Sugar Shack gets an upgrade

I arrived home from work last week to discover that Tad had appointed himself the Sugar Shack's marketing manager.

As such, the Sugar Shack underwent a decided upgrade.

A colorful umbrella was set up to attract customers and shade our proprietors. Signs were printed up on the computer. The price of cotton candy was reduced from $1 to a much more reasonable $.25 for a small bundle. He even helped them purchase popsicles, which were very popular.

Colin came up with the Sugar Shack's slogan, which he shouted at bicyclists passing on the nearby bike path: "Get your snacks at the Sugar Shack!"

That day, the Sugar Shack raked in between $5 and $6 for each partner, which was a record high. They also disproved my assertion that the Shack would only be profitable on weekends.

Mommy isn't always right.

Ethan and Colin's Sugar Shack

The past two weekends, the boys have picked up a few dollars cash by selling cotton candy and juice out in front of our house.

Ethan, in particular, was motivated by getting enough money to purchase Bitil, a new Bionicle/Lego figure.

They needed help to get set up with an extension cord, seats, etc.

The cotton candy ended up being "cotton candy balls" that they rolled up and served in a bowl, like so many snow balls. I thought it was terribly overpriced at a dollar each, but they managed to sell enough (and got very positive reviews from kids) to make it worthwhile. The juice was only $.10 for a small cup and that sold fairly well. One day, I picked raspberries and they sold those as well.

Sales mostly went to neighbors and people that we happened to know, but there were some very kind passersby as well.

The name, "Ethan and Colin's Sugar Shack" was coined by Ethan.

The boys each made three or four dollars each on each day, even on the day that the neighbor girl helped out and the money got split out three ways.

On Sunday, we treked out to the Lego store and ordered a Bitil figure, which should be arriving in about a week. Well earned!

Campy camp camp

Well, I discovered the answer to the question of whether or not soap and shampoo is provided at camp: it is not. The answer to the question of whether or not a child would willingly spend money on toiletries at the camp store when they have a choice between something that would make them clean or, say, a disposable camera or a cunning little frisbee that folds into a tiny pouch is a decided "no."



When we picked up the boys, there was actually bits of dirt and goo crusted on their faces. The fronts of their shirts were well beyond what any industrial-strength detergent could possibly get out. The boys were not unproud of the fact that they had not seen the inside of a shower for three days (at which time, they simply rinsed off -- no soap or shampoo, remember?). Ethan had brushed his teeth once and Colin only twice. They were able to tell me, with some certainty, that it takes three days for face paint (as painted on them for Capture the Flag) to wear off your face if you don't wash it.



I sometimes will give them a sniff and pretend to be horrified at the funk, but this particular time, I didn't have to pretend at all. These were truly filthy children.



After their baths, which they were subjected to immediately upon arriving home (to avoid dirtying up the rest of the house), they left a crusty layer of sand and grime at the bottom of the tub.



They have come home with silly camp songs, stories of their camp counselors ("Bigfoot's favorite color is PINK!!! No, it really is! PINK!!!!"). (The counselors, by the way, all have made-up names, like Bam Bam, Bakes (the boys' counselor), Jingles, Seatbelt, Incoming and the like. It's like some teenage witness protection program designed to protect their true identities). They slept one night on the beach. They did Campfire on many evenings (singing songs). They participated in a Talent Show (somehow drinking two glasses of water constituted some measure of talent). They were thrilled to discover chocolate pudding in the salad bar one day at lunch, at which they were allowed as many helpings as they desired. This was lunch one day, followed by dessert.

Did they have fun? Oh, my yes! Here's some photographic evidence, as posted on the Camp Collins site.

One of the pix shows Colin holding up a tooth that came out while he was at camp, which he subsequently lost. Luckily, the photo that I printed off the website seemed to be enough evidence to satisfy the tooth fairy, who left him a nice silver dollar that night.

Vacation Begins

We (I) spent much of Sunday obsessing over the Camp Collins packing list and making sure that they had everything that they really needed (soap and shampoo weren't on the list -- does that mean it's provided????).

In the end, we got the boys packed in the car and got ourselves away.

As we drove towards Gresham, I was suddenly overcome by a very strange feeling of unease that centered in my belly. It took me a bit to realize that I was suddenly quite anxious about losing the boys for an entire week, in stark contrast to the fit of hilarity I'd shared just a few days prior with the postal clerk.

But then we checked the boys in, went out to a spontaneous dinner, then hit a movie at the local theatre/pub and I felt much better.

Summer Camp!

Tomorrow, we take the boys to Camp Collins, a YMCA camp not far from home, and leave them for a week of learning new skills, fun and becoming a little more self-reliant and responsible.

I'm a little freaked about the prospect of their first week without family supervision, but the boys are really looking forward to it and I think I'll be able to enjoy being child-free for the week with a minimum of guilt.

As suggested by the Family Handbook, I mailed them each care packages on Friday so that they would receive something from us soon after they arrived at camp.

The clerk at the Killingsworth Post Office (which I like because the clerks are always so cheerful) commented on the short distance the envelopes would be travelling and I explained about my kids heading off to summer camp. He asked what we would be doing while the boys were out of town. I explained that my children THOUGHT that we would be spending the week weeping, clutching photos of them and generally counting the minutes until their return (the truth is that we're both looking forward to some carefree days off this week).

He and I laughed out loud as we imagined the scene that might be staged upon the boys' arrival home: mom and dad, weak with grief, sitting, surrounded by family albums, piles of crumpled tissues scattered about.

Cat House for Rent

The boys built this cat house for Joey, who actually has slept in in. The sign, if you can't read it, says "for rent, cat haws."

Fat Squirrel

We spotted this guy at Milo McIver State Park, where we went for the day with the boys' friend, Elijah and his parents.

He, of course, disdained the carrots that we tossed him in favor of Doritos, which I forbade the boys to throw to him.

Even wildlife should eat healthier than that.

Family Reunion at Lincoln City

So, as I blog about personal stuff, I run up against the problem of showing images and talking about other people. It seems like there may be some folks who may object to having their pix shown online without permission and, of course, that's okay, but who has time to ask for every little posting? So, it's often expeditious to leave those pix off and try not to say anything too offensive about people.

Hence the many pix, above, of innocuous refrigerator magnets -- who can object to those?

They were a little art project that the boys' uncle cooked up that ended up being a lot of fun for all of us.

We all stayed in a rented house at Lincoln City, called Sophie's Place. It was lovely, with a beautiful gourmet kitchen and was only a short walk to the beach, which I very much appreciated (last year's family reunion house required a short drive to the beach, which complicates matters).

We ate a lot of food: lasagna (from Cooking Illustrated -- always a hit), pasta carbonara (with bacon from Gartner's, a real butcher in Portland -- to die for!), Grandma's special tacos, cinnamon bread, muffins, pasta salad, potato salad, sandwich bar, bagels, pecan pie, banana cream pie, strawberry shortcake and a whole lot of other things that weren't on my diet.

I gained three pounds over the weekend. But it was very delicious, nonetheless.

The boys introduced their innocent young cousin to the joys of gunplay and his parents very gamely purchased plastic doubleshooter rifles for all three children, who turned two armchairs into forts and bunkered down for the duration of the trip.

Great fun was had by all. We'll definitely do something like this again (though we're still looking for the perfect beach house that doesn't require a ton of driving from the airport (as some of us must fly to Portland, just for the first leg of their journey), is close to the beach and has enough beds and bathrooms to accomodate seven adults and three kids comfortably.