Camp Jewell Part 2

It seems we overdosed a bit on Camp Jewell on Saturday. We were all dragging a bit on Sunday. We invited Grandmommy to come up and visit with us for the day. Justin was excited to bring her to see the "secret" playground that his Age Group counselor had showed him the day before.

As we left he asked "Grandmommy did you enjoy that?" G: "Yes I was thrilled to see it" J: "um, yeah, but did you ENJOY it??" hee hee. So Grandmommy headed out to join the girls at Arts and Crafts and Matt and I took the boys to BBs. Justin was not very good and I can't say that it disappoints me that my son can't shoot a gun- oh well.

Then we headed over to A&C and Marc and I swapped out and the boys all headed to Archery. The girls were very into their projects. Jessica was painting a bobble head- and giving me this look when I took her picture...

Grandmommy was making a stained glass project.

Emma painted her snake.

Grandmommy concentrating so hard to get it just right.

Then we headed over to make a candle- they had already done leather craft.

The boys were very into Archery. These pictures were taken during the session in which Jack decided that bow #14 was the lucky bow.
See!
Checking out the results of their hard work.

Now the big event of the weekend was the Cardboard Regatta. Every family was encouraged to create a boat out of cardboard, duct tape and paint. Emma was a girl on a mission. They had some supplies that you could buy with Camp Jewell dollars. You could earn these dollars by accomplishing certain tasks throughout the weekend. Emma worked herself (and us) through this list. Including earning dollars for performing on stage during the campfire. So off Emma goes, on her own, up onto that stage to lead a song. Emma is usually a little more reserved and quiet, so I wish we had a picture of the faces on the adults as she headed up on stage- she did great. She sat back down and then placed a check mark on that box- too funny.

Here is our boat making crew. Having never seen the regatta before we had no idea what kind of boat or structure would work best. (of course if you google cardboard regatta you will come up with lots of helpful info). The three of them spent hours constructing our entry.
Want to know what Bec and I were doing? We were sitting on the dock watching the three younger kids swim and play in the sand.

Here is the end result of all of their efforts! The USS Crazy Man! No idea where the name came from.
Our fearless crew! In hindsight putting 3 young children into this less than stable vessle with no idea how to power it or keep it level might not have been the best idea we ever had...

The shoreline before the race began (this is only half the crowd).

Just before they tipped (don't mistake Justin's finger chewing for nervousness- he just does that).
Here is a video of the event for your viewing pleasure...



Here are some examples of some more successful boats.


That night there was a beach party/ carnival- very fun! Justin took the tug of war very seriously. The kids danced and played. They loved the "Arm Wrestle a Counselor Booth"- man that guy couldn't beat anyone!

Monday morning we put the kids in age groups so that we could go pack- then we went off to do some of our favorite activities one more time. Here is my family canoeing.

We had a wonderful weekend, truly truly. Everyone had a great time. I have to give Marc credit for going and loving it- when you are a camp person many times you can't imagine others camps being as good as your camp and Marc embraced Jewell and agrees it is a no-brainer to go back next year. The Odells were great companions and jumped right into camp life- shared quarters, camp bunk beds and all. We had to restrain Emma from going to the office to sign up for every family camp weekend and summer camp- she was ready.

It was wonderful for me to be in a place that holds SO many memories and feels like home in many ways. And now my kids are beginning to feel the same way, and that is so fun too. I am excited to go back again and again- and keep bringing friends.

Monday night around 9pm Jessica came downstairs sobbing. She said she couldn't fall asleep because she misses Camp Jewell so much. Of course this is Jessica. She loves everything she does and cries when she leaves. A wonderful weekend!

Weekend at Camp Jewell

We spent Memorial Day at Camp Jewell YMCA this year. Camp Jewell is very special to me in many ways. When I was very little I used to go up there with my Dad and sister for Indian Princess weekends- this was a YMCA program for fathers and daughters. Then much later we went with our mother for New Year's Family Camp weekends. It was one of these weekends during my freshman year of college that the camp director approached me and asked what I was doing for the summer and would I consider being a camp counselor. And so it began... that was 20 years ago. I worked at Jewell for 3 summers as well as weekends during the year.

The kids had a such a great time at Frost Valley YMCA last year, we decided to give Jewell a try this year. Since Jewell is closer and cheaper we invited the Odells to come join us and they agreed. I have to give them credit, they jumped in with both feet and no real idea what they were getting into.

We arrived around 6:30 on Friday night at almost exactly the same time as the Odells- perfect timing. We unloaded the cars, set up the beds and headed out. The first activity we went to was Mt. Wood, the big climbing tower outside the dining hall. Both my kids got suited up and headed up the tower. Justin struggled a little at first but Jessica cruised up her side.

As the kids were coming down I might have been heard boasting a little about my previous Mt Wood climbing skills. Needless to say Bec made me put up or shut up. I am quite relieved to say I still got skills!

We went into the Dining Hall to create our family tree sign. We then headed to bed in great excitement of the coming day. Quite unfortunately our next day began far earlier than any of us would have liked. Many of us were awake at 5:30am. Justin always wakes up early the first day at a new place- but he was not the biggest culprit this time. There was a group of boys that were wandering around camp and came upon the carpet bowling game that was on the porch of the lodge near us. The echoing sound of the banging balls woke Bec up in a panic that it was gunfire. We solved this problem on future mornings by merely taking the balls before we went to sleep at returning them on our way to breakfast in the morning.

Since we were awake, the girls and I decided to go on the 7am hike up Sunrise Mountain. We stopped by the waterfront on our way to the hike.


Now, I have hiked up Sunrise Mountain many times, but never at 7am. We got to the top and yelled "I love Camp Jewell".

Here are my two hiking mates!

After coming down we went to hang out at the Dining Hall and await the rest of the gang. There is a big slide next to the Dining Hall- brilliant! It was a great way to blow a couple of minutes before or after a meal. We would send the kids out while we finished our meals- or just sit at the top and watch while the kids went up and down over and over.

Justin and Jack in their glory coming up again!

After breakfast we went to the farm. This was one huge pig and it kept jumping up on the door and freaking us out- hysterical.

Justin fed some food to the goats.

There were these chickens running around. They are so used to kids and being picked up. Justin decided to give it a try. Look how proud he is :)

Emma gave it a try too!

The girls headed to Mt. Wood and the boys went to Archery. Go Jess!

Check out Emma, just before she rang the bell.

After lunch Jessica and I headed out to the Hide-A-Away Ranch camp area across the lake for a riding lesson. They offered riding lessons for anyone age 8 and up and trail rides for ages 10 and up- no extra cost. Only after I got there did it occur to me that I could have signed up for the lesson too for fun- duh. Emma signed up for a Trail ride a little later in the afternoon. When we arrived I went to sit down to watch and found this prickly little guy hanging out near by.

Jessica did so great on her lesson. This was her first time on a horse without someone else controlling the horse and she did great. She was very intent on listening to everything they told her and followed all of their instructions. She didn't freak out or lose her cool. One of the instructors came over to the fence after Jessica had passed by and told me that she was really doing a great job. I asked how much credit the horse gets and she admitted that Toby was a pretty good horse but that Jessica was doing great on her own.



That afternoon we dropped the kids off at Age Groups. They each went off with counselors and kids of their own age. Bec, Marc and I sat on Adirondack chairs looking out at the lake- so nice. That night we went to a great campfire program. All of the kids loved singing the songs and each of them got on stage at some point. So much fun. Here is a little video that Becky took of them at the campfire.



I have a bunch more pictures, but I am taking a break for now. We had a great time and by lunch on Saturday it was clear we were all planning on coming back next year. The kids got along great and a bit of a symbiotic relationship with each other. Since the Odells are older than my kids there is a hero worship thing that goes on and since my kids are very outgoing and more willing to try new things, their children get pulled along in their wake.

I promise I will blog about the rest of the weekend tomorrow.

We're Baaaack...

On the market! As of Saturday May 16th our house is back on the market. Really hoping that the new closet and carpet sells this baby soon. We do have a couple of choices for houses to move to at this point, but I am not getting my heart set on anything until I have an offer on this house. We have had some good response so far, and a woman flew up from Texas to see the house today- yeah that's right my house is better than anything in Texas! Send your good vibes our way we are so done with this process. Every day Jessica asks if I have any exciting news for her- and every day I have to tell her no, no yet...

Justin's Trike-a-Thon

Last week Justin had his annual Trike-A-Thon at school. After going to this for many years I skipped out this year, and yes I feel guilty. I arrived at the end in time to share lunch with him. Luckily other mothers are better and took some pics for me!



My sense is he did better than he has in the past- see this post for last years rundown.

Day in NYC with Jessica

I promised Jessica that as soon as she saved up enough money to by an American Girl Doll we would go into NYC for the day. She saved up enough in February- especially with that $200 prize money she picked up, but we decided to wait until nicer weather to go. We invited Dee to join us. We went last Saturday. We arrived in the city around 10am- parked at our favorite garage which costs $10 for 10 hours as long as you have a ticket stub for a show from that day- brilliant! Dee set off to TKTS to get in line and buy us some half price tickets and Jess and I headed to the AG store. I think Dee is worried this is the only reason we invite her along- but I swear it isn't. Our first choice for a show was of course Little Mermaid, unfortunately they only had single seats available- not ideal. Our second choice was Mary Poppins, even though Dee had already seen it she was more than willing to see it again. Our third choice was Shrek. Well, Dee scored us 3 awesome seats to Mary Poppins. We were 2/3 of the way back in the Orchestra and we could see EVERYTHING- perfect. More on the show later.

Jess and I got the AG store.

I found this funny- intead of a place for your purse in the bathroom stalls they had Doll holders since so many girls bring their dolls with them.

Jessica narrowed down her search pretty quickly- but I made her peruse the whole store. She bought a "Just like me" doll and then she really wanted a dog and a pet carrier. Here she is with her loot.

She couldn't wait and broke out the puppy and carrier when we left the store.

Dee was still in line, thank you Dee. So we headed to Rockefeller Plaza and went to Nintendo world. I promised Justin I would bring him there some day. I am afraid it will disappoint him since by now he has built it up pretty big in his mind. We got him a red Mario baseball cap.

We had lunch at Ellen's Stardust Diner- where the waitstaff break out into songs the whole time. When they sat us the shoved us into a tiny area next to the storage and bathroom. Dee and I were pretty disturbed. But Jessica just said she thought it was so great. We both tried to take a page from her book and see the positive.

Then we headed out to the show. Here are Jess and I in Times Square.

Jess and Dee outside Mary Poppins...

The show was great. The seats were awesome and you know I love only paying 1/2 of what the sucker sitting next to me did (well on one side anyway, apparently the people next to Dee were in front of her in the TKTS line). It threw me off that many of the songs are different than the movie ones I know by heart. Jessica loved it all. She laughed out loud many times and cheered and clapped. When Mary flys off she went right over our head and Jessica screamed with excitement. In fact the sound that came out of her mouth was so loud that Dee was looking around trying to figure out where it was coming from and then burst into laughter when she realized that was coming out of Jessica's mouth. Jessica loves a standing ovation and gave Dee and I the "I'm so disappointed in you look" when we did not get to our feet immediately. We loved it.

As we headed back to our car we realized that 10 blocks of 6th Avenue were completely blocked off for a street fair- woo hoo- love a good street fair. Here and Dee and Jess standing in the middle of a New York City street!

Jessica bought a bright pink Pashmina scarf for $5- she thought she was the bomb! Here she is checking out $2 jewelry wearing her spiffy scarf.

Jessica LOVES NYC and can't wait to go back. I told Justin I would bring him soon. But for him, everything is better with Jessica so he wants to go with her sometime. Jessica, LOVES getting one on one time with the grownups in her life. But she will happily return to NYC even if it is with Justin.

Way Back Wednesday

I know I have been a bad blogger lately and I will remedy that soon. Last Friday Justin's preschool class had their annual trip to the zoo. I did not take very many pictures- oops. At the beginning of the trip before we entered the zoo Justin got upset that there was no room next to his friend Luke. Mrs B offered Justin her hand to walk up front and be the leader.

Looking at that picture I had a total deja vu feeling and off I went to search through my pictures. This photo was taken 3 years ago on the same field trip, but it was Jessica's class this time. Justin wasn't quite 3.

I remember as we pulled up to the zoo I gave Jessica a whole speech about how she should stay with her teachers or the mommys that she knew. See, Justin was a runner and I was always having to make Sophie's choice between the two of them and Justin always won. I would often have to ditch Jessica and chase after Justin. I don't have to do that as much anymore. AND 2 year old Justin would NEVER hold your hand the way 5 year old Justin is above. So I need to remember that every year things get a little better...