“Are your kids going to camp this summer?”
No, they aren’t. In the past few years, we’ve usually had one or two the older kids going to camp for two – four weeks, but this is the first year in the last five that no one is going at all. I enjoy having my kids home and we’re used to spending time together, and though it can be initially be difficult for parents and children who are used to a lot of time apart to suddenly find themselves together all day, spending the summer together doesn’t raise my blood pressure. 🙂 Though the kids enjoy camp, they enjoy being home as well, so it’s not as if being home for the summer is an exercise in deprivation.
I’m not in any way against sending kids to camp, as long as: a) they are old enough for it to be a positive experience; b) the atmosphere is a positive one; and c) I can afford it.
Today I was thinking today how nice it is now that the kids’ friends are all in camp and I don’t have the constant distractions that pull us in different directions. Very recently I was disturbed to notice that my kids (the middles) were enjoying being with their friends more than their siblings. I consider this to be upside-down, and it’s something I’m working on straightening out. The last few days have been wonderful and I’m feeling very good about seeing things shift back to how they should be.
Today was a good example of how spending time together in a relaxed family framework is enjoyable. We started our day by heading to the county fair; dd14 asked me if we could go this year since it will be our last time; it was a big part of her life when she was in 4H (as well as for dd16), and there are a lot of really nice memories they’ve had of being part of that experience. Despite the heat, we all enjoyed it.
An NRA representative had a booth there and I paid a very minimal sum for dd10 and ds12 to do some shooting with an air rifle (after getting some gun safety instruction). Dd14 wanted to do some shooting but then noticed the male instructor was touching people on the arm to guide them so she decided to pass on it. Ds12 and dd10 did great – their accuracy went up very fast, and ds12 was invited to join their shooting club in January. I don’t know if it was his obvious interest or how quickly his accuracy improved, but whatever it was, if we would be living here, I would have tried to facilitate that, but obviously that won’t be an option. 🙂
Ds12 noticed a booth where you throw a ball and if you hit the target, it drops water balloons on the head of the volunteer manning the booth, and told me he thought ds3 and ds5 would enjoy it. So I bought a ticket with three throws; ds5 threw it first and since it totally missed the entire target area, got another chance (he was standing far back where adults throw from, not close up like younger children). He missed, but then ds3 threw it and it shockingly hit the target, but lightly so only one water balloon dropped out – but he was thrilled anyway! Then ds12, the best baseball player in his entire league (no exaggeration, just being descriptive – he set a record) threw his ball, and was totally embarrassed to miss by a wide shot!
When ds5 ran to pick the ball up, he started to throw it again (not realizing that you had to pay for every throw), and the volunteer let him. He hit the target but when the water balloons dropped out, they didn’t break! So the volunteer told ds5 to throw the balloon directly at him. He did, but it still didn’t break. Then the volunteer threw it to ds5 (it didn’t break), ds5 threw it back – and at that point, ds took matters into his own hands by running over to the target and hitting it hard so that the balloons dropped out hard and finally soaked the volunteer. Everyone there was laughing at the absurdity of unbreakable water balloons, and ds3 and ds5 loved it! I hope that’s one of those nice memories that they’ll have even when they are much older.
The three littles received balloon creations of their choosing made by the balloon clown artist there, and we toured all the exhibits. One exhibit was to name all the raw vegetables in a large bowl, then match them up to the processed products in cans. The women in charge of the booth were very impressed that ds5 recognized every vegetable there – they said he was the first one of the day, including adults! Which is kind of pathetic, really, since the vegetables weren’t so rare. (Cabbage, beets, carrots, corn, cucumbers, peppers, zucchini, yellow squash, tomatoes, green beans, peas, onions, and maybe a couple of other things.)
The older kids enjoyed the goat show (dd14 found it most interesting since years ago she competed in sheep shows so she’s familiar with what’s involved), and the littles enjoyed seeing all the farm animals. After our experience raising ducks last summer, viewing the adult ducks there was particularly interesting – dd10 noticed two ducks that were the same breeds we started with – a Swedish blue and Rouen.
When we left, I asked the kids to vote on going home or going to a park a few miles away. (We had very quickly packed some food for lunch just in case we were out longer than planned- ds12 at my bequest grabbed a couple of loaves of bread from the freezer, two jars of canned butter, and two jars of jam -so we had the flexibility to change plans on the spur of the moment since we didn’t have to go home for lunch.) They all voted on the park, and we got there in the heat of the day.
We parked ourselves under the shade of some trees and started our picnic, and while we ate the only other family there left. So we had the entire place to ourselves, and the kids had a great time together. It was very relaxing for me, too. We fortunately brought a lot of water with us, as well as a place to refill it, which was critical since it was really hot (did I mention that already? :)) We stayed for about three hours before finally heading home, and by that time it was just about time to get ready for dinner!
Avivah
