We made it home from swim camp last night, after a full 4 days away. The boys survived 8 1/2 hours of swimming per day, too.
I’d say there were a few mixed emotions over the week, but mostly positive. The boys were no trouble at all, though I think his friend was not totally comfortable being away from home/ not with family all week. I sensed a bit of anxiety/nervousness at times (along with many phone calls home), which I felt a little bad about. But I know it is pretty normal for many kids at this age.
Of our two boys, Asher is NOT like that. Ivan and I have joked that Asher could go off on an expedition to the Arctic Circle and all we’d probably get back from him would be a cool selfie of him with a penguin or something. LOL! Thankfully, he deals very well with being away from home. Ethan definitely not as much, but he’s way better now that he’s older.
On Wednesday night after camp I took the boys on a little “tour of the town” (sort of). We didn’t have a ton of time and I didn’t want to tire them out, either.
We stopped at Culver’s for a quick dinner and then hit up this super cool sculpture park. It was just a short walk through the woods with stops along the path to see various sculptures made of all different materials. The boys really loved it! I’m super glad we stopped.
This was their all time favorite- the massive bench! I had to hoist them up there.
The plaque next to it read this:
I thought this was cool!
Afterwards we did a little stop down by the Wisconsin River, where the boys skipped a few rocks and just enjoyed the view.
We stopped by the Historic downtown also, just briefly. If we’d had more time, it would have been fun to stay, because they had live music being played in the square and the guy was REALLY good!!
On the way back to the hotel we stopped for ice cream and then called it a day by around 8:15 p.m. I’m glad we got to at least sample the city! His friend said he was tired by the end of our mini-tour, and Asher and I were whispering to each other, “He’d never last on one of our family vacations!!!! 😂😂” (because we tend to do and see A LOT!)
I’m really glad this whole camp thing worked out, but also kind of glad it’s over!
It was pretty nice just chilling at the hotel during the day alone, though. I got some good work done and one day took a hot tub lunch break:
It took a lot to pack everything up, especially all the food they needed for breakfasts/ lunches at camp.
Next up… getting Asher packed up AGAIN to head to Des Moines, Iowa with Ivan this afternoon for a meet all weekend. (By the way, his one ear is doing much better since we started the drops- said it doesn’t hurt anymore. The bad news? Now his right ear is hurting!! ugh. Started antibiotic drops on that one last night now, too….just 2 more days and then he can ease up on the swimming a bit!).
Then, I need to get Ethan all packed up tomorrow to head to traditional summer camp on Sunday! Never a dull moment…. 🤪
Also- just opened my planner for the first time basically all week. This is probably the first time all year that it’s looked like this:
Daily Gratitude:
I’m grateful that we all survived a sort of unconventional week at camp! The boys said they’d do it again, so that is always a good sign. 🙂
GRATEFUL KAE 
Commenting quickly on this one, since I *just* commented on your post earlier this week. I’m so glad you survived, and love the pictures and information on Stevens Point. I am now plotting a trip up there, as it looks beautiful, and it has a lot of really cool stuff! (Town square, sculpture park, that lake trail you walked, the river…).
I was one of the kids who had trouble leaving home, too. Don’t ask my parents about the collect calls home the first time I was away for more than a week. I think it depleted their savings. It was bad. That said, it does get easier over time – hope that happens for Asher’s friend, and Ethan too!
And I hope ear #2 improves. Sigh.
Good luck with your busy busy busy re-entry to life at home!
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Let me know if you end up going! There were definitely other things there I would have liked to do and see, but just didn’t have the time. 🙂
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so funny that you also skipped journal when out of normal setting even though you had the day alone for you. I am really looking forward to get back to normal routine. Already writing down a list of things I want to do. 8..5 hrs of swim per day? that’s insane! your boys look so strong.
more camps for the boys? lucky them! I think mine will chill out for the rest of the summer, maybe a beach trip but otherwise just relax and enjoy the slow summer.
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Yes, only Asher swims so he was the only one at swim camp. Ethan stayed at my parents’ house while my husband worked this week while I was gone! So Ethan will be going to his first (and only) camp of the summer on Sunday- it will be similar I think to Sofia’s, a traditional outdoor type camp with swimming and outdoor activities, etc. Asher will go to the same one in August too with a friend, so Asher does have 2 camps this summer total, but Ethan just the one. Our July should be pretty relaxed though- not much planned!
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Gaah … how did I get so far behind Kae! What a busy busy week for you and Asher! I remember those athletic summer camps. I never went for swimming but instead running camp. It was an exhausting week. I was a top cross country runner in high school so we would go to the chicago area and spend the week running around the city and at the lake front. I loved the day times running all around but I have separation anxiety so I never slept very well away from my parents. The years my mom was a chaperone I did better but I was always very ready to get home and back to “life”. But then my family would often go to our place in colorado for the week after and I’d run in the mountains and with my family and while it was more challenging on my body I felt more rested and at peace because I was with my “safe people”. I’m just one of those homebodies! 😉
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That’s awesome that you were such a successful runner in high school! I bet those are some amazing memories. I know so many kids struggle with being away from home. I have one that does, and one that doesn’t. So, i feel like I have an interesting perspective on it! I like the comforts of home quite a bit, too- and I remember feeling pretty “homesick” in my first year of college away from home.
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Paul is too young for me to truly know how he will do with being away but my hunch is that he will be like Ethan. He has a pretty hard time saying goodbye when I do daycare drop off and every day he says, “no school today?” even on week days. He has fun when he is there but given the choice, he’d prefer to stay home with me. We went to a classmate’s birthday party at a park a couple of weekends ago and even though he knew the kids, he was extremely shy when we got there and it took a lot of effort to get him to leave my side and play with the kids. So unless he goes through a drastic change, he’s going to struggle with this I think! We’ll see how Will turns out, though!
I’m glad they had a positive experience all in all and would do it again!!
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