Summer Reading

Our school has the best summer reading program.  Camden has gone the past two summers and LOVES every day.  There is always a theme and the Title 1 staff and other teachers who work it do an amazing job decorating and planning around the theme.  I only snapped a few pictures from the entrance, but the entire building has creative decor.

The theme this year is "Camp Read Smore." 

The bear on the lounge chair has a sign that says, "Don't feed the bears."

Sugar Creek

Sugar Creek is just a short 4-wheeler ride from our house.  Camden and Kevin rode over there last week to enjoy the outdoors. 

She found a chalk rock and spent lots of time marking things and making pet rocks.

Planting Cabbage (and Other Things)

Every year, the plant company Bonnie does a cabbage scholarship for 3rd graders.  They provide a cabbage plant to classrooms who register. The student needs to plant it, care for it, and harvest it.

Camden got hers about 6 weeks ago.  It has been kept on our back deck and has survived a lot of non-care, storms, knock-downs, and even potential dying.  But it has sprung back.  She finally planted it, along with our other cabbage plants in the garden. Additionally, we did 10 rows of corn, 4 rows of beans, about 15 tomato plants (only because I picked up a few 30 cent 4-packs this week at the last minute and we aren't sure any of them will produce), peppers, onions, cucumbers, zucchini, and cantaloupe.  Hopefully there will be a bountiful harvest.

Once the cabbage is full-grown, we will weigh it and take a picture of it.  She must submit that to Mr. Chadd, her 3rd grade teacher by September 20.  He will choose one winner from his classroom whose name will be put in a random drawing by Bonnie Plants for a $1,000 scholarship.  So completely arbitrary, but a good lesson in gardening.

Harvesting the Hay

Our fields were cut on Sunday afternoon.  Hopefully the baling will take place today.

We will have some work to do on the grasses that are close to a fence row, but nice to have someone take care of the bulk of it.

Golf Match #1

Amazing.  That's all I can say about Camden's first golf match.  It is played in a scramble format with three kids on each team competing against each other.  They play nine holes which is broken down into 3 hole segments.  They rotate two kids playing at a time for each segment.  So each child should play 6 holes.  For each segment, whichever team won the most holes gets a point.  Each team, therefore, can earn up to 3 points for their overall team total.  Confusing?  It's really simple once it's explained well!

Her team is green.  They are provided a shirt and bag tag as part of the Jr. PGA.

After some last minute coaching, introductions, and handshakes with the other team, they were off.  Camden played the first three holes.

 

The West Lafayette team we played only had 9 players, so we only had 3 groups, rather than the normal 4.  So Camden was on a team of 4 players.  She and one boy only played 3 holes and two other boys played 6.  There is no coaching from adults, but the kids can help each other.  Let me tell you, it was beautiful to witness.

She teed off first and had a nice hit.  It went forward, not as far as she would have liked, but it was a good first go.

Her teammate Carson was an excellent player.  Nolan was also in this group along with Gabe.  Gabe took Camden under his wing and helped her stay connected.  He walked with her throughout the entire 9 holes and treated her like an equal.  He is in 7th grade and tall for his age (#11).   All three of these boys were encouraging and accepting of her.  Parents on both sides of the game were incredible and supportive.

She was "done" after her three holes, but we made her walk the rest of the time with her teammates and cheer them on.  We could take her clubs once she was done, she could ride the cart with us in between holes, and come over to us for water, but we made her walk all but the last hole.  She sat down more than we would have liked, but she really did fantastic.  Again I credit Gabe for a lot of the inclusion of her to keep her going.

Of the three holes, she made the final putt on one of them, and they used her drive on another.  Her group won all three segments of their holes, scoring 3 points for the Crawfordsville Country Club (CCC) team.  Very exciting for a newbie! 

More Practice

One lesson from the first night was that Camden would need a pull cart for her clubs.  They do a lot of walking!  Kevin had an old one that we took to practice.  Turns out, since Camden's clubs/bag are not full-size, they don't sit well on the cart.  Kevin rigged them as best he could and made due for the evening.  He is going to try to alter the cart to make it work.  But she loved having it (just like everyone else) so she didn't have to carry them AND walk.  Boy...she is getting a workout!

After some time on the putting green and driving range, they headed to the course to play for 3 holes.  Camden was paired with Nolan, who is probably the best player.  He is going into 8th grade, is county golf champ at the junior high, and is the older brother of one of Camden's friends from school.  He was sooooo great with her.  He helped her with club selection, line up to the hole, and was very encouraging with every shot. I hope she is paired with him often.
 

Since I was able to go, I also took some videos.  I loved how the coach worked with her and gave her little pointers that will make a difference down the road.  She has a lot of work ahead of her to make a difference, but she did contribute with one putt to finish a hole. 

 

First Practice

Camden had her first golf practice last night.  Pretty typical Camden.  Did fairly well, but the long bouts of walking took it's toll and she was "done" a little before she should have been.  Hopefully she will build some endurance/stamina/drive as the month goes on.  They worked on driving, putting, and played 3 holes.  Practice again tonight, then first match on Sunday.