Adventures of The Haven School for Boys: Camp Chico 2012

Camp Chico was greatly anticipated by all members of the Haven School for Boys, and it delivered, as usual, in spectacular fashion. Even though the digits crept to near desert standards as the week went along, the Whipple camp directors managed to have plenty of tricks up their sleeves to keep the campers engaged. A great highlight of the week was overlapping with the Scholes boys who happened to be attending their own Camp Chico. With each Easter and summer, when our schedules overlap, the cousins grow closer and more compatible, in a way that only blood can boast. Second cousins they may be, but FIRST in our hearts. If I had to choose one word to summarize my boys' experience at Camp Chico, it would be supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. Yep...that about sums it up. They enrolled in Camp Detox upon return to regular routines the following week. The hardest blow was having to come to terms with the 3 to 1 ratio of boys to mamas. We may need to construct a paper chain to count down the days until Camp Chico 2013...

Bearded Seven Year-Old
Downtown Chico Fountains

Fix-It Projects with Grampa Jack...A highlight of every visit

Home-Grown Grape Picking

My Little Fruitaholic

Pink Looks Good on Me
And with the long hair, you just might wonder for a minute...until he starts talking about his wee***, which is a subject of constant conversation in his two year-old world. -sigh-

Sandbox Fun...a treat over the usual dirt pit that serves as our "sandbox" at home

Big Boy Bike Rides in Bidwell Park

Papa and Sam by Chico Creek...Just Sittin'

A Traditional Caper at Caper Acres

It's a Bird, It's a Plane...It's JOSHUA Being Launched by Papa
(I practically bite my fingernails off during these launching sessions)

Cousins Defending the Hoop

Fun in Grampa's Truck

A Surprise Baby Shower at Camp Montgomery for Cousin Molly and ME!
And--you guessed it--I'm the bottom balloon. ;-)

The Littlest and Cutest Second Cousin...
Hi ho, hi ho--it's off to work he goes!

How to Keep Boys Engaged at a Baby Shower?
LIGHT SABERS, of course!

Poor Baby Buggy Pinata...
You are about to be creamed

Classy Ladies! Honey and Judy
For the record, Grandma Honey still hasn't forgiven me for conceiving yet another BOY. Thankfully, my cousin took care of that for me. I owe you one, Mols! ;-)

Swimming at One Mile: Bidwell Park
This "pool" is flowing creek water enclosed in a concrete bed. My favorite part is that the pool is dammed, drained, and scrubbed weekly (important since there are no chemicals like in a typical public pool)

A Better View

Genius Auntie B gave Samuel a bowl of flour and water, and a couple of kitchen tools. He felt like the biggest boy on the planet, measuring and stirring his little slurry.

Story Horses
Gramma let the boys pick a special horse from her childhood collectibles cabinet, and then would proceed to tell a story to them every night. Samuel managed to break the first story horse...you'll see his injured self poking out the back of the wagon.

Around the World
Gramma devised a game for the cousins that involved them traversing the world on particular quests. Here is James, climbing in the Grand Canyon, on a quest to find treasure in Africa.

Joshua, swinging over the Amazon River

Stepping Stones Across Hot Lava..or the Ocean (forgive me--I'm just the photographer)

Bandit Uncle Chris, lying in wait to steal the desired treasure.

Uncovering Treasure after a good dig.

Bike Trip with Cousin Ty, flanked by seasoned bike riders Bubba and Uncle Chris. They rode something like seven miles in Bidwell Park. Adventures like this are fuel for a little boy's ego. : )