Monthly Archives: August 2019

Xander assisted Mary as she led the flag raising. After that, he went to the closing chapel with her while Augustus and I loaded the van, took the garbage to the dumpster and ran around. When chapel ended, Xander, Mary, and Augustus (and Becca for a little while too) ran around and fought storm troopers. I asked how you fight a storm trooper and Xander said, “you use the force” as if it was the most obvious thing in the world! The ran across camp and hid under the bell and they were in their own world as happy as could be. Xander is going to miss Mary SO much!

Augustus “drove” the 4 wheeler and ran around. I am SO thankful for both Liv and Becca this week. Both were always quick to hop up as soon as he decided to run, whether it was in activities or meals- one of them was always willing to follow him around. I don’t know what I would have done without them.

Augustus hung in for a few minutes, but then he was off and running with Liv keeping him busy while I hosted the closing program.

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Not having a full time nanny is a challenge, but has also been super fun for Xander. All of the staff have gone above and beyond to play with and give attention to both kids and it is so wonderful!  During all camp game this morning, Xander played Superhero with Jacob and he was absolutely thrilled to run around and save camp. 

At lunchtime, Xander sat at the big kid table with Leah. Every time I looked over, he was chatting away. At dinner, he got right in line with her, grabbed a tray and completely ignored me. They ate dinner together too. At bath time, I asked him about it and he said, “I sit at a new table now”. Cool guy alert! I did go over and cut up his meat, because, ya know, he’s 3 years old!

After lunch and rest time, Xander was INSISTENT on going to find Leah. I told him she was teaching activities and he could see her later. He kept saying, “let’s just go look for her” and didn’t believe me that I make the schedule and so I KNEW she was at activities. Eventually Xander rode around on the golf cart with Becca while she took photos of all the activities. He was happy to be out and about and he also got to see Leah at some point in there as well.

hanging with the big kids

This evening, Xander hung out with Leah and for a while, they were sitting on a bench with a bunch of campers. I came over and was hanging out too, until Xander said, “mom, go out of here!” and shooed me away. He’s 3! Isn’t he supposed to still be my baby?! I thought I had a few more years until I was really embarrassing.

Augustus and I helped Meghan build a fire and then we took a golf cart ride. His new phrase is “big golf cart!” When we were driving down the rode, we saw a deer. We watched for a while and then it ran away. So then his new phrase was, “more deer!” which he said over and over. We drove around, but we didn’t see any more.

Eventually the big kids went to closing chapel and I took my kids home for bath time. Xander told me all about his day and it was fun to hear about all of his adventures. He sounded so confident and grown up. He’s gotten so much older over the course of this summer. It’s amazing to watch him grow! He explained to me that Liv is “Augustus’s nanny” and Leah is his nanny. I explained that a lot of people at camp get to play with him. He responded with, “no, Leah is my nanny now.” He did make it a point to mention that he loves his favorite Mary too, which I told her, because she was feeling a little sad today that he had a new best friend at camp. He’s definitely loving all of the attention and love he’s getting this week.

I think I’ve started almost every post with, “what a gorgeous day at camp” but seriously, every day is sunny, beautiful and just fabulous.

silly boys and funny counselors at breakfast

 While Augustus napped, Liv and Xander hung out after rest time so that I could get some work done.

 And then during 3rd activity, Xander and I joined the fishing group on the boat. 8 little boys, a handful of dead frogs that one of them had brought for bait, hooks flying everywhere- it was quite a trip. As expected, 6 minutes into it, Xander said, “ok, I’m done fishing” but he was patient until we got back to the dock. We didn’t catch anything, but yesterday he said he wanted to go fishing, so we accomplished that request. I think once per summer is probably enough until he gets a little older.

This evening, Augustus ran around during Primetime and then we went home for bath time and snacks.

I tried to convince Xander to just come home with me, because he usually only lasts a few minutes of the dance party. It’s very loud and it’s just too much for him. He INSISTED he would stay the whole time. Liv was prepared to take him home as soon as he was over it. And, as predicted, he came home after about 10 minutes. When he got home he said, “the dance isn’t quite over yet.”

I’m glad he got to go and try it out.

I’m going to have to re-title this blog, “Xander and Mary’s daily adventures” He just loves her SO much!

It was a typical Tuesday at camp. The weather is gorgeous and camp life is so good. I think we’re still a little out of sorts without Katie, but Xander loves playing with the other staff and we are very lucky to have so many people to offer their attention and love. 

After the beach party, there was an all camp game that involved a lot of running and chasing, and Xander was very excited to play. Augustus helped for a little while and that was fun.

Before dinner, we went into the staff house to put in a load of laundry and the staff who were on break were so quick to play with and give undivided attention to my kids. Staff have one hour off in the morning and one hour off in the afternoon- otherwise they are with campers 22 hours a day! So for them to jump up and play with my kids during their precious time off is pretty impressive. They are so super wonderful!

Tonight is the campfire and Xander happily went with Mary to make a s’more and watch the counselor show. When he returned, he was triumphant and happy. So when he burst into tears in the bathtub and said, “I didn’t get a s’more!” I knew that there was something wrong with that story. I also knew, without hesitation, that every staff member there would have made him a million s’mores. Upon further questioning, he said, “Mary asked if I wanted one and I said no, but I just changed my mind right now.” So after his bath I made him one in the microwave, which was a good compromise.

A good day.

Augustus was photography assistant during cabin pictures

On Sunday, Nanny Katie unexpectedly left camp. I’m very sad to see her go. We had a great routine and she was so great with the boys, and I hate change, so it’s a huge loss. Luckily I have the best staff who have all been quick to jump in and help, so there’s no shortage of love for the boys. I asked Xander who he wanted to hang out with on Sunday during camper check in and without hesitating, he said, “probably Leah” and luckily Leah was happy to help. Xander kept referring to her as his new nanny and I had to tell him that lots of staff will be hanging with him, not just Leah. We asked the whole staff who was willing to take nanny shifts and all of them said yes, many very eagerly, so that made me feel good. It’s hard to adjust- Katie has been here 3 years and I trusted her completely and she knew the boys so well, so this is a big change. Xander misses her already and has asked about her several times and that makes me sad too.

But we made it through Sunday and are back to a normal(ish) week of camp. Also, Xander’s favorite Mary (lead staff Mary, not counselor Mary- though she is wonderful too!) is back after a week away from camp. Last week, Xander asked me every day, “when’s my favorite Mary coming back?” and now she’s back and he couldn’t be happier! Every 5 minutes he says, “let’s go find Mary!” or “I need to show Mary something”.

Today started out rainy, so we skipped the dining hall and had breakfast and playtime until the rain stopped at 10. I worked and the boys played very nicely, but they managed to take out every single toy and the trailer looked like a toy explosion. But I was able to get a lot of work done, so I guess this is life without a nanny. Luckily Meghan took them for bit while I met with a kid who was having a panic attack, and then Mary had both of them in the camp store and there were other times through the day I handed them off to get things done without toddler assistants at my side.

This afternoon, I assigned Counselor Liv nanny shifts, so instead of teaching activities, she was with the boys. Well, actually she was just hanging out by herself because Augustus was asleep and Xander and I were out and about at camp. But it was good to be able to split up so Augustus could sleep and Xander could still be active.

Xander was very excited because he got a package in the mail from his friends at school! His class has a fun new project- it’s a stuffed pig named Kevin Bacon, who travels to each kid’s house and you take pictures of your adventures and put them into a book. Xander was SUPER into it! We took pictures all over camp and then we tie dyed a shirt for Kevin and later in the evening, he said, “maybe we need to take more pictures”. I think we’ll have to narrow it down when we make our book page because we have SO many pictures.

Augustus and I hung out while Xander worked in the camp store. Lately, he’s been really into going into Indian Point Lodge (which is basically a dark empty building), but it turns out this chair is sitting out and he loves it. Then he put on a show on the stage- dancing, guitar playing- my kids are performers!

Cool dudes in the camp store.

Tonight, Xander played Angels and Demons, but this time, he got to be a demon! That means, he got to chase the kids and tag the kids. When he returned home, he was very excited and proud of being a demon. He was happy he got to run with Leah and I was happy he still got to be out and about.

demon buddies hanging out

Another SUPER fun weekend with friends at camp! This time around, Xander’s best buddy Skylar and her family headed to the woods.

Xander and Skylar met at daycare and totally hit it off. He came home talking about her every day. This past spring, I hosted several playdates for his school buddies and had a chance to meet the moms attached to the friends he talked about. And while I don’t consider myself someone who makes friends easily, I really enjoyed getting to know everyone and so, when Kate messaged me to say, “do you host people every weekend?” it seemed natural to say, yes, and “do you guys wanna come to the woods?” It turns out, yes, they did want to come and are a super awesome, very chill family who weren’t nervous about spending the weekend at a very aging rustic camp in the middle of nowhere.

We had SO much fun this weekend! Within minutes of arriving, Xander and Skylar were in their swimsuits and we were at the beach! We ate a ton of good food. We made s’mores. Saturday we jammed as much camp fun into the day as possible- we swam (twice), took a boat ride, paddle boarded, shot archery, threw tomahawks (grown ups), Xander and Skylar put on a show at the stage, rode bikes in the dining hall, made s’mores with sprinkles, and probably several other things I’m forgetting. This morning, we swam again and made an art project before it was time to say goodbye.

It was a whirlwind of fun and I am so happy they took a chance to come to camp and hang out with us. Now it’s not just Xander and Skylar who are friends, I think our whole families are friends.

I love being at camp for the summer and enjoy our life in the woods. But sometimes I miss our life at home with the people we don’t see for 3 months a year.  So it’s nice to have people who are willing to come to us and let our worlds overlap for a little bit. I also love sharing camp and hope everyone can see past the dirty corners and appreciate what a magical place it is.

Like all weekends, I’m exhausted and actually ready to go back to the regular camp routine to get some rest (which is sort of an insane thing to say if you know anything about the camp schedule!). But I am sad it’s over and I have been giggling as I look at the million photos I took. We had a blast!

The talent show is on Thursdays and this week, a group did a skit involving the nativity scene. They requested one of my boys to cameo at the end as baby Jesus. I wasn’t so sure that either would cooperate, but Augustus was a star! He went right out on stage and sat down. After that, he wanted to be in EVERY skit. 

 After lunch, my mom and I took Xander swimming while Augustus took a long nap.

It’s been a beautiful week and it’s been really fun having my mom at camp. I’m trying to soak in every moment as the summer is quickly flying by!

Xander left dinner without even looking back to see if I was there!

The boys play independently really well. This morning, Xander was building with magnatiles and every now and then, Augustus would get a glint in his eye and turn to destroy Xander’s creation, they would wrestle around, and then go back to playing on their own. It happened several times in a row.

The day started a little like yesterday with me dealing with multiple phone calls, camper issues, and a million things that needed my attention right away. By 9:30, I had been on the phone nonstop, met with several people and felt like it was going to be a crazy day, but luckily after that, it calmed down.

There was an all camp carnival on the field this morning and the boys really enjoyed visiting all the stations.

Grandma Debbie arrived at lunch time. The boys were SO excited! She brought several new toys and Xander was eager to show her many things at camp. Augustus took a nap after lunch and so the three of us went swimming. After dinner, Xander showed Grandma Debbie the camp store.

It was a gorgeous, sunny, busy day!