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The day began with 2 happy boys waking up smiling and happy. And then at 7:30, one staff member quit and then I spent some time talking to Meghan about the 2 international staff who’d been stranded at the airport for 24 hours. Their new flight wasn’t supposed to be until late tonight, so I called the staffing agency to yell at the part-owner about the lack of concern for their well being. I was still in my pajamas and I had a full cup of not-even-sipped coffee and I was thinking, “what is happening with today?!”

Staff quit- it sucks, but it’s not unusual for people to figure out that the intensity of camp seemed fun, but is not their cup of tea. The fact that this person couldn’t make it through pre-camp means that staff training would have been rough and actual camp might have killed him. So it’s for the best, although a headache.

As for the poor girls traveling (and being stranded), they got on a 2pm flight and all is well.

After that, they day turned around. It was sunny and lovely. The lifeguard trainees did great! They picked up the skills quickly and I was very pleased by their progress. And, as always, the boys had a FABULOUS day with Katie and she had lots of cute pictures for me to enjoy their day after the fact.

Also, our new head cook started and both lunch and dinner were amazing! He is so great and the kitchen is cleaner than it has been (maybe since the building was built), the kitchen is organized and the menus look WONDERFUL! I am going to be so spoiled by the end of the summer!

Both boys have adjusted to the new staff and don’t hesitate to ask for help, demand attention or expect them to play. Camp is such a unique lifestyle, but there are some definite benefits to living in a community with so many kind and wonderful people.

How cute are these pictures?! I wasn’t actually there for any of these things. Super Nanny Katie sent me all of these from the day. Today was the first day of lifeguard training. I was busy the WHOLE day and I definitely missed these cute faces. Luckily I got to see them at break times and meals. And based on these pictures, I am confident that they had a fabulous day without me.

This is Katie’s third year as the nanny. This year she is duel nanny/lead staff, which is a great fit, because she knows camp inside and out and is able to confidently lead the staff and help with the programming. It’s been super fun to see her take on additional roles and show off her awesome leadership ability. I am thrilled to have her back for camp and also so thankful to have her back with my boys.

Whenever Katie is not with the boys, Xander asks, “Where’s Katie? What’s Katie doing? When is Katie coming over? What time are we going to see Katie?” So I am pretty sure that they are in good hands throughout the day. And I love seeing their smiling faces and hearing about their day after we’ve been apart. They always seem so proud and confident and independent when I come back to them. I walk into the dining hall to see them riding bikes or hanging out with the staff. They don’t rush to me or cling to me- they wave at me from across the room like we’re buddies, but they’re too busy doing their own thing to come over to me. I think it’s wonderful and I’m so proud of them.

Today was the last day for several weeks where I didn’t have anywhere to be at any certain time. Bedtime has been rough, and the boys were up until 9:30 last night. The only positive is that Xander slept until 7:30 and Augustus until 8:40! I woke up at 7:15 and stayed snuggled in bed until 8am! That might be a record! We had a relaxing lazy morning eating fruit and drinking coffee.

Then we headed into town for a morning adventure. We went to the bakery for donuts. We made a quick stop at the Dollar General for ant poison (and ended up with some Paw Patrol paper plates that we “needed” according to Xander). And then we went to the elementary school playground, which was AWESOME. I don’t think it’s always been this nice, but it has definitely been updated recently.

When we got back to camp, Xander had his first letter from his pen pal Skylar. Skylar and Xander are best buddies at school and he really misses her. Her mom and I decided to try out pen pals this summer and he was SO excited to get a letter, so it’s a success so far.

After lunch, we ate cookies we brought home from the bakery (apparently the theme of the summer is treats!).

And then the excitement began. We have 7 staff who will be going through lifeguard training this week. They arrived throughout today and Xander helped Katie and Meghan greet each of them, excitedly announcing their arrival (“Becca is here!”). Tomorrow is supposed to be their swim test which kicks off lifeguard training, but since it is supposed to be 60 degrees and raining, and today was 85 degrees and sunny, we decided to do it as soon as they got here instead of tomorrow.

Xander and Augustus were there to help oversee their swim test and did a great job helping.

After the test, we had dinner with all of the lead staff and lifeguards. I think Xander and Augustus think everyone has been hired to play with and help them with things, because they don’t hesitate to ask for help or demand that someone play with them. The staff is fabulous, so it all works out.

Bath, playtime and bedtime. And then I have time to work before I go to bed. Except that bedtime has been an absolute shit show for several days now. They are tired. But they DO NOT WANT TO GO TO BED. This is a picture of me, sitting on the steps to the bedroom. Augustus would NOT stay in bed. So I gave up trying to put him back in bed and just blocked him in. The next picture is an hour later, he’d been in bed for a long time (I thought he was asleep), but then Meghan came over to talk about tomorrow and Augustus took advantage. He casually meandered down like, “Oh, cool, we’re all hanging out!” and started playing like he hasn’t been told 100 times to get back into bed. I gave up. And now my almost 2 year old is just hanging out at 9:45pm! Camp is so fun and so many adventures and treats and sunshine and happiness, but it is also super challenging to single parent all week. There are meltdowns and I am not always as patient as I would like to be.

But we’re making it work, late bedtimes aside.

Lead staff meeting completed with tiny assistants

Lead staff training ended today. Most of the programming for the summer is planned, tasks divided, and our team is trained and ready! We celebrated by taking a trip into town to get ice cream.

I breathed a brief sigh of relief today when training officially ended and everyone headed off to enjoy 24 hours of freedom. And then I remembered we have 2 more full weeks of training and went back into planning mode.

Grandma Debbie headed home today. We miss her already. It was fun having her here to play and hang out. She will be back late next week, so luckily, it’s not goodbye for long. 

We played for a while after she left and then we had dinner, followed by MORE treats. It was just that kinda day. Without Grandma Debbie, Xander went right back to bossing Meghan around.

Tomorrow we have 8 lifeguard candidates arriving for training that begins on Sunday. We’ve gotten used to our small group, so it will be a big change to have so many more people here!

It’s been a busy few days! Lead staff training is going well! I think 2019 might be the best summer yet. Xander and Augustus have been staying busy with Grandma Debbie. They have been playing nonstop. I know it’s been busy because I have gone entire days in a row without taking any pictures except once they fall asleep.

I spend a lot of time planning fun things for Xander and Augustus. But I also see the benefit of allowing them to be bored sometimes. Since we’ve been at camp, it’s been a lot of fun time for the boys, but today there was a lot of bored time.

The days started rough- it was fun to be home, but I knew it would mess with their adjustment to camp- and it did. Bedtime last night was difficult. On the 15th time they called out, I said, “I’m not coming up there again!” to which Xander replied, “”Daddy would if he was here”. Then he said, “maybe next weekend, you could go home and see your friends and go golfing and Daddy could stay here with us.” Ugh- break my heart. Normal, but still. Ouch.

This morning, there were approximately 5 meltdowns from 7am-9am, before we even left the camper. Both kids ended up in my arms, crying and snuggling, which is unusual- they are usually too busy playing and having fun to stop for hugs or snuggles. Overall, both boys love being at camp and have a lot of fun. But when Xander is tired or frustrated, he will burst into tears and say, “I want to go home!” or “I want Daddy” so there are some tough moments mixed in.

Today was already going to be a tough day because lead staff training started and Grandma Debbie couldn’t be at camp until late this afternoon, which meant the boys and I were just going to have to deal with our situation. They played quietly and independently for about 5 minutes. They ate breakfast while the staff started the day. Then it was a lot of independent play for the boys, while we worked.

Xander and Augustus were very patient. They found things to entertain themselves (yes, that’s a picture of my toddlers playing with chains).

After lunch, Augustus took a 3 hour nap, which was very needed. We moved staff training outside of the camper for a while, so that I could be within the range of the baby monitor while he slept. Xander spent some of the time sitting in training, and then some time wandering around- riding his bike, picking dandelions, throwing rocks and being bored.

He was, overall, very patient. And then GRANDMA DEBBIE ARRIVED.

We were in the dining hall meeting with our kitchen manager when we got the call. I’m not exaggerating, when I say, cartoon like, they both ran in place for a good 2 seconds before dashing out the door screaming GRANDMA! We hopped on the golf cart and raced across camp. Both boys attempted to jump off while we were driving.

Grandma Debbie’s car exploded with Happy Meals, toys, a teeter totter, new outfits, shovels and bags of food. Tic tacs were flying, chocolate milk was flowing, in my mind, there might have been confetti (but maybe that was just my imagination). Both boys were screeching with delight. In a blink, the three of them disappeared somewhere at camp and I headed back to staff training.

We had a picnic dinner outside, played, had snacks, took quick baths and then both boys headed to bed. Tomorrow is sure to be a whirlwind of fun for the boys and more staff training (probably much quieter without 2 little participants).

In January, Nate left his job at Gander Outdoors and began the training program with Edward Jones. He is in the final weeks (in 2 weeks he will be an official financial advisor!). For the first time, I don’t feel quite as guilty leaving for 3 months because this summer, he needs to focus and work hard. It’s a great opportunity to work long hours and really establish his business without any distraction. But for these last few weeks of training, his schedule isn’t quite as flexible as usual, so, even though we just got to camp a week ago, we came home this weekend so we could all be together.

For the first time ever, we used the DVD player in the van. The boys giggled the whole way home. Until motion sickness took over and Xander puked 3 times.  Once we were home though, we had a super fun weekend!

On Saturday, Nate and the boys went to 2 parks while I went to my office and then got a pedicure. We played outside, blew bubbles, swam, Xander helped Nate mow the lawn. 

Grandma Debbie came over for dinner (which we ate outside!) and then we all walked to the ice cream store for ice cream!

Today we went to our friend Oliver’s 4th birthday party, which was fabulous! There was a slip and slide, a pinata, cake and ice cream… it was a great party!

After the party we headed back to camp. Our lead staff team arrived today and we will begin a week of training tomorrow. The lead staff are the people who plan the programming, lead the all camp activities, help oversee staff, and take care every little thing that happens at camp. We have a fabulous group- Mary, Liberty, Jacob, and Katie (in a dual nanny/lead staff role). I am super excited to work with them this week to talk about leadership, programming and all of the finer details of running a camp. I think it is going to be a great summer!

I gave a tour of the Executive Suite last year-
https://thekingwhitedfamily.blogspot.com/2018/05/home-sweet-home.html, but since we got rid of the crib, I thought I should show you around. This is the first year that I haven’t put plastic over the beige carpet. When I got to camp, all of the plastic flooring had stuck together and I just couldn’t deal with it. So I’m trying out some rugs and we’ll see how it goes on the first rainy/sandy day.

Nate and I watched a documentary recently about tiny homes and minimalism. I was sort of inspired until I realized I was going to live that life all summer. We’ve got more space than it looks like from outside and have crammed a lot of junk inside!

400 square feet of luxury, filled with toys and sand.

Home sweet home.

For the first 2 weeks here, we are eating our meals in the staff house next door. It’s easier than going all the way to the dining hall, which isn’t summer ready yet. This is the boys, barefoot, in jammies heading over for breakfast this morning.

Speaking of the dining hall, our new kitchen manager started today! He’s got a week to clean every inch, organize, plan menus and get ready for the summer. While I met with him, X&A helped Meghan gather some supplies, they played and hung out.

And then Nanny Katie arrived! This is Katie’s third year at camp and the boys have been very eagerly anticipating her arrival. She brought with her Monty the cat, so they were extra excited. They got to play with her a lot today and they were very happy to have her back!

After dinner, Meghan, X&A and I headed to the beach. It was 75 degrees today, and the water was COLD, but they were tough (not me).

Our new mini couch arrived today and so this evening, they’ve been relaxing in their own space.

Today was sunny and warm and wonderful. We started the day with some rock throwing. Then Xander learned the hard way that if he shot me with a water gun, I would take it away and shoot him back. 3 broken truces later, I think he finally got the hint.   

We got a new rug that is going to be garbage within a few weeks of sandy, muddy camp, but today was soft and wonderful for laying on and rolling around on.

Then we took a trip into town to check out the brand new Dollar General store where Augustus got some new cars and Xander talked me into a bow and arrow. We followed that up with a pre-dinner trip to Dairy Queen, because today was all about embracing that summer vacation life.

When we returned to camp, Xander practiced shooting, and then demanded to be golf carted down to the archery range to shoot. After that, we went to the beach to check out the water temperature. The docks aren’t in yet, so it’s like a jungle gym of things to climb on. The water was still pretty chilly, but we all decided we want to try swimming tomorrow.  It was a great day at camp!