Graduation Day

Today marks a memorable day: Graduation Day! Like most preschools & kindergarten classes, we felt it was important to recognize LTD's hard work and achievement over the last 10 months while attending "Camp Clark Academy". First we started with a parade throughout the house with each of them playing a different musical intrument and marching (to the beat of Dylan's drum). Ms. Mommy made Certificates of Accomplishments and handed them out proudly. Since we did't have official gowns or caps, we opted for their Mexican Amigo hats and favorite outfit of their choice. Dad and I are so proud of them and they were beaming from ear to ear as we recognized them individually.

Ms. Mommy (their teacher) and Dad are just so darn proud of how eager they were to learn throughout the year. As itemized on their certificates, here are a few things they conquered:

Completed phonics program (know all letters, vowels & sounds)

Started reading (13 phonics books; learned to blend letters/sounds)

Completed "Pre-K Handwriting Without Tears" program

Learned to print all capital letters; most smaller case letters

Learned to print their first and last name; many other names too

Completed "Earlybird Kindergarten Mathematics" program

Learned numbers 1-20 (can count higher) and how to write them

Introduced to the calendar, weather, US map and World globe

LOTS of storytime; especially Bible stories

We are excited for them to start Pre-K this Fall at our church preschool which they will be attending 3 days per week. We feel positive they have a good head-start, although we realize the learning process is never over for little developing minds. But for now, school's out for summer!!!!

Lazy Days of Summer

Summer is upon us and we have been spending oodles of time outdoors. Just last night we went over to a friend's pool for swimming, ice cold margaritas, pizza and good times for young and old. After dinner, we all (7 adults, 10 children) headed over to the Dan Patch Days in Savage for a little outdoor music festival. The band was "Hairball" and they were straight out of the 80's; great for adults, not necessarily little ones so we called it an early night after the sun went down. However, Dylan asked us this morning, "hey mom, we need more Hairball tonight!" Yikes! I think we'll stick to Go Fish for awhile.

This morning was kind of gloomy so we decided to make it a lazy one and introduce LTD to one of mom's favorite movies of all time, "The Sound of Music". We pulled out the colorful parachute and had an indoor picnic while savoring the movie. LTD really enoyed it and mom was in high heaven but cried during the good parts, of course. I always do! Love that music and that angellic voice of Julie Andrews! It was such an unexpected treat from the typical day of summer where we would normally be out and about. The photo below is during our picnic parked in front of the screen. Tomorrow we hope to take in a parade after church and then hit Prior Lake for some afternoon boating. Don't you just love summer!

We LOVE our Daddy & Papas!

Hi Everybody!

Mom's in the other room so now's our chance to take over her computer! WoooHooo, this is super duper fun!!! SHHHH, not so loud, she's going to hear us!!!

Mom usually gets to tell you about all the happenings here at Camp Clark but not today. Since today is a special day, Father's Day from what we are told, we just had to tell the world how much we love our daddy and our papas. Earlier this morning, we got to jump on daddy and wake him up with lots of hugs and kisses. Mom got him some card that made him smile and then she gave him a big kiss that made us blush. Then we got to run downstairs and give Papa Egg his paintings we made for him. He liked them alot and gave us each REALLY BIG hugs. We always like it when he and Grandma Good visit us since they are so nice and give us lots of treats. They are in our hearts!

Since we like to sing so much and are good at it, we picked up the phone and called our other Papas in North Dakota and sang "Happy Father's Day to you!" They are in our hearts too! Dad says we are loud but we think we sound perfect. We are so lucky to have 3 Papas that love us so much AND a daddy that smiles all the time, plays with us & makes us laugh ALOT. As mom says, life is good. Uh, oh......here she comes......BUSTED!!!!!!

XXXOOO

LTD

Son Rock Kids Camp!

Posing with "Swoop" the Eagle at VBSCamp Clark hanging out in the canoe

Last week LTD got to participate in their very first VBS (Vacation Bible School) at our church. It was such an incredible experience and they had an absolute blast! I have always heard how great of a job our church does with VBS but I had NO idea the extent of it until I got to witness it firsthand. They put so much detail into every aspect which is why they had about 425 children participate from all around the community and about 150 volunteers from our church. OUTSTANDING! The theme was "Son Rock Kids Camp - where kids build their lives on the rock! Jesus!"

Every day LTD looked forward to going to camp and each day they sang the new songs they learned (they are still singing). They invited 3 of their favorite little friends to join them this year, Aimee, Ella & Kendrick, which made it even more enjoyable. To top it off, their best friend from Sunday School, Ethan, was also in their group and their teacher was Ethan's mom (Mommy Sheri) whom they adore. It couldn't have been more perfect! Check out our video below from the Family Night Celebration. LTD sang nice and loud because Papa & Grandma Good were in the second row beaming with pride, as were mom and dad.

Adventure Up North

On Friday, Dave and I loaded up LTD for an overnight adventure up North. We went to Uncle Jeff & Aunt Lisa's (Dave's sister) cabin in Wisconsin to pick up our boat and spend some time in the great outdoors. We had such a fun time - BIG thanks to the Balke family for letting us stay at their BEAUTIFUL cabin solo!! We got to partake in a fish fry (all you can eat walleye) which the kiddos scarfed up. Afterwards, Dave built a HUGE bonfire which we had to to tame down a bit so we could actually sit by the fire instead of stand 100 feet back. LTD thought that was the cat's meow along with reading bedtime stories by the camp fire with flashlights. Little did we know at the time there is a mama bear and her 3 cubs wandering the area which we found out later from a local. The next morning when we told the kiddos about the bears, Lindsey said, "oh cute, triplets just like us!" It wouldn't have been so cute had they shown up for the party.

On Saturday, we swam on the beach and took out their catamaran. Dave has always enjoyed sailing and he is pretty good at it. With the exception of one time when the wind caught our sail as we were turning around; I thought we were seriously going down. But we held our own and Dylan yelled out, "MAN OVERBOARD!" We chuckled after we knew we were going to keep it upright. A few minutes later as we picked up some serious speed Taylor chimed in, "it's a man overboard kind-of-a-day". LTD are pretty good sailors and they really enjoy it. Dave had us moving all over the place, ducking our heads as we all switched sides, and helping with the ropes/sails. Back at the beach, Dylan found a beautiful butterfly that kept coming back to him and even let him pick it up and carry it around. He thought that was super duper cool.

It was a short but sweet adventure. Now that we have our boat, we look forward to a summer filled with boating, camping, fishing, just being outdoors. This time of year is what we all wait for and why we endure our cold winters. It's all good! Check out our brief video below of our mini adventure.

Camp Clark Conversations

Yet another episode of "Camp Clark Conversations". But first, a few photos that reveal the personalities of our subjects:

Lindsey in her typical ballerina/princess attire

Dylan always has a smile on his face

Taylor is Ms. Imagination (playing with her magnetic fairy kingdom)

Camp Clark Conversations

Lindsey:

"Shhhhh! Mom, you're SO loud!" (as I sing outloud while cleaning my office)

"Dylan, you said I'm a stinker. Prove it!"

"Some kids in Savage lose quarters....some kids don't." (to Dylan as he pouts & whines)

"Here piggy piggy piggy" (as she gives dad her leftovers from dinner)

"Hooray! Dylan, you're a party animal!" (as he talks about having a party with cake/candles)

Taylor:

"I'm staaaaarving! I need to fill my belly, NOW!" (she takes after her mama that way)

"Oh Dylan, you're in my heart today." (as she hugs him after he found a piece from her Polly Pocket set)

There's sugar in that! Sugar makes you sick!" (to Dylan about candy left in the drawer by Grandpa Good)

"GET! I said, go on & GET!" (to Lindsey as she tries to take Taylor's doll)

Dylan:

"Taylor, do you know how much you're loved? (pause) aLOT, aLOT!" (as in 'Dumb & Dumber' - they haven't seen the movie, but they have overheard their mom imitate that line)

"I want to be the bus driver (playing school with L & T)." Mom comments, "take lessons from your dad". (inside joke between Dave and I). "Dad, can you teach me to be a bus driver?"

"Raise your hand if you like tornadoes that pick up houses? (referring to Wizard of Oz) He raises his hand, "I do, I'm brave!" L & T don't raise their hands but Lindsey responds, "I"M not brave at all!"

"Lindsey, quit drinking the lemonade! You're drinking our profits!" (as they run their very first lemonade stand at our rummage sale on a hot day)

Cotton Jenny(s) & Cotton Jimmy

When I was growing up, one of my household responsibilities was cleaning the house. Most every week I was expected to get out the broom, mop, vaccum & rags and get down on my hands and knees and do hard labor. I used to tease my mom that I was "Cotton Jenny", a song by Anne Murray (country singer from Canada) which she sings about a young lady: "Cotton Jenny's her name and she worked all day until the sun went down....". Sometimes I even put the handerkerchief on my head to fully play out the Cotton Jenny role. Seriously, it was a great life lesson and I learned how to clean house very well without cutting corners. AND, I was rewarded with a generous allowance so I had my own spending/saving money. Thanks mom!

Fast forward to 2009. We have a few household chores at Camp Clark that LTD are expected to do every day: make beds, clean up their toys throughout the house, clean up their rooms, clear off the table after meals and help with folding towels on laundry days. Pretty basic chores and they are pretty good at getting them done without TOO much prompting. Yesterday was cleaning day and I had 3 little people following me around EAGER to help. SWEET! So I decided it was time I start creating my own Cotton Jenny(s) and Cotton Jimmy and put them to work. Dylan helped vaccuum, Lindsey helped dust and Taylor helped wipe down windows. They were AWESOME!! Granted not perfect, but good enough for me and I didn't even have to go over their work (my standards have lowered on the cleaning front these days). They are already getting a weekly allowance which is not directly tied to chores but is just part of "Camp Clark Way" so I gave them each an extra quarter for the additional work they did to let them know how much I appreciated it. They were SO excited and so proud of themselves (as was I). I know I can most likely rely on them again next time we clean......in 3 months (just kidding!). I really do dislike cleaning house but at least I know I have Cotton Jenny(s) & Cotton Jimmy to help out now and learn their own life lessons about responsibility. Pay it forward.

Dancing & Driving

One thing that we have always loved to do at Camp Clark is dance. It seems like LTD are always showing us their fancy moves which they most likely pick up from their dad :) We happened to capture a few of them to share with you (see video).

Also, last week we stopped by a local rummage sale after the munchkins saw lots of toys for sale in the driveway as we drove by. They found an electric pink Barbie Jeep for sale for $40 which they just had to have (pink didn't seem to bother Dylan). So we agreed that dad and I would donate $10 but they had to pitch in $10 each from their piggy banks if they REALLY wanted it (a bargain considering they retail new for $300). Their friends have them and they LOVE driving them so it was an easy decision for them. Dylan has taken a special liking to the Jeep even though it is pink and has Barbie plastered all over it. He doesn't care - it moves and it moves fast!! He has mastered steering, spin outs, reverse, turning in tight spots, avoiding dad's Vette and staying away from the sprinkler heads. Taylor on the other hand is another "Crash Kemmet" (my nickname as a teen/twenty-something due to my frequent car accidents) and there is a disaster just waiting to happen every time she gets behind the wheel. The girls need some serious driving lessons but Dylan is good to GO. Now, if only it was blue or red. Oh well.

4-1/2!!!

Today was a unique day for Camp Clark: LTD are officially 4-1/2 years old! Not only do we celebrate birthdays, but we also have half-birthday bashes just so we don't miss out on any possible fun (and an excuse for cupcakes, whipped frosting and candles). Seriously, it's our semi-annual event to pull out the weight scale, tape measure & wall growth charts, and scrapbooks and chart progress:

Lindsey is 35 lbs, 40-1/4"h

Taylor is 31 lbs, 38-1/2"h

Dylan is 34 lbs, 40-1/2"h

We enjoyed a sunny afternoon at the beach with some of our favorite friends, the Little family (another triplet family + 1). Later tonight, the Littles stopped by to indulge in some burnt double chocolate cupcakes that LTD helped bake for the gala event. We all frosted and decorated our own cupcakes (after Dave shaved off the burnt bottoms and edges (did I mention baking is not my forte?), added a candle, and sang "Happy Half Birthday to You!" to the munchkins. It was LOUD, especially when we decided to have a dance/karoake festival afterwards in our Music Room. What a riot and completely wild and FUN!! Here are photos of our 7 kooky babes:

Lindsey in her Ballet Dress

Taylor dolled up too

Dylan soliciting laughs

Renee goofing off

Camille praying for more

Malisse with Cool Whip covering her nose

Older sister Jacqueline smiling so sweetly

Our other dear triplet friends, Aimee, Ella & Kendrick turned 5 today, exactly 6 months older than LTD. Aunt Kathy, Aunt Lisa, Grandma Ione, Mommy Lisa, Mommy Nicole, Mommy Annie & Mommy Tina (that's me) all have summer birthdays too. So many celebrations to look forward too!!