Summer Camp, Marvelously Made Style!

We are currently in the midst of our second summer camp session at Shelby's school. The picture below pretty much sums up how we all feel about it!

Shelby had her first week of camp at the end of June, and we're in the midst of her second week now. She has had an absolute BLAST at camp, but it has WORN US OUT! The camp runs from 9am to 1:30pm Monday-Thursday. I knew the 1:30 pickup time would be tricky for us since that's when I'm usually getting the girls ready for their naps, but I didn't think it would be that bad b/c it's only an extra 90 minutes longer than Shelby's typical school day {9am-noon}. Boy, was I wrong! The first week of camp, she practically had a melt down the entire drive home b/c she was so tired and wanted to be in her bed RIGHT NOW. This week has been much better b/c I think she knew what to expect, but it's still been hard on all of us. I race the girls home from camp, and I can usually have them both in their beds by 2:15. Then I need a good 20-30 minutes to collaspse on the couch and completely zone out before I can function again. ;) 

Shelby before her first day of camp--The Great Outdoors!

Totally didn't expect this, but I was so sentimental about packing her first "school lunch!" :(  This was the first time she'd ever eaten lunch away from me in a group setting. I wrote her a note in her lunch box b/c I remembered loving when my mom used to do that for me. I just knew Shelby was going to love having a note to surprse her! When I picked Shelby up from camp that first day, the first words out of her month were: "Guess what was in my lunch box?!" Naturally, I replied: "A note from Mommy! Did you like it??" Much to my surprise, she completely shot that down and said: "No, an ICE PACK! Can you believe it?? I had my OWN ICE PACK!" Who knew an ice pack could be so thrilling?!

While Shelby has been at camp, it's been fun to have some one-on-one time with Hadley. She literally talks non-stop all the time, but with Shelby gone she's been talking my ear off! We've had a lot of fun together!

Swinging like a big girl!

Storytime!
I used to take Shelby to storytime all the time in Biloxi starting when she was a baby, but we haven't gone much since we've moved here b/c the times conflict with our school schedule. We've been going a lot this summer though, and I've been amazed how still Hadley will sit & listen. She loves it!

Shelby & Hadley on the first day of our second camp session, Bubble Bonanza!

I don't even know what to say about their matchy-matchy poses here ;)

Summer camp means epic naps!

The time between when the girls wake up from their naps and when Derek gets home from work usually feels like an ETERNITY to me. It's never my finest hour in the patience department, but I always try to make sure the girls are from their naps by 4ish to get their afternoon "milk & story time," a somewhat healthy snack, some type of activity/playtime, and finally we make an afternoon trek to the mailbox together {aka time killer}. But I wised up after our first exhausting week of camp, and I have COMPLETELY thrown our afternoon routine out the window! They're napping late {4:30-5ish}, and we are spending our afternoons cuddled up on the couch together working our way through some Disney classics that we checked out from the library. :)


Even though our Shelby-girl will be turning FIVE in less than two months, we are immensely grateful that we have another year with her before Kindergarten. None of us are ready for the longer days quite yet! ;)