to join a weekly group violin class taught by a local violin teacher.  She jumped at the opportunity, and has loved every second of it (she insists Thursdays are now her favorite day of the week). It combines so many of her favorite things - violin, friends, and extra chances to perform.

There are five other students in her class and all of them are LDS.  As a result, their wonderful teacher had them learn a beautiful arrangement of "I'll Go Where You Want Me To Go," and then made arrangements for them to perform in all of their wards.  In the end, that meant they performed in 5 sacrament meetings over 3 Sundays.  Phew! That did result in some ward hopping, which we all enjoyed (except nursery avoidant Nellie).

You guessed it - Aubree loved it best of all.  She picked out all of her outfits weeks ahead of time, and always wanted her hair to look extra fancy. The group did a fantastic job in each ward.  Aubree's hoping that, after a summer break, they get to learn a new hymn to perform in all the wards in the fall.  We'll see if she gets her wish.

Here's a short clip of the group (minus one member) practicing.  This was one of their earlier practices, so they sounded much better when they actually performed. We really enjoyed hearing them play.

Eternal Goals

I was asked to speak in church last Sunday.  The topic was centered on Elder Ballard's last Conference address, Return and Receive.  Though I love the opportunity to share a message in Sacrament meeting, I don't always love being assigned conference talks.  I am not a talk regurgitator.  

I prayerfully read through Elder Ballard's talk numerous times to try to determine what messages most stood out to me, and on which themes I felt guided to focus.  Usually I'm a master procrastinator, but when it comes to speaking and teaching (especially in church settings), I prefer to spend copious amounts of time in study and preparation.  Unfortunately, real life doesn't stop just because I have an extra assignment.  I did my best to prepare, then had to trust that God would make my offering sufficient.

In the end, I wish I'd had just one extra day of preparation.  My talk ended up being just a few minutes too short, which meant Bishop had to take a few minutes to speak extemporaneously.  That shouldn't be too big of a deal, but it's really been eating at me.

Anyway, I thought I'd share what I wrote (with a couple slight edits, mostly adding to the story of the sister I visit taught):

Eternal Goals - 

Many children and youth enjoy collecting things.  When I was a teenager, I collected quotes.  I had binders full of quotes! My favorites tended to revolve around the theme of preparing for the future.  Quotes like:

“It’s better to shoot for the moon and miss, than the aim for a pile of manure and hit.” and,

 “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.”

Those of you who know me well probably aren’t surprised by this revelation.  I love to plan.

Just one example: I homeschool my kids, and I love this time of year because it’s when I get to plan for next school year!

Admittedly, sometimes I enjoy planning things more than carrying out said plans.

So, when I was assigned a topic based on the themes of planning and setting goals, you’d think I’d be golden, right?

Alas, I’ve really had to take a lot of time and study to wrap my brain around the deeper concept of Eternal Goals. I pray that the Spirit attends me as I attempt to share some of what I’ve learned.

First, let me back up for just a moment and share a line from Elder Ballard’s most recent conference address that really stood out to me.  He said, “Goal setting is essentially beginning with the end in mind.”

Simple, right? Or is it?

When was the last time that you sat down and really contemplated your eternal end goal? 

God has told us what His eternal end goal is for each of us, “For behold, this is my work and my glory, to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.”

What does that mean to you? When you think about life after this life, what vision speaks to your heart? What Heavenly promises stir your willingness to work, and to change (because, truly, this is a gospel of change, a process of transforming from a natural man to a Saint through the Atonement of Jesus Christ).

When you think of your vision of life after this life,

Do you see yourself “receiving all that the Father hath?” (D&C 84:38) Of becoming “Joint Heirs with Christ?” (Romans 8:17)

Does your heart thrill at the idea of recognizing Christ when he comes and being like Him? (1 John 3:2)

Perhaps what motivates you is being with your family in the eternities?

Do you long to hear Christ say, “I was naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison,  and ye came unto me.” (Matthew 25:36)

Or perhaps your eternal vision involves a loving embrace and hearing the words, “Well done thou good and faithful servant… enter thou into the joy of the Lord.” (Matthew 25:21)

I invite each of us to spend time prayerfully considering our personal answer to the question. 

Certainly, each of us may have slightly different eternal goals and visions. Likewise, our paths to reaching our eternal goals will be different and individualized.  That is where the doctrine of personal revelation and listening to the guidance of the Holy Spirit come into play. 

As we continue to ponder the concept of eternal goals, we need to ask ourselves a few more questions. First, how might our lives look different if we truly embraced a vision of our eternal goal and made it a priority in our daily lives, in other words, if we began each day with the END in mind?

President Ezra Taft Benson once said, “When we put God first, all other things fall into their proper place or drop out of our lives. Our love of the Lord will govern the claims for our affections, the demands on our time, the interests we pursue.”

I remember hearing Julie Beck, former General Relief Society president, draw a distinction between the essential things in our lives, the necessary things, and the nice-to-do things.  The necessary things are the things that help keep life moving (going to work, feeding and caring for our children…).  The “nice to do things” are more recreational, things that "add variety to our lives."  The “essential” things are “the things that … if I don’t take care of them, the blessings of eternal life won’t be mine nor will they be my family’s. “ Things like prayer, scripture study, personal revelation, and making covenants." Sister Beck further explains, "To walk with the Lord, we have to know what is essential, what is necessary, and what is nice to do.  There is a lot to do, but I find that it is amazing how much I get to do on my nice-to-do list.  The Lord blesses us with those mercies, but only if the other priorities are in order."

In a previous ward, I visit taught a woman who was a great example to me of putting essential things first and beginning with the END in mind.  She was a bit older than my companion and myself, and often, though we were her visiting teachers, she ended up spending our time together imparting her wisdom and experience.  Time after time, we would bring up a concern or question, and without fail, she answered first with a suggestion to turn to the Lord. I guess we’re slow learners, but every time, we were surprised by her response.     

Once we were discussing food storage and the struggles we had with affording, choosing, storing, and so on.  This good sister responded enthusiastically, "Pray about it! God will lead you to sales.  He will expand your understanding.  If you can't afford food storage backpacks for each of your kids, tell him your problem and He will provide opportunities for you to find them affordably!"

Another time I saw evidence of her commitment to putting essential things first, came after I'd moved out of that ward.  A few months after moving, my dad passed away.  I couldn't attend his funeral because I was too close to my due date with Graham. During this difficult time, my phone rang and this sweet sister was on the other line.  "Erin," she said, "I don't know why I'm calling, but when I was praying this morning, Heavenly Father told me to call you."

Honestly, there wasn't anything I needed physically that day, but knowing that Heavenly Father was aware of me in a time of grief mattered, and she was an instrument in His hands that day. 

She had eternal vision, and it guided her daily actions.  Putting the “essential” items first in her life, allowed her eternal vision to remain paramount.

Finally, we must consider the question, what has stopped or might stop me from doing these essential things and from gaining and maintaining my vision of my eternal goal?

Are we prideful? Do we think we know better than the Lord and "seek to counsel Him rather than take counsel from His hand" (Jacob 4:10)? Maybe we don’t want to change and are clinging to our weapons of rebellion. Perhaps we seek to rationalize rather than repent.  Maybe we've been hurt by grief, abuse, or affliction.  Perhaps we feel justified in our anger and resentment towards God. None of us are immune to these issues.  If we can find even a mustard seed of faith and desire, the slightest willingness to ask, Heavenly Father can take that seed and let it sprout and grow, until we can sincerely respond, "I'll go where you want me to go, Dear Lord, I'll be what you want me to be."

Are we just too busy? I think that most of us have sincerely good intentions, but we’re so busy doing good and necessary things, that the essential things get crowded out.  I’ve always identified with the story of Mary and Martha.  Martha is wonderfully hard working and productive. Sometimes, I can imagine Christ lovingly whispering, “Erin, Erin, you are careful and troubled about many things, and most of them are good things, but one thing is needful.  Please, choose that good part which shall not be taken away from you.”

Maybe we’re scared of what might be asked of us? Earlier this week, I saw a quote by CS Lewis that made me both laugh and cry. He wrote, “We are not necessarily doubting that God will do the best for us; we are wondering how painful the best will turn out to be.”  I think it’s important to remember that God wants us to have joy.  The life of a disciple is not a sentence of drudgery and toil, sorrow and pain! Jesus calls, “Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you REST…For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-29) 

Or maybe, we’re afraid that we won’t measure up. That we’ll fail and fall short.  Truth is, we will.  We will make mistakes.  That’s one of the few guarantees in life and the reason our loving Heavenly Father provided the Atonement for us. None of us can do this on our power, only through the “merits and mercy of Jesus Christ.” Christ teaches, “trust me,” “learn of me,” “follow me.” We must rely on His Grace and His love and learn to let go of our fear of failure, our illusions of control, and the burden of trying to be perfect through our own force of will. The call is only to faithfulness, nothing more.

Along a similar line, maybe we feel unworthy? Perhaps we think, “others people might qualify for eternal rewards, but it doesn’t apply to me.” Let me be clear. That is a lie. That is Satan’s trick. Satan condemns.   God calls and entreats, encourages and corrects. He loves us. ALL of us.  We do not need to be perfect before we qualify for help.  We do not “earn” His love anymore than we earn a sunset. Christ asks us to give what we have, small though it might be. He takes our paltry loaves and fishes and feeds the masses. He takes our water, and turns it into the sweetest wine. He is the miracle worker, and His invitation is universal.

Brothers and sisters, I hope we can spend some time, as Elder Ballard suggests, “reviewing our life’s goals and our plans to make sure they align with our Heavenly Father’s great plan for our Happiness, to help keep our eye ‘single to the glory of God.’"

As we focus on our eternal goal and vision, may we put essential things first, and receive the grace, joy, rest, and power promised to us.

Like Nephi of Old, I bear testimony that though I do not know the meaning of all things, nevertheless, I know that God loves me. I know that he loves you.  His goal for each of us is immortality and eternal life with Him. I know that His plan for me is better than my plan for me.  And, as I keep repenting and turning my heart to Him, beginning with the END in mind, someday I will get my hug and hear, “Well done thou good and faithful servant... enter ye into the joy of the Lord.”

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen