Camp L.E.E.D

For the past 3 weeks Sara and I have been attending a camp called L.E.E.D. I'm almost 100% sure a lot of you are wondering what L.E.E.D stands for, or what you do in the camp. Well this is my explanation in a nut shell:

What it stands for:
L - leadership
E - ethics
E - esteem
D - duty

What do you do?
First of all, you do A LOT of different activities. But mostly it has to do with volunteering in the community, at camps, and cleaning up the enviroment. But you also have a choice; you can volunteer or you can stay back. When you choose not to go volunteer you usually play in the gym, go outside, rent and watch a movie, or play card games all day.
Personally, I'd rather get out of "The Dublin Bubble" and see what's happening outside of it. But when you DO volunteer this is some of the things you can do.

Volunteering Opportunities:
- Help set up the Irish Festival
- Go to the Soup Kitchen
- Go to the Free Store
- Go to the Faith Mission Shelter for Men
- Go to the Ronald Mcdonald House
1. Make lunches for the families
2. Clean every nook and cranny of every floor(: <-- this was fun.
- Help at the Wyandot Camps, Kidzone, My first Camp, and Wee Folk.
- Go to Faith Mission on 8th Street and help serve lunch
- Help sort donations at Faith Mission on 8th
- Go to the Cozy Cat Cottage
- You also learn a bit about CPR and Bullying.
- Pick up trash at Hayden Run Falls

These are just some of the things you do!

L.E.E.D are for kids in the range of 6 - 8 grade and it's a lot of fun. It's such a great exprience too! I learned so much about what's going on in the world and how I can help. So check it out, and maybe even sign your kids up for it next summer.;)

- Katie

Irish Attitude : A great little blog for fellow Dubliners

Hey, I just found this blog with some great Dublin area information. Some great Family Fun ideas here within a bike ride of my house. Enjoy...

http://irishattitude.wordpress.com/

TV Free Family Fun: Festivals and the Bubble

Last night, three-fourths of the TV Free Family (the blonde had a sleepover) went to the Park Street Festival. We got there pretty late and it looked like a good festival with good attendance, but it was crowded and pretty much the only thing left was the beer-drinking, music viewing crowd. We waited for Saving Jane to start playing, but it wasn't quite "Family Fun" and Shortie was looking a little hungry, so we walked down to Gordon Biersch for some food. By the way, if you go there... have the Blackened Mahi Fish Wrap. It was very good.

The festival got me thinking a bit, though. This was our second festival in 2 weeks, and it's been a while since we've gone to these. Last week the Arts Festival exposed the family to some great art, but much more interesting was the diversity of people there. The Park Street Festival also brought its own brand of diversity in festival goers. I think maybe a little bit more diversity in our experiences might be a good thing.

We live in what is often referred to (by fellow bubblers) as the "Dublin Bubble". Dublin is a fine community with good schools, shopping, and plenty of employment opportunities. Both the wife and I are employed nearby. This brings forth the Dublin bubble syndrome where you live almost entirely within the local community, and very soon you start to believe things like:

• The only professional sport is Golf.
• The automotive "Big 3" is Lexus, Porsche, and BMW.
• Lobsters are grown in tanks at Kroger's.
• A good dental plan (with orthodontia) is an entitlement.

oh yeah, and...

• Dandelions (like Small Pox) have been eradicated in the modern world.

Don't get me wrong, I am grateful that I can live where I do, but I'm starting to wonder whether we've become a little too comfortable. Maybe, we could use a little more exposure to a much more real world. In the coming weeks, I'm going to look for fun outside of "The Bubble".