The Wall Street Journal JUST ran an article about people getting creative with summer camps in their own backyards, since so many elsewhere have been cancelled, and I texted my sisters to say, "We were hip and cool and camping before it was hip and cool to camp!"
When Chris and I first got married, I invited all my nieces and nephews to the farm for Camp Nin (the word that's easiest when you're little and can't say Adriane), and it's become a summer tradition ever since. To be fair, the first year I was a zealous camp director and made everyone t-shirts and bandanas and goodie bags . . . and this year I was a slightly less organized camp director and spent some time with my good friends Oriental Trading Company and Amazon.
Nevertheless, we prevailed. Camp Covid-NINteen must go on!
We had track and field events, like three-legged races with the tallest and shortest among us.
We had storytime each day, led by a different cousin, complete with crafts and snacks.
We went on picnics to the lake and ran up and down hills and fell and got very dirty.
We recreated Monet's Water Lilies to the best of our abilities.
We went to the Battle of Lexington Museum and learned about the battle of the hemp bales.
We learned about bird identification and painted our own birdhouses.
We worked on hand-eye coordination. Or maybe just getting sweaty in the Missouri heat.
We learned about Georgia O'Keefe's flower paintings and attempted to recreate them ourselves.
We had spa night for the little girls, where the cucumbers meant to calm our eyes ended up being a snack instead.
We raced each other wearing giant cardboard feet and tried not to fall down.
We survived (barely) a Civil War Escape Room.
We ate all our breakfasts on the porch so that we could listen to the birds, wave at the neighbors, and enjoy the sunshine.
We got to see new baby kittens!
We left the boys alone to have a game night with no girls allowed.
We read a lot of books.
And we even sneaked in a couple rounds of bingo before heading home.
No summer camp? Who needs it? We have Pinterest, moms, Aldi, Dollar Tree, and kids who are just excited to be with their cousins, learn new things, and try their hardest not to have to go to bed at night. After all, isn't that what camp is all about?
