Overnight Camp

This year Cailey was old enough to go to overnight camp and she was SO excited about it! She is a social girl and not afraid of staying away from home at all...and loves it! I sure did miss her but she had such a great time and was excited to see us when we picked her up. (The first picture is of her realizing we were there...LOVE the happiness!) We went to her cabin and her buddies were so sweet to both us and her...I'm thankful for that!

The first thing she said when I asked her what she learned was "Life's not Fair." That was the theme for the week and she definitely got the point! They went to fun bible classes twice a day, rode go carts, played putt putt, did archery, did the zipline (her FAVORITE), swam in both the lake with the big slide and the pool with the small slide, played soccer and other field games, played hide and seek in the dark with the counselors, went to bonfires at night, did skits, learned new songs, ate tons of junk food, played table games, and more! She had an incredible week but was glad to get home to us:).

We picked her up on Ephram's birthday and she was so funny about it. She simply couldn't believe that he was TWO now AND he didn't wear diapers. I purposely planned his potty training while she was gone because she's my social girl who doesn't love staying at home all week. She missed her siblings and gave them lots of love. They were excited to see her too...and Ephram didn't want to leave her side.


fun on the playground before the program began. check out that crazy hair on the slide!


She missed sweet ephram a lot! Oh...and her cabin ended up being the only one to win an award! She was thrilled about that and got to go up and get a ribbon.


old and new friends. it was nice to know there were some familiar faces with her but the girls she met were all new friends.

Cailey spent the few months before going to camp learning how to do things for herself...which before I just did for her. Namely showering and combing her hair out. It's so hard to get all the shampoo/conditioner out of her hair that she's always just wanted me to do it for her when her friends have been doing it independently for at least 3 years. I've always been fine with it...but am thankful she had this opportunity to learn how and practice everyday! Now that she's been home she showers completely independently...which for her is HUGE.

Another thing I want to remember (that I hope she looks back on and laughs about) is how much stuff of hers we found lying around camp. Cailey tends to have 'blonde moments' (as Brian calls them). When we were walking to her cabin we saw several things lying around camp...that were ONLY hers. First up came her bible lying on a picnic table....Brian noticed it and the laughter began. Then we came to her camera! I'm so thankful we got them! No one else in the whole camp did it but her:). I was joking with her about it because when I got to her cabin she was the only one who's stuff was unpacked and lying on her bunk for me to pack (guess we still need to work on that independence:). Then we went to the program and wanted to go down by the water for a picture. As we were walking down we saw her TOWEL laying in front of us! Unfortunately she was too tired for joking and didn't think it was funny....but the rest of us did:).

Another funny thing was that I addressed and stamped letters for her to send to us. I went to camp as a kid (sometimes for two weeks) LOVED it and always wrote home. We talked about her writing to us if she had time and she said she def. wanted to so we bought new stationary for her to take with her. Braden checked the mail daily in hopes there was a letter from her but none ever came. I assumed she was having too much fun and didn't have time. Brian told me he bet there was a 'blonde moment' and I just kept saying no. As soon as we got there she said, "Mommy, I wrote you letters and forgot to send them":)! It was so funny to us because they were already addressed and stamped! They were very sweet and we enjoyed reading them when we got home.

New Life Camp was such a blessing and a great place for her to spend the week!