And then there were 2 . . .

Waaaaaaay back in the winter, I set about making plans for our summer. I got a postcard reminding me to sign Caroline up for her second year at sleep-over camp and after careful planning, we managed to find 1 week (YES ONE) where all the friends who wanted to be together could go without family vacations or dance trips/work weeks conflicting. It was a Christmas miracle.

Once that date was set, I looked for somewhere for Tru to be that week, because everyone knows that the goal of every mom with more than one child is to find a week that they can all be busy without you. (Don't judge. Keep all four of mine for a week and you will help me plan said camp week next summer.) My friend, Robin told me about this place called Family Farm and, lo and behold, she had signed Em up for that same week that Caroline was going to be at Brookhill. Done. What was Family Farm exactly? I wasn't entirely sure . . . I knew it was all day for four days and that archery was involved. I was reading the Hunger Games at the time and that very Katniss activity made me even more pumped for him. Now don't worry, I knew other people who had done it in summers past and it seemed very safe and legit and good. Signed him up . . . check. 2 down, 2 to go.

I whipped out my Little Rock Family Magazine and Kids Directory and googled VBS Little Rock summer 2012.

Did you know that for the week of June 18th, I could not find ONE VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL DURING THE DAY THAT BO AND SASCHA COULD GO TO?!

Sigh. Another summer without the dream of all 4 having camp at the same time unrealized.

Lucky for me we have at least 8 more summers to try.

Anyway, Monday morning rolled around bright and early and we loaded up the Burb and headed to the edge of Benton to drop Tru off at the Family Farm bus stop. (Yes, I know it sound funny when written out.) At 7:45 he was loaded up and Caroline and I had a few errands to run before heading on to her camp.

**Pause for grateful shout-out to my sister and my mom who split the day taking care of Frick and Frack. No. Small. Task.**

So, Caroline and I hit up the Bryant Target for a few last minute camp needs, the bank, had breakfast at Cracker Barrel, got gas and a bag of snacks for while we waited and drove through Sonic for some large drinks and a grilled cheese for her lunch. AND STILL GOT TO CAMP 4 HOURS EARLY.

Now, let's be honest, I like to be early and prepared. Nothing (minus conflict and vomit) flusters me more than being late or unprepared. And, oh my, late AND unprepared, well, that makes me sweat just thinking about it. I mean, I've been having nightmares about forgetting things for Caroline's national's competition in Florida for weeks.

Anywho, I guess I have established that I like to be early. But we got to camp before some of the counselors. Not cool. So we sat in the car and painted my nails and sang. Then we got out and sat at a picnic table and Care painted her nails. Then we looked at each other and it was only 11:45. And we were still the only people there that were not employed by the camp.

I have a theory about things like this, and I didn't want to be first in line because that made us look neurotic (emphasis on look, because clearly we are not, because I'm not flying a neurotic flag at all by analyzing it this much). Being 2nd in line, I explained to her, would look lucky and well planned. But Caroline wanted to be first. She said we got there early, we WERE first, so we should proudly reap the fruits of of freakish labor and be first in line.

It was her day, after all, and I am trying not to pass all my weirdness on, so . . .

Here we are at the very front of the line. To be honest, I did want to get there earlier than we did last year so we could be a little more relaxed about making the bed and saying godbye. And it was great to be sitting in the covered area and get through all the registration part fast, so I wouldn't do much different, maybe spend longer in Target, but all in all, it worked out fine.

Here is my sweet darlin girl in her bed with 2 fans and an egg crate . . . it's as comfy as camp gets!

With her best friend and bunkmate, Maggie. So, so sweet.

And then the time came for Josh (who met us there after working) and I to leave her. They, of course, hammed it up

I, on the other hand, went for the sweet hug pose

Then realized I was getting emotional and tried to be funny

I cried off and on on the way home. Prayed a lot for her week and then stopped half-way back to pick up this bundle of cuteness

(side note, we decided NOT to have him wear contacts to the farm for logistical and he would totally lose them and we would have to replace them purposes)

Tru is having WAY more fun than I imagined he would. He got the sandcastle award Monday and yesterday he got FIRST PLACE in archery! So pumped for him because he was really excited. (And, it's good to know that if we ever break into districts and he needs to go off and hunt for our family, we have a chance at not starving.)

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Bo and Sascha and I are pretending it's just a regular week and going to therapy and the pool. Not the total kid vacation I envisioned, but who wouldn't love a week with these 2?