Family Camp Weekend

Our church has an annual camp weekend to kick of summer and to just enjoy building relationships and spending time together.
This year somehow my husband and I got picked to organize the event....yep one more thing to add to the craziness of the last couple weeks. It was actually fun to put it all together this year and we had a pretty good turn out. There was mostly young families with young kids there. It think at one point we counted 36 children so it was a action packed weekend. I came prepared with a pile of sand toys, Tonka trucks and rubber balls. The kids spent most of the weekend in the beach volleyball pit playing in the sand. Since the actual lake is a bit of a hike away it was nice to just be able to let the kids run around and make them selves filthy in the sand while we visited. We were also able to use the camps horses to give the little ones "pony rides"..they were actually full sized horses but we led them around instead of them riding for themselves. They had to wear helmets and boots (most of which were several sizes too big).
This is one happy boy!

I realize that every picture is of Roman but I can only include four at a time (because of sucky dial up). I'll post more later of the other kids. Roman spent the whole ride feeling the horse. That is SO Roman! He lives in this world through touch. I don't think I've ever met such a tactile kid. He literally can't look at something with out touching it too, he can't talk to a person with out putting his hand on their shoulder or hair. Its something I love about him. We've had to work hard over the years to teach him some sort of self control in that department. There are just some things that aren't touchable (like Grandma's china)...it about kills him but he's good about it if I tell him no touching.

I can just imagine Roman as one of those boys who would love to take off into the country side on a horse, just him, his horse and his imagination.

He's so extroverted and will talk any ones ear off but he is also a bit of a loner . He will let everyone else play ball or some other game and he would rather be off by himself in a tree or on his bike. He spends hours riding around on his bike singing. He's ALWAYS ALWAYS singing...more like droning...but it does have words...and at least one note :) Funny kid.

We've discovered lately just how "auditory" he is too. He has some definite "visual" learning issues but if the information comes through his ears...particularly in the form of music...or through his fingers he'll remember it. We took him into a music store the other day and he was in heaven, gently touching each instrument and tapping on every drum in the place comparing sounds(I was very careful about the appropriateness of his actions and the reaction of the store owner.) He didn't run around banging and pulling stuff off the shelves...he just slowly walked around in awe off all the instruments and possibilities (singing most of the time of course). We were there for a long time just watching him enjoy himself. Daddy the drummer had fun looking at everything too. Nathananael has started giving him drum lessons in the garage and he loves it so far. The price is right. He's been begging for a real guitar for years now. You know that saying "marches to the beat of a different drum"....this kid marches to the beat of a whole different orchestra..one that no one else hears! :)

Roman in his monkey boy glory. His parents met for the first time as regulars at a college climbing wall...I guess we should have expected one monkey in the bunch :) Always up for a challenge he wanted to do the hardest route on the wall.

Roman went up and down about 4 times before we drug him off.

He waits for family camp all year so he can get his climbing fix. He told the guy working there that he's been practicing all year on trees so he's ready.