Lessons From Camp 2009

We have returned from our traditional two weeks of camping at the amazing North of Highland Camping Area in North Truro, MA. (Hi, Bruce, Jan, Mary, & Brett!) Our dining room looks a little bit like a camping store blew up in it. But several folks have asked for our also traditional post-trip "Lessons from Camp" post, so the bungee bag and ice chest will just have to wait one more night. Here are this year's Lessons from Camp:

Enjoy the day...

...no matter what the weather.

Dance...

...as the Spirit moves you.

Bring bikes and helmets...

...and, at all times,
be prepared to swim.

Make your own souvenirs!
(Awesome visiting auntie strongly recommended.)

Leave the tents
as flat as you found them.

And fly.
You know you want to.

(Shoutouts to our camping partners Sassafras Mama and JT,
as well as to Paula Poundstone,
who was achingly funny at Vixen that first Thursday night,
& Miss Tara, who made a night in town possible again.
As always, thanks to our families for putting up
with our relative inaccessibility,
and big smushy cyberkisses
to Auntie Nish, Wendy, Karen Schiff, and Aunt Chelle
for their contributions (snailmail and otherwise)
to an extra-special stay at camp this year.
Can't get enough?
Aunt Chelle's and Sassafras Mama's pics are pretty great, too!)

Catch You on the Flip!

(image via Aunt Chelle, on Flickr)

Yes, it's that time of year again... we hear the ocean calling our names, and we are outta here! You can leave us messages in the comments below (although we probably won't read them until we get back), or, even better...

Send us snailmail at camp! Last year we got tons of mail and it was SO GREAT! If you're reading this between July 11th and July 19th, here's your big chance to make our day at camp.

Send a little note (and/or dark chocolate!) to:
Riendeau-Krause campers, site 19-I
c/o North of Highland Campground
52 Head of the Meadow Road
P.O. Box 297
North Truro, MA 02652-0297

If you'd prefer, you can call the camp and ask them to leave us a note on the camp message board, which is also a big thrill. That number (good from July 12th through the 24th or so) is 508/ 487-1191, and office hours are pretty much all day with the exception of meal breaks from noon-1pm and again from 6-7pm.

Even if you don't have a chance to send a message our way, we know we can count on you to send warm and sunny thoughts... right?

And a special thank you to the excellent neighbors who are keeping watch on our little house until we get back.

Wellfleet

(photos by Shelley, panoramic "stitching" by DoubleTake)

4:05:06

We were briefly awake at 4:05am this morning.

So that we could tell our boy that we have a picture of him
at 04 hour
05 minutes
06 seconds
07 month
08 day
09 year

Hee hee hee!

(It's possible that we pressed a few buttons
on that clock in the interests of the photo opp...
but don't tell D, okay?)

Help A Girl Out

Image via "BabyDinosaur" on Flickr

My as yet unmet friend Ana Lomba (Parents’ Choice award-winning author, a leading language educator, tireless advocate of early language learning, and Princeton mom of three) recently Tweeted out the sad news that her almost 11 year old daughter broke her collarbone and is unhappily considering the prospects of a summer without swimming or bike-riding. SO frustrating!

I immediately thought, "How can we make this a little better?" and decided that a list of recommended books would be just the ticket. So welcome to the

Broken Bone
Summer Reading List

brought to you by yours truly, a few friends, and the fabulous and talented crowd of unmet friends who follow me on Twitter:

Caddie Woodlawn (by Carol Ryrie Brink, via SassafrasMama, who also thinks The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs by Betty G. Birney might hit the spot)


Where the Red Fern Grows (by Wilson Rawls, via Colleen, aka @warmaiden, who also recommends LJ Smith's Vampire Diaries I-IV, The Witch of Blackbird Pond (Elizabeth George Speare), and Promise of the Wolves (Dorothy Hearst). Plus, if you're into creepy stuff, Colleen says check out authors Christopher Pike & RL Stine.

Little Women!! Little Women!!!! (by Louisa May Alcott, via Erin Kotecki Vest, aka @QueenofSpain and believe it or not, I actually edited some of the exclamation points OUT)

The Lionboy Trilogy by Zizou Corder was recommended by @trxckster and another off-line friend. Trxckster also recommended The Golden Hour and the other two books in Maiya Williams' time-travel trilogy.

Outlaws of Sherwood (by Robin McKinley, again via @trxckster, who then really got on a roll, thinking you might also want to give Neil Gaiman's Coraline a try (more delicious creepiness!), or maybe Jean Craighe George's Julie of the Wolves, or the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsberg (oh, YEAH, I LOVED that book!), or The Giver by Lois Lowry, or something of your choosing by Cynthia Voight.

Or how about Green Mansions (by W H Hudson), which my partner remembers loving. Or Jane Yolen's Pit Dragon series, which I loved?

Or maybe something from this big ol' Sunshine State Young Readers LIST that Pam Guyton hooked me up with?

Okay, that's it. Historical fiction, fantasy, sci-fi, time travel, adventure, coming-of-age... there are some AMAZING books out there! I can't say that I wish my collarbone was broken, but it does seem like a list like this might take the sting out of it a little bit. Happy reading!

If you missed the original call for submissions and see a glaring hole in this list, give your favorite book(s) for an almost eleven year-old girl a shout out in the comments!

(Still need some more ideas?
Go find some more teachers or librarians to ask,
check out the interactive Literature Map or TeenReads,
or give the Princeton Public Library a call;
their children's reference librarians ROCK.)