Camp Skymeadow

Laurel and I just got back home from Camp Skymeadow, where we went with some of the kids and moms from our Girl Scout troop. This was my first summer camp experience, and the first time we did a sleep away event with the girls from the troop. Camp Skymeadow is one of four camps owned by the Girl Scouts of Western PA. It's actually only 30 miles or so from my doorstep, but with almost 371 acres of hilly forest and meadow, it feels much further away. Our city girls were delighted by our green surroundings, the songs of the birds that woke us up, and the frogs and bugs they found when hiking around. The highlight, of course, was the horse riding lesson. When we sold cookies last winter, we donated some of the money to an organization for homeless girls and women, and then had to decide as a group how to use the rest. The girls wanted to go to horse camp and it was kind of an organizational challenge to figure out how to make that work. In the end 7 of our 10 girls were able to come, we had 3 older girls from other troops that meet at our school at the same time, and five moms and leaders. The 15 of us slept in a lodge, which had room for far more, but we were the only ones there. The camp we chose to do included all of our meals and activities, so all we had to do was show up.

The camp counselors were all in their teens/the early 20s. A bunch of them were from Wales and Scotland and all of them were fun, enthusiastic, patient with our little girls and knew tons of Girl Scout songs. The camp is fairly spread out, so we had to do a lot of walking. Just getting everybody from place to place required lots of extra time so they could stop and look into the pond, or count fireflies or look for hiking sticks. We chose to do horse riding, archery, arts and crafts and swimming. The adults got turns at all the activities, and it was definitely a chance for everybody to relax and have fun together. The first night we went to an all-camp bonfire, and the second night we had our own. Smores both nights, obviously. It was fun to teach the little girls about gathering kindling and stacking logs. Our older girls set the fire and led songs and organized marshmallow roasting.

The communication from GSWPA was pretty terrible. Basically non-existent. We didn't even get an emailed receipt that we had paid or confirmation that we registered. My co-leader spent the week before trying to track this information down to make sure they actually had spots for us at Skymeadow. We found the link for the health and code of conduct paperwork on our own. It almost seemed like the camp staff didn't know we were coming or what kind of camp experience we had registered for her. To their credit, they made us feel welcome immediately and got us an agenda for our activities. Two of the women in our group are very experienced with Girl Scouts, so they were annoyed by the lack of information, but not too surprised by it. They knew it would work out and it did. I wonder if maybe we're all just used to Too Much Information all the time and we feel awkward and scared when we don't get all the details in advance, color coded and cross referenced against standards and safety checkpoints. It's camp. Keep it simple.

This was Laurel's second camp experience this summer, and I honestly think she would be ready to go for a week by herself next year. Girl Scouts as an organization can be kind of maddening, but the Girl Scouts themselves? The women who show up year after year for crappy salaries to cook food and train teenage staff and handle maintenance and just generally keep these camps going are some of the most interesting and skilled people I have ever met. The teens and young adults who work as counselors are smart and have strong opinions but are all a little bit weird (in a good way, like they don't care what the world thinks of them). I'm really looking forward to the next camp trip we do with our girls.

I would definitely recommend this camp, but with the caveat that you have to expect some disorganization from GSWPA and you are just going to have to roll with it. It will be worth it, though.

Summer Activities

This week Marko and Laurel went off with some friends to the $1 movies (bless the mom who took 5 children to the movie theater, she is a saint), and I took Max for a walk. We went toddler pace, a rare opportunity for Max. He loves running but isn't too steady. He is getting the hang of staying on the sidewalk, although he hates to hold hands when we cross the street. We walked so far that he got tired and I had to carry him home. He perked up when I let him hold the house key during the last block. He was very surprised when we returned home and the house was quiet. He only knows pack life. I used to think birth order couldn't possibly matter that much (How much does one's parenting change over time?), but now I can see how it plays out...depending on how close in age you are to your siblings and how many of them there are, it really does matter how you come into a family.

I took some food and water to the panhandlers on the corner. It actually hasn't been that hot, just humid, but they all look terrible. Don't do drugs, kids. But be compassionate to your fellow man, whatever state he may be in. I have a lot more to say about hustling for cash like that, and heroin, and gentrification, but I only have 2 minutes to write this so I'll come back to that.

We are in the phase of parenting where we can see what life without babies will be like. Some of our kids are pretty independent. I took Laurel to Hartwood last weekend and I felt so relaxed even as she ran around pretty far away. She knows my phone number by heart and how to navigate her way through a crowd. We stayed until the very last song and the band was Tank and the Bangas so the last song was very long. All the songs were very long. She was tired on the way home and the next day but instead of acting like an insane hyperactive beast monster, she just took a nap and then returned to normal. I've heard from so many people that elementary aged kids are a real sweet spot in parenting and I can totally see that.

But we're not quite there yet. When you have babies, especially a few in a row, you get used to some very messed up things. Like occasionally waking up soaked in someone else's urine. And since it's 4:23 am you don't want to get up for the day or create any sort of commotion that would cause others to believe it is day, you just take off your shirt and curl up in a drier corner. M and I both did this last night/early this morning and nobody batted an eye over it!!  I've been washing clothes and sheets all day though. Thank goodness my mom came by for a visit.

Next up on our agenda is Girl Scout Camp (round 2...we're going with some girls from our troop) and then it's Ice Cream Social time!

I am really digging the slow pace of our days this summer. We also got AC so we can get some good rest at night, which is a real game changer.