Author Archives: Natalie King

A Full Day!

It’s been a BUSY day! We started the day at 5:55am, because Xander was RARING to go and that meant all of us were up. He and Nate went for an ATV ride and went fishing (Augustus and I went back to sleep for a while). We ate breakfast, and then Nate and the boys went for a walk and hung out around camp while I SCRUBBED the camper top to bottom. I moved furniture to vacuum. I scrubbed every inch of the bathroom. I cleaned nooks and crannies, cleaned toys, organized and threw away a ton of random junk.

After lunch and naps, we headed to Big Sandy Lodge to check out their playground and go swimming. Originally, it was supposed to rain today, so we were going to spend the day inside at the pool. Even though it ended up being a fabulous day, we decided to stick with our plan and I’m so glad we did. We had the MOST fun swimming.

We were in the water for almost 2 hours and both boys were just so happy and having so much fun. Augustus has only been in a pool once before (which he liked), but he was so happy. He was kicking his feet and laughing and splashing. Xander was swimming by himself (in his inner tube) all over the pool, jumping off the edge into the water, and seemed so big and daring! We probably could have swam longer, but by the time we got out and changed, everyone was ready for dinner, so our timing was on point!

We had dinner (and ice cream) at the Lodge. Then we went home, took fast baths and at 6:30, Xander said, “I want to snuggle” and he was ready for bed!

So Many Fun Things This Week

We’ve been so busy this week, doing so many fun things!

We went to the dance party and Xander practically had to be dragged out. He LOVES to dance and he had a fabulous time dancing with all the big kids (and of course with Katie!).









Xander went swimming and did arts and crafts.

Olivia doesn’t get much attention on this blog, but she was busy too. She went to the talent show and found a front row seat. 

Lots of playing in the camper and all around camp.

It was dress up dinner tonight and the boys looked extra handsome. 

Crying Boys

Sometimes bedtime is easy- Xander lays in bed and watches his iPad while I nurse Augustus to sleep. Then I lay with Xander and talk about his day, kiss him and then he goes to sleep. 

And then sometimes neither kid is having it and I spend an hour (or more) going between them, asking myself how I ended up by myself in the woods when I have a fabulous husband who I wish was with me. 
Anyway, tonight was a rough bedtime. They were both tired but neither wanted to sleep. I nursed Augustus, but that wasn’t working, so I put him in his crib to see if I could get Xander to sleep. Augustus was crying, so I tucked Xander in and went back to try to get the baby to sleep. But then Xander started crying. 
After a few minutes, still crying, he yelled, “mommy! I’m crying” which was very sad, but I figured if he could articulate it, he was probably ok. When I went back to him, he said, “I just need you to snuggle me for five minutes.” 
Both children did, eventually go to sleep. 

Swimming

When Katie and Xander came in this afternoon and said Xander was changing into his swimsuit to go to the beach party, I was skeptical. Thus far, he has NOT been a fan of the lake. 
But they were the first ones in, swam the whole hour, and when it was time to go, he firmly said, “NO WAY!” I am thrilled he wanted to swim and I hope this is the first of many swim times for the rest of the summer!

Dancing

We blast music in the dining hall at every meal and the kids and staff are constantly dancing and singing along. It is not uncommon to have 100 people loudly singing along to “Sweet Caroline” or spontaneously getting up to dance. Xander LOVES it. He dances all the time. Sometimes in the middle of a meal, he will say, “I need to dance” which is adorable but also makes meals times take forever sometimes. He will also demand Katie dances with him. He will yell, “Katie! Dance with me!”

Dining hall videos-

This picture of me is probably captures the summer best. Me watching/videoing Xander while he watches something that is going on at camp. This is him at the talent show watching and dancing along with a group of kids performing a dance. He was just SO cute.

Kayaking

Yesterday Xander said he wanted to kayak. I was a little hesitant since we have single kayaks and I wasn’t sure I could paddle with both of us. But we did it and it was great. Xander said, “I wuv this” and that was the cutest thing of all time. 

Paddleboarding

 It was the perfect day for paddleboarding. It was hot and sunny, but also calm, with no wind. The lake was smooth and made for easy paddling.

Xander was out the for a whole hour. He alternated between sitting and standing and he paddled a little too. He liked throwing the paddle in the lake, which was a questionable technique.

We even swam a little after we were done. Success!

Fun at Camp

On Fridays, everyone at camp wears their tie dye tee shirts. 

What a great extended weekend! Nate has been here since Wednesday and we’ve been having so much fun.

We’ve been very busy!

We went on a boat ride.

We had a picnic.

We hung out outside.

Nate and Xander went on a million ATV rides.

And everyone took some time to rest and relax.

4th of July

Happy 4th of July. Pinterest empowers me to pose my children in matching shirts and expect them to smile and look at the camera. But these actually turned our pretty cute, so obviously, the next holiday I will have high expectations.


Big Sandy Lake has a great firework show and so we decided to make popcorn for a snack. About 30 minutes into this ridiculous hot project, we looked at each other and asked what we were doing. But it was delicious and a nice addition to fireworks.

Campfire

At the Tuesday campfire, the cabins sing their cheers, all of the kids roast marshmallows and get to eat s’mores, we sing lots of songs, and then the counselors perform some skits. The campfire starts at 7, which is probably slightly too late to be out and about, but after bathtime and jammies, we went anyway. 

Xander really enjoyed the cabin cheers and was pretty mesmerized.

These are photos of Meghan roasting him a marshmallow. However, he actually went to the campfire early (even before I got there) and had a s’more. Then he wanted a “clean” marshmallow, which he got, so this is actually his third of the ni

Julia helping him make a s’more


I handed Augustus off (luckily several of our staff are baby-crazy and always happy to hold him).

After Xander had a s’more, he got to assist in handing out the sticks. He took his job very seriously and I couldn’t stop taking pictures of him. He was SO cute. He was totally comfortable bossing around Counselor Grace, choosing which kids got sticks, and then RUNNING back to the front to get more sticks. 

At 8pm, after he told me “one more song” every time I told him we had to leave, I finally got him into the stroller. He wasn’t happy we had to leave.