The Boy is off to camp...
1st day 2010
Originally uploaded by dremiel
Woke way too early and got The Boy off to camp yesterday. He wanted to get there early to get a first shot at bunk choice and to claim a bunk for a friend who was coming by bus from Houston (apparently they worked all this out on Facebook). So while we waited a bit for the gates to open the check in procedure (photo id, med check, head check for lice, etc...) was very fast and we had him unpacked and were ready to head back to Austin before 10:15. One neat thing about this year (and next) is the unit he is in is somewhat separate from the rest of camp so the four cabins/eight bunks of 13-14 year olds are in their own village of sorts (about 90 campers this year). The only older campers are the kids in Kibbutz - who are really on their own and do all their own cooking and such and the Counselors in Training. As this is his seventh summer at the camp it is weird to think that he's only got two more years there (not counting the summer in Israel with the same kids after his Junior year in HS) before he comes back as a CIT (if he still wants to by then).
We were home by noon so the whole thing clocked in at a record-breaking six hour round trip! This session is the largest they've ever had: 512 campers! Maybe I am glad we were in the first twenty or so families through the gate.
This is the first shot from the camp's photo hosting site. Probably taken within a few minutes of when we left as it looks like move in is still in progress. Nerf basketball was the very first thing unpacked!
So...kid-less until 4th August. The way this works is that I let the ever-present responsible for another person OMG weight slide for a bit, Dave and I stay out much too late and drink more than normal and see a lot of live music, Dave and I engage in certain behaviors with rather less discretion than normal, then, about a ten days from now, I begin missing The Boy LIKE OXYGEN and start every morning hunting up new pics of him!
How this works for The Boy: Zip lines, kayaking, color wars, song cycles, BFF, fencing, hanging with 500+ other Jewish kids, archery, writing skits, free swim, tennis, raiding other cabins, ropes course, mail call, AND AT NO POINT DOES HIS MOTHER TELL HIM TO BRUSH HIS HAIR!