Family Camp - Posted by Karen

We have returned from spending 5 days at Camp Pokomacready last week at family camp. This is the summer camp that the kids went to for 4 weeks this year. It was wonderful to be able to experience the fun the kids had together as a family. We brought my 2 nieces (ages 10 & 16) along and so we had a pretty big crew! We did everything from fishing, hiking 3 mountains, horseback riding, tennis, low ropes course, boating, swimming and so much more! The kids loved being our guides as they were pros on finding their way around camp. This summer has been a big step for the boys as they begin to gain some independence and confidence! We do not know if we will be able to continue to send them each summer but they are already crossing their fingers that they will be able to return next summer. You can go to their website and see pictures and information about the camp http://www.pokomac.com/. I know that this summer has been filled with memories that will last a lifetime for all of us.

We are in the process of adding a deck to our new house finally. We are hoping that within a few weeks, it will be completed. My brother is building it and it will be pretty large when it is finally finished (24' x 20'). We are building it with the manufactured wood-like product so there will be no mainentance ever! We cannot wait to gaze at the stars in the night sky from our deck soon. We are all settled in our new house and really enjoying the neighborhood. We are so happy that we decided to move as the kids can now ride their bikes and play without speeding traffic whizzing by! In fact, we are on a circle which gets very little traffic. We welcome the quiet evenings and peacefulness of our new setting! Our neighborhood is nestled right between Brittany's school and Jacob and Ryan's school; all connected by the bike path that runs by our house. Our neighbors are wonderful too and the kids finally have other children to play with near by.

The kids are preparing to start school again next Wednesday and thus begins another year. Brittany is entering 8th grade (high school next year!) and the boys 4th grade (middle school next year!). Where does the time go? We couldn't be more proud of each of them as they are all excellent students. Brittany took her SAT's last January and scored as well as the average high schooler and has been accepted in the Talented and Gifted Youth program at John Hopkins University. She scored in all subjects tested at Sylvan between 10 and 12th grade levels - WOW! Our biggest issue is getting her motivated to take the iniative to continue to challenge herself! The boys are also doing well in school, although it is harder to quantify how they are doing since they do not get grades in their school. Both continue to score with distinction on their standized testing and are reading at about a 7th grade level. They are not as excited about school as their older sister but they are certainly making us proud! We feel so lucky and proud of our children. They each possess different strengths, characteristics, interests and personalities!

Steve and I celebrated our 17th wedding anniversary on August 4th. It has been a big year of changes for us and full of excitment!