A Temporary Goodbye

Don't worry, it's not Clare saying bye, and it's not permanent.

(Hi, this is Bree, by the way.)

Today we said goodbye to Evelyn, Charissa, Fiona, and Kiwi for two whole weeks! They're going to sleep-away camp about an hour away from the city. They're going to be hiking, swimming, learning about nature, doing crafts, sitting around the campfire... the usual camp stuff. They also each get to choose an area to focus on learning about while they're there. The camp calls it a "major," like at a university. Evelyn is going to be taking horseback riding for her major. Fiona and Kiwi are doing drama. Charissa is doing sports and athletics.

It sounds like they're going to have a fantastic time! They were really excited... but a tiny bit nervous too. Especially Evelyn, I think, since she's the youngest and she hasn't really been away from home much. I think once they get there, they'll have so much fun they're going to forget they were ever worried or homesick.

We the older kids are staying in the city for now. Me and Kirsten have these two weeks off from driver's ed for "vacation." Kirsten is going to be doing a Model UN seminar, which she's taking so seriously it's a little absurd. You would think her success or failure was really going to make or break world politics, the way she's acting. Meanwhile, Felicity, Summer, and I are taking a writing course at the local public library, and Josefina has three more weeks left in her photography course that's co-sponsored between the library and the museum. Molly is going to the same art program she goes to every year, but she says she learns different things every time. Kaya has been taking dance workshops over the course of the summer so far, but for the next ten days she's taking time off from ballet to attend an environmental science day program with Parks Canada.

Clare can't go along on any of our activities, of course, due to vampire sunburn concerns - but she's doing a lot of reading and learning yoga. She seems pretty content, although it's too bad her life is so restricted. We try to spend as much time with her in the evenings as we can.

So far our summer has been pretty cold and grey. Yeah, we live in Northern Canada, but the other girls tell me it's usually warmer and sunnier than this in July. (It's my first summer here.) Things finally warmed up a couple of weeks ago, although it has been pretty inconsistent and there have been as many chilly days as summery ones.

Still, we're hoping to do some weekend camping trips between now and when school starts. We can't spend our entire summer in the city, after all, right?

Love,
Bree