Camp Is Over!

This is already a strange summer for us, mainly because camp is already over! Yesterday we picked up Steph (and her mountain of laundry) and brought her home. She had a blast. She was home maybe 3 minutes before her friend came by to swoop her off to the mall! Later of course we had a welcome-home feast of Bill's Pizza and JP Licks. I think getting sick during the second half of last summer and having to come home (and go to the hospital) freaked her out, so she wanted to go for only the first session this year. She is already talking about going for the whole summer again next year. She will be in the oldest group then, and they have loads of special activities and events.

Pete and Julie, meanwhile, went to day camp for only 2 weeks, so they could be home when Andy was off from work. Julie did "general camp," which she just loves. Every day I would ask her what her favorite thing was, and she could never decide. She is especially enamored of Adventure Challenge (ropes course) and the climbing wall, but she also did martial arts, candle making, swimming, nature, arts and crafts, and more. She is truly a happy camper! Pete did one week of soccer camp, which he really enjoyed. Luckily that was the first of the two weeks, because the heat wave in the second week was so intense that the kids who were doing soccer that week could play only until lunchtime, then they had to do indoor activities or go swimming. Pete is doing travel soccer again this fall, and he is also going to try out for the school team. He is even considering becoming a ref for the younger kids' intramural program! He does love him some soccer, and he's getting really good.

The second week Pete did Extreme Sports, which is similar to the Day Trippers program he did the last couple of years, except that everything they did was sporty (Day Trippers had some sporty stuff, like kayaking, but it also had regular trips like Canobie Lake Park and a Paw Sox game). The first day they went up to SkyVenture, which is an indoor vertical wind tunnel in which you can pretend you're flying (the dream of every boy and man, right?). Here's one of the proofs from the website:

Cool, eh? The next day they went outdoor rock climbing, which was also way cool:

If I loaded this properly, below you should be able to watch a brief (49 seconds) video of Pete reaching the top!

Yeah, I could do that, no problem.

The following day was supposed to be a paintball battle, which I was already not thrilled about (although Pete sure was!), but then they switched it to an Airsoft battle, which I was really annoyed about. Apparently getting shot by an Airsoft rifle is less painful than getting hit by a paintball, but I just don't like anything about Airsoft. I don't like that they use realistic-looking guns, I don't like that kids are pretending to shoot at their friends, I don't like that they're getting hit with BB-like pellets, no, I don't like it at all. But off he went, sigh. They wore protective gear, but he said it still hurt to get hit at close range. He enjoyed it, but I think it made him a wee bit nervous too. I won't be sorry if he never does that again. Even if paintball hurts more, somehow it seems less violent to me because you just get splooshed with paint.

Anyhow, the next day they did stand-up paddleboarding, which we had never heard of! Interestingly enough, that was the same day Andy and I were up in Ogunquit, and we saw some people doing it, so it must be a newish sport that's catching on. You stand on a surfboard and propel yourself with a paddle:

(That's Pete out in front.) Pete said it was fun and not too difficult. Afterward they did some snorkeling, which he really liked too, and mostly just tried to stay cool (that was the first of the 100° days).

Finally, the last day was laser tag, which is the only one of the Extreme Sports that Pete has done before. I was glad it was an indoor activity, because that was the second 100° day! All in all, it was a great week for him, and he got to do stuff we never do because I'm too boring and overprotective.

Now I'm looking down the barrel of 6+ weeks of trying to work while my 3 kids have nothing to do all day. Julie would be happy to spend every day at our neighborhood pool, but I have to be there with her (Pete and Steph are old enough to come and go on their own). Andy is hoping to take off a week in August, and otherwise we'll just have to find enough to do to keep relatively busy the rest of the time. You know I am not the kind of parent who feels that my kids need to be entertained every minute of the day, but I do want them to have fun—and I need to get my work done too! Stay tuned.

Comments

[Steve]

Once again, I want to be one of your children! What fun! But I agree with you about the "gun" thing. We used to play laser tag (though, I was in college!) after hours at an office building. It was great fun, and the guns were very "Buckaroo Banzai." Plus, we wore cylon-looking LED targets. It in no way felt like we were trying to kill each other.

p.s.
I hope the kids got to do some pottery as part of their arts and crafts. If not, a local pottery studio may be a lovely place for them to spend some time. I'm just sayin....

[Steve]

I also meant to mention that Cliff's mother paddle boards in Palm Beach. I think she learned to do it in the Virgin Islands. It's a big thing down there...

[Kim]

What is the Extreme Sports camp? My boys would *love* it!