Bear and A Show

We cooked up a grill full of bear meat on Memorial Day.  A sampling of burger, italian sausage (cooked as patties), back strap and loin.  Kevin marinated the backstrap in italian dressing and the loin in olive oil and fresh garlic.  Every single bite was delicious.  Everyone had a different favorite, but we all agreed that it wasn't very gamey and actually a bit better than venison.  Made Kevin even happier about his successful bear hunt.

 While waiting for the feast to cook, Kevin shared pictures from the adventure. 

GaGa brought yummy crab/mango appetizers and deviled eggs, while I made baked beans, a veggie tray with hummus, and my mom's fresh strawberry pie.  A great feast with great family.

Camden NJ Reunion

UrbanPromise, the organization I worked for in Camden, NJ, is having a 25th Anniversary Alumni Reunion this August.  I am helping to organize the event and took a quick "business" trip there this past week to take care of some prep work.

While I didn't get as much visiting done as normal, I did do a few "mini-reunions" in the three short days.

Mary "Rosebud" Weer was a long-time volunteer with the organization in the late 80's and 90's.  Despite her challenges, she was a faithful worker and everyone's "sister."  She disappeared from everyone's radar in the the early 2000's and no one knew how to find her.  A former StreetLeader who is now a nurses aid, ran into her at a nursing home in Camden. 

Greg Collins, a child in the program when I was there, who is now a 3rd grade teacher in Camden joined me in our visit.  Rosebud is responsible for bringing Greg and his brother to the program for the first time when he was 7 or 8.  He, in essence, is part of her legacy.

I also got a brief visit with LeeLee.  She was 11 years old when I moved to Camden after college in 1990.  She was one of the first kids in my first afterschool program.  She was quite the handful!  She also came home to Indiana with me one Thanksgiving (1991, I think) and always is quick to ask about my grandma (Grammy) and my mom.  She is now a mom to 3 young kids.  Still full of mischief and laughter.

Jodina is one of the early pioneers of UrbanPromise and we have worked side-by-side for much of our 20's and early 30's.  She left UP the summer before I did to get her law degree.  She's worked a number of prestigious jobs since, but returned 2 years ago as the Executive Director of UP.  She has brought such passion and history to the organization.  She also just adopted a 2-year old, Carter.  I enjoyed a nice evening and dinner at Chick-fil-a getting to know this charmer.

He and Camden will be quite the pair when they meet at the Reunion!

Baby Shower and Sleepover

Camden has had lots of sleepovers lately.  While I was in Camden for 4 days, she stayed the night at GaGa's.  These weekend we had another.

On Saturday, we attended a baby shower for my cousin Marissa. 

Her sister Mindy was the perfect hostess making a fun spread of pink food.  We also decorated burp clothes and onesies.

Kevin dropped Camden and I off for the afternoon since we had decided to spend the night with Mindy, her husband Roger (a college pal of mine) and their four girls.  Before returning for the evening, the three of us went out to pick up a few items and grab some dinner.  Chinese noodles, Pad Thai, and sushi - yum!

We spent the night because Kevin and I were going to the Indy 500 the next day.  We had decided to sell our 2 tickets to the 500 this year since the last 3 weeks have been so busy and we've both been traveling.  However, we were unsuccessful.  Mindy and company watched Camden all day Sunday while we watched the race.

Camden was in hog heaven.  With four girls in the house, she not only was doted on, but they have everything girl imaginable.  Camden practically pushed us out the door Sunday morning so that she could go back to playing.  It was the easiest goodbye we've ever had.  Plus, she was off to church then to their community pool for the afternoon. 

When we picked her up after the race, they asked that we do it again soon since their girls had such a fabulous time.  We definitely like the idea of Camden spending more time with these wonderful young ladies.  We decided since Olivia and Emme were old enough to handle the troops, a double date was in the near future. 

What a lovely weekend with extended family.

Sand and Water

Every summer, Camden plays with the garden hose almost non-stop.  To save some water (and cut our summer bill), we decided to get a sand & water table.  I was hesitant because we are about a year late on what was probably ideal age for it, but given how much she loves to play with water, we went ahead.

She and Daddy set it up.  

She carefully read the instructions.

There was a set-up that was twice the price but included an umbrella.  Kevin said we had a nice sized one at home and he would rig it up for her.  Turns out to be perfect!

She did really well keeping the sand separate from the water...for about 20 minutes.

Ever since then, we've had a mud table.  Regardless, it's a big hit.

Flock Picnic

Kevin made it home from Maine on Saturday night and I left for New Jersey on Monday morning.  In between we meet up with church friends for a cookout on Sunday night.

 Camden loved having lots of rowdy boys to run around with. 

 Can't remember why she had this breakdown (probably got a few too many "no's" for her own liking). 

Might be a little hard to see, but her face is so red from running none stop for an hour.  She inherited that from her mommy unfortunately.  Oh well, a good time was had!

Mini-Me

While I put in my contacts one morning, Camden decided to try on my glasses...

Going On A Bear Hunt

Yes, Kevin and Uncle Ric went to Maine last week on a bear hunt.  Both of them were successful!  Many, many more pictures of the adventure to come (but first, I've got a short trip to Camden, NJ this week).

So proud of the hunters!

Helping a Neighbor

Camden adores the neighbor girl, Cameron.  Anytime we are outside, she wants to play with Cameron.  Even when she is doing yard work (weeding), Camden wants to be right beside her. 

Princess Camden

For the Grandparents

A stop at Turtle Park after school on a beautiful evening results in some sweet photo-ops for the grandparents (and others who like to see smiling close-ups)...

 Showing off what a strong girl she is...

 And what a goof-ball, too!

Hopscotch

The weather is so nice again that we spend a little bit of time each evening outside.  That means chalk!  And her new favorite game - hopscotch.  I draw the board and she adds the numbers.  You never know which way they will face; it all depends on which way she stands at each box.  Three, four, and five are her tough ones right now.  I love her sixes and nines.  As she said, they look like pumpkins - big round circle with small stick coming out of top (six) or bottom (nine).  She also wanted to add the eleven on her own - drew the box and wrote the number.

Pirate Adventure

We go to the Library at least once a week.  Usually it's Tuesday or Thursday after work/school.  She gets to choose either the "white library" (Crawfordsville) or the "black library" (Waveland).  Not sure why she took to calling them that...well, the Crawfordsville one is white, but the Waveland is red brick.  Anyway, Tuesday night she chose the white one.  The parking lot was packed (unusual) and there were a ton of people when we went in.  Turns out it was family night with a pirate scavenger hunt!  Of course we joined in.

There were about 6 stops on the hunt where we collected letters to spell out the answer to a clue.  Our first stop (and favorite) was to make a pirate hat and hook, along with select an eye patch (pink, of course).

She said, "Aaaarrggh, matey" when I snapped this photo. 

For collecting all the letters, she received a free pirate book.  Minus a letter and gold coin (probably on the floor of the car), she walked away with a nice pile of pirate booty.

Nook, Grammy & Nine Irish Brothers

I recently bought a Nook and Camden has used it more often than me.  She is a pro at navigating the system and loves connect the dot, matching games, and even Angry Birds.  I think her scores are higher than mine.

We met Grammy and Aunt Linda at Panera for lunch.  It was good to visit.  After some shopping, Camden and I headed over to Aunt Linda's to visit a little longer.

She has gorgeous irises in bloom out front.

That evening, we met up with the entire gang for a great meal at Nine Irish Brothers.  Even looked up just in time to watch the running of the Kentucky Derby.  What a finish!

Lafayette Farmer's Market

Carole and I got Mom a hanging basket for Mother's Day and decided to let her pick it out at the Farmer's Market on Saturday morning.

Camden wanted to get a treat and bypassed all the sweet goodies for cheese popcorn.

 A good orange, messy choice.  Thankfully Grandma Pat always has wetones in her purse!