Camp

Summer is here, and so we, like all other parents out there, need to entertain our kids (or at least keep them occupied) until school starts again. This is an expensive prospect. In the old days, you just sent them outside and said "Play." Nowadays it's camp. (Okay, that's a total fabrication. I attended many camps from Cub Scout day camps through church and Boy Scout sleep-away camps. Thanks Mom and Dad!)

This year we organized things a logical, yet island-peculiar way. Thing 1 had such a good time at Howland's Landing last year, that we decided to send him for two weeks this year. Reasoning that Thing 2 would a) be lonely while Thing 1 was away, and b) that he should have a chance to play with kids his own age, we signed him up for the Peninsula Bay Cities Day Camp. This is a day camp on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, not too far from the apartment USC maintains for their employees (not a coincidence). This meant that I (being able to commute to campus) would spend two weeks on the mainland with Thing 2 while Thing 1 was away at Howland's. Where did this leave Sweetie? Mommy Camp! Two weeks without boys. Paradise. (Even more so than regular life.)

Things were complicated by 1) my cousin's wedding and 2) Thing 1's birthday. We had a whirlwind weekend trip up to Sacramento for the wedding (which was very nice, by the way), having to leave before lunch on Sunday so we could get back to San Pedro in time to have a little birthday party for Thing 1. Things went awry when the box that we thought contained his bow and arrow set only contained the arrows, but he took it well. The next morning we all dropped Thing2 off for his first day of camp, did a little shopping, and then dropped Thing 1 off at the ferry terminal for his trip to camp. Sweetie left on the next boat, and then it was time to pick up Thing 2 from his first day. A bit crazy, yes, but everyone got where they needed to go and had a good time.

Thing 2 had a great time at his camp. He learned to swim (a source of some anxiety before camp), played lots of sports like soccer, softball, archery, golf, bowling, track and field, cricket (!), and 'tuffleball' (?), sang camp songs ("I'm bringing home a baby bumble-bee..."), did arts & crafts, played games like Steal the Bacon, and generally defeated our good aims by declaring that he didn't really like any of the kids his age, he preferred the teen-agers.

Thing 1 has apparently had a good time at camp. (They post pictures daily on the web.) He has been sailing, climbing walling, composting (yes, an activity at Howland's), snorkelling, archerying (a verb?), BB gunning, game playing and dragging behind a speedboat on a raft. We'll pick him up from camp tomorrow, and maybe get some more information out of him. (Us: "What'd you do at camp?" Thing 1: "I don't remember.")

Meanwhile, Sweetie slept in late, read books, painted the boys room and did other Mommy Camp activities like wine drinking, watching movies, and gardening. She had a good time, too.

Meanwhile I was slaving away over a manuscript...

I guess there's no such thing as Daddy Camp. :)

Welcome back from the road, Grammy, Grampa and Auntie N! Thanks for sharing with us on your secret blog.

Tonight, Two Harbors has its fireworks display. Thing 2 can't wait.