Hey, Camp Fans!
Happy to receive roughly 30 entries for the ‘Share Your Camp Story’ Contest we put on here at Everything Summer Camp. And now we’re eager to share each one right here on the Blog! After seven lucky winners of larger prizes, all other submissions got a $15 gift certificate to our online shop! Today we have a submission from Gayle S., who wrote in to tell us about her experience saying goodbye to her daughter for her camp stay at Camp Longhorn. 
“When I agreed to sign my oldest daughter up for the same camp that her dad attended, I was hesitant because I couldn’t imagine sending my 9-year-old away for two weeks. Two weeks without her mom or dad to hug her good night. Two weeks without her brother and sisters to play with. Two weeks of sleeping with a room full of girls instead of being in her own bed in her own room. I was certain she would be home sick and cry herself to sleep at least once, but camp wasn’t until the last two weeks of summer and that seemed so far off so I just didn’t think about it.
lThe summer flew by as it tends to do each year, only this time we found ourselves ordering a teal trunk, labeling clothes and shopping for a battery-operated fan and stationery. We spent hours filling her trunk, lid organizer, and glide trays making sure that she knew where all her necessities would be. I hid notes of love and encouragement in a few strategic places. I wanted to make her first time at camp as easy as possible.
lDropping her off at camp was quick and easy. Just jump out of the car, unload that pretty teal trunk, and hand it—and our daughter—off to the smiling counselors who were overflowing with excitement for the experience to come. I stopped the whole process to grab one last hug and a quick family photo and then drove away with minimal tears in my own eyes. The next two weeks we received a few letters from our daughter who was loving every minute of Camp Longhorn. We heard about finding arrowheads, zipping into the water on a trolley, new friends, and new experiences. We saw photos the camp posted each day and saw our daughter bouncing on a blob, dancing, and having fun with her cabin mates.
lFinally V-Day arrived and while we were met with huge hugs, there were no tears. Instead we had introductions to new friends, a guided tour of her favorite camp places, a taste of some daily camp rituals, and we added a bunny from the petting zoo to our household. She had thought of us often and missed us a little, but the nights didn’t end with her crying, instead she was lulled to sleep by cicadas. She had a room full of new sisters and will miss them terribly until they are reunited next summer. I realized that this experience wasn’t depriving me of my daughter for two weeks, but instead it was giving her safe place to grow in new ways. She embraced the same traditions and experiences that her dad had many years ago, and I often overhear her telling her younger sister, ‘Next year at camp, you are going to absolutely love…’ Attawaytogo Camp Longhorn! Thank you for making me and my daughter part of your family.”
I’m glad you made your peace with summer camp and that it was such a blast for your daughter, Gayle! We hope that next year is just as good for her and for your younger daughter too! You can check out Camp Longhorn for yourself right here and, as always, thanks for reading!
- John
“I have been going to YMCA Camp Seafarer for 6 years. My mom went there 30 years ago. When I was 6, my parents sent me to starter camp. Starter camp is a one-week program that introduces you to the lifestyle of camp. There at starter camp, I met a nice 6-year-old girl, named Lily. That week I grew closer to her and we became best friends. We have been coming back together as best friends for the past 6 years. On starter camp pick up day, our parents met and, they too, became close friends. Lily’s parents even invited my family over to their beach house for dinner. The next year we stayed together the night before the two-week program that week. That program lets you go free without a counselor to any activity. You can go out with anyone and earn ranks together. Lily and I earned every rank together. The next year we went for a month. We got so much accomplished during that month. Since then, we have been each others cabin mates for the past 6 years. At the end of every session, we have awards and a fancy dinner. For the two-week and four-month programs that we have done, every year we have earned the Dynamic Duo in the award ceremony. At camp, I truly met my best friend. Now, our families are good friends, but we will always be best friends. 
ed received a $15 gift certificate to our website! Today’s post is from Lucy B., who wrote in to tell us about her first year at overnight camp.
“This story starts back from a campfire on night two of ten. My tent-mate had received a care package full of goodies and sweets, but was lazy enough to just leave it out on his camp box. I was the first one coming into camp and when I walked down to our pod of tents, I saw four green eyes staring at me. I shined my flashlight and sure enough, there was a raccoon in our tent and one just outside of it. They had eaten all of my friend’s treats and were searching for more. One was on my cot! The whole entire rest of the night, my friend kept shining the flashlight to scare the raccoons off because they kept coming back. We called it Five Nights at Camp after the popular game Five Nights at Freddy’s. Later, my friend decided to hide the rest of his food; in a trash can, when we woke up, it too was all gone. He was really angry now. I told him that it was a bad idea but he didn’t believe. Finally, someone made a bag we could haul up into a tree to keep out of the reach of the little critters. I never moved my food, it was all safely in my wooden box.”