All The Boys Go To Summer Camp

Last week, the Two Lads were at camp for the very first time, and Daddy went along, staying at the camp in my capacity as Kitchen Help along with Auntie Ann.  I tried to strike just the right balance between checking in with them and letting them have an unhindered camp experience, and I was very happy, on the way back from camp, to learn that Ian felt we had done just that.  The boys were in "Boys 1" - the unit for the youngest boys, and Auntie and I stayed in tents some distance up the hill from them.

On Sunday, we took the long ride to Pennsylvania and arrived at camp in the early evening.  Daniel and Ian ended up as tent-mates.  Amy was very concerned when she heard that, but Ann and I suspected that even Ian was secretly relieved to have his brother's company in these new surroundings.

Camp was packed with adventure.  The first full day, at supper, the camp administration announced that there would be a surprise after the meal.  The surprise turned out to be a polka band, out on the green in front of the dining hall.  Nearly the entire camp joined in dancing, including a roughly 200-person chicken dance circle, followed by the Hokie Pokie, which Ian and Daniel had never done before, since they were born in the 21st century.  Ian was in the full swing of it, and I even took off my apron and joined in the fun.  Daniel danced a bit, but then went back to kicking a soccer ball around on the periphery of the dancing.

Tuesday was Carnival, which involved all kinds of revelry down by the river, including a pinata and different games.  I had gone swimming in the river during the carnival, and on my way back uphill, Daniel found me and gave me a Sour Lemon Warhead candy to eat, discussing just how sour it was, with me.  Then he gave me a second one.  I was going to go back up the hill, and Daniel said, "Daddy, could you stay here for awhile?"  "How long?" I asked.  "Ummm... about two hours?"  So even plucky little Daniel missed me a bit.

Wednesday was "man-making" day.  I'm afraid I didn't see this one - it would have been the highlight of the week for me, if I had known it was going to happen in advance - but I got an enthusiastic, detailed account from Roberto, my godson's father.  I had seen the man-making undertaken by an older group of boys previously and thought of Daniel the entire time - it involved dunking your body in a bucket of water, crawling on the ground, and all kinds of Camp LeJeune type activities.  Needless to say, Roberto said that Daniel seemed to be entirely entranced, and no doubt overjoyed, at this, the closest chance he will ever get to attending boot camp as long as Amy and I have any say in the matter.

Thursday involved bee-bee gun-shooting and archery.  I was quite surprised to learn that Daniel prefers archery over bee-bee guns.  Yet Private Daniel looked quite content with a rifle in his hand.  I texted a nice p picture of Daniel crouched with a big weapon and goggles, aiming solemnly at a remote target, for Liberal Mommy to enjoy.

Thursday involved a massive shaving-cream battle on a field, consisting of two barbasol-bearing armies. It Daniel never looked happier than that day, when he was wearing nothing but a tropical-patterned bathing suit and a heavy layer of shaving cream, covered virutally from head to toe.  Ian also looked pretty happy with that situation, although Daniel is a tough act to follow in that regard.

Thursday night was campfire night.  I spent the first part of it, in my role as Kitchen Guy, chasing people around with hot dog buns, helping them remove their toasted hot dogs from the wooden-handled metal stakes they were using to make their supper over the fire. After the meal, the whole camp performed a talent show, mostly consisting of skits undertaken by the various units.  The boys' counselors were realists; they didn't think that eight-to-ten-year-old lads could really memorize and perform skits, so they had them read off a list of jokes.  But because the text of the jokes were sometimes long-ish, they would often have one boy read the first part of the joke and another one complete  it, but there was always a pause after the first boy would complete his half-joke, as if for people to laugh.  And some of us couldn't help but laugh at that point.

Friday the boys were involved in a "man-hunt" - again more Camp-Lejeune-meets-Lord-of-the-Flies, perfect for Daniel - involving the "skins" (shirtless boys) playing a military-like version of hide-and-seek against the "shirts."  This was one of the many activities I enjoyed fluttering into to take pictures and then moving on eventually to let the boys be boys.

For Friday night, the camp administration was extremely realistic:  the older kids had a dance, and the younger kids watched The Lego Movie.  Of course, we know this one pretty well, but they still enjoyed i t- the youngest boys and girls up in the staff cabin, in their pajamas, spread out on their sleeping bags, watching the movie, as a few other parents and counselors and I passed out freshly popped popcorn.

Saturday was less structured, and Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning were focused around church, since this was an Orthodox camp.  Bishop Nikolai came from Manhattan to server Liturgy, and nearly the entire camp participated fully in the service.

I could see what fun Daniel was having all week, but with Ian being a bit more introverted, I wasn't always quite as sure about him.  This week reminded me of how the intellectual genes and the social genes are often distributed somewhat disparately among siblings.  But when Amy asked the boys if they want to go back next year, upon our arrival Sunday night, Ian danced up and down, beaming as he shouted "Yes!"  It turned out that Ian had saved a different souvenir from camp for each day of the week.

(July-August, 2014)