About 2 weeks ago, Xander decided he was super passionate about rock climbing (we’ve been a few times and he does enjoy it), so at the last minute, we signed him up for climbing camp for this week. He came home from camp on Monday and wanted us to buy all the gear. And when he found out there is a membership, that allows you to climb anytime, he said, “yeah, and you’ll have to buy me a car so I can drive myself there.” We decided to see how the second day went before we purchased anything.
On Monday, Nanny Shyanna and Augustus played nonstop and then went to the park. But by the afternoon, he was sneezy and miserable. Tuesday he spent the day eating unlimited freezie pops and watching screens.
By the end of the day, Gussie was feeling much better, so we let him out of the house for National Night Out. We blocked off the street and set up tables of food. The kids rode their bikes and the adults chatted. The weather was beautiful and it was a super fun night. The police stopped by to hand out candy and then a fire truck and ambulance came too. It was a very fun night.
By Wednesday night, Xander had caught Gussie’s cold, so on Thursday, he spent the day eating freezie pops and relaxing. He was enjoying climbing camp, but I think the last few weeks had finally caught up to him and, besides just being sneezy, he was exhausted. He needed a day to rest. On Friday, he was back to camp and it was a special day where he got to zipline and have a pizza party. We picked him up after lunch and we were off to the first annual Camp Juliet.
Camp Juliet! We planned this event last year, but due to a covid outbreak, we had to cancel. We’ve all been wildly excited for this for a whole year!
Kelly and Silas spend almost every weekend of the summer at their family cabin on Middle Eau Claire Lake near Hayward, Wisconsin. They invited the whole neighborhood to join them, so obviously, we started calling the weekend Camp Juliet.
22 of us (including one month old Alma) spent the weekend at the lake.
We arrived on Friday afternoon and the kids immediately ran off to jump, climb and play. The cabin has 2 bedrooms and so we all decided to stay in tents and make it a true camp-out. We set up our tent and 3 air mattresses as soon as we arrived. We have a GIANT tent and comfortably fit a queen and 2 twin mattresses (with plenty of room to spare). Once the tents were set up, we all piled onto the pontoon and speedboat for a trip to the nearby sandbar. It was the first of many tube rides for the kids.
For dinner we grilled hot dogs and brats and ate several different pasta and potato salads, watermelon. Kelly cooked corn on the cob in the fire. It was a literal picnic feast! The kids drank kiddie cocktails and we ate s’mores and sat around the campfire while the kids swam and played until it got dark.
We put the kids to bed at 9 the first night. Xander was concerned about bears, but I assured him that I had researched the area and also that our tent was one of the super fancy special bear-proof tents… am I proud of lying? No. But I had to do what I had to do to get them to go to bed.
I didn’t see a bug the entire weekend- not even once it got dark, not in the tent, not at all. It was perfect.
Saturday was an early wake up with coffee and breakfast and excitement for the day ahead. The cabin was about 20 feet from the lake (which was super sandy) and so the kids were in and out of the water nonstop. Kelly, Sean and I started the day with a swim. Silas and Michelle started the day with a 7 mile run. Once we were ready for the day, we all tie dyed Camp Juliet tee shirts. As soon as we started planning this weekend and calling it Camp Juliet last year, I knew we needed mandatory fun tie dye to make it a real camp experience.
After tie dye and lunch, we got back on the boats to go to the sand bar. We swam and played a game called beersbee, which is a game where you have to knock down a bottle using a frisbee. It is played in the water and it was so fun. There was more tubing. Then it was back to the cabin for some people, and some of us went to a nearby dam, where you could lean backwards into the waterfall and go behind it. It was super magical and the boys loved it. To get to the dam, you have to go under a bridge, which was just slightly taller than the boat, so we all had to duck down. It was a true adventure.
The kids caught about 50 fish off both the boat and the dock. We ate snacks and had drinks, and laughed and played and soaked in the sun. For dinner on Saturday, we got pizzas from a local bar, followed by more s’mores. We had regular chocolate and graham crackers, and also 3 kinds of girl scout cookies, reese’s peanut butter cups, white chocolate, peanut butter, giant marshmallows. Everyone tried a different combination. I love the experimenting, but I’m a traditional s’mores gal all the way. Apparently thin mints in place of graham crackers, and a s’more with a peanut butter chocolate girl scout cookie in place of the hershey bar were both huge wins.
Saturday night was another late bedtime for kids and then hours around the campfire for the adults. We never ran out of things to talk about and my cheeks hurt from laughing. We started playing a new game where we created brackets using random categories- St. Paul restaurants, desserts, appetizers, pie, etc. We would choose 16 of whatever category it was and then match them up and debate them. For instance-
Desserts-
Tres leche vs Strawberry Shortcake
Cheesecake vs Crème Brulee
Tiramisu vs. Brownie Sundae
Chocolate Mousse vs Carrot Cake
Ice Cream vs Chocolate Chip Cookies
Pineapple Upside Down Cake vs Peach Cobbler
Tart vs Flourless Cake
Fruit Pizza vs. Pie
Sean would tell us the match ups and we would fiercely debate whether we thought tres leche or strawberry shortcake was the superior dessert and whichever one won the round, it would go on to compete until we crowned the best dessert (tres leche won the dessert bracket). It was fun and funny and sometimes got heated (the St. Paul restaurants bracket was filled with big opinions, some emotion, and only a little yelling). We had a lot of ideas for new brackets, so there’s more debate for us in the future.
The weekend was pure magic. Truly, it was relaxing and fun and filled with laughter. There was so much good food (which is my love language). All of the adults were handing out snacks and helping kids with life jackets and passing around the baby, and taking care of each other. It was idillic and felt so safe. It was like being in a big family where everyone is responsible for each other. Everyone was ready at any moment to step up and help each other, take care of each other’s kids, and make camp the best place for everybody. Even being on the edge of a lake, I didn’t worry about my kids for even a moment. There were many sets of hands and eyes, making sure every need was met.
I talk about this neighborhood all the time- how special it is to have not just bought a house we like, but to have found a community of people. And they are just the best people. We are so lucky to be part of this group. I loved every moment of the weekend and I am counting down until next year.
Sunday morning was more fishing and swimming and running around for the kids. We took the morning slow and relaxed in between taking down tents and packing up. We headed home after lunch and even though we were all going to the same place, we were all sad to say goodbye. It was such an amazing weekend.
Did you know that not everyone documents every moment of their life and isn’t constantly taking photos? I always feel a little nerdy that I am always taking pictures (we’d been at camp for approximately 10 minutes when I demanded everyone pose for a group photo… in my defense, Silas’s parents were visiting and thus, we had someone to take our photo!). But when I got home and looked at them, I was disappointed there wasn’t more! I am typing this as a reminder to myself to just lean into the obnoxious photo taking urge next time!
We got home around 3. The boys were exhausted! Nate and I unpacked, started laundry, grocery shopped and had early dinner, showers and had 2 sleeping boys by 6:45. We’ve got a pretty normal week ahead.