Mom and Me Camp

Here we are again. By the end of camp last year I was okay. I survived. The kids survived, I got the tent back inside the bag, the experience was good. The girls and I agreed on the last morning that we would do it again.

Fast forward to this year - the planning starts a long time in advance. Emily paid up right away. Ruth was out - too much going on this summer, and I thought oh no, I don't want to go. Emily said I had to go, she already paid, and so I just did it, signed up, paid the money, it was done.

I don't know when I started freaking out about camp, was it the week before? Was it longer than that?! Camp was coming and I didn't want to do it. Then the weather forecast - that sealed the deal. Rain all day Tuesday. The year before, our first year, it rained so much. I didn't want to go to rain camp. Did. Not. Want. As it got closer and the forecast wasn't changing I decided that for my own peace of mind we would go up on Wednesday, not Tuesday. Alice was upset at first, but once the decision was made she gradually came around!

Wednesday morning, we were ready just after nine. Ken was awesome, helping us pack up the van. We pulled out about 9:15, then got three minutes away and had to come back for my wallet. I was feeling so anxious. I didn't want to go, I couldn't stop feeling upset and I really felt miserable.

It's funny because a day ago or so I was talking to someone about driving across the country with my girls and what a brave thing it was for me to do. It didn't feel brave to me. Not at all. Going to camp overnight with my girls, that felt brave!

We got to camp, and we hung around the pavillion - or at least I did, because we were on deck for making lunch. I put all my food in the kitchen and waited. Alice went swimming and Fiona and Kate were bouncing around here and there.

We made lunch, everyone ate lunch, everyone was well fed (except Kate - couldn't really get her to eat) and I still couldn't calm down. Emily and I went to the campsite, number seven, up the hill and across a road - not as far as it sounds, and I set up the tent. Emily helped which was good. Setting up a tent is a two person job - in my opinion! Alice helped too, hammering in the pegs, and helping hold poles.

The girls had fun finding salamanders, Kate went on a wagon ride, she tried archery, Alice went swimming and trashed a towel, Fiona found some friends, and I kept trying to calm down.

After lunch we went to the beach and hung out. Kate got a headache, she took some motrin and went to sleep in the tent. Alice and Fiona had fun swimming and playing in the sand. I think I sort of started to calm down.

It took about an hour to find all three girls, get them ready and get them to sleep, but by about 10 they were all out. It was cold - about 14 degrees Celsius and it was supposed to go down to 11. I sat by the campfire with a bunch of Moms until almost midnight and then went to bed myself. At 1 am I still wasn't asleep and I needed to "go", so I did. When I came back to the tent Alice was awake. She took a while to go back to sleep and by 7 everyone was awake. I felt tired but okay, and kind of ready to go.

We went and had breakfast and Emily suggested a canoe ride with the little girls. It turned into Emily in one canoe with the little girls - Hazel, Emma and Fiona. I was in another canoe with Kate, Alice and Holden, and Lauren was in a kayak going solo. We had such a great canoe ride on the lake. I think we were out paddling around for about an hour. I wished I'd had my phone with me. I so badly wanted to take pictures, but I'd left it charging at the campsite. I still have all of the pictures in my mind, so that will have to do! It was so lovely on the water, it was such a beautiful morning.

After putting all the canoes away we went and got dressed - except Alice, she couldn't be convinced. Alice stayed down by the water and caught her first fish. She was so excited - except the part where she cut her finger and she cried all the way through the group pictures! Oh and Kate and Lauren were nowhere to be found and weren't in the group picture. Then I started to pack up - very slowly. We had lunch. The girls played, and eventually around 2:30 we pulled out of camp.

The final count was 25 Moms and 97 kids. It was a big crazy camp and we survived year two. I'm assuming we'll go again next year because the girls will want to. Hopefully next year I can figure out how not to be crazy in the first place, because it really isn't so bad. It was actually kind of fun.