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We spent a lot of time in Robin Lake throughout the week. The kids went swimming most days at camp.

In addition to swimming, everyone had the chance to go to Aqua Island - a huge inflatable obstacle playground on the water. The kids went with their camp groups. The adults had a time during the week to go. Jen, Michelle, Jeremy, and lots of friends all went. I skipped out to play tennis.

I didn’t get a picture of Leah and Emmie on Aqua Island, but here they are just after the fun.

Jen and I also went water skiing on the lake. Jen went first and showed us how it’s done.

I remembered how to slalom, and managed to get up on one ski this time around.

Fireworks weren’t the only thing we saw in the sky at night. We again went to the astronomy program and saw all the stars we can’t see living surrounded by light pollution. Last time around, Aunt ‘Chelle stayed behind with little JJ. This time, JJ was old enough to join in, so no one had to stay behind. And most of our friends joined us as well.

Here’s our family (minus me) gazing at the sky.

It’s hard to convey the sky we saw, but here’s a small taste of a tiny portion of the sky.

Seeing the circus at Callaway was great, but we also got to participate in circus activities. The performers themselves gave us a chance on several of their apparatuses. The kids went with their groups during camp, and the adults had a few times we could choose to try things out.

Cloud swing

The cloud swing is an apparatus where you can do a bunch of tricks. They get progressively harder, so you get to keep going until you fall off. Leah, Molly, Jen, and I all got to do it. First, you lay back and catch your feet around the ropes, leaving you upside down as you swing.

Then there’s the knee hang.

And then the dreaded heel hang, where you hang from the back of your foot.

The next part is really hard, you have to pull yourself up from the heel hang. I didn’t manage to do this last time, but I got it this time (though I dropped my hat in the process).

After that is the toe hang (hang from just your toes), but none of us managed to do that one. It’s tough.

Triple trapeze

They let the kids play on the triple trapeze, but they didn’t get to have 3 people on at the same time. Molly’s group could have 2 on together, while Leah’s group stuck to just one.

Trapeze

Adults and kids all got to play on the high trapeze. The kids just hang there for a bit, then let go and fall to the net. The adults hang for a bit, then swing and do a flip as they fall to the net.

They did lower the trapeze a bit for the younger kids in Leah’s group, which had to be nice as it is really hot up near the top of the tent.

Jump rope

The kids also got to use the acrobatic jump rope, though they weren’t doing flips in it.

Ladder swing

The kids also got to swing on a ladder.

Flying trapeze

The kids don’t get to do the flying trapeze, but the adults do. I decided not to partake this year, as it was high and I was already tired. Jen, however, went on it multiple times. For us non-circus performers, you don’t release and get caught by someone else (that’s way above our skill level). Instead, you swing and do a couple tricks before releasing and flipping down to the net.

Many things make Callaway unique, but one of the most obvious is its circus. The FSU Flying High Circus is one of only two collegiate circuses in the U.S.A. And every summer, they bring the circus to Callaway Gardens.

But they’re not just circus performers. They also serve as the camp counselors for the kids age 7-17. So, Molly, Leah, and Emmie got to hang out all day with these circus performers. It’s really cool!

We went to two circus performances during the week - Sunday and Friday. Here are a bunch of pictures to give you an idea of some (but not all) of the performances.

Teeter board

Spanish web

The second one there is Molly’s counselor, Brooke.

Acrobatic jump rope

The acrobatic jump rope featured two of Leah and Emmie’s counselors - Jess and Bailey.

Triple trapeze

The one on the right is again, Molly’s counselor Brooke.

Quartette adagio

The girl flying through the air was also one of Leah and Emmie’s counselors - Ashley.

Bicycle built for five

Again, featuring Molly’s counselor Brooke.

Juggling

Russian Bar

Flying Trapeze

The last picture includes one of Leah and Emmie’s counselors flying through the air - Daniel.

Ring master

And don’t forget the ring master. Yes, that’s Molly’s counselor Brooke again. She did a lot in the show.

They really put on a great show.

15 years ago today, these two youngsters were eagerly awaiting their wedding.

We were very excited, expecting marriage to be awesome. Now 15 years later, it’s been so much more than I could have imagined. I often feel guilty for having such an awesome wife and awesome life (those two are pretty closely linked in my experience). So, Happy Anniversary to my wonderful wife of 15 years. I look forward to many, many, many more.

Here are a few other fun pictures from that great day back in 2002:

To see even more pictures, check out our wedding album on Flickr.

Jen’s family went to Callaway for 10 years when she was a kid where they met up with several other families each year. Four of these families went back this summer, reuniting after a couple of decades. We got to hang out throughout the week and enjoy activities together.

When visiting her mom recently, Jen found a picture from 1987 with the kids that went to Callaway Gardens every summer. Top row: Michael, Jen, Jen (Batson, now Sellers). Middle row: Kristen, Danika, Michelle (Batson, now Long). Bottom row: Andrew, Jessica, Andrew, Jonathan.

And here’s another old Callaway picture we found in Jen’s collection (and seemingly taken by Jen). Possibly taken in 1992. This picture includes adults missing from the kid picture - Susan and Bob, Monty and Mara, and Howard and Chris. This was also one of the years that Jen’s Uncle Rick, Aunt Roxanne, and cousins Will and Sadie joined in the fun.

And now here’s many of those folks all grown up, plus their spouses.

And finally, the kids of those kids - the next generation of Callaway kids.

We hung out together at lots of activities throughout the week, but I’ll highlight one of them here. The pictures above were taken on the 4th of July, shortly before heading to the lake for evening festivities. The reunion families all found a spot together to watch the 4th of July Fireworks. Callaway was packed for the fireworks, but they roped off a section for those of us there for the SFA program, which was great.

Jen brought lots of glow bracelets for all, which were of course a big hit.

The fireworks show was excellent.

Happy 4th of July!

On Sunday night, Callaway Gardens holds a luau to welcome everyone to the Summer Family Adventure (SFA) program. Apparently all these kids need for fun is a checkered napkin.

Per tradition, the highlight of the evening was a hula hoop contest, and our three girls were ready.

Leah opted for the minimal technique - crossed arms and no extraneous movements.

Molly was a bit more of a show off.

Emmie had hula hoop skills as well. All 3 of them made it to the finals.

All but one of the finalists lost their hoop when they had to lift one foot in the air, leaving Leah as the champion. She was officially proclaimed the Super Duper Hula Hooper for the week.

The Super Duper Hula Hooper and her prize (a cup that gets free refills all week long), with her two finalist attendants on each side.

And the eight of us, ready for camp to get started.

Two years ago, we went to Callaway Gardens for their Summer Family Adventure program with Jen’s family. It was awesome, and we talked about going back every two years. So, we were very excited to get to go again this year. Sadly, G’Mom and Grampa couldn’t join us this time around, but they wanted us to go on without them.

It’s a long way away, and we drive so we can bring lots of stuff (including our bikes). We decided to break it into 2 days. And rather than stay in a hotel, North Carolina cousins were kind enough to host us. Thanks Ann, Steve, and everybody else who was there! We even found time to play a little Spoons.

As always on car trips through the south, we stopped at Zaxby’s for lunch.

We made it to Callaway Gardens with very little trouble by the middle of the afternoon on Saturday. We were very happy to get out of the car.

These cousins are looking forward to a week together.

Jen and I had an actual fancy date before heading out of town. We went to see Finding Neverland at the Hippodrome. It was quite good.

It was also fun to walk to the tech booth at the back during intermission to ask what software they were using for audio playback. They were using QLab - the software I make in my job.

For some time, Molly’s been asking to try out Hibachi. So, the week after school ended, we took the girls as a celebration of a great year of school. We went to Koto Sake, and the girls loved it. They were immediately planning to have future birthday dinners there.