Camp Caleb

A few things took place this past week.  One:  our older two had day camp all week at church.  Our church really does this right I think.  First of all, it is 6/7 weeks into summer and we all need a little structure back in our routine.  Second:  It is an all day 9-3 type of camp with lunch and snack thrown in for $20 a child!  Third:  They bus in camp counselors from a Camp our church is affiliated with.  So that means hardly any volunteers from our church (a few for check in, food stuff, etc) so most of us just drop off kids and go on with our day which is unheard of.  Also, these counselors...this is what they do....they just have fun with the kids and teach them all this great stuff about Jesus and just make the week really memorable with the kids.

This is our 2nd year of doing the camp AND hosting counselors.  Last year we had 2 girls stay with us....this year 4!  Ages 15,16, 22, and 22.  Yes.  We had a whole lot of fun with them.  My favorite was the last night, they had all gone thrift store shopping and asked me to come chat with them and look through their purchases.  I was feeling very 20 years old.  As we were chatting, I began to realize....it's time for bed (after 9) for me and I think these girls think of me as more of a mother figure and no, I am definitely not 20 any more.  But the girls were awesome.  Very fun.  I think they each said "thank you" no fewer than 3 times each for any meal, etc. provided.  I just told them: NO thank you for taking our kids all week and making it fun and teaching them about Jesus.  I will make you a pulled pork sandwich and corn for that.  

Anyway, so I am missing some dates because I was also finishing a class I had to take for my MN teaching license and so a few days of being at home with just Caleb consisted of errands, cleaning (with our new guests at the house) and working on school.  But this post is pretty Caleb heavy since the other two were off at Day camp all week and having a very awesome time.  

Day 54:  Tuesday, July 21st.  We had a few afternoon playdates with Caleb's friend down the street.  Lots of water and make believe.  These two.  They crack me up.  It is the best of times, then the worst of times.  Mainly this week it was the best of times.  

Day 55:  Wednesday, July 22nd.  See that huge scab on Caleb's forehead?  Yep.  Rug burn.  From what you may ask.  Showing off for the 4 young women staying with us by pretending he was a snowplow on the carpet.  "Mommy, it burns"  Maybe he has learned his lesson?  Looking at that face, I seriously doubt it though.

Day 56:  Thursday, July 23rd.  Finally....a mommy/Caleb DATE day.  Oh yes, we had plenty of time together this week but I had a little more on my plate in the beginning of the week.  The night before I submitted my last paper and did my last discussion posts so I planned a special day where Caleb and I could just go play together on Thursday.  This is a wading pool at a town 10 minutes away.  It is completely free to go in just the wading pool which totally interests Caleb for 2 hours but my older two would be bored.  So it was the perfect spot to take him for a few hours.

Also, closing carnival for camp.  Slack line, face painting, bounce house.  Craig ate 6 corn dogs.  Good times.  I tried the slack line and it was hard!

Day 57:  Friday, July 24th.  No more camp...let's go swim.  I realized I haven't gotten any pictures of our local watering hole.  I would not call this place an "aquatic center" but the kids love it.  It is our local sand bottom swimming pool.  Yes, full of sand and chlorinated water and no critters.  It is all their favorite things at one spot.

It had rained the night before so the sand area had flooded a bit.  They built this beautiful lake area out of it and spent a little more time in it than the pool this day.

Day 58:  Saturday, July 25th.  Hot and sunny.  Let's go hit an "Aquatic Center" at a nearby town.  Picnics and swimming and coming home tired and watching "BattleBots".  Doesn't get much better than that.

Day 59:  Sunday, July 26th.  Hot and sunny.  Let's just stay at home and play and take naps and do nothing all afternoon.  Doesn't get much better than that either.