Sleep-Away Camp Report

Seamus had a wonderful time at camp. He couldn’t stop talking about it when we picked him up, and we were thrilled for him that it was such a good experience. Some highlights:

• His counselor, Jordan, from South Africa made it really fun for the cabin mates by letting them play cards and bond. It was his first time as a counselor, and we’re sure he’s going to have a great summer!
• He got to pick a wonderful variety of activities. He chose mountain biking (his favorite), kayaking, low ropes course, kickball, and basketball. Next year, he says he’d like to try mountain boarding, drama (!, but yay!), canoeing, and wilderness survival. I love that he got to do some new things, and because he’s a good cyclist, mountain biking was something he could catch on to pretty easily.
• He talked about the food. They had a big variety, and “if you didn’t like what it was, there was always pasta to eat.” He got a snack and a drink every afternoon, and that was provided by the camp. I thought he’d have to buy snacks, so I put money on his camp store account, told him that he had money in the letter, and he never spent a dime! That’s Seamus for you.
• He got lots of mail (thanks everyone!). He said, one day he got 5 pieces of mail and the counselor asked if it was his birthday! He wrote us a couple of letters, which I will treasure forever, since it’s a delight to send your child to camp and have them write to you.
• He would gladly have stayed another week. Gilbert is going back and forth on whether he wants to go next year, but Seamus is dying to do it again.
• He learned camp card games: spoons and bs–I remember the kids playing those at VAMPY both when I was a camper and when I was a counselor.
• He liked pool swim better than lake swim, as there were rumored to be snapping turtles in the lake! He had activities with some of his cabin mates, and they all bonded over games, campfire, scavenger hunt, and more.
• We picked him up at 9 on Saturday, and I thought he’d be exhausted and in kind of a bad mood, but he was so happy to talk about camp that his adrenline carried him for a while. Porter couldn’t stop hugging him, and Harlan walked over to demand, “Did you miss me, Seamus?” His bad mood set in at lunch time, when he was hungry and tired. And then he napped in the car on the way home!

It was a special experience for him. Some of my friends have expressed nerves that he didn’t go with a friend when he went away the first time, and wasn’t that hard for him? I’ve never once been worried that he’d be homesick or have difficulty making friends. That’s a good skill in his personality that he just picks up playing with whoever is around and that they can get to know each other as they’re moving in a game.

It did bring back a TON of memories for me, of 4-H camp, which was fun, even if I had some mishaps along the way! (I fell off the top bunk in the first 20 minutes of being there!)

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