TRIUMPH MUSIC CAMP

Cora attended Triumph Church's annual summer music camp this week while James was at Bricks, Bots, and Beakers, and the week ended with a splash party. Cora loved it!

CAMP INVENTION 2019

Since James did not attend Cub Scout daycamp this year (no new badges to earn - he got them all last summer as a Webelo), he was able to attend Camp Invention with Cora this year. They both loved it and learned so much! They were really excited to show us all their creations on the last day.

JAMES' SUMMER ART CLASS

James got to participate in a summer art class at the Catholic Schools taught by one of the moms from Cora's soccer team and he really enjoyed getting to work with all the different media (and getting to go by himself, without Cora, for a change - she was at Bricks, Bots, and Beakers this week). Hopefully he'll be able to do it again next summer!

To celebrate (and because class ended at lunch time, and Cora was headed to a play date with Cara Beth straight from her camp this day), I took James to Walnut Hills for the first time. We had a round table all to ourselves (which was, of course, way too much food and quite expensive for a little guy who doesn't eat much), and James tried a little bit of everything. His favorite was the grilled chicken and black-eyed peas.

BRICKS, BOTS, AND BEAKERS

Cora and James each did a week (half days, not at the same time) at Bricks, Bots, and Beakers camp doing various science experiments and other STEM projects. Cora was especially thrilled because she got to spend her week with her best bud!

Poor kid is so tired already this summer (and we have a lot of weeks to go!) - lots of late nights, early mornings, extra activities with day camps and half day camps and evening camps, sleepovers, play dates, and more time outdoors than they ever get during the busy school year. 

WINSHAPE CAMP

The kids were super excited to attend WinShape camp this year! (It's a local Christian daycamp  hosted by one of the largest churches in town.) They both have a lot of friends who attend each year and have always wanted to go themselves. They were a little nervous at first (making a pact to stay together until they felt comfortable - melt our hearts), but quickly branched out and truly enjoyed all the activities (they each got to pick 4 "lands" they wanted to participate in throughout the week, such as "Man Land", "Splash Zone", and "Wacky Science" to name a few) and worship services. The end of the week got a little intense for them (small group talks and interviews about going to church) and they're unsure about doing the camp again, but I know the week was fun for them! 

(having a few of their older friends there as counselors helped too!)

(the buckets contained coins that the campers earned throughout the week, with each age group "camp" competing to win the most coins)

(he won a medal in Man Land this day AND learned to shave, so he was feeling pretty cool)

Free donut day was celebrated on the way to camp this morning: 

The week ended with a great big party (dancing and bounce houses and waterslides), and a free lunch and worship service for parents to attend before pickup. 

All in all, a good week. It's a nice event put on here locally, for sure.

DAYCAMP RESUMES

First day of YMCA daycamp comparison (and maybe our last one?...)

CAMP INVENTION

Cora got a scholarship to Camp Invention this summer (James did too, but it overlapped Cub Scout Daycamp and he chose that instead), so she spent the week learning all about Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Robotics (and had a lot of fun with dress-up days and crafting along the way, plus hanging out with a bunch of her school buddies).

(Animal Day)

(Camp Invention didn't start until 9:00am, so she spent an hour or so every morning in Jay's office - I was away for work - coloring on his white board and reading) 

On the last day they had a "show" for parents that included a photo slideshow from throughout the week, some poems and information from the older campers about what they learned, and a chance to see all their creations for each section before we loaded it all up to take home.

(Cora was super happy to have Mrs. Ferracci and her daughter, and Mrs. Westcott leading the Bowmar Camp Invention session this week)

Showing off her robot cat, modular "smart house", and other items:

Mrs. Ferracci's daughter was a favorite:

She really wants to go back next year (and James wants to join her), so hopefully we can make that happen. It was a fun new experience for her and she learned so much (every day she came home telling us all about her various projects and programming)!