camp

Little Miss Abi had her first overnight church camp experience in June.  Only one night away from home but still a pretty big deal for an 8 year old.  Pretty big deal for the baby's mama.
It's kind of funny how brave and excited 2 little girls can be when they have each other.  Abi joined her sweet friend, Sophie, for 27 hours at King Solomon Christian Camp (outside of Abilene).  Sophie's mom, Amy, attended the camp many years, both as a camper and a counselor. 

The excitement leading up to camp came to a screaching halt when it was time to leave home and head for camp.  Excitement was quickly replaced by anxiety.  We had donuts at the donut shop for breakfast to try to ease some of the anxiety.  It didn't really help.

We ran into a major thunderstorm on the way to camp.  The hard rain, lightning and thunder didn't help ease either of the girls' anxiety.  The mommies became concerned too when we realized we didn't pack umbrellas, jackets or any sort of rain/cool weather gear.  The hail that greeted us at camp didn't help any of us.  Thank goodness the girls had each other and the mommies had each other.  And, just for good measure, we took Sophie's grandma with us too.  She was the glue that held us all together.  She had a dry pillow for Abi and jackets for both of the girls.  The girls really wanted to stay at her house in Abilene for a sleepover instead of going on to camp :)

We got the girls settled in their bunks before we left.  Grandma Janie totally came to the rescue when she "moved" the counselor's name tag from the bunk next to Soph so Abi could sleep there.  She was totally my hero for the week!

These girls were so nervous about this new experience.  They didn't know anyone else at camp.  Most of the kids came with a church group and knew at least one of the counselors.  Not these brave girls.  They had each other and Jesus.  Amy sent her stuffed bear, Honey Jo, with Soph.  Honey Jo went to camp every single year with Amy so he knows the ropes.  He was a major source of comfort for all of us.

As any good mom would do, we pulled a couple Sharpies out of our purses and did our own little version of "The Kissing Hand." We promised them they would be safe, they would have fun and that we would pick them up the next day.  It was really hard for mommy not to cry.

Thankfully, it stopped raining shortly after we got there. We sent our girls off, confident that they were going to be okay... hoping and praying that they would have fun.  Big gulp for mommy.

Then we snuck back up to their bunks and left happy little notes on their beds...

The sun came out after we left the campground.  The girls got to go swimming, play lots of games, made some new friends, ate yummy camp food and made lots and lots of great memories together.  That night was very quiet at our house.  I'm pretty sure it wasn't so quiet at camp. 

We picked up two happy, silly little girls the next day.  We got to hear lots of fun stories on the way home and have heard many references to "next year".  "Next year" means this year was a huge success!  Next year will be 2 nights and 3 days.  Such a smart way to ease little campers (and their mommies!) into church camp.

I love the way Amy described the ride home - We loved so much that these girls had fun, but the ride home with 2 silly, slap happy little girls wasn't near as enjoyable as the drive with just Amy and I. We decided next time we should send the daddies to pick them up. =)