super summer adventures II

Hamp & Sam started this summer off right - with some exploring!

Hamp brought his lovely Norwegian girlfriend and partner in adventure back to the States after Folk School for a few weeks together of touring the American West. They camped in the Great Sand Dunes National Park, toured a reptile rescue farm, visited Crested Butte, watched the sunrise at Arches National Park, and went skydiving in Moab!!! (for anyone who remembers Jason's passion for jumping out of planes, you know he would be so proud of his son's first dive!)

Hamp wasn't even home from taking Johanne to the airport when Sam (and I!) took off for Belize with the Ecology Project International group. 18 teenagers with 3 chaperones for 9 days doing biological and ecological research in the rain forest and the barrier reef is an incredible notion. Hamp went on an EPI trip in 2021 to the Galapagos and I vividly remember how excited he was when he got home to share stories about what he learned... so I was so grateful when I had the opportunity to be a part of this year's trip and see first hand the amazing experiences that Sam shared with this awesome group of friends.

The first half of the trip was studying marine biology and barrier reef health on Tobacco Caye, a small island off the coast. The staff at the Marine Station were amazing but the real heroes were our EPI instructors who kept the kids busy with great lessons and group games that made it not even feel like learning... and it doesn't hurt when your "classroom" looks like this:

The next half of the trip was at the Toucan Ridge Ecology & Education Society (TREES) ecolodge where we studied the ecosystem of the rain forest, including river health, bat species, turtles, and all the amazing plant life. 

As incredible as all of the education and research was, my favorite part was watching Sam be all-in for this experience. I may not have gotten an earful of adventure stories when he came home, but I did get to witness first hand how much he LOVED playing volleyball at both locations! 

Seriously though, he may not grow up to be a biologist or a researcher, but no doubt this trip has helped continue to nurture him as an explorer, a learner... and a good team mate!

home

Hamp is home!

My heart and my house are bursting - with love and pride (heart) and with 10 months worth of luggage and new ski stuff and photography equipment and really cool souvenirs (house).

I know I didn't post much about Hamp's Norwegian adventures - but I felt it was more his story to tell, not mine anymore! So you can check out his Instagram page @hight0werph0t0 for a school year's worth of amazing photos with limited captions (his strength is clearly for capturing the image, not so much the words)

But what I can confidently say, in summary of the past year, is that attending Sogndal Folk School was absolutely the very best decision Hamp has ever made, and quite possibly the greatest adventure of his life so far! I am so grateful for this experience for him, for the new skills he learned, and for the friends that he made along the way.

 

up in the air

 Sam just wrapped a terrific track & field season with MHS!

He worked on 3 main events - Pole Vault, High Jump, and Triple Jump - and saw great improvement in all over the course of the season. It is pretty evident that his flexibility and strength from years of gymnastics has made him a great candidate for any event where he can throw his body in the air! But the goal is always to go a little higher everytime...

Mean Girls

OK, I know I say this every time...

But this was seriously the BEST high school musical!

Mean Girls only just this year got licensed for high school productions and Meeker High School absolutely did it justice.

I mean no disrespect to past shows - Addams Family, Drowsy Chaperone, Pippin, Mary Poppins - they have all been amazing. Truly! I always think "It can't get better than this."

Then Sam gets to ride a moped on stage!

Full disclaimer - so much of the genius behind the success of the Meeker High School drama program comes from my dear friend who directs, coaches, stages, costumes, and casts these shows. She has a gift. A true gift of putting the right kids in the right parts and then getting them to shine so brightly I can barely see! And Mean Girls had the perfect cast... 

... with Sam as the lead male who co-narrates the whole story while singing and dancing his heart out!

(thanks to Bobby Gutierrez for always capturing great photos of the kids!)

I was so proud of his performance I thought I would burst.

I think, judging from his smile backstage after the show that he was pretty happy about it too!

(hoping to have a little video sample up soon...!)

Tried to make a compilation video of several of Sam's shining moments on stage... but I have apparently aged out of being technologically savvy. Best I can do at least is share this 5 minute single video of one of my favorite numbers that he did:

Sam's Spring Break - city, surf, and ski

Sam kind of got the best of both all worlds this Spring Break!

He was the only one of us that hadn't been to NYC yet to visit Mason at Barnard, so he got to tag along with Ruby for a few days in the city. I think - judging by all the fun selfies they sent me - that they had a great time exploring the city together:

Perhaps the coolest part of being in NYC was that Hamp was there at the same time for his photography trip. Knowing that Hamp & Sam were having dinner together - especially with Mason & Ruby, too! - made everything right in my world at least.

Then instead of coming straight home, Sam flew down to Florida for a couple of days on the beach. Mojo & Dado made sure he got surf lessons, beach time, and plenty of rest before sending him home to cold & snowy Colorado!

Sam spent his last day of Spring Break on the mountain with friends.

Can't think of a better way to round out his experience and welcome in spring...

days on the mountain

Now that we are in March, we start thinking about wrapping up our favorite season = ski season!

Sam has had a great one so far... he keeps pushing himself to be a better skier and absolutely LOVES skiing with his friends...

We may have just a couple of spring ski days left before the good jumps melt away!

The Narrator

Sam has stayed busy this winter by being on stage - most recently in the MHS production of "Ragnasplosion" a silly play that tries to sum up all of Norse Mythology in about 90 minutes of one-act scenarios... Thor and Loki have never been so interesting.

Sam played one of the 2 narrators - so he was on stage for practically the whole show, and had a ton of lines to remember! He had great chemistry with his co-narrator and was so fun to watch. I could not be more proud of his performance, and just so happy that he enjoys being a part of the cast.

keeping watch over Thor's goats while the Norse gods get into more mischief...

Wrapped!

Now he's already in rehearsals for the spring musical - Mean Girls!