Summer Camp 2023!

Oh. My. Goodness. PEEPS.

I’ve been trying to share a post since MONDAY about my twins/not twins and their classic summer camp experience this week. But…

Monday got hectic and turned into Tuesday.

Then, Tuesday got hectic and turned into Wednesday.

Then, Thursday…welp. You get the idea!

Needless to say, when yesterday evening rolled around and I still didn’t have time to share, I decided to just hold off until tonight, when the whole week would be in the books and I’d have lots of pics to share!

So…without further (further!) delay, I give you my day camp kiddos! I’ll share some pics of them on various days this week and then rewind and explain more about the actual camp, m’kay??

Heeere they were this morning, before we left:

They were dressed in blue for their Alpha (red) versus Omega (blue) camp battle that apparently happens every week of camp on the last day.

And, yes, that crazy “hat” of Little Man’s was selected by him and purchased from camp, tehe.

Here they were, a bit more ragged but just as smiley, at the end of the day:



Now rewinding a bit to Day 1…

Here they were, all fresh and early-morning-ready-to-go, with all their gear. :)



Side note: this is what happened when I told them to hug or look like they love each other, baha:





Here was my boy at the end of Day 1, still smiling and happy (and tan and hot and stinky, ha):



Each day but Monday had a theme:

Knights/Princesses

Camouflage/Mission Impossible

Alpha versus Omega

And…Cowboy/Cowgirl (see Chicklet below, hehe)

The counselors really went all out with these themes, and so many of the day’s activities and challenges involved the designated theme, as well. 

Okay. Now. To rewind even further for some context.

Though I’m now aware that this camp is really well known and beloved, it was new to me when the mom of one of a Chicklet’s classmates reached out to me in the spring.

Her son—who is a longtime buddy of Chicklet’s—really wanted to attend again (for, like, the fourth year, and as the fourth kiddo in their family to attend!) but didn’t have a friend to sync up with, and Chicklet was ALL IN when I brought it to her attention. And so was Little Man!

And, thank heavens for this buddy system. because the camp is in New Braunfels, which is about 40 minutes from our house.

So the drop off and pickup each day is about an hour and twenty minutes round trip, so if you can’t sync up with someone to carpool, you’re going to spend THREE HOURS in the car each day, and…nope!

It worked sooooo well for us to do the morning drop-offs, and their family to do the pick-ups. It meant lots of fun friend time in the car, and the chance for me to eavesdrop on some adorable conversations. :)



But best of all: this little friend of Chicklet’s got a puppy in the spring and we’d seen pictures, but never met the puppy in person, and…UGH. She is sweet and cute and playful, and each morning, Chicklet and Little Man (and Chica, who was trapped in the third row for the ride) got their fill of doggie snuggles. :)









At one point, we seriously contemplated bringing this sweet little dog with us for the whole round trip, but we had to head straight to the airport that day to grab Aunt Nancy (more on that later!) so our plans were foiled, ha. But it was a major perk of the carpooling to get puppy time each day!

Though on the final afternoon (today) we actually did have to make the drive twice, as there was a small closing ceremony to attend at the end of the day. 

My cutie pies were still smiling and silly and ready to go, bright and early this morning for this last bit of camp hoopla:

And we were so happy to spend a bit more time seeing what they’d been up to all week!



This camp is a full-on traditional summer camp (with optional sleep-over accommodations when the kiddos are old enough to be up for that option).

They spent 99% of their eight hour camp day OUTDOORS, and you truly known what your Texas babies are made of when they can weather triple digit temps for that many hours and still have a blast (and come home reallllly stinky, sweaty and dirty, ha).

They play all sorts of games, swim in a fantastic pool, with a high dive and a giant inflatable blob for being launched into the air and into the water. They play all sorts of games and sports and have quests and treasure hunts and skits and challenges, and they’re separated boy/girl into groups of about eleven, plus two counselors.

When I tell you the energy among all the crew leaders and staff is high, I mean HIGH. There is a lot of happiness and liveliness and no sullen young adults in charge of kiddos ANYWHERE in sight. The crew leaders are silly and active and engaged, and the kiddos love them for it!

We got to enjoy a fun little choreographed song and dance number and hear more about the week at the closing ceremony.

And the best BEST part of it all: this is a Christian camp, so there is biblical learning each day, and a wonderful foundation of discipleship in everything the campers and staff tackle. I lurved hearing the bits Chica and Little Man retained each day. It was like VBS times a hundred.

Then as a really wonderful ended date the closing ceremony, the kiddos break into their small groups so you can pick them up and chat with their counselors.



This is my boy after her just squirted himself in the face with his water bottle, just to cool off, ha.



And this was his camp leader he adored:

More water bottle mischief…



As a really lovely cherry on top of the camp week sundae, the counselors take a moment to talk about their favorite attributes of each child in their group, and present each kiddo with a certificate listing the most notable word that describes them.



Chicklet’s word was JOYFUL and if you know her, you know that word is spot on, and it makes my heart so happy to know that others recognize that essence of her spirit.



And, shocking me greatly (since we’ve been working on a ton of micro-adjustments to summer behavior in our household) Little Man’s word was RESPECTFUL.



I’m thrilled to know that he saves his ornery behavior for his Mama and his home and is still presenting his best self to the outside world!

As a final summer camp note: I was shocked at how well my babies handled such an intense week. Waking up at 6:30 a.m., and not making it home until nearly 5:30, I expected them to crash HARD. (I mean, I’m ready to crash hard).

But other than some small bits of exhaustion-fueled crankiness, they were champs. And definitely ready for bed once it was time tonight. :)



I’m SO grateful we wrapped up this really busy summer of ours on such a high note, activity-wise.

Much more with general thoughts about our summer-in-review next week.

But just know that we are DYING for a pajama day or two—finally!—next week, our final week of summer break. And we’re going to MAKE. IT. HAPPEN.

More later this weekend, peeps!

Over and out.