First Time at Summer Camp? – “Later Ma”

I have a teeny little feeling in the pit of my stomach tonight. I’m not sure I’ve ever felt anything quite like it so it’s very difficult to describe but I am 100% positive that it is related to the fact that I dropped my boys off at summer camp today. I’m so excited for them and, despite feeling as if I might vomit at any moment, I know that they are in for a life-changing two weeks at Sanborn Western Camps. From the moment we arrived at their cabins both boys were swarmed by fellow cabin-mates curious to know their names and where they were from. The counselors introduced themselves with a handshake and helped them in with their gear. It’s all a bit of a blur. Well, except for the part where the kid and parent are supposed to embrace in the most desperate of hugs and promise to miss each other and write every day. Or maybe it was just a nice long hug and wave as they watched me drive away.

That part?

Pretty sure it never happened. In fact, it did not happen. Neither version happened.

I knew both boys would be fine, that there would be no tears. I’m a huge advocate of summer camp, a good portion of my work is now centered around summer camps and both boys have been quite excited about being able to head off on their own for the first time. My eldest is a bit miffed that he’ll be gone over his birthday but you’d never know he’d even given it a though by the way he brushed me off as I tried to hug him goodbye. I wasn’t prepared for him to not want to hug me goodbye!

I even said to him, “Let me hug you in here so I don’t have to embarrass you outside with my mama love.”

“Mooooom,” he said as he turned away from me and headed out the door to hang with his new crew.

OUCH.

Too cool for even a secret farewell on his very first time at sleep-away camp? I’m swelling with pride and swallowing tears at the same time. How on earth did my sensitive, feeling, lovey guy suddenly become so grown up??

Henry’s cabin had been our first stop and he had been so darn “Happy Henry” that he literally plopped his things down, claimed a bed (not a shock that it happened to be in the center of the room), hopped up on it and lay back all settled as if he’d been there a million times before. This is my happy guy and exactly how I expected it. I even got a quick distracted hug as he ran off to be with his new friends.

My boys are in a spectacular setting at one of the best camps in the country with camp professionals that I’ve had the great pleasure of getting to know very well since their involvement with a program MomActive streamed live on MomTV last spring. I joke with Ariella that fate brought us together but this is no joke, friends! I know this, not just because Ariella has directly impacted my personal and professional world in more ways than could ever be expressed in one post, but because she was there today and she hugged me. She hugged me hello and she hugged me goodbye. We ate lunch, fed horses, and chatted up the goats, and she hugged me goodbye. In fact, she may have hugged me goodbye twice. She was my surrogate hugger. Tell me that’s not fate.

The reality is, I know that my boys are safe. I know they are well. I also know that I miss them more than they miss me right now! I sure am glad that Baby Bear didn’t get invited to summer camp. I wonder if Henry knows that I’m taking very good care of Baby Bear and making sure he doesn’t get lonely? *sniff*

First Time at Summer Camp? – “Later Ma”

I have a teeny little feeling in the pit of my stomach tonight. I’m not sure I’ve ever felt anything quite like it so it’s very difficult to describe but I am 100% positive that it is related to the fact that I dropped my boys off at summer camp today. I’m so excited for them and, despite feeling as if I might vomit at any moment, I know that they are in for a life-changing two weeks at Sanborn Western Camps. From the moment we arrived at their cabins both boys were swarmed by fellow cabin-mates curious to know their names and where they were from. The counselors introduced themselves with a handshake and helped them in with their gear. It’s all a bit of a blur. Well, except for the part where the kid and parent are supposed to embrace in the most desperate of hugs and promise to miss each other and write every day. Or maybe it was just a nice long hug and wave as they watched me drive away.

That part?

Pretty sure it never happened. In fact, it did not happen. Neither version happened.

I knew both boys would be fine, that there would be no tears. I’m a huge advocate of summer camp, a good portion of my work is now centered around summer camps and both boys have been quite excited about being able to head off on their own for the first time. My eldest is a bit miffed that he’ll be gone over his birthday but you’d never know he’d even given it a though by the way he brushed me off as I tried to hug him goodbye. I wasn’t prepared for him to not want to hug me goodbye!

I even said to him, “Let me hug you in here so I don’t have to embarrass you outside with my mama love.”

“Mooooom,” he said as he turned away from me and headed out the door to hang with his new crew.

OUCH.

Too cool for even a secret farewell on his very first time at sleep-away camp? I’m swelling with pride and swallowing tears at the same time. How on earth did my sensitive, feeling, lovey guy suddenly become so grown up??

Henry’s cabin had been our first stop and he had been so darn “Happy Henry” that he literally plopped his things down, claimed a bed (not a shock that it happened to be in the center of the room), hopped up on it and lay back all settled as if he’d been there a million times before. This is my happy guy and exactly how I expected it. I even got a quick distracted hug as he ran off to be with his new friends.

My boys are in a spectacular setting at one of the best camps in the country with camp professionals that I’ve had the great pleasure of getting to know very well since their involvement with a program MomActive streamed live on MomTV last spring. I joke with Ariella that fate brought us together but this is no joke, friends! I know this, not just because Ariella has directly impacted my personal and professional world in more ways than could ever be expressed in one post, but because she was there today and she hugged me. She hugged me hello and she hugged me goodbye. We ate lunch, fed horses, and chatted up the goats, and she hugged me goodbye. In fact, she may have hugged me goodbye twice. She was my surrogate hugger. Tell me that’s not fate.

The reality is, I know that my boys are safe. I know they are well. I also know that I miss them more than they miss me right now! I sure am glad that Baby Bear didn’t get invited to summer camp. I wonder if Henry knows that I’m taking very good care of Baby Bear and making sure he doesn’t get lonely? *sniff*

I’m getting old-Time to run a marathon!

Over the past year or so I’ve been creating a “40 Before 40″ list-a bucket list of things I’d like to accomplish before I turn 40. There are several things on that list that I’ve been able to check off, others that may or may not happen, and several that I am determined to make happen because they are important to me. I haven’t published the list, I’ve mentioned it but haven’t been able to bring myself to put it out there. If you are wondering why, you can read about that in a post from early this year, here.

This August I will turn 39 and one of the items on my bucket list is “Train for and complete a full marathon”. Since training for a marathon is a fairly time consuming process I have just over a year to get this sucker done. This spring I started to take my race training more seriously and even joined a group training for the Denver Rock n’ Roll Marathon in October.  When I finished my very first half-marathon about 7 years ago I felt fantastic and in my mind didn’t think I’d ever have the desire to train for a full marathon. I also wasn’t sure my body would ever stand up to the distances required during training, never mind running fast enough to finish within the course time limits of most marathons. In those 7 years I’ve gotten stronger, started practicing yoga regularly and then last summer while I was running up the ski mountain at Beaver Creek (for fun), I realized that my body can do amazing things and if I really wanted to I absolutely could finish a marathon. So, friends…. I did it, I am officially registered for the Denver Rock n’ Roll Marathon on October 9, 2011!!!!

There’s no backing out now-it’s on the blog, it’s a done deal….

What is on your bucket list? What are you doing to reach your goals?

Winter Activity Pain Relief – Salonpas $200 AmEx Giftcard Giveaway

I love winter. I love snow. Three years ago I took a snowboard lesson and my life changed forever. The learning curve with snowboarding is pretty significant. No matter who you are or how fit you may be, snowboarding is not for wimps. My first two days on a board (even with a private instructor) were brutal. I was bruised from head to toe and my calves  were so sore I could barely move my ankles but I was sold!

Our whole family skis/boards most weekends during the winter. Even Kat who is 5 hits the slopes and follows her brothers through the trees and terrain parks. I love fresh powder days on the mountain by myself but I have to admit that on the days my kids drag me through the ringer I feel giddy like a kid. Well, until later that night or next morning, that is. Those little boogers go hard all day long!

Recently, I fell funny-funny ouch, not funny haha-on my shoulder and have had to spend time with the heating pad, the ice, ibuprofen, foam roller and the loveliest glass of wine, or two. I’m not a big fan of the smelly menthol/camphor creams, mostly because they wear off so fast. I’ve been reading about SALONPAS® patches and am really looking forward to trying them out. SALONPAS® Pain Relief and SALONPAS® Arthritis Pain are the first and only over-the-counter pain-relieving patches approved by the FDA.  They contain an anti-inflammatory drug, which is time-released and lasts up to 12 hours – much longer than my ibuprofen and ice/heat pad routine this weekend. I’ll let you know how it goes.

WINNER CHOSEN – COMMENT #141 Congratulations to Julieh

Let’s Talk Winter Activity ~ $200 AmEx Giftcard Giveaway!

REQUIRED FOR ENTRY: tweet the following, leaving a link to the original tweet in a comment on this post:

1. Send out a tweet, answering the question: “What is your favorite winter activity and why?“  include the #Salonpas hashtag.
2. Tweet: Winter activities giving you muscle pain? Check out #Salonpas on Facebook for solutions: http://facebook.com/salonpas.

EXTRA/OPTIONAL ENTRIES:

• “Like” SALONPAS on Facebook at http://facebook.com/salonpas
• Subscribe to Bantering Blonde HERE
• Follow @BanteringBlonde on Twitter!

Contest ends 12am Midnight (MT) Monday, February 28, 2011. Winner will be chosen by random.org and announced on this post. Winner will be contacted by email and must respond no later than 8am (MT) March 2, 2011 at which time another winner will be chosen.

*Disclosure: Will work for pain relief. I was financially compensated for this post. I have no personal experience with Salonpas to date, but I’m expecting a free delivery any day now and if it works I might just kiss the PR rep and send a box of chocolates. With flowers. Chocolate flowers.

Perfect Moment Monday ~ Catch a Flake

I snapped this shot of Kat trying to catch snowflakes with her tongue on Saturday night in Steamboat Springs, CO. We had just come down the Gondola from a fun Western BBQ at the top of the mountain. We had eaten ourselves full and danced ourselves silly but Kat still had enough energy to twirl about in absolute bliss while we waited for the shuttle. I was so enamored by her joy that I actually turned my head to the sky and stuck my tongue out just to get a taste of what it was like to be 5 again.

Definitely a perfect moment. What Perfect Moment have you recently been aware of? Visit these moments of others and share your comment love.

Vacation Mode In Full Swing

I’m fairly certain that my mother has seen me at my worst-many times-but as an adult I definitely don’t want her to see me as a lazy unmotivated slob. My mom rocks, she’s totally laid back and that makes it even easier for me to go into vacation mode when she’s around. We always have big plans but somehow we sleep in and sloth around a bit and then the day is mostly over. I love these visits but I wonder if she loves them as much as I do?

I just spend the last four or five days cooking, eating, and napping. I’m done with the food part of that cycle. My body is rebelling and I honestly think I could fast for a week and not feel the least bit hungry. Why do we overeat on the holidays?

We had lots of sloth-ish family time while my 9 week old baby nephew was here and I think my sister-in-law enjoyed it just as much as I did. I’m a little bit of a freakishly excited new aunt but my nephew loves me mucho. I’m good with babies, really good. I think it might be partially due to the squishy comfort they find in my arms-let’s not mince words, my boobs make me a very comfortable place to hang out. Mostly, I think babies can smell love and I love this baby, he’s adorable and has such a great temperament. We’re going to be buds, of this I am sure!

What do you do when family is in town? Do you go into “tourist” mode and entertain or are you like me and just let your hair down?

Random Act of Zhu #2 ~ Ronald McDonald House Denver

Merry Christmas Eve dear readers! I can’t help feeling giddy when I think about the crazy festival of happy giggling that explodes in my house every year on Christmas Day. I know that we are a fortunate family and that there will be others this evening and tomorrow morning that won’t experience the same explosion of magic that my children will. Thanks to an amazing donation from the makers of Zhu Zhu Pets my children and I know that there will be at least 104 smiles on the faces of children in need this Christmas Day.

I am grateful to Cepia, LLC for including me in their “Random Act of Zhu” holiday toy campaign. They sent me 104 Zhu Zhu Pets and Kung Zhu Hamsters to distribute to local children in need. You may remember my first “random act”, it was so rewarding that I’ve literally been floating from the experience and I intend to become more involved with Denver Safe House in the future.

100 bloggers X 100 Zhu Zhus = 10,000 smiles!

The site of my 2nd Random Act of Zhu has special meaning for me because when my children were younger we were part of a playgroup and every holiday we would donate gifts to the Ronald McDonald House Denver. I remember the first year that we donated we took all of the kids to pick out gifts and then when we delivered them a very kind woman in reception took us on a tour of the facility. Our kids were too young to truly understand what their gifts would mean to the families spending Christmas away from home but to this day I remember the tour and the conversations we all had.

The Ronald McDonald House’s main focus is providing comfortable, low-cost housing to out-of-town mothers and fathers needing to be near their hospitalized children. Many children from rural parts of Colorado come to Denver for treatment and the Ronald McDonald House makes it possible for these families to be near their children during what can be a frightening time in a child’s life. The Zhu Zhu Pets that we brought to the house this week will bring smiles to the children who receive them and joy to the hearts of the parents who are able to celebrate the holiday with their children.

The Ronald McDonald House Denver facility is a 35,000 square foot residence with 31 bedrooms with private baths, and includes 2 kitchens, a laundry, 5 TV lounges, dens, and indoor/outdoor play areas. When we visited yesterday the house was decorated for the holidays and favorite childhood characters lurked in every corner….

My First Random Act of Zhu: Destination SafeHouse Denver!

Tis’ the season and thanks to Cepia, LLC , the makers of Zhu Zhu Pets and Kung Zhu Hamsters I am having tons of fun spreading the cheer! Last holiday season “Random Acts of Zhu” was established as a way to provide toys to children in need. This year they are at it again, just imagine:

100 bloggers X 100 Zhu Zhus = 10,000 smiles!

I was thrilled when they asked me to participate but when the doorbell rang and actually saw all of the boxes, I could barely contain my excitement!

My kids love Zhu Zhu’s and the thought of putting a smile on the face of a child who might not otherwise have much to smile about this holiday-well, it makes me giddy!

I chose SafeHouse Denver for my first Random Act of Zhu (RAZ). SafeHouse Denver operates the only shelter in the City and County of Denver that exclusively serves victims of domestic violence. SafeHouse also runs a non-residential Counseling & Advocacy Center where they provide non-emergency support services for women and children experiencing domestic violence.

SafeHouse Denver assists women, children, and youth in reclaiming their right to a life free from domestic violence.

I enjoy meeting the fantastic group of women that make things happen at SafeHouse Denver. They had never seen a Zhu Zhu pet before and they were giggling with delight because each child would wake up to one of these furry friends… and they’d be running all over the house!

Bloggers are well positioned to make an impact on the local level, and when companies like Cepia, LLC reach out to us big smiles happen. For safety and confidentiality reasons I won’t get to see the smiles on the faces of these particular children, but the smiles on the faces of the women I handed the little critters over to made feel great!

My next “RAZ” will shower Zhu Zhu’s on the Ronald McDonald House of Denver. I’m also trying to coordinate another RAZ for early next week with my kidlets in tow – I’m like a regular Blonde Santa Claus … stay tuned for pictures!

Donovan Duggins Mt. Vesouvious Burger Wins Big in Red Robin Cook-Off

Fresh Ingredients + Child’s Creativity and Imagination = Ten Awesome Burgers!

This morning, I was honored to serve as a judge for the 5th Annual Red Robin Kids’ Cook-Off. The panel of judges included actress Anna Sophia Robb (17-year-old star of upcoming film “Soul Surfer” with Dennis Quaid and Helen Hunt), Tom Giesen (executive producer of the Food Network’s Unwrapped)  my new BFF the fabulously effervescent Nancy McBride (National Safety Director for National Center for Missing and Exploited Children), Eric Houseman, President and COO, Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, and fun Frances Hill (THANK YOU for the tips on what water does to burger buns in your belly).

The finalists were chosen from thousands of entries around the country. Each contestant “built” and then presented their gourmet creations for judging. This was hard! We tasted every burger and had to judge on things like creativity, presentation, taste…. and they were all quite amazing!

The winning Burgermeister was the charming 12-year-old Donovan Duggins from Wichita, Kansas. His “Mt. Vesuvius Burger” will be sold in all U.S. Red Robin® restaurants in summer 2011. Donovan’s “Lava Sauce” (made from sweet BBQ sauce, hot sauce, garlic powder and paprika) was the perfect combination of “sweet, with a kick”. The sauce,crumbled blue cheese, bacon, and provolone cheese, topped a beef patty and was served on a sesame seed bun. This burger was tasty and creative, with a name (chosen because Donovan loves geography… hello, little lesson in a burger!) that will likely have had the marketing team jumping out of their seats ready to get the “Lava” flowing tomorrow. Oh, what I would do to be part of that!

Next summer, when you order the “Mt. Vesuvius Burger” at all Red Robin restaurants, 50 cents of your purchase will support the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children’s (NCMEC) child safety efforts. To date Red Robin has raised $400,000 in partnership with NCMEC , and 50% of that figure is attributed specifically to the the annual kid’s cook-off. I love that this competition gave kids an opportunity to be creative, to hone their presentations kills, and benefits an amazing organization at the same time.

The top 10 kid finalists were:

• Zack Caison, Amarillo, TX: “Jalapeno Blue Ranch Bacon Burger”
• Gavin Belliveau, Kingston, MA: “The Meatball Burger”
• Malia Grant, Fresno, CA: “Tropical Hawaiian Turkey Burger”
• Isabel Honzay, Chandler, AZ: “Southwest Cobb Burger”
• Megan Casteel, Mesa, AZ: “Gorgonzola Goodness Burger”
• Emily Whitaker, Tualatin, OR: “The Bacon Dill Delight Burger”
• Angela Feltz, Portland, OR: “The Bangin’ Spicy Chicken Artichoke Burger”
• Dominic Staiti, Citrus Heights, CA: “Jalapeno Cornbread Chili Burger”
• Jake Tucker, Chesterfield, MO: “Campfire Burger”
• Donovan Duggins, Wichita, KS: “The Mt. Vesuvius Burger”

I was really impressed by Red Robin’s embrace of social media in this event. I love that they engaged blogger/social media correspondents in each of the finalists’ cities and streamed a live webcast of the entire competition. The tweets, dm’s, messages, questions and comments that came my way this morning were fun and a very cool example of how powerful word of mouth is.

Are you a burger lover? What are your favorite ingredients?