Sam's 1st Shiner

On his second day of X-Sports Camp, Sam gave himself a beautifully impressive shiner. When Cam came to pick him up, he though he was wearing eye make-up.

Sam explained that when learning how to do a flip there are lots of things to remember.

They seem to flip hundreds of times a day.

Sam said that once, after tucking his knees, he forgot to rotate.

Ouch.

He was a real trooper. They wore them out at this camp. He was tired and even a bit sore after the first day. He said he wished he had some time off between classes but went back happily the next day. Then he got the black eye.

We were impressed with how both he and the camp handled it. They just gave him some ice and encouraged him to get back out there. He did.

He was up for camp on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday too.

He says he still hasn't quite learned to do a flip but he intends to.

We were impressed with what he did learn and have him signed up for a second week of camp in July.

Sam seemed proud of it in the pictures Cam took.

I thought it made him look tough. Cam thought it made him look pretty.

We all joked around about it a lot.

I tried to capture the evolution of the black eye by taking several shots of Sam over the next few days. There isn't one great picture but there are lots of interesting ones.

Go to this Flickr set if you want to see them.