Happy Camper

He's back! And "Yay Camp Onas" pretty much sums it up.

We chose this Quaker camp in Bucks County

because friends recommended it

and because its "old-fashioned fun

with a focus on building community"

style of camping seemed right up Mr. D's alley.

He was still a morning person, even at camp...

... these two shots were taken at 6:30am while Mr. D.

waited patiently for everyone else to wake up.

(And the camera has a clock,

so we know he wasn't exaggerating!)

"I basically chased this butterfly

and cornered it to get this shot,"

he shared proudly.

"This guy taught me some great moves."

"Look, I almost got hit with the ball!

Isn't that so cool that I got this picture?!"

"The older guys were super-nice to us...

... and next year, I want to go for at least two weeks."

(Thank you, Camp Onas,

for helping our boy grow

into his independence.

All photos in this post by Mr. D himself.)

Outta Here!

(click on pic to embiggen)

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! Every year we get awesome mail and it is always SO SWEET! If you're reading this between July 9th and July 20th, here's your big chance to make our day at camp.

Send a little note (and/or dark chocolate!) to:
Riendeau-Krause campers, site 35-D
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 9th through the 22nd 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 thanks to our friends who have enabled us to give the old pop-up a whirl (!), as well as our excellent neighbors who are keeping watch on our little house until we get back.

(If I can drive a stick shift in Scotland,

I can pull this with no worries, right?)

End of the Year

As it turns out, the various and sundry end-of-year festivities were a good thing, even though getting ready for them was sometimes a challenge.

Mr. D got to channel both his inner Mozart:

(That's his "Yay, I did it!" smile.)

... and, in these "Colonial Conversations,"

... he got to rock a very colonial-looking braid:

Thanks to the all the teachers

who helped make this year

such a great one for our guy!

Running

This is kind of like the Mr. D version of "Where's Waldo?"...

After running 25 miles with me

(one mile at a time!),

Mr. D was more than ready for the final 1.2

(500 kids ran this last leg to complete

the Princeton Kids' Marathon)...

... finishing felt great!

Our next mission was to provide water

to the runners of the 10K that followed

immediately after the kids' race...

they ran right up our street

and they needed our help!

(A special thanks to our friends

who came out to help,

and to the adult runners

who took water and poured it on their heads,

much to the delight of our crew.)

rainwater streams
each with a crouching boy
building dams

(Cross-posted at Four Seasons Haiku: Spring)

white tulips

standing in the rain –

taller still

Easter Finery

There were no bonnets in sight in our Quakerly celebration of Easter. (Although, if you're looking for that kind of vibe, we can recommend friend Melissa Harris-Perry's lovely going-to-church hat.)

But we did indulge in a dress-up spirit of sorts, as we returned to the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen to transform a dingy side lot into an Easter Wonderland for the 90+ children who squealed their way to finding hundreds of eggs provided and hidden by the children of Princeton Monthly Meeting.

And Mr. D's new bike has a certain fancy flair about it, don't you think?

As does Witherspoon Street, with its o'erhanging blossoms...

Tomorrow morning we'll start the day

with an "egg war" (good thing Nana's not here,

or none of the rest of us would stand a chance),

so feast your eyes... this is your last chance

to see all twelve of these beauties intact:

Happy Easter!

(A warm thank you to Sassafras Mama

for an outstanding Easter supper;

she & her boy certainly make for good company,

and she provides a dependably scrumptious meal as well!)

Forever Family Day #10

We have made celebrating the anniversary of Tama's successful adoption of Mr. D a family tradition, and this year (#10! how is that possible?), we started off by sharing songs with a celebratory theme. Here are Tama & Mr. D listening to Kool & the Gang rock Celebration:

(Mr. D noticed that some people had clicked "thumbs down"
in the comments on this video,
and asked, "Who the heck doesn't like this song?!"
He's turning out nicely, we think.)

Actually, the first thing we did was treat ourselves
to a fancy breakfast of raisin challah French Toast.

Then the sound of a basketball being dribbled
in our neighbor's driveway called Mr. D's name,
so off he went...

(Nice body English, huh?)

Later, we went on a family bike ride to
our favorite bike store,
where Jay was able to show us a picture
of Mr. D's soon-to-be-delivered new bike!

The weather was not cooperating,
so we rode back home
and played several rounds of
Mille Bourne ("nice guy version").
(This version encourages players
to help each other out when they encounter
trouble on the road, and since the original version
is considerably more cutthroat,
"nice guy version" games tend to take a while.
No worries; we had all the time in the world.

Then, just as happened last year,
we found ourselves in the market for some 3-D movie action.

We give Born To Be Wild six thumbs up!

And we remain grateful for each other's
love in our lives... not just on Forever Family Day,
but every day.

(For more Forever Family Day fabulousness,

check out the posts from 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010.)

John Keene's Challenge

(John Keene, who's tweeting for the Poetry Foundation blog this month, tossed out a challenge last night for folks to write a particular kind of poem, so here's my attempt. Can you tell I'd just been to a blues concert?)

Always
before, she had
come to my
defense,
even if we’d been
fighting.

Guess I
hadn’t realized how
Iong it had been since I felt
just-
kissed.

Last
minute
now, we
opened ourselves,
praying for the

quiet moments that might
restore our
sense of
trust,
uncover our shared
vulnerability.

What did I
expect? My grandmother sighing:
“Why are we given
zis life, but to work?”

(I want to be writing more,
and am grateful for the endless
blank page that is the internet.)