Monthly Archives: June 2019

Friday was our last day of the first session! It was a great first week- maybe the smoothest we’ve ever had in my 12 years. Usually all the counselors cry, it rains every day and everyone is late to everything. But it was decent weather, the counselors were pro-level and life was good. I really enjoyed the kids, but like every week, by Friday, I was ready to say goodbye and send them on their way! Friday is tie dye day, and everyone looked awesome. 

150 people at the closing program, and this child was unfazed. He walked right up on stage like he owned the place.

Saturday

The last time we were home was a full month ago. This was the first weekend since the beginning of June that we were free and it also happened to be Nate’s birthday on Friday and Xander’s best buddy Skylar’s birthday party on Saturday!

So after the campers left, and the post camp staff meeting ended, we loaded the car and headed home for a whirlwind weekend of fun. The birthday party was well worth the trip! There was a pool, a pj mask mask craft, pizza, 3 cakes, and a bunch of running/chasing/screaming. It was so good to see all of Xander’s school buddies. He had an absolute blast playing with his friends. We have SUCH a great group of kids and parents at his daycare and it was great to see everyone! I know he misses his friends and I am so glad he could be at the party!

While Xander and I partied, Augustus went with Daddy to pick up stuff at his new office.

When we all got home, Grandma Debbie came over for a visit. The weather was SO hot. I left for some errands and when I returned, my mom and the boys had swimsuits on and the hose out. I’m not sure who came up with the idea of creating a giant mud pit (Grandma), but when I came home from the grocery store, the top of the sandbox was filled with water and the yard was a giant mud puddle. I am a huge fan of kids + mud due to some fabulous muddy childhood memories. Xander can be kind of delicate when it comes to getting dirty, so I was very pleasantly surprised to see him rolling around.

Then we added the bike ramp into the mix, creating a mud slide.

We had a wonderful dinner and birthday cake left from yesterday. It was a full day!

Visits home are a sometimes a little bittersweet. We have such a wonderful life and I miss it when we are away. Fun weekends like this especially make me miss being home.

I know the summer will fly by, so I am going to enjoy it while it lasts. Because I also really love our life at camp.

Also, the traffic was RIDICULOUS everywhere I went today, so I’m ready to get out of the city and back to the woods. And it was HOT today. It gets hot at camp too, but living on a peninsula means that it is typically much cooler and breezier at camp.

Session 2 starts tomorrow. We’re heading back bright and early. Goodbye St. Paul, we’ll see you in a month (or so).

It’s been a full day, and I had 2 tired boys by the end of the day. They were being very patient with me  when I took a detour to the office on the way to bath time.

Also- here’s the face of an executive director who got a $73,000 donation today. WHAT?! Yep. It was a pretty good day today!

The last few days have zoomed by! It’s nonstop! I lifeguard for one hour in the afternoon, and then it’s a million tiny things- helping the kitchen with garbage, talking to a homesick kid, answering emails, hanging out with my kids here and there, working on cabin lists for next week… and so on and so on.

A bunch of photos to catch up on the last few days-

2 tired boys who needed some extra snuggles  before I had to leave for shower duty at night

Pre-dining hall breakfast at 6:30am

Xander likes sitting by Mary best because she tells the best stories

Tuesday night is the campfire and counselor show. We took baths and changed into pjs before we went, because it starts at 7 and by the time we get home, it’s basically bedtime. Xander picked out this whole outfit (notice the shorts over the pants) and said it was his “super hero outfit”. He was very excited to show all of the counselors.

waiting for all of the campers to be seated

Despite having a major sweet tooth, Augustus doesn’t really enjoy s’mores, but did enjoy unlimited graham crackers.

roasting a marshmallow

We take every camper’s photo with their s’more and Xander did everything just like the big kids. He roasted his marshmallow, walked over to the s’more station and then stood in line to get his picture taken.

Wednesday fun-

Katie took the boys to the archery range and Xander shot his bow just like the big kids. He was very proud of himself.

Wednesday is tug-o-war day. We mix the mud pit and make sure the mud is as sloppy as possible. Xander wants nothing to do with it, but Augustus was VERY curious. I think he would have gone in if I would have let him (it would have been up to his stomach). I picked him up while I was mixing it and dipped his toes in.

Wednesday night is the dance party! By 7pm, both boys were filthy, without shoes and Augustus had also ditched his shirt. We spiked his hair for the dance and then headed to the dining hall for a pre-dance party. It was fun to have all of the tables and chairs taken down so they could run around without any obstacles. They played superhero with Katie, sang, danced and ran

They were a little shy once the actual dance started because the music was louder and all the big kids were there, but Xander still danced for a little while before I made them both leave for bath/bed.

Tomorrow is our last full day of the first week! It is supposed to be hotter than today, so we’ll have to get to the beach.

The day started out with a little bit of rain, but overall, was a pretty nice day! It was humid and the rain sprinkled down a few times, but none of the activities were changed and it was a decently warm day.

Katie shared her rain coat and sweatshirt with the boys.

One of my favorite things about camp is watching the boys interact with the staff. Even though they are busy with campers, they still have time for little boys who want to tell them and show them things, or climb into their lap and demand that they share their cereal with them.

Augustus says lots of words, but doesn’t actually talk yet. But I’m convinced he had a full conversation with Leah at dinner tonight. He showed her his toy and just babbled away for a full 10 minutes.

This photo sums up Xander and Augustus at camp this summer. Xander is so interested in everything everyone is doing. He wants to talk to the counselors and he is so curious about everything. But then he gets shy and hides behind me or Katie. Augustus meanwhile is not nervous ever. He doesn’t hesitate to join in with the big kids or the staff. He is always in the mix.

Now it’s bedtime for the boys, and I’m heading to supervise showers for the 2 hours it takes to get kids through!

It’s the first day of camp!! I haven’t seen any of the camp pictures yet (internet is going SUPER slow today), but we were all excited to welcome our first group of campers! We have 100 kids to kick off our summer! It rained (like it ALWAYS does the first week), but everyone seemed excited to be at camp.

Xander was feeling a little shy, but Augustus didn’t hesitate to go onstage as always.

The boys and I had a super fun weekend with Nate at Grandview, but I had 2 tired boys today. We got up and had breakfast, packed, loaded the van, hugged Nate goodbye and headed back to camp. We stopped at the grocery store on the way back and made it back in time for a quick lunch and then I was off to the Sunday staff meeting. While I was in the meeting, there was a little scuffle between brothers. Augustus landed on one of the few paved areas of camp. He has a big scrape on his chin.

At dinner, someone asked, “Oh my! What happened?!” and I said, “he got pushed.” Xander chimed in, “Well, actually, he got tackled.” Brothers.

I need to schedule 100 kids into 3 activities each, as well as assign counselors to each activity. I also need to shower, type several things, and possibly throw in a load of laundry… Camp has begun!

Another great day at Grandview Lodge. This photo doesn’t do the breakfast buffet justice- it’s fabulous and has everything you could ever want. Both boys started with donuts, because it was an easy way to keep them sitting while I loaded up plates for all of us. When I got back to the table, Xander had ordered himself a drink, which I was quite impressed by- I definitely couldn’t have done that when I was 3! This kid appreciates the finer things in life!

We had a full day- playground, swimming, running around outside. There were water balloons and a slingshot launcher that we tried out before lunch. I missed some photo opportunities, but it was a gorgeous, sunny, fantastic day.

Everything at Grandview is so pretty, I wanted to take pictures all day!

 We spent time jumping off this stump for quite a while.

There was also some time for resting.

This afternoon, while Augustus and Nate napped, Xander and I went and got ice cream and popcorn.

Tonight was the dinner and awards banquet. I really wanted to go to this with Nate but I have been in full panic mode about the kids. The dinner was 6-10pm. Childcare was provided, including dinner, but I couldn’t imagine dropping off my babies with strangers and also expecting them to feed them dinner, while also letting them stay up so late. But childcare on Friday went well and Nate and I decided to feed them dinner before dropping them off and see how it would go. I was prepared to drop everything and run to them (they were literally down the hall) if necessary. I think the lesson this weekend is that I sometimes underestimate my children. They were fine! They ate dinner, made a craft project and were all smiles when I picked them up at 9. I think they could have stayed longer if I had been later. I shouldn’t have worried. I had a nice dinner, some cocktails and got to learn a bit more about Nate’s new company. It was a great evening and next year I will let them stay in childcare the whole time. The night was a success!

This morning was a meeting for Edward Jone’s spouses. I was very nervous about leaving them in the provided childcare- they love daycare, but we know daycare well. They adore Katie and Grandma, but they know both well. Those are the only people who have ever taken care of them. But the meeting was only an hour and a half and they were just down the hall. I hyped it this week and we got there early to check it out. They were both fine when I dropped them off and happy when I picked them up. Success.

After the meeting, and what Xander referred to all day as his “class” we went to lunch and then headed to the pool. My boys love a hot tub and were very excited that there were 2! We spent more time in the hot tubs than the actual pool.

After dinner, the boys took a bath in our GIANT bathtub. This bathtub is about half the size of our entire trailer at camp, so it was pretty great. They accidentally turned on the jets and that was terrifying and also the end of the bath, but up to that point, it was all good.

When we arrived back to the cabin after dinner, we were greeted with a surprise gift from EJ. I love a surprise gift bag and so do my boys. Included was a bluetooth speaker, which Xander promptly claimed as his own. We had a mini dance party and he’s pretty excited to have his own speaker.

It was a full day of fun and we’ve got a full day ahead of us tomorrow.

    

It was the last full day of staff training today. I was busy finishing up cabin assignments, health forms and all of the paperwork for the first week. Staff were in the last few sessions of training, practicing songs and games, and busy completing projects around camp. The buildings and grounds look organized, neat and ready for kids!

Xander and Augustus (and Katie!) joined the staff on the field for games and songs.

At lunchtime, Mary told Xander the entire plot to one of the Star Wars movies. He was transfixed. He listened intently, while munching away on his lunch, every now and then asking, “and then what happened?” Mary might never get to eat lunch again if they keep sitting next to each other!

Before lunch, we had an impromptu dance party. 

And then it was rest time.

I was with the staff going through emergency drills in the water. And then it was time for canoe tipping, which is one of my favorite staff training activities. We all go out in canoes and one by one, we tip, and the practice rescues. I will have some ugly bruises from hoisting myself back into the canoe, but overall it was a success. Katie, Liberty, Sienna and the boys watched all of us tip from the safety of a paddleboat. I don’t have any photos, but the boys were super cute and enjoyed being part of all the action on the water.

After dinner, we finally checked the mail and X&A had care packages from Grandma Debbie! They were VERY excited.

Tomorrow is the last full day of training and I have SO MANY THINGS to do! I need to finish all cabin assignments, health paperwork, etc. But instead of jumping into all of that as soon as the boys went to sleep, I hand painted a pair of shoes for Xander.

For Christmas, Xander got Captain America shoes, which he LOVES. I made them by ironing patches onto plain slip on shoes. But he has outgrown them and there are holes in them. He hates all of his other shoes (he has several pairs). So the other day, we called Santa (shout out to my brother for his willingness to ad lib without any preparation).
This time, Xander really wanted Green Lantern shoes. Except that the patches I bought were WAY too big. I happen to have a screen printing kit, with fabric paint, so I decided to just paint them. They aren’t perfect, but hopefully they’ll be acceptable to a 3 year old who will probably destroy them by the end of the summer. We’ll see how he reacts tomorrow.

We put him to work hauling camp store goods.

Tired baby who refuses to nap

At the counselor show, Augustus climbed right on stage like always, but tonight, he improved through the entire skit, sitting down when the counselors sat down, responding to what they were saying, even holding up his hands at one point. He was hilarious. Xander wanted to be on stage, but every time he went up there, he got nervous and ran back to me. He’s going through a little stage-fright phase right now.

The boys also assisted with canoe training. Today the counselors learned how to teach canoeing (tomorrow we will go canoeing and tip/rescue in the lake). Augustus demonstrated what a lifejacket looks like if it doesn’t fit. And then both boys helped with the teaching.