When I asked for a little rain over the weekend, I didn’t really mean torrential downpour and gale force winds. It also would have been nice to have the sun appear for just a few hours so that I could avoid canceling a family photo shoot. But, when I asked for rain, you gave me rain. Touché, Portland. You win this round.

I’m having trouble stringing words together today so I’ll share the rest of this post in easy-to-read bullets. You’re welcome.

• The boys are attending a day camp this week – a mostly outdoor day camp – which means a LOT of time in the rain and the wind. Thomas had to eat his lunch while standing up because it was too wet to sit.
• Thomas has to get a bus from the camp drop off to the “wilderness” area. The ride is bumpy and curvy (and long) so, of course, he threw up on the bus. He managed to miss his clothes and said he only got a little on another kid’s shoes so I was, understandably, pretty proud. Confirmed this morning that he was part of a large group who had trouble keeping their breakfast down on the ride and, suddenly, I feel really bad for the counsellors.
• I promise he’s having a good time.

• Samuel is enrolled in a “magic” camp. He seemed to enjoy himself apart from one small incident when he was teased. It doesn’t take much to ruin that kid’s day.
• When I asked him about creating spells and making magic he responded that it was fun but it wasn’t really magic because none of the spells actually worked. When I asked him about the wand he made, he replied that he really like making a wand but “really it’s just a stick that I decorated. It’s not really a wand.”
• I would have said that Samuel is extremely literal and grounded in reality, except he made me promise to feed his toy dog that he left in the car. Apparently tiny stuffed dogs eat mice.
• Today’s camp is all about faeries and elves, part of which will involve a faerie search in a nearby park. I predict that my child will call them out on their futile search early in the game.

• We had parent-teacher conferences for both boys last night. Both of them are doing extremely well and are on track with all the standard testing. But I think I was most proud when Samuel’s teacher said he was “kind” (my favorite word) and a “joy to have in the class” and Thomas’ teacher told us that he likes to help the other kids with their work when they’re having trouble.
• Love these kids.