Friday, August 27th--LAST DAY!

(Pics to Follow)

Last day of camp. It’s been a wild ride. Today’s theme was masquerade so we sent her to camp wearing her mardis-gras style mask from Grandpa Abe (from AC I think). Surprisingly, she managed to wear it for some of the day and it also made it home. Success!

In Arts & Crafts in the morning Alex made a mask (sticking with the theme), and left it there. Oh well. There must be a very large graveyard for discarded or forgotten camp art projects. They could probably do a pretty cool installation of that stuff. Maybe next summer!

Alex said that at Carnival she had a snow cone and cotton candy. Her favorites! She was very excited. She also went nuts on the bouncy castle. Also one of her faves.

When Jeff got there one of her friends saw him and said Alex was still on the trampoline. She showed up ten or so minutes later (!), with a painted face (even in the eyes!) eating a cereal bar.

Camp casualties (from and after day 1): First Day: Painted sun hat (lost) and hello kitty sunglasses (trampled). Last Day: Pink Pig Towel. So sad. We love that towel. But when you think about it, that’s really not too bad!
There were lots of goodbyes and hugs for Alex from counselors and friends.

They went on a wild goose chase looking for the towel at the end of camp. Across the street, into the pool complex…. Everyone knew Alex there but nobody had seen the towel. Then they went to the Health Center to retrieve her EpiPen. Not there. Turns out medications had already been sent back across the street. Back across the street. Jeff said he couldn’t believe how many EpiPens were in this box. Let's call it more than 10. Alas, sign of the times.

On her last day, in the morning, Alex claimed that she was her own sister “Katie”. She made us play along all morning and demanded that we tell her counselors that. Jeff really thought that she would forget about it before she even got to camp. She didn't. She stuck with it all day. She even fleshed out the back story. I heard, through the grapevine, that she was Alexandra's older sister Katie, is 7 years old and was entering 2nd grade. The counselors and campers all played along. Gotta love it.

We also found out about another kid in Alex’s kindergarten class. It's G. Of course, it is.

Thursday, August 26th

(Pics to follow)

When Jeff showed up Alex was wearing her bathing suit and shorts and was carrying an apple. She dropped it, her counselor washed it for her, and she ate about half of it. Surprising. Her other counselor said Pool was good, but there really weren't any details.

We didn't hear anything about Tom's Trail. But for Water Adventure, the ‘Swamp’ was finally high enough for them to go out in the boats. For Mini Adventure, they did outdoor cooking. Sausage and Eggs. Alex did not take part. L

She left her pink pig towel at camp. A whole summer of not losing towels, and she has to lose the good one on the second to last day. At pick-up time she was wearing her bathing suit and if her bathing suit had been in the bag, Jeff would have noticed it at camp and maybe could have retrieved it. We are not hopeful that it will be found tomorrow. Oh well. Another camp casualty. Tomorrow is her last day. Hard to believe!

Parents' Night, Spaghetti Tacos and Stinky Josh. Oh my!

Tonight was Parents' Night and fun was had by all. We had front row seats again, but unfortunately they were downwind of a porta potty. Good thing this isn't smell-o-vision. Good thing I also know how to breathe through my mouth.

Before I give the deets on tonight's performances, I'll give you some juicy tidbits on the day's activities. She had music today which was most likely spent working on skits/songs. In Camper vs Wild they learned how to purify/filter water. Again. They took a bottle, without a bottom, but some grass, sand and rocks inside, and poured dirty water through. It came out clean. I hope no one drank it.

She had a comment-worthy lunch. She had meatballs, turkey (which she asked for but I did not believe she would actually eat), a cereal bar and a juice box. Unfortunately the fruit stick and raisins came home, as did another mystery apple. They mixed it up this time with a Macintosh instead of a Golden Delicious.

They also had Ceramics and painted the project they made last week. Let's hope this one comes home.

For Pool, she did not swim. She wouldn't take off the band-aid from her injured finger (which has regressed a little in its healing because, well, I won't bore you with the gory details but the nail is involved and it hurts). So she couldn't swim. No band-aids in the pool.

Now, onto the show. They sang a Banana Song. Peel Ba-na-nas, peel peel ba-na-nas. Cut ba-na-as, cut cut ba-na-nas. Eat ba-na-nas, eat eat ba-na-nas. And so on. We will await the Grammy noms with bated breath. I kid. It was actually cute, but I don't feel like typing out all the lyrics. You get the gist. I do have to say, although the TB2s are adorable, TB3's performance was a showstopper. Rocky Horror. Time Warp. With full face makeup. It. Was. Awesome.

Proving once again that Bumbo is most definitely Snuffy, he was another no show. Performance anxiety? No. I think I am being Punk'd.

TB4 did the Bazooka Bubblegum song and TB6 did Thriller. I wish I could figure out how to post video because the counselor had some MOVES. The kids? Not so much. Counselor knew the whole dance routine by heart. I made sure to get the him on film. He wasn't the only one but more on that later.

When TB8 came on stage, one of the counselors sat on the stage with a guitar. Swoon. Um....I mean....who cares. Ahem. I barely noticed. He started singing Hey Soul Sister as a lead in until the kids got the hang of it. Great voice, mad skills on the guitar. And cute. Um.... I mean....I barely noticed. Ahem. I was watching the kids. Yes, the kids. It's all about the kids. I didn't film blond dude strumming along the whole time. There were some kids in the frame too. I think. When I asked Alex who the counselor was she said....wait for it....Josh! He's Stinky Josh! Loves it. I bet Stinky Josh gets crazy camp 'tail'. I will have to black out this portion of TCR until Alex goes off to college.

When we were leaving, Alex was starving. So I asked her if she wanted some lemon chicken (i made piccata for dinner last night). Unbeknownst to me, Jeff ate it for lunch. Alex cried. A lot. She has never had lemon chicken, but all of a sudden, it's her favorite meal and her life is over now that she can't have it. This went on for a really long time. A REALLY REALLY long time. So I had to come up with something good, and fast. Well, on one of her kiddie shows, the big brother makes the kids Spaghetti Tacos all the time and Alex asks if she can have them every time. Well, there is a recipe online! (I wasn't sure if it was taco meat and spaghetti, just spaghetti, or bolognese or something.) Well, according to the website, a true spaghetti taco has meat sauce, spaghetti and a taco shell. I took the meatballs I had made for her the other day and the marinara, mashed it up into a 'sauce' and mixed it with some whole wheat spaghetti. Then I filled some multi-grain tacos with the meat-sauced spaghetti. To the brim. Guess what....the spaghetti tacos were a HUGE hit. She ate two giant tacos, filled to the brim, until she was stuffed. Success! Lemon chicken? You are Spaghetti Taco's bitch!

This was a long recap--lots to report. Signing off now. Only two days left of camp--hard to believe!

Morning Conversation

"You know what? At camp, they have orange ice pops and black ice pops and I can't eat those. [Creamsicles and Fudgicles?] But you know what else? they the same ice pops that they have at the park!! And I can eat those!! They are made of fruit! And I can eat fruit! And they are made of juice! And I can eat juice!"

So I asked if they gave her one and she said "Yes! And it was so good! The red and the orange!"

"And it tasted really good! the red and the orange! I tasted the purple one but I didn't like it. It didn't taste good but Maya liked it. I don't really like purple ice pops. I think red and orange are the best."

So she begged me to buy the ice pops from camp "Can I have the same ones? can I? Please? Can we buy them at the store? Can we? Please? Can we?" They are probably those pops we had as kids--the ones with no 'juice' and no 'fruit' more like high fructose corn syrup and food coloring.

We'll see.

Tuesday--Farritos for everyone!

At dismissal time, Alex was nowhere to be found but the girl-formerly-known-as-Mini-Bully asked Jeff if she should get Alex. Kids these days. So helpful. Alex was, as you all probably could have guessed, in the sandpit. She eventually emerged. Dirty and barefoot. Hippie. Again. Her shoes, bag and sunglasses were missing. Luckily, eventually they all turned up along with yesterday's missing ice pack. I didn't include that info in my last update because we didn't realize it until this morning. No harm no foul.

In the morning they had Sports. Star Wars, Baseball and English Dodgeball (no, I do not know what the rules of English Dodge ball are....but I imagine it to be a more refined and polite dodgeball, "Cheers, mate! Might I toss this ball at your face? Pip-pip! Cheerio!"). Lauren said that she tried each one but wasn't so into it and didn't play long. Oh well, at least she tried.

They also had Sandcastles as a scheduled activity. The crowd favorite. In Woodshop she painted something (a doorknob hanger?) and brought it home. Instead of Ross Field Games they chose...drum roll please.... Sandpit! Lauren said they always choose Sandpit.

So today was a double dose of Sandpit (plus extra barefoot time in the pit while waiting to be picked up). Coupled with with painting in Woodshop, she more than made up for yesterday's relative cleanliness.

I'm as cute as I am dirty. I must be pretty damn cute.

For dinner Alex asked for chicken in a corn tortilla with salad dressing (red wine vinaigrette). She called it a farrito (fajita + burrito). Kid's a genius. Seriously.

Save the obscene comments. It's just chicken. Chicken farritos.

In the car, she was singing "Shake your boobies" again. Seriously G, I'm on to you.

Peanut butter or peanut butter and jelly?

Last night I got an entire dissertation on who likes peanut butter plain and who likes peanut butter and jelly. Apparently New Luke takes his plain, but G (I'm watching you) takes his with jelly. And we told her that when daddy was a little boy he liked his plain, and mommy liked it sometimes plain and sometimes with jelly. And Erica liked her jelly sometimes with cream cheese (YUCK!). I didn't like it either so I can't blame her for that one (although I'd probably like it now). Alex asked if she could eat the jelly at camp and I said yes. Alex said the jelly at camp has nuts in it so she can't have it. Um, no. That's the peaNUT butter. She insisted, however, but then made me promise that I would tell her counselor that she can eat the jelly. I told her we have plenty of jelly at home that she could eat whenever she wants but apparently our jelly does not measure up to the camp jelly. I'll try not to be insulted. Will she try the camp jelly? Stay tuned. I wouldn't hold my breath though....

Monday--Teddy Bear Picnic!

Before Camp....

After Camp...

Lauren said that Alex went with another CIT in the pool, so we don't know much about how it went. We also don't know what the Counselor Activity was. What we can say is that for a rainy, muddy day Alex came home remarkably clean. We can say almost certainly that it was not a sandpit day.

Lunch was a teddy bear picnic. New Luke said it was ok. The red Valentine's Day bear that we sent her with came home none the worse for wear. It was a little damp from Alex's bathing suit and towel, but otherwise came home relatively unscathed. Alex requested a "meatball sandwich on a bagel" for lunch so we sent her with a container of meatballs and a plain bagel. She claims that she ate a meatball sandwich for lunch. The bagel was not in the bag but she came home with half of the meatballs so maybe she did. She said she tried to eat it but some of the meatballs fell off on the 'rug' (picnic blanket?) It looks like she also had her fruit stick, juice box, and cereal bar! She also came home with a banana that we did not send her in with. Alex said that it was from Lindsay, for the Teddy Bear Picnic. Story time included a tale about pirates.

New Luke said that they groomed little horses during Farm. Sounds like a stretch, but we'll go with it. New Luke also said that only 2 kids went up the Tower today and Alex was not one of them. But since she went last week, no big deal. He said that most of the day was a struggle to keep dry.

They went walking on a trail that they haven't been on in weeks and Lauren found the blue top to the water bottle! Alex says it was at Tower. Who to believe? Who cares?! It came home and that's really all that matters. Lauren said that Alex is great and that all the girls are like her best friends (not the boys though). Says she gets along with everybody and is always well behaved. She said she wishes they were all like her. :)

I know, we couldn't believe it either!

Parents night is on Wednesday so tomorrow will probably be filled with practice! Stay tuned....

Stinky Josh!

I forgot to let you all know about the new song Alex has been chanting lately:

"Stinky Josh!"
"Stinky Josh!"
"Stinky Josh!"

Apparently Josh is one of the counselors in TB3. At least it's not another kid. They all chant this to Josh--poor guy. I hope he isn't really that stinky. And Alex also has a bad influence in her group--someone who taught her "Shut-up" and "Boobies". Good times. I know who it is. I'm watching you G*, I'm watching you.

*Protecting the innocent and the guilty, and all that, so not printing his name. But it's all going in the vault....

Friday (Pirate Day)

Friday was cut a little short so we could go on a multi-kid playdate. There were 8 kids plus siblings so it was like a party. So we picked her up a little early so we could jet over there.

When I went to get her, she was sitting with two counselors, eating a lollipop. More treasure hunting for Pirate Day. She didn't want to dress up like a pirate (she actually wanted to dress up like a parrot). Beyond a bandana and a homemade eye patch, I wasn't sure what else to do. I don't have anything to make a parrot costume. So she was just Alex but they drew something on her cheeks--looked like stitches. Not sure why that is pirate-like, but I'll play along.

She didn't provide any details about any of her activities other than the treasure hunt and lollipops. Sounds like a good day to me.

Thursday

Namaste!

Cheers!

Lauren said that Alex had a really good day. She also said that she is getting more confident in the pool. For Senior Counselor Activity they had a treasure hunt (for pirate day or week or whatever). They had maps and went on a hunt. The treasure was... lollipops! Woo-Hoo!

Today was not a good fruit day--the apples, strawberries and fruit stick came home. But at least nothing got lost today.

We doubt they did Tom's trail today but we didn't hear either way. For Water Adventure the water was too low for them to go in so they had them get in two boats on land. Apparently they threw balls back and forth at each other. Boat dodge ball? Sounds insane. When we asked Alex if they did Water Adventure she said, "no. it was too dirty."

It was also too hot for Mini Adventure so they hung around. Probably in the sandbox. Although she was pretty clean today so maybe not. Her face was very red when she was picked up and we weren't sure if she was overheated or sunburned. When Jeff tried to wipe her face down with a wet paper towel she complained. But later, the redness had gone down so I guess it was that she was overheated. I know, I'm a regular Matlock.

Wednesday

Doesn't she look like an angel?

Today was Swim so they didn't get back until late. Alex had to pee so badly she was practically dancing. She was also wearing her cold weather clothes and had forgotten her water bottle at Ceramics. Across the street they went. The water bottle was where she said it was. She seems as opposed to porta-potties as we are. They found a bathroom. Apparently it was not much cleaner than the porta-potties. She was also very hungry on the car.

Lauren said that Alex had "an awesome day." She said that Alex was in the pool without a noodle and barely hung on to her at all. She said that she did good in Music and Ceramics.

Music. All Jeff got out of Alex was two words. Freeze dancing. In Camper vs. Wild he thinks they taught them how to use a compass.

She claimed that she had a hot dog for lunch. On a bun. With ketchup and mustard. We call bullshit.

She said there was no Story time. Ceramics. All she said is that there were 2 kinds. Light and dark. She said she used both. But for all of the Ceramics she has had throughout the summer, she has only brought home 2 projects. Where the hell do the other projects go??? Alex said that the pool was freezing, but that she loves Pool. Maybe that's why she put on her cold weather clothes. She also came home with a yellow apple stuffed into the mesh on the side of her bag. Again. Not sure where she got it, but I am still not so keen on her eating it.

And by the way, she now knows all of the camp songs and she sings them with a Scottish or English accent. Hilarious.

Tuesday (more info)

Today they had an 'open house' for the parents to come. Jeff asked the counselors about it and they didn't know much about it but the notice said you could come and see what the kids do. So Jeff went. Yeah, it was for new parents/campers. Jeff must have asked at least 6 people about it and they didn't have a clue. I guess I am not surprised since they are the only dingbats dressing up on dress-up days.

They had sports in the morning. Baseball, kickball, and some running game. Alex apparently wasn't so into the kickball, may not have played baseball, and was out pretty early during the running game.

After lunch Sandcastles and Woodshop were scheduled but we're not sure that they had either. Ross field games were scheduled but Lauren said that she sat off to the side and did some art or drawing with her friends. I guess that would explain the body art.

Still no pics from the tower. When Jeff asked the girl yesterday she thought that she might get to it last night during laundry night. He doesn't want to keep bothering her but we do want those photos.

Monday or Tuesday (who remembers at this point?!)

Someone(s) drew on her arms....she liked it....

Check out my body art--almost as cool as my dirt beard....

When I don't have time to update on a daily or almost daily basis, the days kind of blend together. However, I am pretty sure that this is for Monday. [Update: actually, this was from Tuesday. I made the necessary edits now.] Alex told me that they played security.
"People come and take you away. They take monsters away. Who likes monsters? I don't even care. I love monsters so much. I want them to stay." So aloof. So weird.

This was our exchange on sports:
A: "We played with clips on the shirt."
Me: "What does that mean?"
A: "It means you go to jail."
Me: "you go to jail if someone catches you?"
A: "yes"
Me: "that doesn't sound like much of a game"
A: "yes it is! it's fun!"

Something appears to be getting lost in translation. They also played duck duck splash. For lunch I gave her leftover pasta from the restaurant and she said "mom, the garlic was not good." I asked her "how do you know it was garlic?" She said "Laura told me." Poor thing ate a whole clove. Whoops.

Then she looked at me and said "wanna fight?" I almost spit out my beverage. She even put up her dukes. So we pretend fought for a minute and she said "I want to fight with you in your face and you fight my face." Seriously?! WTF (again)??? It was all very light--not even a tap but still! So I ask her if she fights at camp and she said yes and i said with you and she said Lucy (her bff who is at least a head taller than she is). Crazy town.

Monday

In the morning she had Pool. Lauren said that she got braver each time and did well in the pool. After Pool during Counselor Activity she made a drawing, it looks like marker.

They had Farm. She 'petted' a baby pig. She said that he was not soft, but that the lamb was soft. She said that pink pigs are comfy and the other ones are not. Maybe her fruit stick and cereal bar came home because during Snack time Alex found her pink sunhat. She said that she found it all by herself at the fence by Snack.

Tower. Success. Again. [WOO-HOO!] And I didn't even have to bribe her with visits from Spiderman or candy or treats. She just raised her hand and went. Well, I did tell her that she only has 2 more chances to do Tower before camp ends. I am glad she decided to do it. Lauren said that they have to pull on the rope a little more with her because she is small. Some other counselor (Charlie?) said that Alex has come along so much since she met her in the beginning of camp. She may be the Tower lady, we're not sure. She had photos. and Jeff saw them He gave her his email. Hopefully we'll get some action shots that I can share with you. She was excited to show them to Jeff. Alex, not so much. [Update: As of today (Saturday) we still do not have any pics even though the Tower lady tells Jeff every day that she will send them.]

They also worked on their 'Skits' for next week's show. Skits? More like 'song'.

She didn't lose anything Monday and came home with the pink hat as well. Success!! New Luke seemed particularly pleased about that. When Jeff picked her up Lauren was checking the hair of one of the girls in the group. Not a good sign. Plus Alex wore a helmet for Tower. Hopefully it was not a lice helmet. That's even worse than a dirt beard.