Never going to summer school again...

...Because it's too fast. There's so much information to process in such a short amount of time! I took two classes over the summer, voice and advanced algebra. Voice would have been nice, had I not been coming straight from camp every day. My voice was practically shot - but I have learned some lovely classical songs that are nice to add to my list of songs I can perform upon command. My voice teacher loves me (coincidentally, she is in choir with mom at 1st Pres.) and is bugging me to take lessons with her throughout the next year. I told her that once I find the money, I'll do my best. We'll see.

Math has been hard. I haven't been able to concentrate fully, because by the time I would get to my math class at 6pm (the class was about 3 hours, twice a week) I'd be exhausted from a full 7 hours at camp, and I could only eat dinner on the nights Thomas's mother took pity on me and would send me a dinner. (DISCLAIMER: I usually packed myself a big lunch on those days which normally was enough, but you know mothers.) It's also a subject that just doesn't come naturally to me. The teacher, while nice, was not able to help me "see" the problems, as my last couple of teachers have. However, I've been managing to keep my grade right above passing, so now I just have to worry about the final on Thursday.

Life is moving much too fast sometimes, and much too slow at others. I'm dreading the start of school again, but at the same time I'm looking forward to it. School means a more steady schedule! I've also gotten myself a job babysitting/nannying 4 afternoons a week for two adorable children. The little girl was actually in my group at camp (she's the dark-haired girl in braids in my post about camp) she's 7, and her brother is 4. I'll be caring for them through the school semester, and then I might also be looking for another morning job, if I can get one that a) I can get up for, and b) Will let me off in time for a 10am class. We'll see. It's going to be a very very busy semester, that's for sure!

4th of July - and other beach adventures!

The first beach day - We got an unexpected day off of work when a micro-burst storm shut off all the electricity downtown. So Rebekah, Thomas and I headed on over to the beach, where Rebekah sunned, and Thomas and I played in the lake. Sadly, there are no pictures of me, as I was the one taking them. I need to remedy this fact sometime.

Our 4th celebrations were celebrated on the 3rd - here's the start of the sand sculpture contest we found when we arrived at the beach that morning.

The turtle from Finding Nemo

A sand snowman!!

I thought this was cool how they used colors in the sand!

Thomas and his family came for dinner and fireworks - and here is a picture with me IN it, courtesy of Mr. Vance.
The spread! Chicken, mixed veggies, frog-eye-salad, potato salad, a huge fruit bowl, and cookies and no-one ended up touching. :)

Rebekahhh.

Mrs. Vance and Mr. Vance - they are some of the sweetest people I know.

Victoria, Thomas's little sister. She's 10 today, and such a cutie!!

Rebekah managed to get me in one more picture before the fireworks. :)

Camp pictures!

One of my little campers, Gaby!

On pool days we end with popsicles, which is a favorite. :)

Claire, one of Thomas's cutest campers. We had a color war, and she was on my team, which was Green.

Thomas was on the Blue team.

Maya, one of *my* campers!!

Watching the relay race.

The Blue and Green teams tied, which was good for everyone! :)

Birthday Bonfire!

Last Saturday, Arin came into town to visit me for my birthday weekend! Christian and Taylor invited us all out to their farm for a birthday bonfire celebration! We played croquet, listened to Taylor on the guitar, talked, and roasted hot dogs for dinner. It was absolutely lovely, and a wonderful way to spend my birthday.

This is one of my most favourite pictures ever. Christian, Thomas, and Arin. Needless to day, this was Arin's idea.

Taylor had just purchased a new kilt, which he was showing off. He looks bored in this picture, but he was beating us all in a cut-throat game of croquet.

Thomas giving Christian some "help", as she attempts to hit the ball.

Arin just looks cute, as always. :)

Someday I need to get Christian out in her fields and have a photo day with her. She's absolutely beautiful, and very photogenic!!

Their horses came over to the fence to say hi. There were a lot of them, and Arin enjoyed getting close to them... I just took pictures.

And here is the bonfire!! Taylor had spent the whole day finding brush and branches with which to build it. And yes - those two highest branches are actually a tree that was in the middle. Thomas had a near miss later that evening when one of the branches came crashing down!

Arin was a sweetheart, and gathered clover to make Christian and myself clover wreaths! Christian's birthday had been the day before, and my birthday was 2 days later, so we had this as a combination of them both.

My wreath and my boy. :)

Christian!

That's all I have at the moment. Things are getting hectic as I get ready to start camp - and I've already been in summer school for 3 weeks. Only 8 more to go!!

~Sarah

Picnik Pictures.

Fishing :)

Summer is ALMOST here! It's been warm, and all the plants are out, and it's all pretty outside and i'm loving it. Allergies are here too, but I just work around 'em. My friend Thomas came over to go fishing with Daddy the other day, and Rachel and I went exploring along the river, and then fished with them a little bit, It was a beautiful day, and we all had a lot of fun. :)