Camping

The week after ASTA camp was our camping trip. Nicholas went to Boy Scout camp,

Michael went to Cub Scout day camp,

and Tony and I just camped.(This is the inside of our pop-up camper)

Well, we didn't just camp. We drove around the East End, went to lunch one day, we went shopping(and found some great deals!), and Tony helped out at Nicholas' Scout camp for one day. The day that Tony helped out, the Scoutmasters had a "Scoutmaster Shootout" at the rifle range. I happened to be there when he had to pick his team member, so guess who he picked. That's right - me! We called ourselves "the Sharps"(get the play on words? "sharp musicians" and "sharpshooters") I have never shot a rifle before in my life! so the Rifle instructor brought us to the rifle range to give us some lessons. Here's a picture of me shooting a .22:

Now my brothers and sisters know that I have amblyopia, or "lazy eye", which means my eyes don't focus well together at all. To shoot this .22, however, I only needed my right eye(that's my good eye) to look through the sight at the target. I was absolutely amazed that out of 10 shots, I got 5 shots in the bullseye area! I know, I know, it must have been beginner's luck.

Well, that afternoon was the shootout contest. The target was a picture of billiard balls. Each team was assigned to shoot out the middle of their ball number, and whichever team got the closest grouping of shots together won the contest. Tony went first, and did pretty well. His 5 shots were all within an inch of each other. Then my turn came, and I managed to shoot all 5 of my shots in-between Tony's. I was pretty impressed with myself! Now, you would think that all of these Scoutmasters who have been at rifle ranges numerous times would be excellent marksmen. I didn't see how everyone did, but the teams' results I did see were much further apart than ours were. Needless to say, when we went to visit Nicholas the next day, his Scoutmaster told us that Tony and I won the shootout. I'm still shocked about it! Tony told me that because of my cross-stitching and sewing, I am able to keep my eyes and hands steady and focussed. I don't know if I'll go to a rifle range again, but I must admit that I kind of enjoyed myself!

ASTA Camp

The first week we were away, we went to ASTA(American String Teachers Camp). Tony taught the bass students and some chamber groups, and Nicholas was a camper at the camp. We reached Ithaca on Saturday, and had a few hours before Tony had to go to meetings. So we took advantage of the time, and went to Upper Buttermilk Falls, and then to Lower Buttermilk so the boys could swim. Michael went right in, but Nicholas said the water was too cold. I couldn't argue with him one bit, because I remember how cold the Falls water is! Besides, we've been having a relatively cool summer, so it's been hard for the water to warm up at all.

On Sunday, while Tony was in teacher meetings, Nicholas, Michael, and I went to church at the Ithaca Ward. It was nice to see old friends!

While Tony and Nicholas were at camp, Michael and I went to see some of the LDS Church History sites. We visited the Joseph Smith home, the Hill Cumorah, the Peter Whitmer farm, and the E. B. Grandin print shop, where the first 5000 copies of the Book of Mormon were printed. The print shop was Michael's favorite site, because he loves to read, and he was fascinated to find out how books are made. We also went to a children's science museum, called the Sciencenter, with some friends from my high school.

At the end of the week was the Chamber recitals and the concert. Nicholas' quartet made it into the Honors Chamber recital. They played "Sunshine of Your Love", and sounded really good!

The last day of the camp was the orchestra concert.

I'll post videos when I can!