There were things she loved about camp: Archery, Horseback riding, the "Queen and Fairy Godmother" game, their bunk mate Francis (who is one of 12 children, and DD1 thought she was hilarious), songs and s'mores, cookout breakfast the last morning, volleyball, four of her counselors - especially Kiwi, her counselor from New Zealand.
There were things she didn't love about camp: The latrines, showering in semi-privacy, the ants that live in the tent's wooden plank floor, the moths that live in the top of the tent, she missed us a lot (perhaps even more than we missed her if that is possible), and that her flashlight batteries which were brand new died the first night.
There are things I wish I had pictures of: Her sitting on the wooden steps to the tent the morning they all woke up at 4am and were waiting for the sun to come up, her on her horse - who she now thinks of as a life long friend, her eating chocolate chip pancakes that last morning - famished and exhausted and disheveled.
She'll start telling us a story, then skip crucial details or reference things I have no clue about, and when she finishes her story we're totally confused. I don't know at what age it sinks in to kids that you are TRULY a separate person from your parents, but from the way she talks I know that DD1 is still very firmly in the subconscious mind set that I simply "know" everything about her life. That we automatically just "know" what has happened to her. She hasn't yet figured out that I'm really not omnipotent, that there are vast portions of her life that I sort of don't have a clue about... which is one of those things about parenting that surprises me. I didn't know it would be like that, before I was a mom. Becoming a mom has taught me so much, especially how much I didn't know before.
Overall? The good outweighed the bad, and camp was good. For both of us.
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At check-in:
Finding their tent area on the map:
With her BCF (Best Camping Friend):
Her actual cot:
Right before going home:
5 comments:
What a great first camp experience! She'll remember it forever! And, despite what Prince thinks about the internet being passe', I'll bet she blogs about it when her eldest child goes off in the woods!
ps- that was from me, Shauna!!
How great. Glad you both made it through!
(#1 had scout camp last month - one night. And I still made Dave go along. I'm not so brave.)
Way to go DD1! I'm glad that in the end she looks back on it as a fun time. After all, without a little drama we may wonder who's daughter she really is! ;)
totally teary here! I would want all those photos too!
I'm am torn waiting for those days to come to our home. Piper will tell us a story and then ask us to fill in the missing details even though we weren't there.
Ugh... do they have to grow up?
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