Summertime, and the Living is Easy....

Ha!  Love that song, love that idea....ah!

Summer is quite different now that my children are mostly grown and NOT HERE for most of the summer.  My 2 youngest are working at an overnight summer camp, so they come home late Friday and go back on Sunday.  So I am kidless for most of the summer.  This is the 3rd summer like this - a new season of life for this mama of five used to the bustle and chaos of a house full.

So why is it that I still have a hard time getting my TO DO list done?  Probably because my list hasn't gotten shorter, it is just different!  In addition to the normal summer activities of "find the floor in my bedroom", "organize the piles", and "make plans for the coming school year that we may or may not follow",  I have added "Camp Cook" to my schedule one day a week.  In the 16 years that my kids have been going to New Life Camp, this is the first summer that I have set foot in the dining hall!  My friend, Sharon, convinced me that getting up at 5:00am to drive down to camp and make 400-600 chocolate chip pancakes would be fun!  You know, she was a psychology major in college, and I think they might teach some kind of mind-bending hypnosis techniques.  Ha!  So, it is a little earlier than I would normally get up, but not too bad.  And my hubby has jumped on board as well, much to my surprise!  He normally avoids kitchens unless it is to pick up a plate of already prepared food. He has been a trooper - last week he flipped pancakes and this week he was on sausage link duty!

They have always had pancakes on the menu once a week at camp, but since my kids have always enjoyed the chocolate chip version, I suggested that addition this summer, and it has been a definite hit!  So much so, that last week's campers voted Chocolate Chip Pancakes their favorite meal of the week! 

Summer Pics

Summer = Camp

When I was growing up, summer meant family camping trips and days spent at the little lakefront town beach about 2 miles from my home, where town residents benefited from free swimming lessons, arts & crafts class, swim team, and special recreation events. I didn't know anyone who went to "camp" - that was for rich kids or city kids who needed to get out to the country for fresh air. But for my kids, summer means CAMP!

Amanda is at New Life Camp this week for Teen Week; she worked as a CIT ( counselor-in-training ) there 2 weeks ago during Early Week, when Jason was a camper. My kids LOVE LOVE LOVE New Life Camp. They know the routine by heart, can tell you what is on the menu any night of the week, look forward to Ultimate Elimination Dodge Ball and The Big Game and Snack Shack. They can pack for camp in about 30 minutes, because they know exactly what to bring -
t -shirts, shorts, sweatshirt, jammies, swimsuit, towels, shower sandals, towels, bathroom bag, Bible, Sharpies, clip on fan, pillow & bedding, bug spray, sunscreen. Plus a couple of favorite snacks, a camera, and they are all set!

Jason is at Runners Camp this week, which is a Christian Track & Field camp that runs M-F from 8:30 - 12, for kids 6-12 years old. When I first signed him up a couple of years ago, his reaction was " Runners Camp? You mean, its for running? No ball? What's the point?" But once he went he had a blast! And now he looks forward to it every summer.

This is the first summer in several years that my older kids are NOT working as summer camp counselors at New Life Camp! Sarah is in Africa this month, volunteering at a school for orphans and destitute children, and Eric is working as a lifeguard at the YMCA in order to earn enough money to go back to college in the fall.

So after this week, we are done. No more camp this summer. We are planning a week of family camping. We'll be spending a long weekend at the beach for Amanda's 16th birthday. And we'll be heading to Massachusetts for our annual week of visiting grandparents and relatives.

And summer will be over - POOF!

The Joy of Serving

My 13-y-o daughter has been baking up a storm this week. She made a quadruple batch of Yogurt Chocolate Chip Cookies on Monday, Chocolate Chip Banana Bread yesterday, and Whoopie Pies yesterday. All these goodies ( except for a couple that were set aside to appease her brothers ) have gone to Camp to treat the counselors and staff this week. She enjoys the reaction she gets when she arrives at Camp with her foil-wrapped packages! Hope no one there is trying to lose weight this summer.

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Minor Injury

Well, I drove Alex to work this morning, came home and spent an hour on the computer reading email and blogs, and then got started on my bedroom. I filled 2 bags with trash ( so far ) - papers, broken knick knacks, holey socks, etc. etc. -
and cleared out one corner of the room, pulled out dressers from the wall and vaccuumed BEHIND them ( true confession - I wore a dust mask! ) I had planned to spend all afternoon in there, but.......
The phone rang and it was Page, the nurse at summer camp.
"I'm sorry to interrupt your plans for the afternoon, but it looks like Eric has dislocated his finger!"
Eric is my 17-year-old, who is working at camp as a counselor-in-training ( CIT)
He was playing tetherball with another counselor after lunch, and slammed his finger into the other boy's palm. The joint of his left index finger dislocated, looking quite crooked and ugly when I got there to pick him and take him to the doctor. We were quickly sent on to an orthopedist, who X-rayed the finger and determined that nothing was cracked or broken. He then injected numbing medicine into the hand and proceeded to wrestle the joint back into place! AGH.... not something for the squeamish to sit and watch. It popped back into place after what seemed like an hour but was probably 30 seconds. A splint and prescription for pain medicine, and we were on our way back to camp, where Eric was playing dodge ball with his charges in the gym a couple of hours later!
The splint can come off at the end of the week, and he should be good as new! The doctor did suggest protecting that finger with the splint for any future tetherball games or anything similar this summer.

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