Looking Back At Camp Mimi

 

This is one tired Mimi checking in. I have sorted most of the toys, packed up the craft supplies, and swept up most of the glitter. Camp Mimi was a big success. Little Sister was sad to see the last day come, but it was time for her to go home because her school starts this week.

We tried to make it as camp-like as possible. I attended summer camps growing up and I took 4-Hers to camp for years as part of my job. And daughter Jessica worked one summer as counselor at a girls camp in northern Minnesota. So we had a good idea was what was essential to include.

One thing I was sure to include was "cabin clean-up." That turned out to be easy. Cleaning your "cabin" was much more fun than making your bed. She never complained about her cabin cleaning.

One of the 4H camp directors had a theory of what made for happy campers—"Feed them plenty of good food and let them swim, and the rest will take care of itself." We made sure to include both of those things.

As long as we were at the lake for a one night stay, a little fishing was in order. But there were no nibbles. She asked Daddy-O, "Why do the fish not like me?"

 

 All camps include crafts. Little Sister loved this part of our camp. I did, too.  I love her painting of the pier at the lake, complete with ladder and the chairs and red umbrella.

One afternoon was devoted to baking. She loves to spend time in the kitchen. We made pumpkin bread (her favorite.) We enjoyed one loaf that night. We packaged one loaf for her to take home to her family. And one loaf is in the freezer.

There was plenty of time for playing and plenty of opportunities to be a helper. She had not played checkers at home because she has a two-year-old sister who wants to play also—by grabbing her share of the checkers from the board. At camp, she could actually play an entire game undisturbed.

Every morning started with "opening the box" to find out what the plan for the day was. Each of our days had a theme. We had Learning Day, Play Day, Kindess Day, Cafe Day and Frozen Day. On Play Day, the box held bubble mix. On Cafe Day, she got a can of pumpkin for baking. On Frozen day she found the video Frozen and supplies for making a glittery blue tutu. (I'll tell you how to do this later.) I didn't tell her ahead of time what any of our plans were. That turned out to be genius because I needed to adjust my plans a few times. She never knew she had missed something that was on the list.

And you can't have camp without a camp T-shirt. Thanks to our artist daughter Jessica who designed our logo and speedy online printing, the camper and the entire staff got a shirt that will be a reminder of a fun week at the farm.