Countdown has Begun

Kevin made a string of paper loops to signify the big countdown to Disney.  The first thing Camden does when she wakes up is find the loops and tear one off.

This morning marked 27 loops left!

Someone (or Somethree) are getting excited!

TR Inn

What a beautiful evening for heading to Turkey Run for dinner at the Inn.  Loved Camden's little romper and even more her long legs as she ran ahead of us.

Saturday Errands

After dropping some food off at a friend's house (she's recovering from surgery), Camden and I stopped by the Farmer's Market.  We picked up a few fresh veggies for the week and a cookie treat.

We also had to get a few things from Walmart and Camden spotted the firemen who were trying to "fill the boot" for MDA.  She emptied my wallet of coins (with my permission) and made a donation.

Bedtime Reading

It is a ritual when Gramma Pat comes.  They sleep in Camden's bed and ALWAYS read a book together by flashlight. 

Grammy's 94th Birthday

This weekend also was a time to celebrate Grammy's 94th birthday.  Four generations of Gudehus-Borders-Settle-Haile women.  She is remarkable!

Taste of Montgomery County

 The 9th annual Taste was this weekend.  Gamma Pat came over and attended with us.  It is fun to have Camden reach an age where she will try some of the food with us.  Not all, but some.  Her favorites were the Crab Rangoon, the chicken burrito, and the pumpkin cupcake.

Afternoon Treat

The College of Pharmacy Staff Advisory Committee provided a treat to the faculty and staff on Thursday afternoon.  The Pink Walrus truck pulled up in front of our building and we got to get a cup full of yummy frozen yogurt with toppings on the house! 

Baby Shower

Back before Camden's birthday, I had a small baby shower for one of my good friends.  It actually was originally just a lunch for my group of ladies (we get together every few weeks/once a month for lunch), but since Kerri was due we decided to throw that twist into the mix.  We pulled it off as a surprise, too!

Paige BethAnn arrived on her due date (August 9).  She joined her 5 older siblings in this wonderful family!

Park Play

Meet the Teacher

Monday night was meet the teacher.  Kevin and I got to go to Camden's class and hear all about how Mrs. Chadd runs her classroom and her plans for the year.

I need to get a picture of her with Camden, but this one will do for now.  She is a very nice, kind person and I think how she describes the way she runs her class will be a good fit for Camden.  She likes to use technology for learning and she also likes to push kids/allow them to perform at their level.

After the brief presentation we looked up Camden's information in the hallway display.  The biggest things we learned were 1 - she still has a long way to go on her handwriting and 2 - she wants to be a bus driver when she grows up!

My picture is a little blurry, but his was a cute picture of her.

Indiana State Fair

We made a visit to the fair on Sunday.  It was lots of fun - expensive - but fun!

It was a hot day, so we worked our way around our favorites highlights at the back stretch.  We love checking out the tractors, but their are also things in the Pioneer Village that we enjoy.

One new thing in this section (not sure how it fits with "Pioneer" but oh well!) was the Navy dive team.  The first guy jumped in and started waving to us. 

Then the kids could come up and play tic-tac-toe with him.

It was a draw!

Camden also like to follow the trail in the Praire Farms display and complete the task of working the farm.  She was obsessed this year with the cutouts for pictures.

She is "moo"-ing in each of the cow pictures.  Isn't Kevin just the cutest little girl?

  

She had to do little tasks at various stations along the path.  Her favorite is riding the tractor, but the pigs were cute too!

  

She also liked trying her had at hockey.

And, of course, had to get a pony ride.

We took the tractor-train around to the front side and allowed her to do a few rides and play a few games.  In between we had some food.  It was almost too hot to enjoy anything so we actually only got two hot things (corn dog and pepperoni roll) to share between the three of us (and Camden ate most of both!).  Then we got some ice cream from the Dairy Barn because that was a perfect thing to eat!

We had given Camden a limit on her spending at the rides/games and she was down to her last few dollars. She had to chip in her own money ($2) to do one last game and they needed one more person to join in.  Kevin decided to get it on it as well.  Camden was glad he did, because he ended up winning and she got a large prize (pink dolphin) to go along with the smaller prize (blue dolphin) she had won at an earlier game.

We made it back to the backside and finished our day at the DNR building with the final youth catch and release of the night.

She caught a beauty!

Tradition

We have a tradition - first and last day of school we get ice cream.  It might be at the Big Berry or it might be at Up the Creek, but ice cream is on the evening schedule.

When I got home from work on the first day of school, Camden was snoozing.  She has been under the weather and when I talked to Kevin on my drive home he said she complained of a headache.  We waited, and waited, and waited.  She slept tight.  Since she feel asleep about 5:30, I expected to be woken up about 4am by a wide-awake child.  Nope...I had to wake her up just after 7 to get ready for the day. 

One of the first things she said, "Mom, we forgot to get ice cream last night."  No, Sleepyhead, we didn't "forget".

So second day of school, after dinner, we headed to Up the Creek for ice cream!
 

Her favorite selection of late: strawberry (tonight with nut crunch sprinkles).

Back to School

In preparation for school starting, the PTO serves the teachers lunch on the day before.  I organize this event.  I asked Jimmy John's to donate sandwiches (our art teacher and her husband own it) and  various parents to help with sides.  We had a nice, simple spread of chips, fruit salad and some yummy desserts.  Camden was with me all day, so she took a picture of the set-up.

 

While the teachers were eating, I was prepping for the evening back-to-school night that the PTO was also helping with.  Camden patiently sat in the hall reading a 3-D book and hugging all of her favorite teachers as they went by.

 

Second Grade

Can't believe our beautiful 7 year-old is starting second grade today.  Her teacher is Mrs. Chadd.  Unfortunately we didn't get a picture of her on back-to-school night.  A fun fact though: Mrs. Chadd's oldest son is named....Camden!  I have not had a chance to ask about how they chose that name!

This morning we got a few pictures of her on our way out the door.