Monthly Archives: June 2019

Nate was here Friday-Sunday. He drove up late on Friday straight from the airport. He flew in after spending last week in St. Louis for his final part of Edward Jones training. He has been studying, testing, training and preparing for 6 MONTHS and finally, he’s official! We are very proud of him and we were very happy to have him at camp! The boys were eager to spend time with him and I was very busy with training, so it was a boys’ weekend! They went fishing, played all over camp, ate treats, watched camp staff in training, and hung out.

Nate left late last night.

Katie is doing a duel role as nanny/lead staff this summer. She is confident, a strong leader, and rocking it as a lead staff (and she’s amazing with X&A), so I think it’s a great fit. The majority of the day was super hands on training and I wanted her to be able to lead and contribute to those sessions, so the boys and I spent most of the day together. I got a little bit of actual work done (probably not as much as I should have), but it was nice to just have a day to snuggle, play, dance, dig holes, ride around on the golf cart, climb in the lockers, swing in the sky chairs- a lazy summer day outside, exploring, getting dirty and rarely ever looking at the clock. Days like that are rare and I enjoyed it.

Xander has also become quite the performer! He loves the microphone. He loves the stage. He gets more and more confident every day.

Both boys have ZERO hesitation to go onstage while staff are performing or speaking. I’m not sure how they will react when there are 100 kids sitting there too, but for now, they are quite comfortable on stage.

I was surprised today though- Xander and Augustus were with the staff singing songs and I was finishing something somewhere else. When I got down to the stage, they didn’t see me and I watched Xander on stage, singing and doing the actions to the songs. He was very cute. But as soon as he saw me, he ran off stage and was all of a sudden very shy. I was surprised to see him get embarrassed.

Staff training day 3 and it has been busy! I have pictures and updates, but they will have to wait. But in the meantime, we took our staff pictures today and they are so cute. Both boys were extremely cooperative, even without bribes. They even stood in line to get their individual photo taken and said “cheese” very nicely.

The boys got to spend the whole day with Grandma Debbie since it was the first day of staff training and Katie was part of the day. Today and tomorrow are almost entirely led by me, and so they are my 2 busiest days of the summer. After that, Meghan and the lead staff take over, so it’s not too bad. I missed my boys today though!

We had beautiful cupcakes after dinner and then we had an ice cream social to kick of the training week. So many treats!

Mary put it best when she said, “Xander looks like he has had a full day!” He was covered in dirt, mouth covered in chocolate, face painted and looking happy. I couldn’t ask for more!

It’s the last day of pre-camp prep. I spent the day with the rest of the staff (who didn’t go through lifeguard certification), training them in CPR/First Aid.

The lead staff and lifeguard crew worked on projects around camp (camp is looking fabulous and clean and organized and nearly ready for kids!). After CPR, the rest of the staff joined in. Meghan and I met to touch base about staff training and then I was going to work on a few last minute things for training. Except that Grandma Debbie arrived and I decided spending time with her and the boys would be way better (it was!) and so we hung out until dinner. After dinner, Meghan and I met with the staff and then it was bath/bed time for the boys. I have a little more work before I fall into bed. I am super excited for staff training to start tomorrow.

We will spend 8am-9pm, Friday-Friday preparing the staff for everything they need to know- policies, procedures, how to teach activities, how to work with different behaviors, and about a million other things. It is intense and fun and exciting and exhausting. Here we go!

Adorable photos from today of my children growing up in community. There are so many people to help them, and hold their hands and be so kind and wonderful to them, even when the 3 year old spends a large amount of his day whistling at you while you work. We are very lucky to be surrounded by wonderful people!

Today was the last day of lifeguard training. Xander and Augustus have been helping the lead staff with projects around camp while the lifeguards have been busy in training. Xander can be quite bossy and is quick to jump in and offer directions or suggestions. He is a great supervisor already.

3 year old with a whistle.

The staff completed lifeguard training this afternoon! We have 8 new lifeguards (12 total at camp this summer). Xander was very excited to hand out tee shirts and whistles to all of the new lifeguards.

Day 3 of lifeguard training. The staff are doing well and will be certified soon! And the boys are having a blast with Katie and the rest of the lead staff (who are not in lifeguard training).

At mealtimes, the boys have a whole room full of people to play with- and they have the staff members wrapped around their little fingers. They always have someone to help wash their hands, fill up their cup, or put their shoes back on. And luckily for me, someone to follow Augustus around (because he gets up the minute he’s done eating and is ready to GO!).

At lunch, Xander announced that we have treats at our house. But then the lifeguards and I had to rush off to the pool for training. So at dinner, Xander turned to Jacob and said, “why didn’t you get a treat after lunch? Do you want a freezy pop?” And then he said he had an announcement. For a kid who starts out shy, once he’s comfortable, he definitely has executive level tendencies. He is a bossy little dude. He announced (into the megaphone) that we have treats and that people could come to the trailer, but that only some people could come inside and the rest could stay outside. Then he asked everyone to raise their hands if they wanted a freezy pop.

After dinner, we saw a group of staff standing at the bottom of the hill and he yelled, “come on!” We haven’t even made it to actual staff training yet, so I’m not sure if they realize that he’s not actually allowed to boss them around. Or possibly they just wanted freezy pops. But they all dutifully came to our yard, where he handed them out. And then he insisted they all come inside (it was standing room only). He causally say down on a little ledge, like he was just a dude hanging out at a party. I wanted to video tape every moment of it. I find myself wishing I could photograph every moment of every day. They are so funny and so cute and I love watching them interact with the staff. Luckily, Katie takes pictures all day long and captures some of what I miss.

2 more days of pre-camp and then 12 hour a day staff training begins. I have to enjoy these last 2 days before it gets really intense!

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!