First week of September

I think the Beach Boys were playing

Making Biscuits and Gravy for HBR

Making sure the guys know not to come down in their robes

Showing off the flags of France and South Korea

Last week started out for our staff with the yearly traditional prank pulled on us by our lovely girls. We woke up Wednesday morning to a dorm full of 22 boys and no breakfast to feed them! We had made Egg McMuffins the night before with the intention of giving the girls the morning to sleep in and have breakfast on the go. Well....they decided to take their breakfast to go and leave the boys with no food. Last year was the first year that Luke and I experienced this prank tradition where our dorm swaps in the middle of the night with HBR (a boys dorm about a 30 minute walk away). They take separate paths and walk as an entire dorm to surprise each others staff. The girls got the better end of the deal since they got Egg McMuffins AND pancakes. Smart they are. 

We had our first hot lunch this past Friday. Every other Friday we bring a hot meal to school during the girls lunch time to relieve them of their regular sandwich and veggies. We made a yummy Thai dish that Luke learned from his mom and the girls loved it. Friday evening most of the girls went out to a campfire and cooked S'mores while talking. 6 of them camped outside and woke up to a wonderful morning mist. I took our seniors (minus one who was at volleyball) to HBR Saturday morning and we redeemed our Palmgarten name by making them biscuits and gravy. It was a hit and another memory for the year. 

On Sunday we had a picnic and then a more relaxed afternoon. For dorm fellowship we talked a lot about treating each other as sisters in this new found tight knit community of the dorm. I talked with them about the need for extra grace, forgiveness and proper conflict resolution. We all come from different countries, families, different parents, different siblings, and we're bound to not all be best friends, but we are a family here- home away from home.  For the returners, they understand the need for a positive and loving dorm environment that is accepting of who you are and walks towards growth with you. I felt like it went well. Afterwards we served sundaes and watched the new Alive and Wonderland.

This week I can already tell that girls are tired and getting sick. We're dropping like flies, me included! It's a natural fact of life as 23 people come together and share germs. It gets better, and the girls develop better food sharing habits and things will calm down. I've been pedaling vitamin C and telling them to wash their hands all the time =) Play tryouts were the last two days and we have 4 girls who made the play! This weekend will be a much more relaxing weekend full of sleeping in and lazy days so the girls can get some rest! 

Luke and I have our first weekend off starting on Thursday. I'm running the Basel Marathon on Sunday so I'm trying to get some rest and get over this cold to be healthy in time for Sunday.