Kelly’s “Life Cycle Of The Butterfly” Tshirt made entirely with her thumbs and feet, because you know what is better than thinking about science?  WEARING IT.

We tried camps for the first time this summer.  Not “real” camping, as Kelly had quietly feared.  When we drove up the Arts Center for her ballet camp, she asked me why I hadn’t packed a backpack and a tent?  That poor child thought I was going to leave her outside, by herself, in tiny ballet shoes with a load of camping gear.  Apparently Kelly’s 4th year is going to be the year of wild thinking.  But, to be fair, we did call it “camp” for months.  What was a 3 year old to think?

We tried a couple of morning camps, and after having children in morning preschool for many years, I knew how much I would NOT be getting done during that short duration.  I scratched the list making and just bumped about town, thoroughly enjoying myself.

I’m pretty sure most our camp tuition went towards craft supplies.  This was my island after only 1 day of camp.  The “Magic Tree House Camp” hosted by Sara’s school was by far the favorite of the 3 we tried.  Every day Sara crawled through the Magic Tree House and found herself in a different book, in a different time period, and in a different country.  Our school library is more magical than I realized.  Sara absolutely loved every minute of it.  Kelly had imagined that in bug camp, there would be nothing but LIVE LIVE LIVE bugs, and she was disappointed in the amount of “not live bug” activities.  On the other hand, when the day came for her to actually catch live bugs, she freaked out, and had to be picked up by her Daddy.  Again…4 is shaping up to be quite the ride.

So my summary: camp at the nearly 6 and 4 age range: Morning only? Yes.  Early in the summer?  No.  Wait until they are bored stiff.  Which ones?  In the places where they are most familiar, such as their own school.  Of course, these thoughts are specific to my untame child creatures.  I’m sure there are plenty of tikes who like all day camp in new places with new faces.  I certainly didn’t give birth to those children, but I dream that they exist, and I wish them upon you!