July in Jericho

The morning after we got back from Peru (at 1:30am), Hazen and Cally were fired up to go to soccer camp.  It's a great camp run by the teacher who will be Cally's 3rd grade teacher.  The kids haven't been around to do the camp in several years, so they were thrilled to get to do it this year.  

The fun part about the camp is that it's just a a half day, so we got to go on some fun adventures in the afternoon and Mom got to settle back into life by having some time to unpack and exercise while the kids were running around on the field. 

One day we were lucky enough to get invited on our friends boat and play on the lake. 

Another day we hunted for frogs up at High Meadow:

We hiked up to a hut to visit two of my colleagues who were through hiking the entire long trail:

MMU Teachers

Teachers and their kids

We went to Shelburne farms to see music and visit the animals:

The next week, each of the kids signed up for a camp of their choice.  Hazey was fired up to go to Catamount Mountain Bike Camp and Cally chose to go to Forest Camp in Richmond again.  It was a little chaotic because one was in Williston, the other in Richmond and Hazey's camp was a half day and Cally's camp was a full day.  And...... Hazey's camp was a parent coop, so one of us had to attend two of the days. 

Hazey loved his camp and ended up getting the Billy Goat award because he led his instructors to believe that he loved climbing hills.  He later told me that he doesn't really love it, but that he's "just good at it".

Cal, too, loved her camp.  She spent five days in the forest, role playing, cooking by an open fire and exploring.  Somehow I managed to get zero pictures of her experience.

I had a little mishap involving a mountain bike and a face plant in the mud the following weekend.  John and I were out on a bike date with our friends Matt and Adam.  The trails were wet and I managed to crash while going fast downhill.  This was the first real crash that I've had in over a decade.  It hurt!  My shoulder, face, and neck took the brunt of the impact.  But the biggest injury was emotional, my mojo bank got entirely depleted.

Fortunately, flesh wounds heal pretty quickly:

I managed to get back on the saddle and bike the Stowe Bike Path on Sunday (on my upright cruiser).  And, we ran into cousin Jameson.

The following week we had a few agenda items to take care of:

1. Visit the Vermont Teddy Bear Factory and purchase a bear for each kid.   In a moment of weakness, I might have offered these two courageous hikers a stuffed bear of their choice if they made it to the top of Punta Union.  I'm not really a fan of materialistic rewards for working hard, but I made the offer 500 feet below the pass and it worked to get them over it.  So, we went to one of Vermont's great tourist attractions.  I went with low expectations, but was very impressed.  These bears are guaranteed for life (even if a lawn mower or dog attacks it), they are filled with recycled material, and they are made right here in Vermont.  We are now proud owners of Maple and Snow:

2.  We hiked Sterling Pond with Ollie and Maggie (and Lindsay).  This is a great hike and the kids got to play in some caves before they did the hike.