Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah (A Letter from Camp)

This past weekend was a camping weekend for us. We have a small camper that, until this weekend, has received ZERO hours of use this year, since we spent most of our vacation time doing the China thing! But, we towed it out, scrubbed it out, and headed for the hills on Saturday morning.

Have you ever seen the Robin Williams movie, RV? That's how the weekend began. K left the house an hour before us gals, with camper in tow. We arrived there an hour or so later (mostly because EJ, much like myself, can't seem to be in a car for more than 45 minutes without needing a rest stop). Two vehicles were necessary since K and Sophie are staying at the campground all week, and I am back home working!

Anyway, as the girls and I pulled into the campsite, we teased K about our perfect timing - all the work was done! K, acting alone, had backed the camper in expertly for easy access to sewer, water, and electric, receiving kudos from neighboring campers. This is a very important skill to have, as it is probably the cause of divorce among many camping couples ("no, turn it this way...", "just a little more to the left...no RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT", you get the idea...).

So the worst of the setup was over. The only thing left to do was to shuffle around a few things and make up the beds. Before I dug into that, K took a little stroll and I settled in a chair outside the camper to give Sophie her bottle. About five minutes later, I heard water running. I figured the folks on the next campsite were using an external hose to wash something. A few minutes later, just as K was returning, I noticed that the camper was leaking water. A lot of water. We ran inside to find the entire floor covered with an inch or so of water! I ran to turn off the water at the hookup.

Thankfully, we had a broom and we were able to push most of it out the door and use some old towels to mop up the rest. K thought the problem had something to do with the hot water heater, since he had turned it on just before his stroll. So, we turned the water back on slowly, looked around and didn't see anything. I turned up the volume and we heard water gushing immediately, so I ran to turn it off. Upon investigating the location of the gushing sounds (under a seat in the dining area, where the water comes into the camper), we discovered that the entire canister on the water filter had snapped off, so water was just gushing around in there. Fun. I assumed my motherly role and got the girls out of there while K re-routed the water to avoid the filter. Needless to say, it was an exhausting start to the weekend.

Yesterday, we checked EJ into camp. Sleepaway camp, for the first time ever! We've been going to this campground for 10 years, and ever since she was born and we bought the trailer, we told her that when she was old enough she could go on her own. She's always seemed excited about it, and it helped that another girl that she met there a few years ago was also interested in going this year, so we arranged for them to be in the same cabin. This is the girl who has only slept away from home about three times in her whole life without us. And let me also say that I don't think I would just hand her over at any other camp, but we know this place, we know the program, EJe knows most of the staff, and EJ is very familiar with the facility. So, we felt pretty comfortable.

No sad goodbyes when we checked her in. In fact, she grabbed us both by the hand and dragged us out the cabin door shouting "Okay, you can LEAVE already!" She and her bunkmate were getting ready to go for a dip in the lake before dinner. There are about 250 kids there this week, and about 1/3 of them, including EJ and her friend, will be participating in music camp. They will be giving a concert on Friday evening, when we'll get to see her! She checks out on Saturday morning.

Here's EJ with her friend, EB:


Putting some supplies in the cabinets built into the walls:


She got the top bunk!


Outside Girls Cabin Uno: