Camping the summer away

Early in the summer, Owen spent four days at camp. Last year, he went for two nights and one full day. I was somewhat worried that he would be nervous about a longer trip away from home. This was a foolish concern. I practically had to force him to give me a hug when I dropped him off on a Sunday afternoon. Moments after putting his things in his cabin, I was all but forgotten. "Oh yeah, bye mom!" This is a good thing.

Here's just a sample of the excitement he felt in those first few minutes of camp:

Of course by the time he was home, I knew it had been a good experience. But someone was just a bit tired. Here's proof:

Some of my best childhood memories were at camp. (Freidenswald, anyone?!) Brad didn't really grow up with many camp experiences. So this is important to me that Owen be given the opportunity. Of course, taking your own child to camp brings up some wonderful old memories.
Like Carpet Ball:

I had forgotten how FUN this game was. Seriously. I could play this all day. I started taking a close look at how the table was constructed... and started dreaming about having one in our rec room someday. (Still dreaming of having a rec room someday..)
I was struck at how less than an hour's drive from the city, the soil turns red, and the landscape takes a different form. We rarely drive this way out of town, so it was a wonderful chance to see a little something different.

Lauryn spent a few days at "Camp Grandma's" during Owen's time away. This was grandma's wonderful idea that the little sister could get to experience something special just for her while big brother was away. She had a wonderful time, but unfortunately I have no pictures of that.
And the parents had a good time as well. Work. Sleep. And even a special meal or two together was a nice experience for us as well.
Camp was fun for all of us.