Mother/Son Camping Weekend

Early last summer I started wondering if I would ever let Tate go to sleepaway camp when he was older.  Sleep away camp was definitely not something I did as a young child, so this is a foreign concept to me.  I'm definitely not up for my son being gone for 2-3 weeks at a camp, but I'd consider a one week camp;  I'm just unsure at what age.  I definitely know I don't think he'll be old enough until he's 9 or 10.  I did week-long band camp and church camp when I was in junior high and high school, but that was it.  The rest of my summer was spent at home with my mommy!

My biggest concern at this point though is Tate's food allergies.  I worry about finding a camp that can keep him safe.  There is a camp in Dallas specifically for kids with food allergies...they are free of the top 8 allergens.  I will definitely consider that camp as it would be so very nice to not have to worry about what Tate is eating at any point in time for the first time in my life.   But I also want him to go to a church camp.

With those thoughts in mind and knowing I have a very strict budget for these camps I just decided to start looking at camps.  My sister had gone to a camp as a young teen for several years with three of her best friends.  She had loved it.  I looked up their website.  Not only is it way more affordable than any other camps I've heard of, but it also had a mother/son camping weekend in September!!  I thought what a great way to feel them out on the allergy front!!  I decided to contact the camp and see  how they could accommodate Tate's allergies.  I talked with the health director who assured me they would be able to help us and that during the summer the camp is nut/peanut-free though not necessarily at the special camps.  She told me I would be welcome to bring food for Tate, and helped me get in contact with the woman who ran the kitchen.  So I signed us up and later in the summer invited my friend Allison to come with her son, Jake, who is 6 and in first grade as well.  I placed an order for a sleeping bag for Tate and got our 'camping gear'. :)  Of course it was Lightning McQueen and, he had to try it out as soon as it arrived!

Our camping weekend finally arrived last weekend!  We got the boys out of school early at noon, and Ali drove us the 4 hours to Camp Peniel in the Texas Hill Country!

We arrived around 5:00 and got checked in and unloaded in our air-conditioned cabin.  I knew immediately this was my kind of camping  I mean glamping :)

We headed down for dinner...hamburgers and hot dogs!!  Then it was 8pm and time for Fun'n Games in the field...Getting to Know Each Other Games!  I decided to let Tate stay up even though he hadn't napped, so he could get to know some of the other boys and get acclimated.

Tate and Jake hamming it up!

So glad they enjoyed each other!

Making a tent!

We had a lot of fun, but we were all exhausted.  Thankfully he was ready to go to bed after these games, though there was a Round Up from 8:45-9:30 which we didn't attend (turns out this was a devotional time for the moms and bible study for the boys...we four were the only ones who didn't go it seems, but Tate needed to and wanted to sleep)  There was a pool swim at 9:30 and then snacks/free time with lights out at 11pm.  Please.  I don't want to be up until 11pm!!!

It took a bit for Tate a  bit for Tate to settle and fall asleep with Ali and Jake moving around, but he finally did around 9:30 on his top bunk cuddled in his sleeping bag.  I crawled into the bottom bunk and finally fell asleep around 10:30.  I didn't get good sleep though as Tate tossed and turned all night long as he does whenever he is somewhere new.  Add in his allergies and it was a very long night for me.  He didn't ever really wake up, just was uncomfortable and sniffing and moving around a whole lot.  Then he was up at 5:27!  Of course!  I made him try to lay back down until 6:30.  I don't know if he ever fell asleep, but at 6:30 I just handed him the phone and dozed until 7.

We all got up and got ready to go to breakfast!  I had Tate's cheerios and yogurt with me!  We made our way to breakfast, not realizing breakfast had a devotional time prior followed by group prayer and then breakfast.  We thought you could come and go as you please.  We learned for next year :)  After breakfast was Round-Up!  We moms had a devotional/speaker while the boys were divided up by age group for their bible study which was 30 minutes of bible study it seemed with 60 minutes of play time.

Our speaker, Kellie Merrick, was amazing.  She is living and breathing the Word of God and it's just beautiful.  I cried, I laughed and I felt the Lord amongst us.  Her two talks were my most favorite parts of the weekend.  I needed this.  I needed to feel this connection to God and to be inspired to live a more Godly life with my son and my family.  I'm hoping to start a bible study with just Allison and having us meet once a month to further our love of God, enrich our knowledge of Him and nurture our friendship.

Then it was time for activities!!!!  Tate and I signed up for horseback riding!  He got to take a little 5 minute stroll on one of the horses because it turned out you had to be 8 years old to do the trail ride that we wanted to do.  But he had a lovely jaunt on Maggie anyway!

 

Tate surprised me and said he wanted to do rock climbing.  I was all for it because I think he needs to work on his cautious ways...he tends to be scared very easily.  But he was all for it when we signed up for activities on Friday afternoon, so we headed to the gym!

We got him suited up and he was all smiles. Then he started to climb.

And promptly started crying when he was about 5 feet up.  Crying and wanting to come down because he couldn't do it.  Said he was too scared and didn't know how to do it.  So we brought him back down.  I really didn't want him to give up.  I tried to convince him that he could do it, that he needed to be brave and really try it.  No go.  I understood he was scared, but he had been so excited to try, and I absolutely hate when he lets fear stop him.  I don't want him to be so hesitant all the time, he's so very cautious that it drives me nuts sometimes.  I see other boys just running and trying new things and he just shies away. 

Then Jake went up for the 3rd time and tried to encourage him to do it.  I asked Tate if he could try one more time, and that I would help him.  I told him that I knew if Jake could do it, he could do it!!  And guess what?!  

He did it!!

With Jake at his side he did it!!  I gave him a boost and helped him figure out how to maneuver his feet and hands by telling him which to move when for the first few feet...then he did the rest on his own!  Scared and worried, but he did it all on his own!!  I was so very proud of him!

He rang that bell loud and clear!!!

Then it was time for lunch.  Not so very yummy, but Tate was happy because I was able to make him a sandwich from home...his beloved grilled cheese.

Then it was time for Mother/Son devotionals on your own.  Tate and I hung out in the cabin a bit, then we swung on the swing on our cabin porch and read a bit of the bible verses they had for us.  Then we just sat on the swing together.  Tate mentioned how very quiet it was;  it seemed to almost unnerve him.

After the quiet time, we headed down to the zip line with Jake and Allison.  I was really surprised when Tate said he wanted to do this.  After all he would have none of it at Olivia's last spring.  And I knew this would be much much bigger than the one in her backyard.

I wasn't wrong.

This is it...

My stomach was churning, but I put on my game face for him.  He and Jake horsed around while we waited for it to be their turn.  Jake went happily and then it was Tate's turn.  He gamely walked up the steps to get ready to go.

As he stood up there waiting for Jake to clear out of the path, the counselor tried talking to him about his day, what he'd done and my poor little guy could barely talk.  I could tell he was petrified.

To my amazement and great pride he did it!

When I asked him it was all he said was "It was really fast Mommy."  I asked if he liked it and he said yes.  But he had no interest in doing it again :).

The boys then wanted to go swimming, so we changed clothes and headed to the pool.  Unfortunately the water was really cold, and Tate got chilled almost immediately, so he and I left after less than 15 minutes and went back to the cabin to change.

We attempted to go canoeing after we got changed and warmed up, but when I realized I had finagle the canoe myself and we'd have to row ourselves I changed my mind.  Yes ... pot calling the kettle black earlier.  I was too scared to do it. Scared I'd tip us over.  Scared I couldn't get the canoe out.  Scared we'd get tangled in the bushes. You name it.  There wasn't anyone over there to help us...it was totally do it yourselves.  Nope.  No thanks!  So we went back to our cabin, and I packed up our stuff while Tate did a new Lego set.  

We headed over to the gym to try the gym swing ... one look and Tate would have none of it.  We got him all hooked up and the counselor talked to him, tried to reassure he didn't have to do anything he didn't want to, but no dice.  He started crying, so we unhooked him and went on back to the cabin.

Afterwards we headed out to dinner.  While we were hanging at the cabin Tate told me in no uncertain terms that he didn't want to participate in the 'stay up late games' as he called them.  He wanted to go to bed!  I asked him if he was sure, and he most certainly was.  So we ate dinner and made our way back to the cabin where we both showered and got ready for bed!

Dinner!! 

Sound asleep by 8pm! 

Mommy juice time!!! :)

Sunday morning we had a quick continental breakfast then it was RoundUp time (devotional time) again.  The boys went off for their bible study and we had another amazing talk by Kellie.  I was teary the entire time again.  And then she introduced us to another mother in the group.  Her son had been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer and the prognosis for 1 year was like 15%.  The prognosis for 3 even less.  Her son was 3 years+  post diagnosis.  He's 10 now and has started his own bible study.  Kellie asked us all to gather round this mama and lay our hands on her, so we could pray for her and her sweet baby.  I had my hand on her right shoulder and could feel her strength and peace and God's love.  Even now I cry thinking of those powerful minutes as we prayed over this sweet mother and her boy.  God was in that sacred place with us.  Right there.  Holding us all up.  Catching each one of all of our tears.

Then the boys came racing back to us mamas.  We loaded up on a wagon for a hayride minus the hay to an outdoor breakfast cook-out.

On the hayride

Time for breakfast!

Tate decided he wanted to climb a tree with the other boys.  Until he got too scared.  I refused to help him down though....he figured it out.

After breakfast we rode back to the main camp grounds.  Some of the boys had made a rocket of some sort the day before (we missed this activity somehow), so they launched their rockets.  Then Allison and I loaded the boys up, and we headed home!!!

It was a lovely weekend.  I definitely want to do it again next year.  As a newbie we missed a lot of activities, but now we know what to look for next year.  I doubt I'll be able to send Tate to this camp with his food allergies especially if his egg allergy doesn't dissipate.  They are usually nut-free at the summer.  But everyone was really nice especially all the other moms.  The only thing I'd wish for is more time devoted  to learning about our God, and I'd like to do it with Tate in a structured environment while there.  Otherwise it was nice to get away and really nice to do so with Allison and Jake.  

Of note, I realized that all my weekends with Tate are Mother/Son Weekends.  I think we've spent only 2 full weekends apart in his entire lifetime.  I love traveling with him and having new experiences.  I'm really looking forward to our next Mother/Son Weekend.

It's in 3 days :).