(post by Jen B.)

 

I’ve been soo excited to post this…I still have the biggest grin on my face thinking back to camp.  I laughed so much going through these photos.  I think you’ll be able to see why we enjoyed one of the best summer weekends of the year…

 

Two weekends ago we had the great pleasure of hosting the inaugural Camp Kurt & Jen, attended by 7 of the best nieces and nephews ever!  Yes, that’s right, we had all 7 at once, from Friday evening through Sunday.  Ages 3,3,5,5,6,9,11…Yowwzaah!  We certainly had our hands full, and we were thankful the big ones could help take care of the little ones, and as a group, they entertained themselves.

 

The idea for a “summer camp” evolved from my wonderful Aunt, Carol Jane.  Back in 1989 I believe?, I attended Camp Carol Jane along with my brother and cousins.  I have fond memories of swimming, playing games, we played something in the backyard with flashlights (tag or bug catching?)…Carol Jane also stored this bag of those rubber finger puppets in the kitchen, you know, the ones that look like crazy dragons or monsters with sawtooth arms?  (it’s weird the details that i remember)…and at the end Carol Jane presented us each with a trophy.  I think she gave away some of her old sports awards.  How cool is that?  I was so proud to have that trophy even though the figure on the top was unrelated to any of my weekend achievements.  My brother and I have a photo, wearing our Camp t-shirts holding our trophies..haha!  I love it.  So the short of it is, it was a memorable experience, and I wanted to pass it on.

 

Without further ado….Meet the Campers:

 

We had the weekend scheduled down to every event, every meal.  Hey, you have to with that many kiddies!  First stop = TCM (that’s The Children’s Museum).

Cadence lays some eggs

Diggin for bones

Taking in the base of the Chihuly

And then building a Chihuly

 

The camera wasn’t really for faces, but of course our girls found it was much more fun to do

Round and round… you gotta love the carousel

Scoopin and servin at the ice cream stand

Umm yeah, it was just Landon and I, and I couldn’t resist

 

Friday Night = Movie Night!  I made some super buttery popcorn and caramel corn.  They ate it up!

 

And for breakfast…drumroll, pleeease…..Mr. Bowersock’s Smiley Face Pancakes!!! Woohoo!

 

Kurtis found a way to quickly round up the troops when we needed to talk as a group.  He’d yell, “Meeting Spot!!!”, and everyone would gather on the couch!  They were quiet and attentive…it worked every time!

 

This is classic Bowersock.  When the tube glows, the boys are taken.

 

 

On Saturday we visited Perry Park, which has an awesome water park!  It’s so accessible and fun…and it’s so very close!  We showed up right when it opened.  It was overcast, but that wasn’t going to ruin our plans.  We really had the whole park to ourselves for a good hour.   A few families showed up later on, but we truly had the entire place to ourselves…too much fun!!

 

Our living room became a fort.

And our backyard… a campsite.

Ring around the rosey

 

 

And perhaps the most anticipated evening event….SMORES!

Now that’s a nice one.

 

Straight Hershey for Cadence.  Straight Mallow for Libby.

 

Here are s’more faces:

Sparkler time!

LOVE IT!

 

We held Backyard Olympics to close out camp.  Didn’t get many photos of the…we were too busy refereeing games!  Here’s one of the Bryce, Brandt, Caitlin with medals!

 

I wish I had a picture of us after all had departed…exhausted and happy at the same time.  Thanks to our campers for making it such a memorable weekend.  We are anxious for next year.  And yes, your Aunt Jen and Uncle Kurt are the coolest ever!