The September eZine is out!

Yes, the Girls With Wings September Newsletter is out - a bit late. I couldn't help it. I went camping again last weekend with another niece, Delaney, age 7. It's her fault! Forgive me for some more self serving pictures....

We found a campground via a local website, http://www.lakewoodbuzz.com/ asking for recommendations from people in the area. I wanted to find a place that would keep kids happy. We were pretty happy with the campground, because it was well wooded and relatively quiet; Delaney likes her sleep. I have to admit I needed some serious recovery time each night as well. I always plan to do too much; we stayed very busy. First picture shows Delaney is much like her Aunt Lynda. Is perfectly content inside reading than enjoying nature.

Wait, scratch that. There was a pool at the campground and I think we could have spent the entire weekend swimming. I brought along some goggles and a snorkel. A huge hit. Eventually I was able to get her out on the trail. It was her first time horseback riding, and I thought she did great.

We spent three nights at the campground. I'm still using the same tent my dad bought me years ago. The best thing I've ever purchased is one of those screened in gazebos. Delaney "helped" put it up (it's all about teamwork, after all). It was so helpful to be able to have everything set out in this tent. Like I've said before, I'm not much of a camp cook, so we had a place to put our cereal and cooler with sandwich fixings. All right, I admit, I succumbed to pressure and made hotdogs one night and hamburgers another. Next trip I might try bacon and eggs.

We also did a little water work. It was also her first time canoeing. She was a master with just a little instruction. We had a scary moment when a group of people in front of us dumped one of their three canoes in a bottleneck. The other two canoes stopped to help pick everything and everyone up, which made it impossible for us to navigate around the fallen trees. Luckily the group also helped us NOT dump. I don't know that Delaney would have liked that aspect of canoeing! Of course, I had a blast. Delaney can be quite the trooper. I can't think of anything I'd rather do on my time off than spend time with my nieces. It causes a logjam in Girls With Wings items, but it's a pretty good tradeoff.