Camp Towne

What do we do when we realize that the whole summer has passed us by without our family doing things together in a summery way?  Well.  We announce that it will be Camp Towne for 4 days and then schedule in activities for these happy campers.  Here our youngest plays in the waves on his boogie board while under the watchful eye of his older brother and girlfriend.  I'd like to imagine that this conversation is about which of them really would dive in to save the boy.  Clearly both are avid ocean swimmers (you can tell by their attire).  John & I enjoyed walking the beach together several times over.  It was York Short Sands so that is a short walk and needs repeating.  Our oldest son relived his youth by digging big holes--his favorite thing to do at the ocean.  We also played bocce ball as well as some football tossing.  The day was just beautiful.

Back at home on Day 2 of Camp Towne we held a treasure hunt for the kids.  They had to find a note, decipher the clue from a clever poem written by John and then head to that new location to find either another note or on some occasions a note with presents.  They each found wrapped presents in boxes and all of them were "back to school" related items.  Some of the notes were a bit tricky to decipher and had them running to dead ends and others were tricky such as this one which was in the bottom of the pool

I loved seeing the kids working as a team.  The project kept John & I quite busy setting it up but it was worth every minute of watching the kids play the "Transitions Treasure Hunt" together.  This school year finds our oldest commuting to college instead of living on campus, our next son in his senior year of high school, his girlfriend is off to college for her freshman year, and our youngest son is attending public school 1/2 time for the first time in his life.  Big transitions all around.

The beginning of the hunt saw them with lots of energy but as it went on and the heat got to them they slowed down a lot.  In the end they did find all of the treasures.  The rest of that day involved lots of Settlers of Catan game playing, a good meal from the crock pot and then a campfire and a chocolate fondu while hanging in our screen tent.  We really enjoyed our day two at home.  

Day 3 found just the five of us this time up in Franconia Notch on the bike trail.  Here we are enjoying a break at the basin.  The weather was simply perfect for biking and we enjoyed the trip from the Flume to Cannon Mtn. and back.  We stopped to pay our respects to the Old Man and enjoy the new memorial there.  We also enjoyed ice cream cones at the Cannon Mountain gift shop before cruising on back down to the Flume.  On the way back the kids found out why there were so many speed limit 20 signs on the bike path!  Wheeee!

Monday found us cooking out here at home with friends and family, new and old alike.  John and I got out on some new hiking trails in town for a couple of hours in the morning and our evening was spent packing backpacks and cleaning up to get ready for our full fall schedule.  Ahhh.  Summer was had and enjoyed by all at Camp Towne.  We will remember it fondly.

~Rachel