A Half-Assed Attempt at Reunion

Hey gang.

You guys remember last year when my mom took the girls up to the Community of Christ Campgrounds in Sanford for Reunion?  She had them for, like, four or five days, and they got to camp out in Mom's pop-up camper and run around the grounds, just like my brothers and I did every summer for the duration of my childhood.

Abby's about as bad as her mom when it comes to selfies. . .

Well, this year, Mom once again extended the offer to host the girls up at Reunion, and once again Kris and I were totally supportive.  The girls get a week of camping out and running around the quasi-outdoors with kids their own age, in a positive enriching environment that's loaded with kid-friendly activities and three healthy meals a day.  Kris and I get a week off of parenting.  Everybody wins.

(Each kid brought their own cameras again this year.)

Alas, this year didn't go as smoothly as last year.  Abby only made it two days before she started asking Mom if she could go home.  Alayna had made a couple friends, and Abby - although their were plenty of kids there her own age - only wanted to hang out with her sister and the older crowd.  When she was ignored and ultimately rebuked in these efforts, she unleashed her Hough temper and Hulked out on all those around her. 

The bickering sister thing, while old news to Kris and I, is relatively new to my mom, who raised three boys.  It takes some definite getting used to, I guess, 'cause I don't think Mom could've packed up Abby's things fast enough.  I ended up picking Abby up late in the morning of Day 3, and picked up Alayna the following evening.

Good times.

Anyway, here's a quick look at this year's briefer-than-usual Reunion. . .
 

Can you tell Dad is excited to ship his kids off to camp for a week?

The kid looks possessed.

Their friend from last year - I forget her name - was a frequent visitor to the camper.  They hung out with her most of the time.

They took a lot of poorly-framed pictures like this, too.  Seriously - how hard is it to take four steps to the left to photograph the tent without the f***ing tree blocking your view?

Grandma, working on church stuff.  As usual.

Again, Photography 101.  If the kid wanted to photograph the shower house, they should have walked a little closer to the building.  Perhaps shot it from a 45 degree angle, I don't know.  I need to have a sit-down with my children, this sorta shit is unacceptable.

Seriously - what the hell is going on here?

This kid had a hand-me-down iPhone, and happens to be in Alayna's grade.  You can imagine how fervently the Cannonball pushed the phone thing when we picked her up.

Abby recorded a ten-minute Fingerling production on her camera.  It's the creepiest thing I've ever seen.

Hanging out in one of the quonset huts while Grandma sets up her class stuff.

Dueling cameras.

The girls created a skit with their friend - completely on their own, without prompting - and performed it at the Reunion Talent Show.  They wrote a script, practiced their lines, and then acted it out in front of the audience.  I'm pissed no one thought to record it, but I heard it was really good.

Decorating bird houses with Grandma during arts and crafts time.  

- Brian