My camera is dead. Long live my camera.

I'm lost without it, really. It decided not to focus anymore. Gives me a cute little error message: 61:00 on the LCD display. I've got a lot of memory for it, so I've been looking for a replacement on ebay, but I can't bring myself to dish out $60 for a used camera which might die any minute too. So for now, I'm camera-less.

We've been keeping really busy. We saw Over the Hedge in the Waterbury mall movie theater for free last week. The boys have seen it so many times, but it was only my second, and it really was funny. Adults would enjoy it even without the kids.

We also saw another show at the Oakdale Theater: Cinderella, Too. This time we had lousy seats (row FF instead of just F) but we snuck up to the front for the second half. R was nervous about it, but I assured him we weren't stealing seats from anyone and that if someone did come along with a ticket for the seat, we would of course, vacate it. Both boys were glad we had moved up. The show was fun, but my camera bit the dust during the middle of it.

We spent some time at Lighthouse Point Park with some friends. The boys love playing at the beach.

Lots of games going on around here too; Clue, Stratego, Monopoly, Scrabble Junior, Sunken Treasure Adventure. It's very frustrating that seven is the age when kids love to play games, but also the age when they can't bear to lose, and cry over everything so easily. E has been challenging us all lately. Thank goodness for Your Seven Year-old, one in a series of great books that have really helped me understand, and have more patience with, my boys.

We enjoyed "From Redcoats to Rebels" at Old Sturbridge Village yesterday. From their website:

Over 400 authentically costumed re-enactors camp out, re-creating early American military life in the fields and pastures of OSV. The Village is transformed into a military camp spanning over 150 years in history. Take in the sights, sounds, and smells of camp life by weaving through the tents and chatting with the civilians that accompany the soldiers including doctors, wives, and children as they too live the life of a soldier. Come see what it was really like for those who fought to win – and preserve America’s freedoms. Great fun for the entire family!
Events include:
* Performing fife and drum corps.
* Historic fencing, drilling, firearms, and cannon demonstrations.
* Observe a "mock" battle.
* Attend a military fashion show.
* Enjoy a Parade through History

We had a fun time seeing the Revolutionary War come to life. The battle was lots of fun for the boys to watch. I enjoyed seeing the "fashion show" which presented the different uniforms worn during the war, and we all enjoyed the cannon demonstration. The parade was very cool too, as was talking with the military "doctor" and hearing about how crude medicine was back then. B actually started getting squeamish.

I took two rolls of film. Film - argh. Now I have to go pay to have 52 photos printed and end up wanting probably eight, if I'm lucky.

It was brutally hot, and the humidity incredibly oppressive, so we didn't have the energy we normally would, and we didn't stay as long as we thought we would. We were very happy to collapse into bed when we arrived home. R, however, immediately jumped on the computer and started playing Liberty's Kids; a game based on a PBS program about the Revolutionary War. From the Amazon.com website:

As reporters for the Philadelphia Gazette, students interview soldiers, spies, loyalists, statesmen and townsfolk, gathering facts about seven major historical events like the Boston Tea Party and the writing of The Declaration of Independence. In scavenger hunt fashion, kids collect missing objects to get characters to answer Who, What, Where, Why and How questions. All relevant information (representing various viewpoints on each issue/event) is recorded in a notebook and later pieced together for the front-page story. The history meets scavenger hunt format is refreshing and entertaining. While children learn historical facts and opinions, they get to explore the colorful scenes and meet all sorts of interesting people. Each of the seven events contains its own set of objects to find, people to interview and scenes to explore, and results in a separate newspaper story.

Very cool to find he had been playing that game for the last few days. I remembered he had been complaining that you have to read in order to play it.

A friend lent me her copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows on Friday. I read some at the beach that day, and stayed up that night after everyone was in bed to read some more. Then yesterday I read it on the way to and from Old Sturbridge Village, and today I woke up and read through the entire day. Yup, finished it up in three days. I haven't ignored the world and read a book through like that since my mom used to drag me up to Maine for the entire summer, back when I was a kid, and I had nothing else to do all day. Boy it felt good. B was great about keeping the boys occupied today, not that R had any trouble giving me room to finish it up. We had an interesting conversation about it when I did.