Summer camp was a big part of my childhood. I remember going to camp every summer from the time I was nine years old until the summer after I graduated high school! I went to several different camps depending on where we were living at the time, but I never missed a summer! Some of my dearest long-time friends are people I met at summer camp (like my friend, Adam, that we saw when we went to Nashville in May), and I just have great memories of being a camper.
One of the camps I went to for several summers is Little Blue Bible Camp, outside of Kansas City. I was a camper there when I was 12, 13, and 14 (and maybe another year, as well). Last year, my sister, her husband, and her daughter took a few kids from church and went to LBBC. They had a great time and made plans to go again this summer.
Since Brianna is nine years old, she was eligible to go to camp this summer with our other church kids. I love the idea of my kids going to camp - and I certainly want them to have the amazing camp experiences I had growing up - but the thought of sending her over four hours away for an entire week was hard on my heart. I mean, she's only nine! I was pretty sure she'd be fine, but I wasn't sure I would fine!
However, my sister and her husband were both signed up to be counselors during Bri's session, and Bri would actually be in the same cabin as my sister and her daughter, Chloe. Had this not been the case, I'm not sure I would have sent her. However, I felt so much better about the whole thing knowing my sister would be her counselor.
I've often said about my kids that they were born in the perfect order. Brianna is my girl who doesn't really feel nervous or anxious about new situations. She was beyond excited to be going to camp, and not once did she show any apprehension about it. I'm pretty sure Bren was more reserved about Bri going to camp than she was!
I helped her pack all her things, and she was just so happy the entire time!
Like I mentioned above, LBBC is about a four hour drive from our house. I wanted us to be the ones to drop her off for her first ever camp session, so after church was over on Sunday we hit the road for LBBC. We made good time, got her all checked in, and I was able to help her choose a bed and get her stuff set up for the week.
I haven't been to this camp in over twenty years, but it looked and felt the same to me!
Brianna, Brooke, and Brecklyn outside of Cabin 4
After getting Brianna settled in, we ate supper with all the campers and staff. Then, we stayed for a Bible study. I think Brianna was relieved when we finally left, haha!
We had a four hour drive home that we didn't begin until about 8:00pm. Almost immediately, we drove into a terrible rain storm that prevented us from driving full speed on the highway. Visibility was horrible, and we even drove through several bouts of hail. After about two hours of making slooooow time (we could only drive about 40-50 mph on the highway), Chris decided we should get a hotel for the night. At the rate we were going, we wouldn't make it home until after 2:00am, so I agreed with him! We got a room just off the highway in Butler, MO, Chris ran to the Wal-mart next door to get some supplies we needed for the night, and we finished our journey home the next morning.
Throughout the week, Lisa sent me just a few texts to let me know that Bri was doing great. I sure missed her, but I was always happy and relieved to hear from Lisa about how she was doing. Seeing the photos was like taking a step back in time because Brianna was camping with the children of several people I went to camp with back in the day. I thought that was neat!
The camp session ended on Friday afternoon, but we went back to camp on Thursday to spend the evening. Chris took a half day off work, and we arrived at LBBC just after they finished supper. We were able to meet some of Brianna's friends, and Brenson played several games with the campers. Then, we attended chapel and stayed for some games and social time afterward. We got a hotel room nearby for the night, and went back out to camp on Friday around lunchtime to pick Bri up.
I remember how hard it was to leave camp as a kid, and I could definitely tell that Bri was feeling that. However, I think she was also happy to be going home with us :-). It only took her about 10 minutes to fall asleep in the van once we pulled away from camp.
"Camp tired"
Since camp got out on Friday, I had the genius idea that we should spend the night in KC, do some sightseeing and enjoy the city, then head for home on Saturday. As cliche' as it is, hindsight can truly be 20/20, and this wasn't the best idea.
For one thing, Brianna was exhausted. She was cranky and short-tempered with her siblings, and it just made everything kind of tense. Also, her siblings were tired from driving back and forth and being out waaaaay later than normal the night before. All of the kids being grumpy and at each other made Chris's already short fuse pretty much non-existent. That's not to say we didn't have any fun - we did - I'll just think twice about the timing before planning something like this again.
Also, I had lots of photos on my phone of Brianna by the camp sign, Brianna playing games at camp, and our family sightseeing in KC, but my phone fried before I backed them up. The photos in this post are all ones I had posted to Instagram, so they were preserved that way. I'm super sad about losing photos, but I'm also very grateful that all my other photos had been backed up.
We stopped for an early dinner at Chuy's on the way to our hotel after picking up Brianna, then Chris took the kids swimming at the hotel. They all wanted to put their newly acquired swimming skills to use, and we felt like it was a good opportunity for them to practice. Of course, Brianna had been swimming every day at camp, but she was still game for more!
Brooke
Brenson
Brianna
Brecklyn
That evening, we ate popcorn and cake while watching a movie in our hotel room.
The next morning, I wanted to do some sightseeing around the city. I lived in KC during part of my childhood, and it's one of my very favorite cities! I think it's just beautiful, and I wanted the kids to enjoy it, too. Like I said above, things didn't go super smoothly, but I was glad we got to see a few things anyhow.
We visited the beautiful Union Station,
enjoyed some fountains,
walked up to the top of the World War 1 Memorial,
and enjoyed the gorgeous views of the city!
The kids had a great time racing back down to our van!
After that, we drove over to City Market and through the plaza. We didn't get out of our vehicle at either place (sadly).
We didn't have time to do too much before we needed to start for home. Our goal was to be home before dark, and we rolled into our driveway just as the sun was setting.
Brianna is already talking about going to camp next year (and asking to attend more than one session), and I think by the time Bren is old enough to go (the year after next) he'll be ready, too! I love that Brianna was able to have the 'camp experience', but parenthood is so bittersweet. Watching her grow up is simultaneously the most incredible and most heartbreaking experience!
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