Peyton, Summer School, and Epic Adventures

My first session of summer school here is not what I expected it to be... I was excited to come over to Bozeman, but was sort of over looking the school part of it. I suffered from the typical high school "senioritis" and was happy to be done! As the move got closer, I finally started realizing, oh shoot I have to start school again too! Trying to get all of my homework done at the begining was kind of rough but I made it through that first week and then it all got easier. It helps that the teachers give you the entire homework plan for the session on the first day so I've kind of been cheating ahead. Now I have a balance between school, workouts, and going and doing lots of fun things. Outside of school and workouts, I have been able to go on some pretty epic adventures. These adventures have included hiking up to the top of a waterfall with Rachel and Jasmine (they did not think I was going to get back down because it was pretty rocky and steep). Jackie took some of us to the Dirty Dash in Billings which was fun but had its side effects, going to the movies, playing Thursday morning tennis, and just being able to spend time with some new friends. My experience here has been a blast so far and I am excited for more to come.

Gone Fishin'

Montana has some of the best fishing in the world! I learned this weekend there are many kinds of fishermen. 1. The spectator: Those who enjoy being outside with nature and being entertained. They pick flowers, skip rocks, or look for frogs. This is my daughter. 2. The manager: Those who prepare the fishing pole, put the bait on, get you out of being stuck, clean the fish; all of the dirty work and behind the scenes. This is my husband. 3. The unselfish teammate: Those who give a great pass, set a solid screen, or in the case of fishing, always have the net ready to pull the fish to shore. This is my son. 4. The star: All conference player- those who know when to yank the rod and catch the fish. This is our neighbor Ella, who is five. She had six bites before catching her first fish. I thought it was going to pull her in, but what a day to remember. In the midst of the Dead Period, July's break of basketball games for coaches and players, take a day off and go fishing. There is something in it for everyone! Coach Bin

What July is All About

You are probably thinking about the glass water on the lake, breathtaking runs or sipping on a refreshing ice tea, but the glory of July is the balls bouncing! Today was the first day in Oregon City which began at 9:00am and finished this evening at 10:00pm. I checked in last night to the Crown Plaza and just so you know they are not a Marriott affiliate they are a Priority Clubs Rewards. That's like asking Wendy's for a Happy meal, and yes I asked if I could redeem my Marriott points. Today I saw the most left handed basketball players in the history of the sport and think there is some kind of conspiracy going on by Amy and Mandy my two left handed coaches. The first criteria for our newest coach on staff, Kellee Barney was that she was right handed. I want to thank Amy for covering me once again, yesterday helped me find my car and today had an extra highlighter and paperclip. To Mandy, please run slowly in the morning as I will be trying to keep up with you and to Kellee on Sunday, tag you are it! I will be off the road for two days to see my family, Coach Bin

Summer School

Our SEVEN newcomers are all here trying to get their feet under them this first week of summer school. I think our upperclassmen enjoy seeing the stress in the newbies as they have ALL been there at one time. This is the number one reason we do summer school so when we hit the fall our student athletes only have a 100 things to think about instead of a thousand. The highlights so far: 1) Opening Margreet Barhoum's room to see her mom Lisa standing on the table next to the window. I am still not sure what she was doing up there but at least I talked her down. 2) Lindsay Stockton having a blood shot eye from sneazing. She may be related to the Incredible Hulk. I am just afraid to see what happens if she coughs. 3) My son asking me to play and TEACH him basketball in our park last night. This is the first time in EIGHT years he has asked me to do that. Yes, this is unrelated to summer school but very exciting to me. There will be plenty more to come with this class. Until then.... Coach Bin

Justin's Rough Camping Trip

Our first boating and camping trip of the year left my son wondering whether to ever go camping again. It began on Hauser Lake with a bike wreck that left very little skin on his lip, chin, hands, and chest. Shaking that off, Justin was still a trooper jumping on the tube for a day of boating action. Then we found out he lost his retainer. The night was no easier on my boy when his steamming marshmellow fell on his arm as he sprinted toward the lake to stop the burn. Blisters later, and my husband's First Aid Kit drained Justin was happy tomorrow came when it did. A new day with bright sunshine, the blood scabbed over, and guess what, we found his retainer! Coach Bin

Rachel's 6th Grade Adventures

During the month of May I decided to take a summer class. As an education major we have to spend a certain amount of time in the classroom before we can graduate. So the class that I ended up taking was basically an internship in which I had to spend 90 hours in the classroom. I got placed in a 6th grade classroom in Chief Joseph Middle School that taught science and communication arts. I loved it! I was a little wary of working with middle schoolers because I remember those days vividly and they were not so great for me. I was the definition of awkward! However, the experience with these 6th graders was awesome. The teacher that I worked with allowed me to teach the students quite often and allowed me to practice my teaching skills. I learned alot about what teachers do day in and day out and the struggles and joys that come with that. I was able to teach them about the circulatory system and through having to teach it to the students I learned quite a lot about it myself! It was so great to see the students learn about something you taught them. One student was so proud of his homework that he did on the circulatory system and was so excited that he was able to understand it. Seeing that was definitely a highlight of the experience. 6th graders are an interesting bunch, I will never be able to understand how or why they lose their pencils so often. They continually asked me for new ones even if I had just given one to them five minutes ago. I do not understand where the pencils went, somewhere in Chief Joseph there lies a pile of lost 6th grader's pencils. -Rachel #32

CAMP

How quickly a year goes but we are officially in session. I think it's gone by the fastest to Coach Close who is in charge of camp so if you see her at the end of the week please give her an energy drink or at least a big pat on the back. What a stellar class of camp coaches including our assistant coaches, former players, current Bobcats, players from the men's team and even local coaches in the area. This group is as good as ever to learn from this year and there will definitely be a lot of learning. I am waiting to see how Kalli Durham, Jackie Elliott and Destini (or should I say Macy Gray) do for their first coaching experiences. All I know is there are only about 10 campers shorter than I am so to all the campers this week, BELIEVE as SKY IS THE LIMIT. At least from my perspective anyway, Coach Bin