Camp's Over

This summer has gone by in a blur. The weather had been just awful, with lots of rainy days and unbearably humid ones. But it was Hannah's first real camp experience, and Max's beginning days at the JCC. Here are the highlights.

Hannah attended two camps, T-ville Trails and Kaleidoscope. The former is run by Newton Parks and Rec, the latter by the JCC. T-ville was located at the elementary school that Hannah will be attending, and it was great for her to get the lay of the land. She spent time in the art room, gym, and library, and learned to climb "The Spider" structure on the playground. After 3 weeks there, she spent 4 at the JCC, and got to see her brother there on occasion. She had both swim lessons and free swim, loved the science and art projects, and as predicted, didn't really enjoy the sports at all. She did her first play on a stage, "Mr. Gumpy's Boat" and clearly enjoyed herself and felt very proud. I think she had a great time.

Max has had a more difficult adjustment, but I think he has the routine down now. He's really enjoyed swimming and has brought home some interesting craft projects. It sounds like his best friend is a boy named Avi, since that's the name he shares with us most often. It's so frustrating not to be able to talk to him about his day, but his vocabulary is growing every day. Last night he asked, "what's this?" for the first time, frustrated that he knew the word for teeth, but couldn't remember it. Max had his first turn as Shabbat Helper, and his versions of the prayers and the way he says "Amen!" is totally adorable. He's only had 5 other kids in his class, but that number will grow in the fall. I'm sure he'll be excited to go back.

The kids are both on vacation until September 9th, which is just absurd. They'll first be spending a few days with their grandparents in CT, and then Marc and I are alternating days, with a few at Bright Horizons back-up center at my office thrown in. It'll be a bit exhausting, but we'll get through it. Hopefully we'll have a great time at Storyland - one more week until we go!