We love dressing up in costume (and y'all don't necessarily wait for October to make that happen!). We love candy! We love trick or treating. We love getting in the spoooooky spirit and decorating. We love walking around getting candy with our neighbors. We love carving pumpkins and toasting seeds.
So, when it was time for this Halloween, there was definitely some magic in the air!
Julia, you went as Princess Elsa from Frozen!
Aidan, you followed your newest obsession and went as a GHOSTBUSTER!
On the day of, we packed your lunches up nice:
And I headed off for a Weird day at work dressed as our favorite summer obsession, Weird Al! You kids loved the costume, but were iffy on my mustache. Toby barked at me because he didn't recognize me!
Mommy wasn't going to dress up, but then we made her a costume at the last second, and went as the subject of one of our recent movie nights: A NEWSIE!
The rainy weather cleared, our teams were assembled, and we headed down the hill to collect the Long sisters and miss Ana for trick-or-treating!
And off y'all went...running door to door...not being daunted by an empty house, or spooky electronic ghost (which Aidan gladly "Busted").
As darkness settled in, and the candy baskets got rather full...and as your tummies got fuller and slightly more upset from too much candy consumption.... we called a close to this 2018 eve of ghouls and goblins and chocolate....
And...if you look back on the day and the month leading up to it....there was certainly a BIG spark of MAGIC!
Julia, my amazing, strong, determined, feisty, fearless, friendly slice of Rainbow Pizza, I love hanging out with you no matter the circumstances.
But...getting the chance to go on another Rainbow Pizza camp out with you? That's just awesome!
Aluminum FOIL!
So when Bob, the founder of Rainbow Pizza, called me over the summer and asked me to run Rainbow Pizza 2 along with Joe B, I didn't hesitate! We HAVE to get crusts and slices together in this way! It's the Rainbow Pizza creed!
So after months of planning and recruiting and a few days of packing (and exactly one weekend AFTER Aidan's 2nd Hiking Laser Bears camp out), you and me packed up the Hyundai, picked up your buddy Zoey to drive an hour northward to Collin County Adventure Camp! And WHAT an Adventure we had!
I think what has stuck with me most about this campout is how much YOU have grown since our first trip. Certainly you've grown taller- we cut out spirit sticks to your height at your first campout so we can see how much you've grown and...yup...you're taller! But you've grown in other ways too!
On our first camp out you needed me a lot more; you were a bit shell shocked out of your regular environment, you didn't know quite what to do with the other girls early in that weekend (though by the end of the weekend you'd figured it out). You fearlessly attempted all of the activities last year; but the climbing wall kind of got the best of you, and you were super super sad that you didn't get an arrow in the target (so we went back and tried again until you made it...which is a success in and of itself!)
This year, though, you made fast friends with new pals, and handled social situations- like including others- with ease. You even took a leadership role in your crusades on the boys, late-night story telling, imaginative play, and more.
You didn't need me so much as you did...which is bittersweet. But it was amazing to see you be so strong and self-sufficient and immersed in the experience of having fun with your friends.
You were okay with just trying activities without 100% mastering them. You still want to achieve, don't get me wrong, but you were okay when our time was up on an activity and you hadn't achieved your goal yet. There's always next time!
You bravely went to the rock climbing wall and climbed WAY higher than you did last year (before this trip you had commented to me "Daddy, I hope there's rock climbing again because I feel like I'm old enough and brave enough now to do it") and you - and Ella- did the ZIP LINE (a new activity) without batting an eyelash. "I want to do it again!" you said!
Some other stories stick out:
1) You and the other slices decided (or were maybe provoked) into a "battle" with a neighboring cabin full of boys. Your friend Ellie said "sunsets are perfect for battle." So for two days you two groups chased each other around the campsite during 'down times', having a blast. At the end of the second night, the boys and a few of their dads came over bearing gifts of glowsticks, as a gesture to thank you for playing with the boys. You girls were so thrilled that you decided to write thank you notes...so you all got paper and pencils and crayons, wrote thank you notes, and delivered them. The boys were so thankful for the thank you notes that they gave you candy, which prompted you to offer them s'mores. It was a true kindness explosion...and the best possible outcome for a battle!
2) There was a little flagstone patio outside the mess hall where we spent a lot of time congregating and playing games. At one point, you tripped and hit your knee pretty bad. You started crying. I rushed to you. But so did your friends! They all descended upon you with hugs and concern to make sure you were okay. It was a magical, amazing moment that recurred through the weekend, as each of you got small and smallish-medium injuries along the way; and at each turn, Rainbow Pizzas were there for each other...with every banged up knee or smushed finger. At the end, our camp leader gave out "Injury Feathers." Each of you reported proudly being injured and surviving...and you each walked away with an awesome story, cool feather, and warm comfort of friendship.
You were amazing, and tried every activity (official and unofficial):
Climbing:
Hiking
Zip-Lining (and patiently waiting before zip-lining)
Flower picking:
BBs:
Archery:
More hiking and one car-piling:
...And Boating!
The weekend was filled with much sweetness, a lot of love, some mediocre mess-hall food, and some amazing camp-fire grilled dinners, a lot of friendship, silliness, and warmth.
...Caring, Honesty, Respect, Responsibility...that's the Rainbow Pizza way!
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