We are so grateful to call N. Truro home for a few weeks every year!

We'd love to hear from you... it's easy to call camp and ask them to leave us a note on the camp message board. (They don't mind, truly.) 

That number (good from July 10th through the 20th 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 wishes and healing thoughts... right? And a special thanks to our fabulous neighbors, who are keeping watch on our little house until we get back.

(For a glimpse at previous years' adventures, 

see post-camp posts from 

2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, and 2006.)

Lessons from Camp, 2015

We're back from another fabulous two weeks in one of our favorite spots in the world. Here are some of our takeaways from this year's trip:

Surfers have more fun.

BYOL. (Bring your own library.)

Friendship bracelets will never go out of style.

Appreciate the little things.

Go ahead, splurge a little.

If you hear the dunes calling, listen.

Home is where the tents are!

Thanks to the neighbors who helped keep our little house safe in our absence, 

and to all the friends and loved ones who sent their happy wishes and good weather vibes our way.

A special thanks to the families whose generosity made this version of our annual adventure possible.

For more photos, see the album on Flickr.

If you want to jump into the wayback machine

you can do so by checking out the posts 

from 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, and 2006.)

Little D

So you know how in books the pirates' parrots are always hanging out on their shoulders?

Turns out it's a thing.

And look who's home! We are very pleased to welcome Django to our family. And yes, we have thought about this.

Lessons From Camp 2013

When we tell people that our annual vacation tradition consists of two weeks of camping in the duneside scrub pine forests of Cape Cod, they sometimes have a difficult time imagining how truly decadent that ends up feeling. 

So here, once again, is our post-camp photo journal, along with some related lessons we learned (or, in some cases, re-learned) at camp this year. (Clicking on pictures will give you access to a larger version of the same image.) It certainly felt luxurious to us!

Live it up!

(Just because you're roughing it,

doesn't mean you can't splurge.)

No hands. Definitely.

Design your own golf course.

Bring a friend.

Rain brings new opportunities.

Honor your traditions.

Use your imagination.

(There wasn't any rope, but most cars slowed.)

Look up.

Look down.

Change your perspective.

Find great teachers.

Ride the waves all the way in.

Bring books, and a head lamp.

(Thanks so much to our camping partners Sassafras Mama + JT, 

and our camping neighbors Kathia, Marc, + Kosma,

as well as to Aunt Chelle, Mickie, Grammy + Grampy, Grandpa + Nana, 

Ryan Garcia, Steve Erickson, the Pattons, the Rawleys,

Lorraine, Mike, Ray, Deborah,

and everyone else who conspired to make

our time at camp especially wonderful this year.

More great pics are available over at Sassafras Mama

(in this post and in this one!)

and if you have the time, treat yourself to a look 

at how these boys have GROWN

by checking out the posts 

from 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, and 2006.)

Auntie Camp

Doesn't look like a first meeting, does it?

Cousin C has a gift for making friends...

people, dogs, and, apparently... birds!

The girl has skills.

Hot summer day + pool + cousins = awesome.

Proud of these two.

Games For Change Festival 2013

Did we have a good time? Take a look at this and tell me what YOU think:

(Here's Miss T play-testing Privilege, the only tabletop game 

at the screen-dominated Festival.)

Miss T and I spent two days in NYC hobnobbing with folks who live at the intersection of games and learning... we had a GREAT time.

There were thought-provoking presentations 

about coordinated transmedia campaigns like Half the Sky.

Here's Miss T playing the extremely creepy Nevermind, which includes a biofeedback element as well as a faceless cat... she had to step away!

We loved Lindsay Grace's talk on the verbs of games.

Here's Miss T explaining some of the finer points of Quandary,

one of the demonstration games we liked the best.

The first night we caught the final preview performance

of Bureau of Missing Persons, which we really enjoyed.

Thanks to AirBnB, we were able to crash in the Village!

Day Two found Miss T checking out the amazing Blindside, a game which depends entirely on audio cues and motion-sensors for its game play. (Thus her closed eyes.) Later in the festival, Miss T had a lovely conversation with the co-creators of the game.

Jesse Schell's closing keynote, here featuring
a Dorothy Parker quote, was entitled
"Sheep, Goats, and the Future of Learning" (link is to his slidedeck);
it was one of my favorites.

No Special Day is complete without ice cream.

And here are your victorious travelers on the train ride home!

(If you're curious about the festival,

check out their site.)

Meet Django

We interrupt your regularly-scheduled haiku to bring you your first glimpse of our soon-to-be newest member of the family...

Mr. D has been waiting a long time for this. This dapper fellow is a Jardine parrot, and he'll likely be coming home to us sometime in early August. Until then we have to content ourselves with visits.

We think he's quite handsome and clever. But we're also clearly already biased. :-D

Even Better Than Expected

We had a fantastic honeymoon/ 20th anniversary (depending on how you count) trip to CA and Hawai'i! Here are just a few glimpses into The Oahu portion of our trip (all photos mine unless otherwise noted).

 In the jacuzzi at the Aqua Bamboo.

 The beginning of the path to Manoa Falls.

 Manoa Falls

Looking back at the mountains (photo by DRK!).

Mr. D got some lessons on reading waves at Waikiki...

... and then proceeded to ride some! (Thanks, Kris!)

Former volcanic crater now turned coral reef...

...aka snorkeling heaven Hanauma Bay.

(Thanks to Flickr user Bemep for this photo.)

 Moonrise over Diamond Head

This trip really re-ignited my travel urge... we were just awestruck by the gorgeous scenery, perfect weather, and friendly people of Hawai'i.

Thank you, Wiltchiks!

Being able to start our trip to Hawai'i with a multi-day layover with our fabulous Wiltchik cousins in Irvine made it all seem "doable." Out on the East coast, Mr. D is the youngest of the cousins, but in California he's the big dog... so nice for him! We were well cared for (I had to lay up for the first day and get rid of the family cold that finally caught up with me), and spent some great time together, swimming, hiking, playing games, and just generally catching up on each other's lives. (The last time Mr. D and I were out here was for Danielle & Jed's wedding!)

The walking trails in Irvine 

just outside the Wiltchik home are GORGEOUS... Danielle & Jed

made sure that Terri and I got some quality time together.

Mr. D had a great time with "big boy" cousin G1...

...and was tender in his attention to little G2.

 The boys had a blast out in the driveway.

 Skateboard as luge!

Cousin Jed dominated in Mega Monopoly...

...while little G2 tried on some glasses.

Cousin Jed also TROUNCED all comers in backgammon.

(Photo by G1.)

 The hot tub was lovely.

G1 was thrilled by Mr. D's ability to work "water magic."

And four out of the five people in this photo

were happy to have their picture taken.

(Thanks for taking it, Cousin Danielle!)

Cousin Jed probably ran up about 200 miles on his Saturn schlepping us around during our visit (we didn't rent a car in Irvine or Waikiki), but he was very gracious about it. Danielle packed us the sweetest lunches for the final leg of our trip to Honolulu, which were much appreciated during this era of "you hungry? you pay!" in-flight service. Next stop? Waikiki!