After the big kids returned from Youth Camp, it was Ellie's turn. She was so excited for her first experience at Kids' Camp and had been counting down the weeks and days. Last year would've been her first year at camp, but it was 2020. So this was her year.
I think she was most excited that she was the only Bayham kid to go to Kids' Camp without her parents chaperoning. Seth or I were always chaperones when Mason and Hannah Kate went. Ellie had never been away from home before without us. I think the thing that surprised her the most was that she actually missed us. And not on day four. But on day two. I also think she was frustrated with herself for missing us.
Ellie is very aware of my camp packing strategy and more than willing to go along with the labeled ziplock bag organizational system. She likes to make lists and manage her own stuff so she did most all of the packing herself.
She was in awe when she found out she was going to ride on a big chartered bus to camp. And it even had a bathroom in it! She was very skeptical about that so I had to explain it to her in comparison to the bathrooms on airplanes. It was quite a moment for me watching that big bus pull away, but I knew she was going to have the time of her life, and I knew the sweetest chaperones would be caring for her all week. Most of them are in our Connection Group so we'd already gotten to know them during the past few months.
Needless to say, but the time the end of the week finally rolled around, I was more than ready to see my girl. Seth was out of town that week, too, so it was just the big kids and me. It was very quiet around the house. The bus pulled up into the parking lot at church, and while I was waiting on her to get out, one of the chaperones came over to me with a big smile on his face. And my very first gut reaction was, "Uh oh."
She'd not even been gone six hours, and I was already getting a text from one of the chaperones. The kids were encouraged to bring a little extra spending money for the camp store. So we talked about it and determined that $40 would be more than enough. We have some very generous grandparents and great-grandmas and cousins who delight in sending my kids $5 here and there for everything you can imagine from picking up a stick to celebrating Flag Day. All of that money adds up over time, and I didn't really know how much Ellie had saved. So when we put the $40 aside, I told her to take the rest of the money and put it back up in her room. I didn't count it, nor did I check behind her. I should have. She obviously wanted to buy snacks for the entire camp and ended up with about four times as much as that $40 she was supposed to have. Only my kid. Only Ellie.
So "uh oh" is a very appropriate reaction. And then he proceeded to tell me that Ellie's name popped up on the big screen that morning during the worship service to go up on stage and lead out in a game. By this point, he's laughing and hasn't finished the story yet. And one of the other chaperones saw us and obviously figured out what he was telling me so she ran over to us with a big grin on her face. I mean, "Did she crawl under her chair or run out the back door?" was my response. Ellie can be the life of the party but only when it's her idea to be the life of the party. Getting called out to go on stage is definitely NOT her idea of a good time.
My friend said, "When we all saw her name up there, we all just looked at each other. We had no idea what she was going to do." I can only imagine!
But she did it! She went up on stage! And she even said a few words. Her name is on the top of the screen, and she's standing on the right side in this picture. All of the chaperones were so sweet to take so many pictures for us all week!
Ellie was on the yellow team, and they won OMC (Organized Mass Chaos, which is THE THING every year at CentriKid Camp). She came home with all of her stuff and no one else's so that was a huge win. And we only had to throw away a couple of things. So that was an even bigger win.
Here's the aftermath of OMC. Ellie is in the hot pink shorts.
It took a minute, but she finally got off the bus and ran up to me and gave me a big hug. That was the best hug she's ever given me! And then I asked her a million questions and wanted her to tell me all about it. I didn't get much. But I do know "the food wasn't that good." Spoken like a true Bayham!
I asked her if she wanted to go back next year, and she said she did. I think she might even be a little more willing and excited for me to be a chaperone and go with her!
This summer has been such a sweet reminder of all the good things I love about it, and Kids' Camp is one of those things! Several of the kids from our church made a profession of faith in Christ as their Savior and Lord at camp, and we've since celebrated their baptisms at church. There's nothing better! I am so very grateful for our church and leadership and new friends. They are so invested in God's Word and in making disciples of Christ.
