I don’t think I’ve ever attended a camp and not tie-dyed something. Our annual family vacation is held at a beach along the Carolina coastline in October. We all participated and tie-dyed some piece of apparel. It was a colorful and creative way to wrap up the summer outdoors before the cold weather forces us inside and onto smaller, less messy activities.
My daughter and I packed in quite a bit since the disheartening news that her camp was not going to take place as planned. Coincidentally, our camp-at-home experience was wrapping up when I received an email notifying me of the date to register for summer camp 2021. My daughter is again registered for the Christmas in July week of sleepover camp. Our hopes will remain high, but guarded, regarding what 2021 has to offer.
Now on to the holidays!
How will your holidays change this year? How has your outlook on the future changed?
Back in May I made a promise to my daughter that I would bring camp to her since her summer camp had been cancelled. It took some time to plan and prep, but this is what we did:
The week that she was registered to attend had the theme of “Christmas in July,” so while she was sleeping I strung colored lights along the ceiling of her bedroom, hung a gift-filled stocking on her closet door, and sprinkled individually wrapped candies across her furnishings. In the morning, I did rouse her with reveille, but then a Christmas playlist jingled its way into the room. We sang along as she opened her stocking that was filled with gimp and dollar store trinkets.
She was so excited to get the day started, and filled with candy, so we skipped breakfast and went straight into her first activity: baking. She said brownies and cupcakes were always offered at camp as desserts, so she helped me make both.
Next came one of my favorite camp activities: leather working. We moistened leather strap bracelets, stamped them with designs, then stained and sheened them.
Considering the theme, I wanted to include a Christmas craft, so we made waterless snow globes. I bought my first glue gun for this craft, so I feel like a full fledged member of the crafting world now. We glued small foam squares into the screw-on lids of glass jars to serve as pedestals for the figurines. Then we glued small snow-covered evergreens and snowmen to the foam. (The remaining trees will be perfect for the train set that we plan to build together!) We poured fake snow and Christmas colored glitter into the jars, and then inverted the lids, screwed them on, shook them up, and voilà!
Chinese food was one of her favorite lunches from camp, so we ordered carry-out before continuing on with our craft activities. To the tune of the Addam’s Family theme song we prayed:
“We’ve filled our bowls and dishes – with food that is delicious – you’ve granted all our wishes – God thank you very much!”
After lunch we had a siesta, which was a part of my summer camp experience. Campers would write letters home or read while the counselors geared up for the evening programs. As mom/counselor, I just needed to rest my eyes for a bit.
The next craft was a continuation of something we had started during stay-at-home orders. As I’d mentioned in my post titled “Expanding Time,” my daughter and I went on many springtime strolls and had plenty of time to stop and smell the flowers. We collected and pressed small blossoms that we spotted along the way. I did the same with petals from the Mother’s Day carnations she gifted me. Our craft was to arrange the pressings into small frames. We are both very happy with the results, and they help to shine a light of gratitude on our memories of this pandemic.
Next came wood burning. I bought small pieces of wood for a dollar from Michael’s that are very easy to burn designs into.
Our final activity was making friendship bracelets with embroidery thread and key chains with gimp while watching Elf.
Dinner was unique, to say the least. She had described a spaghetti burrito that I was not so sure about, but she devoured what we made! “ABCDEFG – Thank you God for feeding me!” was the blessing.
Flour tortilla wrapped around spaghetti mixed with butter, sour cream, & shredded cheese.
I have more planned, but some of the activities require the participation of my friend’s children. We were going to run the games at our annual lake trip, but it was hard to compete with the activities that were already available to us: paddle boarding, kayaking, swimming, and floating. We’ve decided to host a day of camp one weekend soon, which I’ll be sure to post as Part 3.
Even though we didn’t play the games at the lake, we were still able to add in the sweetness of S’mores around a campfire and spend some time stargazing. No meteor showers, but we did see a shooting star and were able to locate the comet Neowise! It’s not the best photo, but it’s good enough.
Neowise!
So it wasn’t a week away with a cabin full of bunk mates, but she seems to be a happy camper, nonetheless.
What activities would you plan for a camp-at-home experience?
Growing up, I was not much of a bookworm. I spent my time outside running wild. Books and reading were of little interest to me. I enjoyed school and I did what I needed to do to get good grades, but as soon as I was done, Poof! I was outta there.
Once I hit college I had to read endless amounts of textbooks for my degree. I was interested in what I was learning, but once I was done with my studies, the last thing I wanted to do was curl up with a good book.
It wasn’t until I was a new mom that I really got into reading for pleasure. One of my favorite, most recent memories is of the summer my daughter and I moved into our own place. She was a year and a half and still took naps. We’d start our day with a wagon ride to the pool. A few splashes there and then we’d wheel back home for lunch. A stroller ride to lull her to sleep, and then after artfully transitioning her to bed, I would make my way to the balcony where I would enjoy a cocktail while reading my summer novels for a couple of hours. I was still teaching, so I had summers off. This was our daily routine, and I loved it.
I would be transported to another time, another place, another life. It was so easy to get lost in those books. I enjoyed those days, but that was just the beginning of a very physically and emotionally exhausting period of my life: single-motherhood.
I remember when I was a child and I’d be running through the house until I saw my mom lying on the couch, with one arm resting across her forehead, and a romance novel in her other hand. I would quickly slow down to quietly pass her by, hopefully undisturbed. I had enough intuition to know that was her time, her escape, her need in that moment. I knew then, but now I get it. I often wonder if she was actually reading, or if the book was more of a warning sign for us to leave her alone.
This past weekend was the unofficial start to summer, and although I don’t have summers off anymore, I don’t want to stop diving into beach reads. I prefer to borrow books than buy them, but with the libraries being closed because of Covid-19, I caved and bought both a paperback and an online copy of new summer must-reads.
That first summer of reading and this one are very similar in that I needed an escape. I’m sure I’m not alone in feeling the need to be transported to another place and time, somewhere far removed from the current state of affairs. Finding the right book can be such a cure. To passersby, I’m just lazing in my hammock in my backyard, but I’m really in some imaginary beach house on Nantucket observing the heroine figure out her love life amidst all of her naive mistakes.
My daughter came to me yesterday to tell me her favorite things about living in our new home. One is our nighttime routine of cuddling while I read to her. Although we’ve done that everywhere we’ve lived, it is heartwarming to know she values those moments. I hope that I’ve instilled the desire to read, not just to develop the skill, but as a way of opening her mind to the possibilities that reading can provide. When we read we are not just peeking in on the lives of the characters, but we’re getting insight into the author’s experiences, opinions, thoughts, and ideas, which we can then draw upon to create our own real experiences. But I suppose I’m preaching to the choir with that gem!
I think our imaginations are naturally stronger as children. So if reading helps us to grow our imagination, it is also serves as a juvenescent elixir! How about that connection! Or am I just reading into things?
What books helped you to grow your imagination and feel youthful?
Juvenescent Junkets 