Greetings from Camp

Number One Son completed his first ever basketball camp this week. We are always a little nervous when he starts something new. Especially if it involves lots of people, action and noise. There are times when he will get sensory overload and things will start to bother him. He has played basketball before with his team, so he was familiar with most of the noise and action. When dropping him off at the camp, we were pleasantly surprised to find a few boys he knew from school. They didn't recognize him at first due to his expressive hair, but once the initial shock had passed, they all got down to ball playing business.

I was only able to stay and see a few minutes on two of the days so I had to rely on N1S to fill me in.

"Did you have fun?, I would prompt.

"Yeah."

"What fun things did you do?", I pried.

"I don't know."

"Did you dribble?"

Staring at Spongebob on television, "Uh-huh."

"Did you shoot the ball?"

Still staring, "Uhhhhh.....(trails off)".

"How many touchdowns did you score?", I tested.

"Oh, I didn't count.", still in TV trance.

So I gave up on that conversation. He did come home sweaty each day so I will assume that he actually played some basketball.

At the end of the week, he got his tee shirt and the coaches said he did fine. We are always a little nervous sending N1S alone to a noisy, crowded situation but he did pretty well for himself.

This week Sweet Pea also finished up on her week long Girl Scout day camp. She went for four days from 8:30am to 5pm. This week also was the hottest of the summer with each day reaching 80 degrees. Each day SP came home an exhausted ragamuffin. Even though she was tired, we always got the full story of her day. They made crafts, learned songs and did science experiments.

SP would usually relate most of what they did for science.

"First we took a cup and put some vinegar in it. Then we put some other stuff in it, and it crackled. Then we put some different stuff in it and it foamed over.", she explained.

"Do you remember what the 'stuff' was that you put with the vinegar?", I asked.

"Um....I forgot.", she answered.

Very excitedly, "Then the teacher took a bottle of pop and put some candy in it and it shot up."

"Was it Diet Coke and Mentos?", I hypothesized.

"Yeah! How did you know, Dad?"

"I used to be a girl scout, too.", I joked.

I'm glad she got the joke.

On the last day of the camp, all of the girl scouts went to the beach for a beach party. SP was a little frustrated that morning getting her new swimsuit on. Lady Di said she had two legs in one hole and the top on upside down. Lady Di straightened her out and showed SP the little logo on the swim pants.

"See where this says Speedo? That goes in the front.", instructed Lady Di.

Just then SP frustration left as her face lit up and her eyes widened with excitement.

"This is a Speedo!"

Where did a six year old learn what a Speedo is?

Lady Di was lucky enough to be a chaperon for the beach trip. She thought she would be able to lay on the beach and relax. On the bus ride to the beach, Lady Di was treated to a girl scout sing-a-long. The entire way. Listening to a busload of little girl scout shouting campfire songs was enough to make Lady Di rethink her luck.

On the way home, Lady Di had the idea to sneak over to the second bus. That way she would be able to sit with Sweat Pea and enjoy a little peace for the return trip. As Lady Di settled into her seat and lowered her eyelids, she heard a familiar voice from the back of the bus.

"I heard that this bus didn't get to sing on the way to the beach! Well, we'll fix that for the ride home!" , cheered the song leader from the first bus.

Lucky Lady Di.