Musings from Graceland

SCENES FROM CAMP DIXON

As promised, here are some pix from our recent camping trip. Every October, scores of homeschool families from Mississippi (and even a few other states) converge on a small church camp a few minutes outside of Philadelphia, Mississippi. Its a weekend filled with good ole fashioned fun plus stiff joints for us older'ns who are sleeping in tents!

Worn out and ready to just relax after a busy day of packing up at home and then setting up camp while racing the rain upon arrival.

B, A, LG, and I decided that sleeping in the van the first night was the option for us since strong storms were expected. And sure enough, they hit and the wind had fun turning over a few things but most folks stayed dry...even in their tents.

Friday morning, the older girls took off on their own to make new friends and get reacquainted with old friends while SuperDad and I took the younger ones to the "pirate ship", one of the favorite hang outs for the 10 and under crowd.

4 year old T and Super Dad had a great time light saber dueling...well, T had a super time as long as he thought HE was winning!

There was a huge zip line set up this year over the valley. All the MacLellan kids got into this activity, from the teenager to the little toddler. Oh! And Dad liked it, too. Those his arms got tired after a while from helping the little ones go down it.

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10 year old D was the first of our crew to try it followed by 8 year old Patch. We've got a zip line at home so our kids are used to the concept, but ours pales in comparison to this tremendously long one.

12 year old B enjoyed trying out unique ways of going down it. Below her, the football game went on unfazed by the aerial acrobatics up above.

Here's nearly 14 year old A about to take the plunge as her camp friends cheer her on.

We found out during our time at Camp Dixon that little Miss M is an adrenalin junkie! She wanted to ride it over and over again. Here she is going....

...going...

...and gone all the way to the bottom.

And when she had to wait on the sidelines while her daddy took someone else down the zip line, her heart was absolutely broken. She bawled and bawled and bawled. It was both touching and quite humorous at the same time.

4 year old T actually went down last out of all the kids. It took him a while to get up his nerve. I guess he just couldn't let his baby sister be more brave than he was being. But wow...did he ever clutch on tight to Daddy!

LG at 6 is quite the big girl and rode down many times all on her own.

The campground at night, with all the lights sparkling and the folks mingling, reminded me of the midway at the state fair. Here, J, LG, and T head out to the Friday night meeting.

A, B, and their friends listen in on the boys' next door as they play a game. Come to find out, our next door neighbors were folks we'd been in a Five in a Row Co-op years and years ago plus our kids had been in Mommy's Morning Out when they were all just wee things.

Ever the creative and mischievous one at that, B organized a TPing "party" and decorated not just the boys' tent next door, but also our boys' tent, and to throw off suspicion, B rolled her OWN tent as well!

On Saturday morning, a 5k and 1 mile fun run are held. Ever single member of our family participated to some extent.

A and I helped the 3 littlest ones do the 1 mile race while J ran the 5 k with the 4 oldest kids. B won first for her age division and P placed for his division as well. D and J didn't place this year, but they both did much better than they performed last year and are vowing to train this year for next fall's race. A and 3 of her teenage friends walked the majority of the 5 k race, or should I say strolled and not only came in last, but they came in AFTER the race was finished!

Racers get ready....

...and go!

The four "strollers" enjoy their race time together.

And here are all the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners for each age division.

The new playground was another favorite place for the younger set. The kids especially loved the sand and building volcanoes though the moms didn't enjoy trying to get all the sand out of their hair! Oh well.

Adrenaline junkie Baby Miss M climbs high...

... and enjoys playing alongside a fellow FIAR kid.

The younger kids were crazy for the beagle that hung around all the weekend. The parents weren't so thrilled...especially when he started tearing into trash bags. But that didn't matter one whit to the kids. And I must admit, it was a very patient dog as you can see from the above photo as T, LG, and M are all up in that poor dog's space.

The highlight of Saturday night was an old fashioned sing around a huge bonfire. It was pretty chilly that night and many a kid fell asleep while bundled up in blankets.

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Sunday morning we had an open air church service before packing up to head home. We stopped at the Sonic in Philadelphia for fast food and free ice cream. The service was great and they even got our entire order right...a pretty rare accomplishment for a family our size.

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Our kids had a great time last year but all have agreed that this year was even better. It looks like Camp Dixon has become an annual event for us, and one that we'd love to share with more of you. It added to the fun having folks that we know "from real life" join us for the event. Wanna come along next fall? :)