Dancing Hibiscus & Rainbow Warrior

Against Mark's wishes, I included his macho Indian name in the title. Now, he was of course named by his oldest daughter. But, it still makes me laugh. For their Indian Princess group, they named themselves two years ago. And, I smile every time Kendyll calls herself a "dancing hibiscus" and her daddy the "rainbow warrior" (taken straight from his Hawaii roots).

This weekend, we spent some time at the Ranch with Gammy and Papa Ron, while Kendyll (Dancing Hibiscus) and Mark (Rainbow Warrior) had a campout with the other second grade girls and their dads! Kendyll was so excited to have her friends out to the Ranch, and it was fun to watch them all getting dirty and having fun together. Mom and I would watch from the kitchen window as a trail of little girls went running across the pasture. Such a great thing to see. :)

Papa Ron worked hard to make the ranch the perfect campout setting, complete with a bonfire pit, hay bale seating, and a level campground for tents. And, Mark joined in on the preparation to make sure everything was exactly as Kendyll had hoped for her big weekend too. Looks good to me!

This is a girl after my own heart. Check out these to-do lists she made for the upcoming weekend:

I love that each of her items had a box for a checkmark. Don't even ask how many of my childhood checklists had the same boxes. :) Yes, I organized my church camp clothes by the day they would be worn, and then wrote them out with check boxes to make sure they all got put back in my suitcase. So, what can I say...she comes by it honestly.

I also loved some of the items on her list, including "find an interesting bug" and "get dirty". I think she accomplished almost everything she had planned in just 24 hours!!

From what I hear, this gang fit quite a lot into those hours, including multiple fishing trips to the pond, hay rides, bone hunts, campfire singing, swinging, hay bale climbing, sunset watching, lots of eating, and they even had a little time for girl drama. :) I was very glad to hear that the drama was prayed over, though, by our girls. And, according to Kendyll, that prayer was answered because they were all happy the next morning. Amazing what prayer (and some sleep) will do for your spirits!!

Look at these cuties! Some of the sweetest girls around for sure.

And, Mark had such a great time with the dads too. There was lots of time for relaxing and chatting, as the girls entertained themselves with flashlights in the tents. :)

Another one of my favorites: the makeshift porta-potty! I was shocked to hear that the potty was not patrolled by the responsible fathers!! Mark told me that everyone started dying laughing when they discovered what the porta-potty looked like by the end of their trip. Hilarious.

Meanwhile, while the Indians were camping, Carlie, Abby Kate, and I relaxed at the house for the weekend. Most of the time, you could find Carlie doing this with her two favorite dogs in the world:

And, Abby Kate just hung with Mommy and Gammy. I love this picture of her on her way across the pasture to find Daddy.

She was on her way to share great news with him: No more passy!!! We finally gave it up while we were there this weekend, and yes, we are WAY overdue for this. Honestly, mommy was more addicted than Abby Kate was. So far, she's surviving just fine, and so am I, although naptimes are shorter these days. It will be worth it, though, if maybe someday she'll be able to say her "s" without a lisp. :)

We had a great weekend, Gammy and Papa! Thank you for all of your hard work to make this so fun for the girls. We love you!!