Independence Day!

I wore red, white, and blue today, but that was pretty much the extent of our 4th of July celebration today. The last three years we spent July 4th with my Aunt Janet on Long Island. Prior to that we typically attended a parade in the morning and fireworks in the evening in our town. Paul put in a long day at work today. I left the house at 8:00am to go pick up the kids from camp. We got home around 11:30. We ate lunch, threw a load of laundry in the washing machine, and then gave nine butterflies their independence by releasing them outdoors. Our neighbors returned the butterflies to us last night as they knew the kids were coming home from camp this morning. Because the kids were at camp, their dad doesn't want his kids to play with our kids for awhile in case they came in contact with the coronavirus. After we released the butterflies, I took the kids to the pool for two hours. It had been eight days since we swam their because the pool was closed due to the weather on June 27 and the kids had been at camp since June 28. Nadia lost an earring at the pool on June 23, and the earring was found in the vacuum on June 28 and returned to us today. Almost all the fireworks in our area were cancelled due to COVID-19, but Williamsport (about 20 minutes from our house) was still having them. I asked the kids if they wanted to see them, and they said they already had a fantastic fireworks display last night at camp. So we stayed home this evening. 

Picking up the kids was similar to the registration process on Sunday. I drove around the loop. They told me that of the $20 each child had been given for the snack shop, Nadia had spent all but 25 cents. Ian had a little over $6 left, and Oliver had a little over $3 left. They offered to return the unspent money to me. I opted to donate it to the ministry. When I signed up using the first time campers go free code, I was required to pay a $55 deposit per child. They said if the children actually showed up I would receive the deposit back. Paul and I decided to decline the refund because paying $165 for three kids to attend overnight camp for 6 nights is still an incredible bargain. The director was very appreciative when I declined the refund. After I parked, I was able to get the kids. The first words out of Oliver's mouth were, "can we come back and for another week of camp later this summer?". I hadn't given any thought to the kids doing more than one week of overnight camp, but I knew this meant he had a great time. Last summer was his first experience with overnight camp, but since he was a little shy of seven years old, he only attended 3 nights of camp last summer. Oliver told me he'd prefer to come back to PMBC next summer rather than Camp Susque even though the food is better at Camp Susque. The kids said the food was good at PMBC and it's great at Camp Susque. Oliver loves the sticky buns for breakfast at Camp Susque for instance. Ian said the only nuts he ate were peanuts. He wore a baseball cap a lot which helped him not get sunburn on his face. He burns the easiest of the three kids. Nadia usually gets TONS of mosquito bites at Camp Susque. This didn't happen at PMBC thankfully. She got a little bit of hives after the hay ride because she's allergic to hay. 

I'm so grateful that all three kids had a fabulous week. There were around 70 kids there. They were put in four groups of about 18 kids grouped by age and gender. There were 9 girls plus one counselor in Nadia's cabin. Eight of the girls were 12 years old and one was 13 years old. The cabins looked like motel rooms. Each "cabin" had 5 bunk beds and a bathroom. At Camp Susque they have to walk outside somewhere to get to a toilet or shower. Because of COVID-19, they had the kids eat outside all the time. Once a week each group of kids helped with meal preparation. Each group went on a hike in a state park once, kayaking in a state park once, and did target practice once (hatchet throwing, archery, and BB guns). They went swimming every day. The swimming pool had a slide and diving board. They used a slip and slide, had bonfires, went on a hayride, had a Bible class every day, had a chapel service every day, etc. Ian gave my phone number to at least one of his friends. Nadia got contact information from multiple girls in her cabin. 

Nadia was very excited about holding her guinea pigs as soon as we got home. She was already texting friends and her cousin on the drive home. I was excited about showing her what I had done in her bedroom. She loves it! She said she wasn't surprised I had taken down the border, but she was surprised that I repainted the walls and organized her room. We didn't hang things on her walls yet. I think we'll get to that tomorrow. I put the new mat on the trampoline yesterday, but we haven't installed the new net yet. We started to do it last night, and Paul discovered a missing bolt. I'm very, very grateful to have all three kids back at home. I missed them and have greatly appreciated their hugs and hearing all about their time at camp.