He's at Camp!!!

Well, Sam and I got out of the house by 6:15 this morning, made a pit-stop at the Panera in Needham, and arrived at the bus stop on time (7am). He was sooo nervous. Last night, he asked me, "Mom, what happens if I have a nervous breakdown at camp?" After reassuring him that I would indeed drive all the way up to Maine to retrieve him, we reviewed more practical steps (breath deeply, walk away from the problem, talk to a grown-up, etc.).

My friend L arrived with her crew shortly after us, and Sam and A got on the bus and settled in...waaay in the back, across from the bathroom and on top of the rear wheel, but directly under a TV screen. They were happy.

I was home by 8:15 (bus pulled out at 7:30), and fell back asleep on Micah's bed for a few hours while Sofia watched Schoolhouse Rock in my room and Micah watched who-knows-what downstairs. In fact, Micah spent nearly the entire day watching his shows downstairs (Phineas and Ferb, Total Drama Island, and junk like that). We ran out for some groceries mid-afternoon, but otherwise didn't do much. I did start working a bit on my thesis, starting to get the Outline ready.

Weekend was busy. Friday afternoon, I took the kids down to the Ikea in Stoughton for a few hours of wandering about the store. Didn't buy too much, although in the food area afterwards, I spent about $30 on various delicacies like creamed roe.

Went from Ikea to D's house, changed into bathing suits, and met up with D and the kids at the lake. Sam and Micah spent a long time swimming with the kids. There was no way I was going into the lake (mucky on a calm day, it was completely chunky because the wind was whipping up all sorts of gunk), so Sofia had to settle on the shore.

After a while of that, we all headed back to the house, showered or rinsed or washed, and got ready for Shabbat. Lovely dinner, as usual. D's family is very warm and sweet, and my kids are totally comfortable with them. There were a few extra teens, one of whom had been a counselor at Micah's camp, so my boys were in heaven. Sofia played with the two younger kids, getting into a shoving match with Binny at one point about the blocks, but I think all had fun. And David and I enjoy talking with D and her husband, so all in all it was a lovely evening.

Kids all passed out on the way home (45 minute drive), and David and I slept too late in the morning, but eventually we made it to shul. Stayed for lunch, and then came home to rest for 45 minutes before the next event.

Neighborhood kid's birthday party, which all three of mine were invited to. Party was at a local farm, with petting animals and pony rides. Sofia LOVED the pony rides! I wasn't sure at first, and I walked alongside her on the first lap. But she went for three different rides around the ring!

I am NOT an animal lover, except from a distance. And I'd worn flip-flops, so NO WAY was I staying in the petting area! And poor allergic Micah, who loves animals, ended up breaking out in a rash all over his arms. But all had fun.

Made a nice dinner (family-style sushi, which is basically everything that would normally be IN a sushi maki, but in a bowl and without nori), and David and I got the kids to bed and watched the third Bourne movie. He had to be in Worcester all SUnday morning, prepping his apartments for the new tenants, so the kids and I hung out. He got home around 1:30, took a very quick shower, and took the boys back to Worcester for a baseball game along with other MWJDS families.

Sofia had a birthday party to attend at 5pm, at the gymnastics place she'd just taken class. She of course fell asleep in the car, but woke up fairly quickly. It was adorable watching her and her school girlfriends playing together. We don't get much chance to do that, and it was very sweet. They are all good with each other, helping each other out and exploring things together. A few times, Sofia had wandered off to check out some toys we don't usually use in class, and all the girls flocked over to her as soon as they noticed what she was doing.

So, now it's a quiet week. Wednesday evening, David is taking Micah to a game at Fenway, and Sofia and I are going out for dinner with my girlfriends. Tomorrow is accupuncture. Thursday we get to see my friend D and her girls, who are back from Israel, and then I pick up Sam!

Saw one picture of Sam on the camp website so far; he looks happy.