Camp Winni- year three: older, wiser and part of the crowd

This was the third year our family spent at Camp Winniauguamauck, a youth church camp directed by Sandi's sister Tricia.  We were there in many official capacities:  camp nurse (Sandi), support staff/photographer/boundary manager of the age 6 and under set (me), hero worshiper (Ella) and rebel rouser (I'm sure you can guess).


There are so many great things to love about camp: first and foremost the campers (going into grades 4-6), living outside for 4 days, the absolute feeling of love, acceptance and joy in the air, having family a few steps away all the time (in addition to Trish, Patti and her best friend who is "auntie" to our kids were there), meeting new and wonderful people and, of course, the water slide.

With a camp director like Tricia, a big kid with a heart as giant as she is tall, how could camp not be fun?





Now, as someone who has had some extensive "issues" with church as a whole, I have to say the Community of Christ church who holds this camp is one of the most open and accepting churches in its philosophies, intentions and steady push for change.  As a youth minister for New England, Tricia is a shining example of combining the spiritual with the religious.  She is never swamped in dogma and rules but instead questions, searches and repeatedly brings light into dark, stagnant corners of organized religion.  I love and respect her so much for this and is it the only reason that I happily volunteer myself at a church camp. I cannot see myself at this camp without Tricia at the helm.
One of the other things I love about camp is that it is a place that is made for a kid to be a kid.  They swim, they slide, they eat way more candy than they should, they play countless games, have campfire, counselor hide-and-seek after dark and even body painting.  No one stresses about the mess at camp.  I love this world that is so unlike my own where I often chase my tail trying to maintain some order in the chaos.

(And in my defense, these are much older kids, more equipped to handle such freedoms with strong adult guidance.)

In addition to being in charge of managing medications and injuries (of which there were many), Sandi also took a ton of video and pictures and made an AWESOME camp movie for the kids. She spend somewhere in the neighborhood of 12 hours on this project over 2 1/2 days and I was reminded of the goodness of the people who donate their time to a camp for the betterment of children. 

We did whatever we could to make those kids feel loved, important, unique and celebrated. And, no surprise, the kids simply thrive.

All the kids, ours included, were saturated with love.




Our kids had a perma-grin the entire time.  Ella took a drama class.  Maya rode in the boat with her grandmother while the kayakers were out.  Both found themselves attached at the hip to the same girls they adored last year. 

Last year, Trish had a campaign to get kayaks for the two camps she runs.  We donated money for two kayaks and paddles. To see these kids in those kayaks smiling, proud and accomplished...it was worth every penny.

I'm honestly not sure I've seen our kids more happy for a stretch of time, except maybe at Schoodic last summer.  Ella was so much more comfortable in her own skin this year and was so brave in making friendships with these older kids.  She ate with them, played with them, went to classes and did projects with them.  She cried like her heart was breaking when she had to say goodbye and come home.

She beamed the entire time.

Maya was also incredibly happy and unruly and maddening and hilarious.  As usual.  She was the camp mascot, high fiving, being the dining room jester and stomping around like she owned the place.

We are already talking about next year.  How could we not?

beautiful things

Here are some beautiful things that I love:

Chocolatier Blue

While I was in Camden yesterday, my friend Ange called me with a high alert.

At least in the world of chocolate lovers it could be considered a high alert.

I have no idea how (Ange has her pulse on the chocolate underworld, I'm fairly certain) but Ange knew that a high end chocolatier had just opened in Camden.  Ange and I share a love of Lake Champlain Chocolates from Burlington, VT and all she had to say was, "It is supposed to be on par with LCC" and I was there.

My mom thought she knew where it was and when it wasn't she shrugged as only the non-committed can and said it must not be open yet.

I got out my iphone and led Google led the way. (I still may be WAY under skilled with my smart phone but I know how to get myself out of an emergency and how to check Facebook.)

Behold Chocolatier Blue.

The shop was very simple and stylishly designed. They offered this array of truly exquisite, albeit slightly inedible looking, chocolate.  Maya curled her little fingers onto to the lip of this counter and pulled herself up (she is freakishly strong) to peer in.  I said, "this is not the kind of place where you do that."  Apparently most chocolatiers buy their chocolate for $2 per pound and these chocolatiers are paying $30 a pound for expensive Italian chocolate.

The chocolates, ranging from lemon to sage honey to rocky Road to hazelnut to espresso and more, are $1.50 a piece.  I actually did not balk at this since LCC is $2.25 per truffle if memory serves me (and it usually does regarding chocolate.)

All in all I was thrilled to see such a niche business thriving in Maine, even if it is in a mostly tourist trade. It is run by a lovely local couple.  The husband, Dwight Blue, is one of three brothers who are now all in the chocolate trade.  The California brother makes the chocolate and sells it in a few locations in upstate California, a second brother runs a store in Lincoln, Nebraska and now the third brother and his wife are selling the goods right her in Camden.

I have such a soft spot for people who devote their lives to chocolate.

And the chocolate?  Lovely and unusual.  I sampled the peanut butter banana truffle and the hazelnut which was completely decadent.  It had a hint of sea salt and a rich hazelnut center. 

As if we needed it, now we have even more motivation to go visit Grandma.  She's got the beach, the Cedar Works show yard, a chocolate boutique and, of course, herself.

The Fourth- and an upgraded parade

The girls and I drove to the coast to celebrate the fourth of July with my mom. (Sadly Sandi had to work.)  After a 6 mile early morning run before Sandi left for work, we got an early start and headed toward the ocean and the fog. 

I'm fairly sure my mom thinks she has some sort of good parking spot karma.  Whenever we are hunting for a spot she says, "I KNOW we are going to get a good one.  The perfect spot is here for us."

This new-agey parking mantra, led me to take my parallel parking skills to a whole new level.

The girls were really excited about the parade and these flags -  more so about the acquistion of something new than the patriotic meaning I think I could safely say. But still, they looked adorable.

After having watched the Bangor/Brewer parade the last few years (and getting choked with fire engine after ambulance after random cars filled with people) I can say this parade beat the pants off of Bangor's.  There was a little bit of everything, including hardy amounts of candy throwing and, yes, a few beauty queens and even a beauty KING.

I'm always a sucker for an elderly marine.

We saw giant lobsters,

Fred Flinstone's rear end,

Hello freaking Kitty,

a group marching to support Obama (who were met with equal cheering and booing interestingly enough),

and even the peace and justice people made it out.  I tell you, I am a fan of the granola Fourth of July parade.

Maya got really into the flag waving. I think maybe she thought the amount of candy thrown was in direct proportion to the amount she waved it.

We drove to Birchpoint State Park (Lucia Beach) where you pay a fee on the honor system and, today anyway, enjoy the thunderous surf that you can hear but barely see through the fog. We ate a picnic lunch and played on the beach for a while and then headed into Camden to listen to a patriotic band playing in the amphitheater. It was a tad boring, with the majority of the audience age 85 and over, and they would have been much better suited in a parade, but the kids were mostly content gorging themselves on their cache of candy.

Thanks Grandma for a super fun day!

campfire

Yesterday we were supposed to go to the beach with the Manharts and Smiths. Since it turned out to not really be a beach day we switched our plans to a dinner/campfire and it worked out better for everyone.

It is hard to describe the feelings of appreciation, love and contentment I had sitting around the fire with some of the people I love most in the world. 

Instead I will just show you.

(And damn, no pics of Sandi since she was behind the camera.)

Sam and Maya discuss various matters over marshmallows and beer:

Ange brought some of her homemade Reisling.  In case you're wondering if it is good, here is proof that it is:

Since we wanted to spend the day working on the patio, I told Sandi I was going to go "low key" for dinner.  It turns out I am incapable of this. 

For dinner: fresh halibut (caught by Sandi's dad) with moroccan spices, black bean and mango salsa, pumpkin cornmeal biscuits, creamy spinach,  bulgar salad with summer herbs and veggies, and tossed salad brought by Emilie. Yum!

And for dessert, grilled pizza with strawbery jam, bananas and chocolate:

Ahhh, summer....hello!!!