Summer at OBU

A summer day at OBU. I took this picture when there were no camps and everything was very quiet. Although I love it serene like this, I must say, I am looking forward to the fall semester. It is good to enjoy the break, and also good to enjoy the hustle and bustle.

I went to Riley Library to return some books I had checked out for the boys at Camp Meme
We had a great time reading and I found some intriguing books. Trying to get good reading material is one of my biggest jobs. Reading just for fun seems to be a thing of the past. When I was a substitute in the elementary schools the curriculum instructs the teacher to pick apart the story in teaching the student what writing a story entails. If I was a student in elementary school, I would dread reading on my own, because of the impression I would have to pick apart the book and thereby kill the very thing I was to enjoy.

As a substitute I had to get the classes quiet and I always tried to read funny poetry. Poetry that makes a point about children's lives without pandering. It is the best 30 minutes of the day. And what shocked me are the kids that I was having the most problem with got the point of the poems. Their laughter at the right time showed me they got irony and puns and they identified with the subject. Kids are smarter than we give them credit for. We should quit making them become robots and let them flourish.

Camp Meme Day 6, Work, Rabbit & Gardening

Today I had to go into work and help out a fellow employee. The fact that Kim needed my help has made my day. As a probie (see the TV show NCIS for definition) I am always behind the loop because I haven't been here a whole year and in this setting every month brings a new focus. I don't know what I don't know. So for a person as important as Kim to ask me for help, just gave me a wonderful lift.
The boys were wonderful and very good but I had to rescue the flags from being used as a military base setup.

They couldn't stand the smell in the section between the inside and the outside. Not enough people there to keep the air flowing. But I wanted a pic with the globe. They really are good to pose for me. It stank!

The rotunda was a fun place to show their metal.

Seeing Obi after lunch is always good.

The county library. Obi loves libraries and always takes them to get books and tapes. One of the great things about being a grandparent is you can show them the things you love without worrying about what they have to learn. That is for parents.

Wy reads to Mi and he can read very well.


Listen.

It is fun to be able to play with book characters.

Tonight we had rabbit bar-b-que. I told the boys that when the colonials lived they ate whatever they could find. When I found rabbit for sale in the store I bought it and we all loved it. It is really a great meat. Almost no fat and not nearly as many bones as a squirrel. Everyone loved it. With homemade slaw and fresh picked peaches, wow what a southern delight. Oh yea and sweet tea. Mi has learned he likes sweet tea with lemon like Meme. Smart boy.

We finally planted our garden.(You know one must follow the farmers almanac and wait for the right days to plant.) In all my research and when we went to see the restored homes in Old Washington and in downtown LR there were always a little gardens in individual yards. So I got some of our concrete blocks, some peat moss and some potting soil and built a little garden for the boys to start.

They didn't have any trouble with the idea and quickly got into it.

Wy was hoeing very aggressively. Mi loved to water and direct.

Along with the seeds, (which went everywhere-there is no telling what we will have growing in that space), I got some plants for them to plant so they could see a plant in the garden. No problem.

Mi watering their own cans of vegetables . They can take these home and see their veggies grow. But they looked kind of down at the mouth when I said this. Then one of them quietly with his head down told how plants die at their house. I will try to remind their mother to water the plants.

It is fun to have water to play in on a hot summer evening.

Joy and Jubilee in July!

Better watch out Meme I have the hose and you look hot!

Camp Meme Day 3

When I was working as a substitute teacher in the High School I always loved the library that Paul Sivals runs. He always has had a great respect for books, (which are just being pushed out of librarys to make room for "media" items.) Most of the students I had that had to do some kind of report never looked in a book, but only used the Internet to get their information. I love that my grandsons love books. They love to read them and look at them and learn from them. Must be great parenting.

I noticed that Mr. Sivals had a great collection of large books of the battles of the Civil War. Even though we are studying the colonial time period I know Wy loves the info about that war. He knew so many of the battles and what happened. I was really impressed and impressed that he took the time to look at the books. Also, I wanted to take them to the High School to show them around where I had worked. They are so good and polite especially in the morning, that I knew they would enjoy seeing other places where there are great books. Of course having the library all to ourselves was just fantastic as we soon had a maze we had to run round in.

These boys are just amazing and so ready to help out.
Well almost ready to help out. At Wally World I saw a friend and we began to talk and this is what I saw when I looked back at them. Very patient, but still "please Meme, enough talking already! We have Mac & Cheese to make and we are hungry boys!"

As the water was boiling for the mac & cheese, the boys put the pictures from Day 2 into their notebooks. I had covered some writing tablets with wallpaper and each boy has a pack of colored pencils. They can use the notebooks to draw in or write in, but I like that they can use them as a scrapbook about Camp Meme. What I mean is they can glue (this we ran out of the first day because glue needs to be spread all over the back of your picture don't you know, so we opted to use tape instead) all the day before pictures into their books. I try to give each boy some of the same pics and some different pics so they have a variety of pictures in their notebooks.

Really this kind of scrapbooking is my kind of scrapbooking. Very down to earth, no frills or bells. Just pics and drawings.

At last the mac & cheese is done. Ain't it great!

Another game of baseball minus one.

For our craft, I suggested we make whistles out of clay.Because in the colonial days (are you tired of hearing me say this phrase yet?) they had to make everything for themselves. First we have to make the clay. This involves mixing, which involves machinery. See, this is what really attracts men to be chefs. They get to use power tools in the kitchen. Varoom, Varoom.

" The glob will take over the world!"

Rolling, rolling, rolling keep those pins a rolling.

" My whistle will be the greatest." It is now an official race to see who can get their whistle done fastest. (It is just genetics. the sooner you learn to deal with it the happier you will be.)

The whistles have to dry so tomorrow we will see if we have been successful in our musical instrument making.

Press play to see how boys turn jars of cream into butter. Like the song says, "Why didn't I think of that?" When you are a Meme you work smarter not harder.

We finally get our butter made and all this time I thought I would have to teach them how to make it, but lo and behold boys will be boys and churn their own way.

The mad scientist must find out why, why does water go down!

Obi's old cell still has some games on it. Kool! Boys are in free time as Meme toils over a hot stove of fried chicken, homemade biscuits, fresh gravy, & roasted corn on the cob. Oh and fresh sweet tea, yes sweet tea is a hit at Camp Meme

Swimming at OBU. The warm up pool was shallow enough to use as a small person private pool.

The noodles provide a lot of fun.

Meme is enjoying being in water and swimming and having fun with the grandsons, but we must go home to get ready for bed. The camp counselors are feeling like they have been camp counselors forever!

Back at the ole home stead, we must read two more chapters of Wilderness Journey to see what does Flan do in his perilous situation.