Monthly Archives: May 2019

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!

I was feeling pretty good after our smooth first day of camp! But last night was rough- Sick Augustus was up all night- he just has a cold, but he couldn’t seem to get comfortable and was just restless and miserable. Olivia was also up all night- she woke up every time Augustus fussed and also seemed uncomfortable too. And then Xander was up bright and early at 6:15 and ready for the day, although more emotional than yesterday. 

I have a lot of work to do, but the goal of this week is just to get settled. In between the fun stuff, there were a lot of meltdowns, Augustus still hasn’t eaten much, and every time I told Xander “no” today, he said, “I miss Daddy!” which made me both sad and tired. It’s all normal, it’s all expected. That’s what this week is about, so that when the staff arrive and I have 3 straight weeks of intense training, my children are adjusted and stable and able to roll with the hectic pace. So we’re enjoying the days, I’m squeezing in work in the quiet moments, and we’re all just wearing our emotions on our sleeves.

Unexpectedly we said goodbye to a member of our family today. My 11 year old bulldog Olivia died and I’m trying to be strong but did burst into tears, which made Xander cry, so then we were both crying and he said, “we can be sad together” which seemed very wise, so we all crawled into bed and I bought Toy Story 3 and we snuggled until they fell asleep. I’m drained and sad and will have to write more about my beloved first baby later.

This is EXACTLY how I felt after a day of cleaning and unpacking

Day 1! Last night, Nate and the boys arrived around 10pm. I had spent the previous 7 hours scrubbing every single surface of the entire camper to get ready for them. I was exhausted and hoping we could just slide them from the car into bed, but both were bouncing off the walls with excitement and were up until 11:30pm! They slept in until 8:15am this morning!

And then we were off and running for our first full day of camp!

We ran around all over, looking at the fire pit, the beach, the archery range. It was 50 degrees today, so we decided to go to the lodge for a while and go swimming and have lunch.

I thought they would nap, but instead, we returned to camp and did some chores- drove some random garbage to the dumpster in the golf cart, more unpacking, organizing, etc.

Nate left around 3, so we played some more and then had dinner. Xander had been asking about s’mores since he woke up, so we started a fire in the fireplace and made s’mores.

Then we headed out for another golf cart ride and some rock throwing, before it was time for baths, quiet playing and then early bedtime.

It was a great first day. They were both in good moods and everything was relatively smooth. But the first week is ALWAYS hard (even before I had kids). It is an entirely new schedule and it takes some time to adjust. I’m getting better at being patient and accepting of the chaos and feelings of being unsettled. EVERYTHING is different- daily schedule, meals, bathtime, bedtime, our living space, the people around us, everything. So I am trying to find balance between re-establishing routines and accepting that a little bit of “anything goes” is ok in the midst of all that. Each day we secure a little more of a routine and adjust a little more, and so I’m not feeling too guilty about the 12 marshmallows (and little else) that Augustus ate today. Every day will get a little more normal.

Well, I’d planned to continue this blog throughout the year. I was going to post cute pictures and updates about the boys were doing. But since the last time I posted was from the day we left camp, I guess you could say I fell behind… but it’s been a great 9 months.

Summer is here again. We leave for camp in ONE WEEK. Xander has been asking about it for months. I have 1 million things on my to-do list for this week and I am not sure how I will ever get all of us ready for the summer in these few days, but ready or not, we’re heading to the woods soon.

I thought being pregnant at camp was hard (2015),
until I brought a baby to camp, which I thought was hard (2016),
until I brought a toddler to camp, while also SUPER pregnant, which I thought was hard (2017),
until I brought a toddler and an exclusively breastfeeding baby last summer (2018).

So… 2 toddlers? One of these years the pendulum of DIFFICULT has to start swinging back in the right direction, right? Here’s hoping it’s this summer.

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So here we go with summer! This will be Augustus’s 2nd summer, Xander’s 4th summer, Olivia’s 11th summer and my 20th in camping (12th at CYC). As always, I expect it will be an adventure, with many surprises around every corner.

If you’re new to the blog, welcome. You can catch up on how camp works here-
https://thekingwhitedfamily.blogspot.com/2018/05/sleepaway-camp-in-nutshell.html

If you are curious about the luxury accommodations provided to a camp director, you can check out last year’s pictures of the executive suite here (I will do an updated post when we move into camp next week. We’ve removed the crib, so we’ll have to do some re-arranging with all of our newly open space)-https://thekingwhitedfamily.blogspot.com/2018/05/home-sweet-home.html

2 toddlers, a fat bulldog, and a crazy woman walk into the woods… Sounds like the beginning of a funny joke, but no, that’s just our life for the next 12 weeks. Join us on our journey.