In loco parentis

Another parent wrote in chalk on the side of their cabin, "I don't know where my children are...I'm at the Lair". That's the Lair spirit! Compare that with this conversation with a mother who didn't have the Lair spirit.

[I agreed with other Lair parents who say that they bring their kids to the Lair so they can roam the woods and the creek without adults trailing after them. The understanding is that all the adults at camp are keeping an eye on all the kids, giving them a long leash, but also stopping dangerous/reckless behavior. E.g. one mom shouted at some kids that were not her own to get off the roof of the stage (albeit carefully); she reasoned that she wouldn't want her kids to be on anything higher than six feet, so she thought those kids' parents wouldn't want their kids up there either.]

This picture captures her in a cuddly mood, but she went mostly free-range last week. Our entire family loves that hammock.
She babysat her 5 yo cousin so that all the adults in our cabin could go on the hike to Sword lake. Notice that the flowers are just coming into flower at this elevation.
Her independence also provides us with independence. It's a bittersweet feeling, though.

Down by the creek for a little bonding time. We walked, talked, painted some watercolors, and observed the standing waves behind the rocks. (Our rafting guide in Colorado had discussed standing waves; I was surprised how much Iris remembered about wave and hydro-dynamics from the guide's talk.)
It's hard to convey how much joy that gave me, discussing and observing waves with my daughter. I worked as a teaching assistant for Quantum Mechanics for three semesters and work as a meteorologist now. Wave mechanics is near and dear to my heart and it warms my mommy cockles to see that they fascinate my daughter, too.

While we were having our internet-free camping trip, international pi-day, 22 July, passed. I still owe you a post about how to know any size circle. I even brought along this shawl so that I could photograph it down by the creek. But I was so in the moment of our vacation, I plumb forgot. You'll have to gaze upon it on our family room carpet instead. More on knitting circles later.