Camp

Connor begged us last year to let him go to overnight camp, and we wouldn't let him. We thought he was too young. Given that he was begging again this year, and given that he was a year older, we decided to let him go. He opted to go to Rock Point camp through the Episcopal Diocese of Vermont. This was a great first choice because the director is a member of our church family, and the nurse is his nurse from school.
We dropped him off Sunday at 5:00 PM and picked him up Friday at 3:00PM. Although he didn't write any letters, we were able to catch up with him through the blog. I was at least able to see that he was alive and well! (Camping in the 21st century!)
We heard all about it when we picked him up. He said that the first night was extremely difficult. He cried a lot that night. We also heard it from the camp minister, who told us that came to her that first night and told her "overnight camp was not for him". Poor guy.

He said that after that the nights got easier. Today though, in church, he got very teary listening to one of my favorite hymns. (Peace is flowing). This is a favorite of mine, and one I taught him to play on the piano. He said they sang this at church, and it made him very homesick. I was very happy to hear that he felt a special relationship with that song.
He had some fantastic counselors, and I am so impressed with him for sticking it out and staying the whole week. He clearly learned a lot about himself through that. He's looking forward to going next year. Words cannot describe how proud I am of him. Nor can they describe how much I missed him!
Connor getting his beads during the closing Eucharist. The theme was light. He was reminded that he was the light of Christ. (Is he ever!)


Connor and his awesome counselors! Jordan and Scott. I guess they let him listen to their I Pods each night. (He put one under his pillow each night). He was able to listen to Harry Potter Pod-casts each night. What fantastic counselors! They took a very homesick child and made him feel very comfortable. We saw some of his other counselors today at church, and he was extremely excited!

It was so hard to be without him for a whole week. The girls kept asking me what I thought he was doing at certain times during the day. ("Mommy, is Connor eating lunch now?") I have to say, I was wondering the same things!
Back at home it was a nice quiet week. Not having Connor around certainly made for quiet times. It's funny how just taking away one child can make such a difference. Without Connor here, Aisling and Siobhan played perfectly well. With the three of them, there can often be differences. I have always said that if I had three I would want four. This week really made me wonder about that reality. Hmm.... wonder what God has in store for me with that....


Thanks to everyone at rock point for making Connor feel so comfortable! It was so fantastic to hear him singing the hymns he learned!