Summer Camp

[gladcow]

I'm curious to find out how many of us send our kiddos to camp in the summer, and what kind of camp. Also, how do you all deal with the vegan thing in relation to camp?

This year, my kids are going to camp more than half of the summer. Here is what is on deck for each kid (each camp is a week long, most are 2-4 hours in length):

The Girl:
Create with Clay (at Children's Museum)
Build It (at Children's Museum)
Chess for Beginners (at Children's Museum)
Little Paws (at Humane Society)
Breads Around the World (at Children's Museum)
Swimming (two week session, at public pool)

The Boy:
Rocket Camp (at Children's Museum)
Big Lake (http://www.biglake.org/) (SDA*)
Chess for Beginners** (at Children's Museum)
Camp Paw Paw (at Humane Society)
Videography (at Children's Museum)
Swimming (two week session, at public pool)

I'm anxious about the Breads Around the World one in regards to vegan-ness. We'll see how it goes. This is the most camps we've done in a year (thanks to the husb's raise!) and the first year for the girl to go to camp.

*my husband went to this camp as a child and his mom did as well. it's a tradition even though we are not SDA. it's an all vegetarian camp, though, and they are capable of doing vegan as well
**the boy was not thrilled to be in a beginners chess camp, but it's the only they had! he'll be just fine, I'm sure.

What about you guys?

[doomdiva]

My son isn't interested in camp, but if I were to send him anywhere, it would be the one I listed below. And they serve vegetarian food ONLY - no meat whatsoever, vegan cheerfully upon request.

Not Back to School Camp (http://nbtsc.org/) - summer camp for homeschooled teens.

[Miso Vegan]

In the past two summers, I've done a series of week-long camps (each week a different camp). Veganism was never a problem - they're all BYOL and snacks.

This year we'll only do maybe 3.
Terra Forma camp - environmental education/magical realism adventure
Odyssey Maritime Museum (I don't know why, but he *loves* this one)
And he wants a tennis camp (who knew?)

[Kat]

Also, how do you all deal with the vegan thing in relation to camp?

I think it depends on how the camp is set up. When I went to girl guide camp (I think I was eleven!) I remember there was a vegetarian girl there and they provided vegetarian food for her. When I went to sea cadet boot camp, the mess hall was set up like a buffet, and it would have been very easy for a vegetarian to choose foods, but I think a vegan person would have been limited to potatos and veggies and maybe spaghetti. When I went to homo-camp a few years back, there was another vegan there, so they provided fruit and soy hot dogs for us, plus I brought swedish fish, and root veggies to roast.

I think a lot of camps, especially for younger kids, have health forms that need to be filled out before hand, and those often include questions about dietary needs. If in doubt, you can write a letter about what the child can and can't eat (maybe provide a list of examples) and attach that with the form. It's also helpful if you're able to send vegan foods to camp with the kid. And try not to stress out about things like egg-in-pizza-crust or candy-with-gelatin...because, I think, as much as some parents might try to vegan-police their children, these sorts of things tend to happen out of sight :umm:

P.S. when i went to pioneer camp they had us churning butter and spinning wool.

[MissLovely]

My girl is doing ballet camp, I haven't decided what the boy will get signed up for.

[mamaquilla]

Jane wants to go to GirlScout camp with her cousin (hadnt even THOUGHT of the Veggie issue, geez, IM SO GLAD YOU POSTED GLADCOW :kiss:)

Tennis camp for Jane
maybe Jump Rope camp for Jane
Swimming lessons for Anna
maybe Dance camp for Anna

[Miso Vegan]

Which tennis camp? Miso Lite wants a tennis camp and I've hardly begun to look.

[mamaquilla]

Last year we did the one thru Shoreline Center, Skyhawks. I am not sure yet this year.

[bumblebee]

http://www.camp-quest.org/

My kids have gone here every year since I discovered it in 1998. They offer plenty of vegetarian food for them, but vegan would be tougher. I try to send some healthy vegan food along with them because they get a lot of junk food, but it's just for a week and they love it.

[gladcow]

http://www.camp-quest.org/

My kids have gone here every year since I discovered it in 1998. They offer plenty of vegetarian food for them, but vegan would be tougher. I try to send some healthy vegan food along with them because they get a lot of junk food, but it's just for a week and they love it.
When I send my son to his camp, I send along Clif Bars and a multivitamin for him to have each day. The first year he was a wee bit worried about the food issue (even though we had corresponded with the camp chef and he knew all about him and was expecting him) and ended up only eating things he knew were safe (corn on the cob to the exxxxtreme) instead of asking the chef :rolleyes: It worked great last year. I usually send him a care package as well, but that has junk food in it and he has to share with his cabin. :D

[gladcow]

Today is the kids first day of day camp. This week the girl is doing "Create With Clay" and the boy is doing "Rockets". This is the first year for both of them in this organization's day camp and I'm excited for them. Next week the boy goes away to sleep away camp, so this week is filled with laundry and packing. Let the camps begin!

[mamaquilla]

My kids too, this week they are attending a Free camp put on by the Free Methodist church, heehee, that always makes me chuckle :D It is secret agent themed too which looked fun, even the big kid wanted to go and I hadnt even thought she would be interested. Little one was invited by a friend from pre-school whom attends this church, apparently they do it every summer for one week. There were 3 other kids there this morning from her pre-school, very cool! I hope they have fun, Im feeling a little bit anxious for them and at loose ends having had them constantly for the last couple weeks :laugh: :silly:

[bumblebee]

My kids had the best time ever at camp this year AND the caterers were vegetarians!!! So, they were happy to make lots of healthy vegetarian food from scratch. They made veg food almost exclusively and some of the little atheist omnis grumbled a little. *Plays the worlds smallest violin* ;)

A volunteer at the camp (a grown woman) told my 13 yr old, "People just like eating meat and anyway it's very impractical to be a vegetarian..."

My daughter responded, "Well, people used to enjoy owning slaves, but that doesn't mean it was right."

The woman then said, "Well, actually about 90% of slaves were treated humanely. I know because my nephew has a degree in (?) and he told me."

My daughter was just about to blow her fuse, when fate intervened, as 2 other campers, a brother & a sister, who just happen to be black, walked up behind the woman...and "took over". :D

[dropscone]

Heh, sounds like if they hadn't she might have gone on to add that the holocaust never happened and that it is well documented that children like having sex with adults :rolleyes:

[mamaquilla]

oh dropscone :laugh: :laugh:

[gladcow]

big ups to your daughter, bumblebee! tell her we are proud!

mama, I hope your little ones have a good time :)

I'm already in trouble with the girl because I didn't bring a snack (it would be helpful if they told the parents this at registration and not the first day :brood:)

[mamaquilla]

The girls had a blast, Jane is already asking to go next year :laugh:

[gladcow]

Simon is at Big Lake this week. I already saw a picture of him on the camp website! I miss him :)
Sarina is doing Build It this week and she's really enjoying it. She's learning all about strutcures and engineering. :happy:

[gladcow]

Simon is still at Big Lake :cry: and this Mommy is getting very misty. We go fetch him tomorrow. Good thing, I need to see him with my own eyes. It has been too long.

Sarina has declared Build It her favorite camp so far! (I signed her up for it just so she'd have something to do while Simon was away. I'm so glad she's enjoying it, I was worried it wasn't her thing)

ramble ramble ramble

The kids have no camps next week. Yay! I week to relax (for them) and work (for me).

[gladcow]

Simon is home and fine. He lost his voice (I forgot that it happens every year :rolleyes:) but otherwise is just fine. He enjoyed Big Lake, but it rained a bit.

[bluedawg]

He lost his voice (I forgot that it happens every year :rolleyes:)
is it from talking and lafting so much? if yes--so cute!!

[Dandelion]

i keep thinking this thread is about a camp of gladcow activities. :silly:

[Miso Vegan]

I WANNA GO TO CAMP GLADCOW!!!!!!!!

[gladcow]

is it from talking and lafting so much? if yes--so cute!!
pretty much. and hollering. don't forget the hollering! :D

[gladcow]

i keep thinking this thread is about a camp of gladcow activities. :silly:
heh :silly:

altho it is kind of like that because I'm such a chatterbox in here :uhoh:

[gladcow]

I WANNA GO TO CAMP GLADCOW!!!!!!!!
Roster of activites:
Monday - Scrabble scrimmage, gin & tonic class
Tuesday - cooking class, reality teevee primer
Wednesday - thrifting and bargains: your two new best friends, finding dirtiness in any phrase
Thursday - things that are made in oregon that you should love, why tots rule
Friday - painting, complaining and snark.

[Miso Vegan]

:laugh:

[Emiloid]

At Camp Gladcow, you don't just have fun. You lern stuff, too!

[bluedawg]

where do i sign up?

[MissLovely]

I'm there!


The girl technically started ballet camp today, but I'm a dork and looked a the time wrong. It's every day this week, so we'll go tomorrow.

[gladcow]

where do i sign up?
SEND MONEYS PLZ

[gladcow]

My kids have been at chess camp this week. They are in the camp together (only one this year they have together) and it's "Chess for Beginners" which is really harshing Simon's buzz. Today is the last day and they're learning strategy and having a tournament. Simon is very excited (pretty much like me and the Scrabble tourney :p) Sarina has been really enjoying the camp as well. It's been her first intro to chess and she's doing really well. :thumbsup:

Next week is the Humane Society camp and I am SO EXCITED for them. I hope they learn a ton of awesome stuff! :D

[gladcow]

Humane Society camp was so great for the kids, they learned a whole lot of animal care/awareness tips. I was not thrilled when they rode horses, though. Other than that my daughter loves horses and it was so special for her.

This week my kids are at Breads From Around the World (the girl) and Videography (the boy). The boy's camp is in cooperation with the local paper. I just saw a whole section about the camp on the local newspaper's website! :D

[mamaquilla]

Man, I want my kids to go to Humane Society camp too :silly: Sounds like you guys have had a very successful camp season :happy:

[Miso Vegan]

All their camps sound great! How did they like last week's camps?

In past summers I've had Miso Lite in a different camp every week. This summer, only one week of camp. It's MY favorite for him.
It's eco-education, and the kids learn a lot about the Pacific Northwest. It's designed in the tradition of Magical Realism, so the themes contain mystery, surprises, and magic, all the while teaching the kids about protecting the habitat, and about the natural resources in the area.

This week's theme is the Secret of Sasquatch. They travel to different parks and museums and old growth forests, looking for "evidence" that Sasquatch exists. They meet tribal elders, experts in various fields, and other participants (this week they met Dr. Macrosapian! :laugh: ) in an orchestrated effort to keep the magic alive for the kids. They learn about tracking and make casts of paw prints, native ethnobotany, and the art of shelter building. All kids (and parents) sign a contract about joining a peace-making, cooperative camp.

Other weeks' themes have been Tribe of the Hand (about tribes, community, and leadership), Lost City of Atlantis, and Search for Poseidon's Trident.

Miso Lite was so exhausted after the first day he didn't want to go to his tennis lesson! That was surprising because he's really loved the tennis class (who'da thunk?).

[mamaquilla]

I so want my children to go to Miso's camp too, SO COOL! :happy:

[gladcow]

My kids really enjoyed their last camps. Simon's camp was well worth the money. The kids learned to film and edit their films (in iMovie on laptops), the also learned about storyboarding and blogging (each group blogged about what they learned each day on the newspaper website). At the end we got to see each group's film short (5 minutes on an area of the children's museum) as well as a documentary the newspaper put together about the class itself. We got to take home a dvd with all the shorts and the documentary. It was great and Simon loooooved it.

Breads from around the world was okay. I was hoping they would use more diverse flours and forms but they mainly stuck with white flour and standard recipes that the kids are familiar with (pizza dough, tortillas). So, it was fine, but not great imho. The girl liked it.

This week they are finishing up their second and last week of swimming lessons. They love it, but we've been so busy they've missed about half :umm:

That camp sounds kick-ass Miso!

Next year we will probably do less camps. We will probably do some at the children's museum like this year. There are also some others I'm interested in. There is a Japanese camp run by a local university that I would like to enroll them in, but I need to research the veganizableness of it first. And we're considering getting Simon involved in children's theatre camp, but we need to talk with him first, as it's a big time and monetary commitment. I'd love for him to do it if he wants to, but am hesitant to enroll him until I feel like he's really interested. I'm not sure if we will do Humane Society next year because it is a long way from our house which makes transport difficult for my husband who has to trek it when he should be working. And I'm not sure how much of the info is repeated.

[michiganveganchick]

My kids really enjoyed their last camps. Simon's camp was well worth the money. The kids learned to film and edit their films (in iMovie on laptops), the also learned about storyboarding and blogging (each group blogged about what they learned each day on the newspaper website). At the end we got to see each group's film short (5 minutes on an area of the children's museum) as well as a documentary the newspaper put together about the class itself. We got to take home a dvd with all the shorts and the documentary. It was great and Simon loooooved it.

I want to go to that camp! :silly:

[Miso Vegan]

Well, it's coming up on that time of year again, when we have to start planning for the summer of camps.
Unlike last year, when I was not working (much at all) and honeymooned and such, this year Miso Lite will be back to a full summer of camps.

His best friend has an uncle that runs an AWESOME camp. It's a French-immersion, fencing, and canoeing camp (along with tennis, archery, saliing, theater, art, marine biology, photography, and French cuisine) located on a private island in the beautiful San Juan Islands. It starts at age 9, which Miso Lite will be in June, and he's dying to go to that camp. He begs me regularly. He reeeeeeally wants to learn fencing and he wants to be with his friend.
(I have no idea how open and helpful they'd be about veganism.)
I finally got around to looking it up online. wwwcanoeisland.org

There are two- and three-week sessions (so, away from home for that long).


Two-week sessions start at $2000.00


/ // /
o_i__|

[mamaquilla]

We just started discussing camps too!

OMG that camp sounds fun and OMG that is expensive :silly:

[La Végétalienne]

French-immersion :yes:
<~~Loves camp, and is wearing a camp staff shirt at this very moment.

[bumblebee]

2 of my kids were on a Barbara Walter's special, while at summer camp. (On her religion show). And now some guy is doing a documentary about their camp, which will be coming out in July. They're celebrities! ;)

[gladcow]

homigawd, Miso! that is crazy expensive. but tOtally awesome sounding!

that is so cool, bumblebee!

we're gearing up for camp as well. I just got the children's museum schedule. both kids will be going to sleep away camp this year (at seperate times). I need to find a few moments to compare the sleep away camp schedule with the children's musuem schedule and then I can go register. there are some wicked awesome camps geared towards the boy on the museum schedule, I just hope they fit into *our* schedule. :)

we will not be doing the humane society camp again. it was good, but it's way on the other side of town and it's very hard for the husb and I to get them there and back AND work. oh work...always getting in the way...

[Milkweed]

That sounds like a camp I worked at one summer, except for the french-immersion part. It was on Orcas Island, it lasts for four weeks, and they have amazing, AMAZING programs. I taught horseback riding lessons, but they also have sailing, canoeing, kyaking, swimming, pretty much every sport, a beautiful garden with gardening, baking, and craft classes, singing and other various music lessons, drama, a craft court with everything from drawing to stained glass to ceramics, etc. etc. Probobly the most beautiful place I've ever been. And, at least for the summer I was there, the kitchen cooked vegetarian and vegan options for every meal.

It's pretty much like a fairy tale. The camp is very old, and we all wear cutsy little sailing uniforms, (bloomers and all) and they still teach the kids the songs from when the camp was founded. The staff spends a good half of the session planning an elaborate day-long scavenger hunt that we surprise the kids with - starting with the oldest girls cabin, we wake them up, link hands, and wind our way through the camp singing till everyone is awake, then they go to the huge soccer field in their PJ's where we play old games that require skipping around and singing. Then they get the first clue with breakfast. they get split into groups based on their interests, follow clues all over the 60+ acre camp, (although planning and then leading half a dozen adolescent girls on a horse-back scavenger hunt is quite an experience) and the day culminates in the crowning of camp royalty with flowered garlands and songs...

Anyway it costs an arm and a leg, but ever since that summer I've sworn I'll send my kids there someday. Oh, camp. *sigh*

[Miso Vegan]

*sigh* is right. I want this for my son. But $2000 (which, by the way, is the voluntary low price, and people can voluntarily pay more) is more than we pay for the entire summer of camps. :umm:

[mamaquilla]

Milkweed, that all sounds so awsome!
I just dont know how people send their kids to these camps, its so darned expensive :umm:

[Miso Vegan]

Update, a.k.a. Good News for Miso Lite:
Miso Lite's dad said he'd pay half, and my mom said she'd pay the other half so that Nanashi and I only have to do the rest of the summer.

:banana:

Now, to make sure that there's a space available during the same session his friend is attending (thankfully just a 2 week session) and make sure they'll take good care of his veganness....

[gladcow]

:banana: :thumbsup: :cool:

[mamaquilla]

:o:cartwheel::sunny:

[Milkweed]

Yeah - it does seem ridiculously cost-prohibitive. As a result, there's sort of two groups of kids - the ones want to carry their prada bags around from activity to activity and the kids whose parents have had to plan way ahead to make it happen or are there on a "scholarship". I have to admit, I appreciated the uniforms just so that I didn't have to deal with kids discussing designer clothes all the time.

Once they get into the routine of camp though, it's kind of fun to see these kids just get to be kids - with all the fun as well as some actual responsibility. (umm sorry, there's no maid to clean your cabin and yes, if you want to get on the horse you're going to have to groom and saddle him yourself)

Confession: there's something about insisting that the young heiress to the Gillette fortune clean up after her horse, just like everybody else, that feels like a contribution to society, if only that it helps prevents the existence of a future Paris Hilton. ;)

[bumblebee]

Update, a.k.a. Good News for Miso Lite:
Miso Lite's dad said he'd pay half, and my mom said she'd pay the other half so that Nanashi and I only have to do the rest of the summer.

:banana:

Now, to make sure that there's a space available during the same session his friend is attending (thankfully just a 2 week session) and make sure they'll take good care of his veganness....

Have fun at camp, Miso Lite! :)

[gladcow]

we finally got our camps sorted. this year was a nightmare with scheduling and rescheduling and rerescheduling. I'm so glad the planning is over. Here is what the kids are doing:

Both:
8 weeks of swimming lessons
1 week of sleepaway camp

Boy:
1 week of comics and cartooning camp
1 week of advanced chess

Girl:
1 week of toy workshop camp
1 week of mini museum camp (art and art appreciation)

[sitting_vegan]

Cade is going to Tabor Camp as he has for the past several years. $230/wk, fulltime (7am till 5:30pm) swimming every day, a trip a week.

[gr8flgrl]

miss gr8 : after 10 years of summer camp miss gr8 is finally grown and living large on the jersey shore this summer, all on her OWN dime :banana:

little gr8: loves his momma and we'll be playing lots of backyard croquet and joining an autism play group :)

sounds like all the vegan kiddos have a good summer lined up. do your camps post pics on web? password protected, of course. that was my favorite part of miss gr8 being away for 8 weeks. i missed her immensely, but when i saw the pics of all the great new things she was doing/learning all that went away.

[gladcow]

our overnight camp posts pictures and it's one of the only things that keep me going while they're gone. I can also send emails and packages, but the pictures are the only contact I get from the camp side.

[Miso Vegan]

interesting question. Miso Lite's first overnighter is this summer so the question has never come up, but it's a very low-tech camp, so I don't expect online pictures. They do, however, require the campers to write home every day, in French (bien sur).

[mamaquilla]

:laugh:I went a little crazy over camps yesterday. :silly: Having had a stressfull day, realizing just how much work I will be doing and wanting to save the man/grandparents/children from killing each other, signed them up for numerous long day camps.

Anna- Basketball camp 930 to 330 for a week
Ice Skating camp 930-330 for a week
both YMCA
One more to be deterimned, timed with big sisters

Jane - Extreme Amusment Park Camp (YMCA) 8am to 5pm for a week
Tennis camp, only 9-1130, 4 days a week, want to do 2 sessions.

We charged it, it was a LOT, a bit traumatized by it all :laugh:

[Dandelion]

I'm sending my 15 year old almost vegan niece to Camp Inquiry (http://campinquiry.org/)!

Courses (http://campinquiry.org/what.html) include:
Monsterbusters & Mythmarauders
In the Footprints of Darwin
Sleights of Hand & Tricks of the Eye
Human Expression
Expressly Human: The Ethical Life
The Character of Character
Imagination & Science

:cool:

[Miso Vegan]

That looks like an awesome camp, Dandelion!!

MamaQ, you (and everyone) will be so glad you "went a little crazy."

[gladcow]

it does feel a little when arranging all the camps, but it is well worth it in the end! :yes:

Dandelion, that's awesome!

[mamaquilla]

Dandelion that camp sounds sooooooooooo wonderful! :)

[La Végétalienne]

Aw, geez, I need some parents to sent their vegan kids to my camp! Vegetarian food options there are mediocre as is; being vegan is going to be rough. But other than that I :heart: camp and am not looking forward to the day when I'll have to find a real job.

[Miso Vegan]

So, we're organizing the gear from Miso Lite's vary speshal French camp, which starts Sunday. I talked to the chef today - she is aware of what vegan means, and can accommodate him. But, as I brought up various ingredients, she was like "oh yeah, why don't you send that..." right down to the pasta! so now I have a long list of food to provide, for a camp that provides the food for all the other campers. :rolleyes:

And I need to find a recipe for crepes, and cheez fondue.

gladcow, how was gladcalf1's camp?

[mamaquilla]

oiy vey, what a pain MISO! Is he so super excited??

[gladcow]

gladcalf1's camp was okay. he said it was fun and everything, but I was a little irked about a couple of things. one, they are now charging for emails, but I didn't know until he was there already. grrr! we usually send him emails all week and a package toward the middle. without the emails, it takes a couple days to get a letter to him and I just felt awful. then, he got in a bike crash and had the wind knocked out of him and conked his head (with a helmet) on a snowmobile? or something? they called me (it was toward the beginning of the week) and I got to talk to him. but then I worried all week. motherhood is hard! lastly, there were some boys in his cabin who were "trying to act cool" and ended up really bullying gladcalf1's friend. they even made the gay accusation :rolleyes: I was pretty angry. I mean, I know they can't control every single kid, but there should be zero tolerance for bullying. I talked with gladcalf1 about how sad it was that he had to spend his week with such narrow minded jerks. and that they didn't even know how to insult correctly, since being gay is not bad! guh! on the other hand, he survived his first 7 day long camp and had a blast doing a basketball intensive while there, so yay!

sorry about the food thing, Miso. that is one of my biggest complaints about vegan parenting. I have to provide food all the damn time. ugh. I hope he has SO much fun. I may have recipes for those two things...

gladcalf2 goes to sleep away camp on Sunday for five days :cry:

[gladcow]

So, we're organizing the gear from Miso Lite's vary speshal French camp, which starts Sunday. I talked to the chef today - she is aware of what vegan means, and can accommodate him. But, as I brought up various ingredients, she was like "oh yeah, why don't you send that..." right down to the pasta! so now I have a long list of food to provide, for a camp that provides the food for all the other campers. :rolleyes:

And I need to find a recipe for crepes, and cheez fondue.

gladcow, how was gladcalf1's camp?

crepe recipe (http://www.everydaydish.tv/Recipe%20Pages/crepe.html)
video of crepe recipe (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8UpuuGpOWg)
(I haven't made that recipe, personally, but it looks similar to what I remember making when I made crepes)

do you have the UnCheese cookbook? there are a ton of (good!) fondue recipes in there. I can post one later, maybe.

[Miso Vegan]

I do have UnCheese, I'm going to check that for fondue. Thanks for finding the crepe recipe! Saves me time! The chef was a little hesitant when I said I'd send a recipe, because she'll be cooking for 70 other people so a new recipe isn't easy to fit in, but she said to send it anyway and she'd see what she can do.

Reeeeeaally sorry to hear about the bullying, that's just unacceptable. You're right, there really should be no tolerance for that. It is just torture to be the friend of the victim. :( Do you have a way to contact the other child's mom, see what she thinks, or if she'd like to write a letter to the Director or something?

And an injury - yikes! :worried: Maybe you can have him checked by a chiro or naturopath or something? The first year I went to camp, I got hit by a car! And I believe I've had tinnitus ever since. (The second year, I brought home measles.) So I'm a bit panicked about injuries.

I can't believe they charge for emails. Srsly. They could add $5 to the cost fo the camp, if printing them is such a huge expense. I've got my first letter for Miso Lite going out today, so hopefully it'll arrive on his 2nd day there.

MamaQ, he's beyond excited. He's been counting the days, and now the hours, and he talks about it to everyone. (For awhile he was also telling everyone how much it cost! :embarr: ) And for the first time in his life he wanted to go shopping (for the gear he'd need). Silly kid.

[gladcow]

I do have UnCheese, I'm going to check that for fondue. Thanks for finding the crepe recipe! Saves me time! The chef was a little hesitant when I said I'd send a recipe, because she'll be cooking for 70 other people so a new recipe isn't easy to fit in, but she said to send it anyway and she'd see what she can do.

Reeeeeaally sorry to hear about the bullying, that's just unacceptable. You're right, there really should be no tolerance for that. It is just torture to be the friend of the victim. :( Do you have a way to contact the other child's mom, see what she thinks, or if she'd like to write a letter to the Director or something?

And an injury - yikes! :worried: Maybe you can have him checked by a chiro or naturopath or something? The first year I went to camp, I got hit by a car! And I believe I've had tinnitus ever since. (The second year, I brought home measles.) So I'm a bit panicked about injuries.

I can't believe they charge for emails. Srsly. They could add $5 to the cost fo the camp, if printing them is such a huge expense. I've got my first letter for Miso Lite going out today, so hopefully it'll arrive on his 2nd day there.

MamaQ, he's beyond excited. He's been counting the days, and now the hours, and he talks about it to everyone. (For awhile he was also telling everyone how much it cost! :embarr: ) And for the first time in his life he wanted to go shopping (for the gear he'd need). Silly kid.

I should talk to the friend's mom (we know them, we planned for the boys to be there together) and just make sure she knows what I know at least. I'd hate if I were her and I didn't know :(

yeah, they're charging $1/email. I KNOW paper doesn't cost that much. Oh, and they only sell the emails in blocks of 5 :brood:

eek! I should get a letter in the mail to the girl today!

I hope Miso Lite has a fabulous time!!!

[quagga]

Watch out for the fondue recipe in UnCheese...I didn't care for it too much. Grog posted about it somewhere, I think, but I couldn't find it.

[La Végétalienne]

yeah, they're charging $1/email. I KNOW paper doesn't cost that much. Oh, and they only sell the emails in blocks of 5 :brood:


When my camp use to charge for emails, it wasn't to cover the paper cost, but rather because we were using some type of service. Now we just tell parents to email the camp director and he prints out all the emails and gives them to the kids. Maybe you could send an email to the director under the pretext of asking a question (or perhaps to voice your concern about the bullying!) and then at the end say something like, "oh, and could you please give my son the following message?"

Another thing a lot of parents do is write a bunch of letters ahead of time, put a date on the outside of each envelope, and give them to the counselor when they drop off their kid. It saves on postage and avoids the problem of mail not making it in time.

[gladcow]

thanks for the ideas, La Vegetalienne. I'm not overly concerned with how to get a message to my kids, I was just frustrated that they changed the protocol about email with out any notice (in the previous years we sent emails through their system with no charge). Had I known ahead, I could have let the boy know there wouldn't be email waiting for him. Which, may or may not have made a difference for him (he's busy having fun!) but it definitely would have made a difference to me (at home with lots of time to worry about whether or not he noticed that he had no emails!)

I'm planning ahead for the girl's week and getting a letter in the mail today! :)

[Miso Vegan]

I should talk to the friend's mom (we know them, we planned for the boys to be there together) and just make sure she knows what I know at least. I'd hate if I were her and I didn't know :(

yeah, they're charging $1/email. I KNOW paper doesn't cost that much. Oh, and they only sell the emails in blocks of 5 :brood:


I'm glad you know her, that'd make the conversation a leeetle easier.

I can see where maybe they instituted the charge for various reasons - ink, paper, and the time involved - and also maybe they found that parents were emailing instead of writing. But advance notice is the key, here!

[Miso Vegan]

Watch out for the fondue recipe in UnCheese...I didn't care for it too much. Grog posted about it somewhere, I think, but I couldn't find it.

Thank you!!

Makes me glad I decided to buy the expensive-but-known-to-be-good Playfood Cheezy Cheez for the fondue.

[gladcow]

well, we dropped her off :umm: :cry:

is it Friday yet? can I just sleep until then? :(

[Miso Vegan]

Hang in there, mama!

I also dropped my son off today, too. :sweat:

[gladcow]

was he tOtally excited? how are you?

[Miso Vegan]

Yeah, he was excited and goofing off and barely remembered to say goodbye to me! I'm okay ... so far. Two weeks!!!

[gladcow]

two weeks? :o omg. you're made of stronger stuff than I! :)

[Miso Vegan]

Yeah, it's a long time. I've been away from him before for about a week, but he's always been with family during those times, doing normal stuff, so I didn't have to worry about injuries and him getting homesick and being around strangers and not getting comforted and maybe being bullied....

I also think it'll be a long time for him. Not being away from me, so much, just - that's a lot of camp.
But, I think it'll be good for him to have to do things like make his bed neaten his sleeping bag every morning (I assume), shower daily, take on chores - y'know, basically do things he doesn't want to do. He'll come back different.

[gladcow]

the hard part, for me, is that we're home doing normal stuff and she's not here. most of the time when the kids are gone we're gone too. being home without them (especially only one of them being gone) is tough.

[mamaquilla]

You guys crack me up! My children are away with their big half sister for the first time, they left friday night and will be back tomorrow. Its been GREAT, they are off having fun and Im not having to worry about where they are/what they need/if they have eaten/etc. etc. etc.
Its been some nice time off :silly:

[Miso Vegan]

Ah, MamaQ, but they're still with family. I don't really have a problem with Miso Lite being gone - he spends enough time with his dad that I'm used to it. But I have a problem with him being there with strangers.
What, you think you could easily send both your girls off for a week to summer camp? Why dontcha, then? Huh? HUH?! :p

[mamaquilla]

Okay, you got me, Jane and her cousin were talking about Girl Scout camp this year and I COULD NOT DO IT! Made me feel kinda sick to my stomach, instead she is taking her first solo plane trip to one of my bestest friends in the Bay Area for a weekend with Auntie Lisa in August. Go figure :silly::rolleyes: The Girl Scout camp was 6 days, she will be with Auntie Lisa for 4 :)

[KaliMama]

Aw, come on - do it! If it weren't for Girl Scout camp, my daughter would never have gotten to see another little girl covered with leeches! Fun fun fun! :blank:

She was excused from swimming in the lake after that - forever.

[mamaquilla]

:laugh::laugh::laugh:

[bumblebee]

My kids love summer camp. It's only a week, but they wish it were two.
I just try not to worry...
In my case, I'd worry more if they were with family. :umm:

[Dandelion]

My niece just got back from Camp Inquiry and also wished it was two weeks instead of one. She had such an awesome time and i'm relieved because we were afraid the kids would be too young since she was in the older end of the age range cutoff. Most of the food served ended up being vegan too (she's LOV looking to be vegan)! She was interviewed by NPR and the local newspaper in which she outed herself as an atheist! (which her grandmother aint too happy about) She learned magic tricks, went fossil hunting, did african dance/drumming and participated in alotta group discussion. "Secularism", "mythology", "inquiry" are all part of her lexicon now. :cool: She said the best part was being able to talk freely without being judged or opposed. That was the best money i've spent all year! :happy:

[La Végétalienne]

We asked our campers what they want to be when they grow up. Four of them said they want to be vets, and one wants to be an animal cop. Each followed her answer with "because I love animals." I had to work really hard not to say, "When I grow up, I want to (still) be vegan... because I love animals." Then later that day, a bird was in one of the cabins and in the process of trying to shoo the bird out, one of my co-workers hit the bird with a broom and killed him/her. My girls freaked out, going on and on about how the poor bird didn't deserve to die and hadn't done anything wrong. Took a lot to contain myself from saying, "Yeah, and you know how many poor, innocent animals died for your lunch today?"
Then last night my co-counselor asked the girls what their favorite pizza toppings are. When I gave my answer (extra sauce, no cheese, tomatoes, zuchini, summer squash, and eggplant), they were all like, "What? No cheese? No meat?" Before I could say anything, my co-counselor explained that I'm vegan and what that means, and the kids started asking her questions. She responded, "You know, ------ is sitting right here, you can ask her..." :rolleyes: AND THEN one girl said, "Wait, so she loves animals so much she doesn't want to eat them?" :idea:
But they spent all of breakfast being confused about the concept of soymilk. le sigh.

[Miso Vegan]

Dandelion, that is TOTALLY AWESOME!!!!!!

[Dandelion]

We asked our campers what they want to be when they grow up. Four of them said they want to be vets, and one wants to be an animal cop. Each followed her answer with "because I love animals." I had to work really hard not to say, "When I grow up, I want to (still) be vegan... because I love animals." Then later that day, a bird was in one of the cabins and in the process of trying to shoo the bird out, one of my co-workers hit the bird with a broom and killed him/her. My girls freaked out, going on and on about how the poor bird didn't deserve to die and hadn't done anything wrong. Took a lot to contain myself from saying, "Yeah, and you know how many poor, innocent animals died for your lunch today?"
Then last night my co-counselor asked the girls what their favorite pizza toppings are. When I gave my answer (extra sauce, no cheese, tomatoes, zuchini, summer squash, and eggplant), they were all like, "What? No cheese? No meat?" Before I could say anything, my co-counselor explained that I'm vegan and what that means, and the kids started asking her questions. She responded, "You know, ------ is sitting right here, you can ask her..." :rolleyes: AND THEN one girl said, "Wait, so she loves animals so much she doesn't want to eat them?" :idea:
But they spent all of breakfast being confused about the concept of soymilk. le sigh.
See, every human inherently loves animals until culture comes in to muck it up. It's our job to bring out their inner child. :D Just your very presence prompted the vegan discussion, it's ez to reprazent! :heart:

[Dandelion]

Dandelion, that is TOTALLY AWESOME!!!!!!

Thanks, it totally made my day and maybe my month! :)

[La Végétalienne]

See, every human inherently loves animals until culture comes in to muck it up. It's our job to bring out their inner child. :D Just your very presence prompted the vegan discussion, it's ez to reprazent! :heart:

Except I feel like I have to be careful about what I say so that I don't get accused of trying to "convert" the children. And honestly, sometimes I'd prefer they don't know because the so-called vegan discussion is generally more of a "let's analyze her meals and try to catch her eating something with a face" discussion. But, it was pretty gratifying to hear the word "vegan" being tossed around by the girls all week, even though it was only in reference to me, because they had probably never heard it before.

[Dandelion]

Except I feel like I have to be careful about what I say so that I don't get accused of trying to "convert" the children. And honestly, sometimes I'd prefer they don't know because the so-called vegan discussion is generally more of a "let's analyze her meals and try to catch her eating something with a face" discussion. But, it was pretty gratifying to hear the word "vegan" being tossed around by the girls all week, even though it was only in reference to me, because they had probably never heard it before.

I know what you mean. I made it a point not to proselytize to my niece (probably cuz it was expected) but she ended up vegan(ish) anyways and that maybe made the difference for her family support. :) We must adopt an attitude of unabashed veganism but it's hard being pioneers. Anyways yer doin great, keep on rockin!

[gladcow]

the girl is back from camp! and covered in mousquito bites :brood: she had to go to the nurse a couple of times, I guess :umm: and they had to give her benadryl to help her sleep. I put her in an oatmeal bath when she got home and then put on ointment (that ended up stinging, so she took another oatmeal bath followed by no ointment). she said it was her favorite week of the year! :laugh:

[KaliMama]

Dandelion & La Veg, you guys rock. This thread really made me smile today. :heart:

gladcow - that's awesome, except for the bites...:umm: :kiss: Glad she's home safe & happy!

[Dandelion]

she said it was her favorite week of the year! :laugh:

haha, awesome! :D

[La Végétalienne]

and covered in mousquito bites :brood:
Seriously, what is it about kids that they are always covered in bites?! The kids here practically bathe in bug spray :shudder: and yet have way more bites than I do, and my method of mosquito avoidance is simply brushing them off when they land on me. (Okay, I admit, during a particularly bad week I became a vengeful mosquito killer, but I didn't like the way it felt to be in constant search-and-destroy mode.)

[Miso Vegan]

I don't think kids notice the mosquitos, or even the bites, until night time when they suddenly have to scratch all over.

I got this device (http://www.isabellacatalog.com/prod.cfm/pgc/21300/sbc/21306/inv/5389) for Miso Lite to take to camp, which will either be very cool or a complete waste of $6. :laugh: Will let you know in a week!

I'm really glad to hear gladcalf2's camp experience was so awesome other than the bites. Now that you've set the precedent with them, of course, you'll be sending them to sleep-away camps and draining your bank account every summer, just like me!! :thumbsup: err, :worried:

[gladcow]

that looks like a cool thingamajigg, Miso! my MIL is convinced that thiamin helps prevent mosquitos. the internets are divided. anybody have any anectodal experience? mosquitos have always bothered me, but they don't bother the husb so much. I think it's a genetic thing.

this, being the first year of sending them both to sleepaway camp, has been an adventure...for sure. luckily, my MIL helps with sleepaway camp because she went to a similar one when she was little and she wants the kids to have the same experience :thumbsup: otherwise :umm: not in the budget

[Miso Vegan]

Yeah. I probably mentioned upthread that we didn't pay for this. Yay for grandmas!!! But we are paying for the childcare needed for rest of the summer.

[Miso Vegan]

So, we picked up Miso Lite today. As suspected, after 2 weeks of campcampcamp! he is exhausted, both physically and emotionally. He's been on the verge of tears over little things (couch cushions not cooperating with his fort plans, for example), and a bit whiney. That's ok - he's otherwise unscathed and had a great time!

KaliMama, you'll appreciate this particularly - he and his friend Carter were the only two who braved the cold Puget Sound waters to snorkel (in wetsuits) and so they were the only ones who got to swim around with a baby seal! eeee! They (the camp people) sent home a "yearbook" and included a b&w photo of the baby seal and it was darling!

Not sure how I feel about this, but he was voted Cutest Boy, as well as having The Best Hair. :umm:

If anyone wants to slog through the pictures the camp put online, go here http://www.canoeisland.org/component/option,com_expose/Itemid,56/
and then 2008, then session 2, and once the photos have loaded, you can go backwards from 77 to # 72, and that's my boy on the right in his French Revolutionary costume (I guess). Also, # 37 he's on the left, that's right after the swim with the seal. :) (and there's a crazy purple seastar in photo 8!)

I got one letter from him, and it was in French! Cute.

[KaliMama]

Yea! Tell my fellow seal whisperer hello from me! :laugh: :kiss:

[LuC]

he's definitely adorable, miso. it looks like he had a great time.

[gladcow]

I'm so glad he had a great time! In a week of resting and home life, he'll be good as new :happy:

[bumblebee]

I'm glad that he had a good time. :)

[atouria]

Yeah, it's weird about them voting for cutest boy and best hair. He is adorable, though! I love the pics!

[Miso Vegan]

Thanks, everyone!

[La Végétalienne]

Annual camp staff banquet is coming up in a couple of weeks. When I asked to see the menu, the girl who is looking into caterers made a face and said, "We're not getting something vegan." So, it looks like the vegetarian option at the caterer we're considering will be penne alfredo, Caesar salad, and something else dairy-licious which I can't remember. I feel like if I skip it, people will think I'm just doing it to make a scene (it's pretty unheard of to skip the closing banquet), but if I go and don't eat anything, people will still think I'm making a scene, and I'll have to endure their comments. I like my co-wokers, and the banquet happens on the last day we'll all be together, so I don't want to miss out on saying goodbye and all that. I'll definitely eat beforehand, but I'm not looking forward to awkwardly sitting there with an empty plate (since I won't even be able to eat the darn salad!) I guess this is more of a solicitation for pity, than for advice. :(

[gladcow]

that sucks, LML :umm:

fly me in and I'll cook the banquest than that sour faced girl will eat it and like it! :p

[mamaquilla]

Yay!!! Im so happy to hear that camp was a success AND DUH, of course he was voted Cutest boy with the best hair, HE IS AND DOES :p:silly:

[vegematic]

LaVeg, I think you should make some amazingly fantastic vegan entree and a mouthwateringly decadent vegan dessert and bring it to the banquet to devour gleefully in front of all your secretly envious coworkers. If you're going to be accused of making a scene no matter what you do, you may as well go all out.

-vegematic

[La Végétalienne]

^I seriously LOL-ed at that. Too bad I don't have a functional kitchen and the stores around here don't sell much of anything besides tobacco and beef jerky. But if I ever go home on a weekend, I've thought about baking some fab brownies or something and bringing them back to share keep all for myself.

[Emiloid]

Tell them you're lactose intolerant, and/or bring it up with her manager. You are lactose intolerant anyway--so what if it's a moral intolerance? If they can't even give you a PB&J, they're discriminating against you. That's just messed up.

[bluedawg]

When I asked to see the menu, the girl who is looking into caterers made a face and said, "We're not getting something vegan."

:brood:

so mean and uncalled for!

[La Végétalienne]

^Despite feeling major sting, I was at first willing to give her the benefit of the doubt and think that just maybe what she meant to say was, "I'm really sorry, but I just don't think that it's going to be possible to find a vegan caterer given our location here in HunterLandMcRuralVille." But then last night we had a staff appreciation party (LML are you reading this, because I t0tally understand what you meant in your post (http://www.veganrepresent.com/forums/showpost.php?p=319270&postcount=1448)!) which consisted of a sundae bar. No soy ice cream in sight. There were however, crushed oreos, but when I started eating them, the same girl complained that they were for going on the ice cream, not for eating straight, and then she and another girl kept saying they couldn't possibly be vegan, anyway. When I told her to check the ingredients, she kept saying, "But they have chocolate in them!" Um, chocolate comes from a bean!
But on the plus side, I talked to girl #2 (who is the second strictest vegetarian here) about it this morning and she said that she wasn't trying to be mean, she just hates it when people call themselves veg*n but eat things that aren't. Then she said the only reason she isn't vegan is because she knows she couldn't do it at camp. I kind of think that's just a way to justify not making the effort, though. But I'm usually horrible at confrontation, so overall I was proud of myself for bringing it up, and not ending up apologizing, which is usually how my attempts at this kind of thing go.
In other news, the kitchen got chocolate soy milk!!! (They keep some on hand for lactose-intolerant kids, but it's always Very Vanilla which I think is too sweet.) And I discovered some Soy Delicious in the freezer, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it will make an appearance before too long.

[Emiloid]

And I discovered some Soy Delicious in the freezer, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it will make an appearance before too long.Screw waiting! Just grab a spoon! They owe you.

(I'm barely kidding.)

[La Végétalienne]

:laugh: Yeah, but that would just make the kitchen staff mad. And I'm actually on really good terms with them, even though they come from a much different walk of life than me; it's my fellow progressive college student co-workers that drive me up a wall. Go figure.

[Miso Vegan]

My niece just got back from Camp Inquiry

Dandelion!! Today NPR's All Things Considered is going to be talking about Camp Inquiry!

[Dandelion]

Dandelion!! Today NPR's All Things Considered is going to be talking about Camp Inquiry!
omg thanks for the headsup!

[La Végétalienne]

Camp's over.
OH EM GEE I CAN HAZ REAL FOODS AGAIN!!!!!!!!
Also, staff banquet turned out okay; there were roasted potatoes, rolls, and pasta salad that I chose to assume were vegan. Couldn't eat the salad, though. :laugh: And never did get any of that soy ice cream, but I bought some as soon as I got home.

[Miso Vegan]

You survived!!!


Miso Lite's environmental education camp is this week. Just found out a few days ago that his regular day camp that he's been going to all the rest of the summer will be closed the week after this. WTF?

[La Végétalienne]

Yup. I survived. Really though, as negative as my posts have been, I do love camp (been going there 10 years now), and I'm gonna miss it.

Environmental education camp sounds awesome! I wish we focused more on environmental stuff during the summmer. (We do during the off-season, when we host school groups and such.) That's weird that the day camp will be closed on such short notice. Send him out to Michigan, and I'll hang out with him for a week. :)

[Miso Vegan]

Send him to you for a week?! Wow, that sounds like it'd be quite fun - for me!

[quagga]

*bump*

It's that time of year again!

[ganymeder]

Okay, just talked to the Camp people about my son going to camp (1 week overnight) and getting vegan options. They gave me a list of what they have and said if I want to give them ready made stuff they can just heat it it'd be fine. So yay!

I was wondering if you guys have any experience/suggestions for this? Camp says for breakfast they have Juice, fresh fruit, and cereal. Well, I can give them a vegan cereal just to be safe.

Lunch and Dinner they have a salad bar (not sure what's on it), but I can give them boca burgers and buns or stirfry or something and they'll make it. For sweets, I'll give them some So Delicious (they go to the "sweet shop" for icecream)... Oh, and they have a cookout on Friday, so I'm thinking Boca burger and donate vegan buns.

Whaddaya think? Any ideas?

[Calliope]

That all sounds good, gany. Although, I gotta say it's annoying that the camps idea of accomodating your son is for you to send him there with a weeks worth of food. If your son was allergic to nuts, would they ask you to provide his own food?

[ganymeder]

That all sounds good, gany. Although, I gotta say it's annoying that the camps idea of accomodating your son is for you to send him there with a weeks worth of food. If your son was allergic to nuts, would they ask you to provide his own food?

Well, I did suggest it. I wanted to be sure he was getting vegan fare, since they might not understand what vegan entails. It's just easier. If he was vegetarian (ovolacto) it probably wouldn't be as big a deal, but even if he did have allergies I would probably send food. I wouldn't want them accidently giving him something he shouldn't have. :)

[Miso Vegan]

This is very typical, and what I did for my son's 10-day away camp. And, a lot of the food was never used (even the cheezy dip I sent for fondue night - he just didn't get cheese fondue!), and my son lived on bread, some fruit....

[ganymeder]

Aw crap. :(

[Ariann]

We had a pb&j option at every meal when I was a camper. So that's what I ate at pretty much every meal (and I was pretty happy about it). My mother wasn't/isn't veg, so it did not occur to her to intervene or be helpful in any way. I think you're definitely giving your son a leg up (and hey, you said elsewhere he really likes pb&j, so maybe he'll luck out in that department). I feel like most camps must have some experience these days with different diets, especially when it comes to allergies, so it seems strange to me that they'd be difficult about providing a vegan option or serving the food you provided ahead of time.

[ganymeder]

Yeah, he'd eat PBJ EVERY. SINGLE. MEAL if I let him. So I'll give them plenty of white bread and the other options. Soymilk. etc.

Wow. It's going to be like a whole separate grocery bill for that week!

[vegetalienelan]

My 13 year old was hungry the other day, so I said go make a sandwich. He said would I like one too? I said yes.

We got Peanut Butter, Vegan Mayonnaise and Marmite (it's a UK yeast extract spread like Vegemite).

Actually it was quite nice.... :happy:

[Dandelion]

My neice loved Camp Inquiry (http://www.veganrepresent.com/forums/showthread.php?p=310670#post310670) so much that she tried for an internship position for this summer. She ended up opting out since it was summer long. She may still attend as a guest. Another option is Camp Quest (http://www.camp-quest.org/).

[Miso Vegan]

I totally have Camp Inquiry saved for future years for my son, Dandy.

[Dandelion]

I totally have Camp Inquiry saved for future years for my son, Dandy.

Coolness! :thumbsup:

[quagga]

A vegan activist in the California Bay Area is starting a 5-day-long pilot program of a summer camp for young people who are interested in activism and social change. The camp will be vegan, though that's not the focus of the camp. It will be in the beautiful Santa Cruz mountains from August 17-21.

I'll keep y'all posted when she gets her website up, because it sounds like a really great thing.

ETA: She's looking for a vegan cook, so if you know of anyone who's available, PM me! (Gladcow??) Also support staff are needed (this thing is just getting going).

[La Végétalienne]

Something I will not miss this summer: camp food. (Unless it were of gladcow origin, of course!)

[ganymeder]

I just turned in all minmeder's paperwork for his stay-away-foraweek-camp. :worried:

[La Végétalienne]

I worked my first day at summer camp today! I came in on the last day of staff training and therefore was waaaaay out of the loop. And then they decided I should lead an impromptu nature hike and canoe lesson (not in combination!). Fantastic. And then the guy in the canoe with me got out and started dragging the canoe on shore too fast, in the process tipping it, and me, into the water, so I spent the rest of the day soaking wet. And I'd already been shivery all day. Double fantastic.

But for realz, I love camp. :sunny: And this year I get to ride my bike to work and bring my own lunches, which is definitely an improvement over being 1.5 hours away from home and being forced to eat gross camp food three meals a day.

[La Végétalienne]

Canoe Boy apologized to me again today. How many times do you think I have to say, "Yo. Totally not a big deal!" and smile before he gets it that worse things have happened to me?

In other news, both this camp and the sleep-away one where I worked at before are YMCA camps, but I can already see a difference in the staff. Today I went to a training session with a bunch of other people from several branches' day camps and almost every single other girl had makeup and stylish hair. The girls near me had tattoos, but they were Jesus-related.

[tin can]

Maybe he should start apologising for apologising, too!

[La Végétalienne]

:no: Then I might have to be less nice.
He's a bit socially awkward and I can tell that a lot of the other staff don't like him very much, so I'm trying to be patient with him, because I've been in that position before and I know how much it sucks. :worried:

[tin can]

Ah, that's sweet of you. I try to make a special effort with such people, too, and appreciate it when others do with me. :)

[quagga]

A vegan activist in the California Bay Area is starting a 5-day-long pilot program of a summer camp for young people who are interested in activism and social change. The camp will be vegan, though that's not the focus of the camp. It will be in the beautiful Santa Cruz mountains from August 17-21.

I'll keep y'all posted when she gets her website up, because it sounds like a really great thing.

She did it!

YEA! A vegan summer camp for young activists (http://yeacamp.org/)

Dear friends,

I'm thrilled to announce the launch of Youth Empowered Action Camp -- YEA! This summer, from August 17-21 in the Santa Cruz mountains, 18 youth ages 11-15 will learn skills and build relationships to support their development as leaders making a difference in the world.

Youth will choose an issue of importance to them, share about why they care so much about it and think strategically about how to address it, and leave camp with a thoughtful plan of action and a supportive community of peers and mentors to help make it happen. And it will be tons of fun! Behind YEA, there's a great team of staff and volunteers with decades of experience, collectively, in youth work.

If there are any youth in your life who are this age and might be interested, please check out our website, www.yeacamp.org. Please also forward on to youth, parents, or others who might work with youth or be interested in attending, donating, volunteering, or otherwise being involved.

[KaliMama]

That is so incredibly awesome.

[Miso Vegan]

TOtally.

[La Végétalienne]

Camper: Feel how heavy my backpack is! It's all beef jerky. I only like beef jerky. Vegetables are for squares!
Me: How about you put that away until lunch time. What kinds of games do you like?
Camper: Beef jerky. I only like beef jerky.
This week is going to be great.

[La Végétalienne]

Lil Sis is at sleep-away summer camp this week. I'm driving up there tomorrow night to visit my friends who are working there so I'll get to surprise her with a visit!
She promised to write me letters and hasn't yet. :brood:

[Miso Vegan]

Maybe the mail is slow.... :uhoh:

[KaliMama]

Have fun! I'm a little :brood: that she hasn't written as well. I enjoy hearing about her letters. :)

[gladcow]

the boy goes to sleepaway camp for SEVEN DAYS on Sunday. :worried:

[Calliope]

Aw, seven days is such a long time!
When I was in highschool, I used to work at a summer camp as a cabin leader, and it always broke my heart when the august camps rolled around because there were always a few campers who were grumpy and tired because they're parents had been bouncing them from camp to camp for two months. :cry:

[gladcow]

aw man! sleepaway camp is once a year! my kids are always exhausted, I can't imagine sending them all summer :(

[Calliope]

Yeah, camp was a once a year thing when I was a kid too, and I loved it, but I think I definitely would have gotten crabby if I'd been carted around to different camps every week for the whole summer.

[ganymeder]

the boy goes to sleepaway camp for SEVEN DAYS on Sunday. :worried:

I feel for you! Mine goes away in 2 weeks! *sniff!*

[gladcow]

...packing...

[La Végétalienne]

...and labeling EVERYTHING, right?

[gladcow]

:uhoh:

[tin can]

packing...

...and labeling EVERYTHING

Hey, that's what I'm doing, for my house move. :cool:

[Ariann]

I used to go to camp for 10-14 days at a time once a summer. I was always really jealous of the kids who got to stay (at the same camp) for the whole six weeks. I also had friends who went to one-month or two-month camp sessions (the same camp, not moving to different camps) and I was REALLY jealous of them, but those camps were way more expensive. Being at home in the summer was so, so boring. The only available activity was the community pool, but it was a real PITA to get myself there.

[walrus]

I have fond memories of summer camp, even though they were Christian based. I remember staying in a "tee pee" one year. I loved it! I had a crush on all the male counselors that year, too.

[gladcow]

we took the boy to camp yesterday. when we were about 5 miles away, I realized that I forgot to pack his sneakers! :brood:

this morning, I made a batch of snickerdoodles to send along and mailed him his sneakers.

d'oh!

we go pick him up next weekend, and drop off the girl :cry:

[ganymeder]

one more week...YIKES!

[Miso Vegan]

Summer came upon us so quickly that I never got around to lining up the week-after-week of different camps like I have in the past. The awesome French camp was out of our budget this year, but we promised he could go next year.
All we have is one 6-night sleepaway that we signed up for because my friend wanted her son to know someone at that camp (our sons are not particularly friends, but they are schoolmates).

Fortunately, just before the end of the school year, Miso Lite's dad got a new job that's in the evenings, mostly. And, Miso Lite has developed a love for staying home alone. So for the most part I haven't needed childcare, and when I do there's the local Boys & Girls club that's actually pretty cool, and free or practically free (depending on when I drop him off). And friends.

So we're saving a ton of money this year compared to last!

[La Végétalienne]

:help:
When I was in second grade I met a boy named "Julian." Up until that point, I thought that was a name for girls. Fast forward to yesterday when I got a new group of campers and thought it ironic that among them was a girl named Julian.

About 45 minutes into the day, I realized that Julian is in fact a boy. Fortunately, I hadn't yet directed him to the girls' bathroom or done anything else equally embarrassing. These kids are 7 and 8 years old so they're all pretty much androgynous in terms of build. Julian has long hair that he wears in a high pony tail- a style I've only ever seen on girls. Turns out, I'm not the only one that was confused- most of the other campers called him a girl at first, and apparently when he walked into the bathroom, the other boys (not in our group) freaked out.

Now, I consider myself to be pretty sensitive to gender issues, but most of the kids seem to be genuinely confused, so it's not like I can bring out the standard anti-bullying talk. Nor does it seem appropriate to make an announcement to the whole camp informing everyone of his gender. On the other hand, I'm sure it's no fun for Julian to be constantly getting that type of reaction from the other kids, but I don't know how to prevent it.

Today another kid complained to me that Julian had called him a name and when I asked Julian whether that was true he said, "My parents told me that if other kids make fun of me, I can make fun of them." Another counselor confirmed that they had indeed said this, though obviously that kind of attitude doesn't fly at camp. She later added that his mom had even talked to the director and offered to have her pony-tailed husband come in and ask the kids if they'd ever consider bullying him. The camp director responded that no, that wouldn't be necessary; we don't use intimidation as a behavior-correction tactic. Plus, like I said, in most instances, the kids don't appear to be intentionally hurtful.

I have no idea how to handle this situation, though it may be a moot point since Julian says his parents told him he didn't have to come back to camp if even one more person asked him whether he was a girl, and that definitely happened today. Sigh.

I asked my long-haired male co-worker for his input, but all he had to say was, "The difference between me and Julian is that I have facial hair."

[tin can]

She promised to write me letters and hasn't yet. :brood:

Yeah, I know the feeling. :p

[Miso Vegan]

:help:
When I was in second grade I met a boy named "Julian." Up until that point, I thought that was a name for girls. Fast forward to yesterday when I got a new group of campers and thought it ironic that among them was a girl named Julian.

About 45 minutes into the day, I realized that Julian is in fact a boy. Fortunately, I hadn't yet directed him to the girls' bathroom or done anything else equally embarrassing. These kids are 7 and 8 years old so they're all pretty much androgynous in terms of build. Julian has long hair that he wears in a high pony tail- a style I've only ever seen on girls. Turns out, I'm not the only one that was confused- most of the other campers called him a girl at first, and apparently when he walked into the bathroom, the other boys (not in our group) freaked out.

Now, I consider myself to be pretty sensitive to gender issues, but most of the kids seem to be genuinely confused, so it's not like I can bring out the standard anti-bullying talk. Nor does it seem appropriate to make an announcement to the whole camp informing everyone of his gender. On the other hand, I'm sure it's no fun for Julian to be constantly getting that type of reaction from the other kids, but I don't know how to prevent it.

Today another kid complained to me that Julian had called him a name and when I asked Julian whether that was true he said, "My parents told me that if other kids make fun of me, I can make fun of them." Another counselor confirmed that they had indeed said this, though obviously that kind of attitude doesn't fly at camp. She later added that his mom had even talked to the director and offered to have her pony-tailed husband come in and ask the kids if they'd ever consider bullying him. The camp director responded that no, that wouldn't be necessary; we don't use intimidation as a behavior-correction tactic. Plus, like I said, in most instances, the kids don't appear to be intentionally hurtful.

I have no idea how to handle this situation, though it may be a moot point since Julian says his parents told him he didn't have to come back to camp if even one more person asked him whether he was a girl, and that definitely happened today. Sigh.

I asked my long-haired male co-worker for his input, but all he had to say was, "The difference between me and Julian is that I have facial hair."

Wow, that's a terribly situation. I mean, it all could have gone differently if the parents had been more reasonable. They could have set up the expectation that some people will be confused, and how to deal with it in a non-aggressive way.

When Miso Lite was that age with long hair, I told him that kids are often confused for the opposite sex, both boys with long hair and girls with short hair, and that's okay, and he can correct them if it matters (like, no need to correct some random stranger whom you'll never see again). Sometimes he'd ask me why people think he's a girl, and I'd tell him that some people still think that boys don't have long hair, only girls do, but that's their problem, not his, and he can wear his hair however he likes.

Anyway, probably not much help there, but maybe if you have a discussion with the campers about why Julian left (if he did), you could include that while Julian and his parents didn't handle it well, it's easy to get confused and it's not their fault, but being unsure doesn't mean teasing is okay (I don't know if they were teasing when they called him a girl).

[Calliope]

Miso, you sound like a pretty kickass mamma. :)

[ganymeder]

Ditto. :D

[Miso Vegan]

:blush:

[ganymeder]

Last night,I packed minimeder off to camp for the first time. One whole week away from home. I didn't think I'd cry. I made it out of the camp okay and then I cried off and on all night long. He's going to have a blast, so that's not it. I think it's just combined with my recent birthday, it hit me last night that in 10 years I'll be fifty and he'll be 18 and ready to leave home for good. :(

On Topic: I dropped off a ton of groceries so he could eat vegan. Annoying, but at least they're willing to work with me.

[gladcow]

yesterday, we drove up to camp and picked up the boy. so great to see him, he had a wonderful time. we went to a nearby town and had a picnic lunch and walked around and then headed back to camp to drop off the girl. she was excited. I miss her.

the boy learned about videography while at camp, we watched the videos he made last night. I'm so happy that he had fun and learned new things :) this year he came home with a handful of email addresses :D

[La Végétalienne]

yesterday, we drove up to camp and picked up the boy. so great to see him, he had a wonderful time. we went to a nearby town and had a picnic lunch and walked around and then headed back to camp to drop off the girl. she was excited.
Yikes! Don't those poor camp staff get a break? :D

[gladcow]

they got a four hour break :brood:
I got four hours of keeping my kids happy in the middle of nowhere :silly:

I was thinking of you, LaVeg, as I obsessively labelled the girl's belongings :D

[La Végétalienne]

they got a four hour break
:o I used to get 24 and that barely felt like a break!

On behalf of counselors everywhere: thanks for labeling the girls' stuff! In my experience, unlabeled stuff pretty much never leaves the Lost & Found pile of doom. Also, I think I could clothe a small army with the dirty socks and underwear I've discovered underneath beds and thrown out over the years.

[gladcow]

I'm not entirely sure how they run things at this camp, but they often have back to back camps. Next week they get a day and a half break before the next round of campers come.

I didn't label her clothes :uhoh:

[ganymeder]

yesterday, we drove up to camp and picked up the boy. so great to see him, he had a wonderful time. we went to a nearby town and had a picnic lunch and walked around and then headed back to camp to drop off the girl. she was excited. I miss her.

the boy learned about videography while at camp, we watched the videos he made last night. I'm so happy that he had fun and learned new things :) this year he came home with a handful of email addresses :D

gladcow,
So happy that your kids are having/had a blast at camp!

[gladcow]

thanks, gany :)

I can't wait to hear about Christopher's camp time :yes:

[ganymeder]

Yeah, me too! :)

Btw, I did label his clothing! :p lol

[ganymeder]

Random camping side effect...
I'm about half through cleaning out minimeder's room. I've already loaded up several bags with trash or donations, and I've got a box with some books that he doesn't read anymore and have no sentimental value. I figure I can trade them in for credit at the used bookstore and surprise him!

Btw, he knows I'm cleaning out his room. I told him I wouldn't get rid of anything he was really attached to or would miss. :)

[gladcow]

I had hoped to clean the boy's room when he was gone, but I ran out of time :)

[ganymeder]

I had hoped to clean the boy's room when he was gone, but I ran out of time :)

Well, I meant to clean it all week, but I was really sick until yesterday. I did a little yesterday because I was feeling a bit better, so today and tomorrow I'm cleaning like crazy!

[Miso Vegan]

Oh, yeah! I just cleaned Miso Lite's room the other day, though he's not away at camp. Sometimes he surprises me with what he's attached to, so I'd rather not do it while he's gone, even with his permission. Plus, I want his [meager and distracted] "help" so that he learns the process of purging. Anyway - afterwards, what surprised me was how happy he was with the cleanliness and order of his room. He thanked me a couple of times. Even 10-yr-old kids appreciate neatness!

[ganymeder]

Yeah, last year I cleaned while he was at Day Camp and just told him not to go in his room or look for a few days. When I let him back in, it was like Xmas. I got rid of tons of stuff, but I organized new shelves and sorted out toys he'd lost peices to or had scattered everywhere. Suddenly, he had a whole box of legos instead of 5 or 6 here and there, and he kept going "Wow! I didn't know I had this!" or "Oh, I forgot I had this!"

So this year, not quite as extreme since the shelves are up, but he'll still end up better I think. I've already found about twice as many Chaotic card crap (http://www.chaoticgame.com/) than what I think he knew he had, plus a bunch more Tech Decks (http://www.techdeck.com/)... lol

[tin can]

I had hoped to clean the boy's room when he was gone

I wish you'd lived in my house when I was growing up! :silly:

[La Végétalienne]

I, on the other hand, would have had a royal fit if my mother had ever dared to clean my room. In fact, that was one of her most effective threats!

[tin can]

nerd :p

[gladcow]

I help them clean it a couple times a year, when it gets to the point that they can't dig themselves out of it. I don't require it to be clean on any particular schedule from day to day or week to week. But, they get more allowance if it's clean :) and more free time, because during the summer, "work on room for 30 mins" is on their chore list everyday (unless it's clean) :D

[La Végétalienne]

nerd :p
My mother has a very liberal definition of "junk" which would have included many of my most prized possessions.

[ganymeder]

Naw, I try to make sure to only get rid of stuff he won't miss.

Minimeder has to spend 5 minutes twice a day tidying his room so I don't break a leg if I walk in. Other than that, I don't really require it to be extremely tidy.

[Miso Vegan]

I have no real requirements for cleanliness of his room. I figure it's his room, his mess.

But if I step on toys, I start kicking them in anger....

[La Végétalienne]

Today my co-worker taught the kiddies a game called Fun With a Magnifying Glass and the Sun. I'm a little bit terrified of the stories I'm going to hear tomorrow. :blank:

[Miso Vegan]

:worried:

[tin can]

:bomb: I hope all the little tiny things are ok. :umm:

[La Végétalienne]

To be fair, he was melting and burning inanimate things (which really is more fun than it should be); the kids on the other hand, might not show such restraint at home. Maybe I'll make him drive home the "respecting nature" rule today.

Also, the week's theme is "Down on the Farm" which I mostly avoided by being sick for two and a half days. Today is theme day and I can only imagine that some of the activities are going to involve eggs and maybe even live animals.

[ganymeder]

To be fair, he was melting and burning inanimate things (which really is more fun than it should be); the kids on the other hand, might not show such restraint at home. Maybe I'll make him drive home the "respecting nature" rule today.

Also, the week's theme is "Down on the Farm" which I mostly avoided by being sick for two and a half days. Today is theme day and I can only imagine that some of the activities are going to involve eggs and maybe even live animals.

That reminds me of a story minimeder told me about his class last year. Apparently, one of the kids was doing the magnifying glass thing to an ant ( :( ) and minimeder told him to stop. The kid said stuff like, "It's just an ant!" and minimeder told him that how would he like it if he was an ant and couldn't go home to his mom because someone did that to him. I can't remember exactly how he said it, but I was really proud of him. He wasn't able to save the ant though... :(

OT: Minimeder comes home tonight! Woot! I've missed him SOOOO much! I think I'm going to bake an apple pie for him. :)

[gladcow]

we're leaving to get the girl in a couple hours :banana:

[Miso Vegan]

That minimeder is such a sweet kid!

Today I was filling out the paperwork for Miso Lite's camp, and it has a section about diet.

Now, what's wrong with this picture?

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2487/3729848446_a31385ae09_o.jpg

[gladcow]

"normal" :rolleyes:

[Miso Vegan]

On the one hand, I am glad that vegan is on there as an option, and is separate from vegetarian.

On the other hand....

[gladcow]

agree

[vegematic]

What is PKU? I've never heard of that "abnormality".
-vegematic

[Dugan]

I'm not sure either, but they've got a website (http://www.pku.com/home.php?gclid=CKWYv7GT3ZsCFdFL5Qodn1B--A).

[bumblebee]

http://www.ehow.com/how_2047875_follow-pku-diet.html

[vegematic]

Huh. The diet looks like bean-free veganism.
-vegematic

[ganymeder]

Now, what's wrong with this picture?

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2487/3729848446_a31385ae09_o.jpg

ROFLOL :laugh:
Seriously though, at least they know and provide for a vegan diet. But I couldn't help but laugh, especially since I bought a whole weeks worth of groceries to donate to his camp (on top of the fee, not reduced or anything) to make sure minimeder has plenty of vegan meals... :)

[La Végétalienne]

What camp is Miso Lite doing this year?

People with PKU can't metabolize certain amino acids, so the no-beans thing makes sense, right? I think it's because of PKU that some packaged foods have the warning "contains phenylalanine". The pku is also an armenian musical instrument.

I didn't hear any stories today about kids frying ants with magnifying lenses and my co-worker grudgingly agreed to tell the kids they shouldn't be mean to bugs, which he did.

Farm Day wasn't nearly as bad as I expected; we played some farm-themed games but the only live animals were a pair of backyard chickens someone brought in who probably enjoyed the break from city life and a pair of draft horses from down the road that came in for wagon rides.

In case anyone was wondering, my long-haired boy camper that I mentioned earlier did indeed end up leaving camp after the second day. His parents ended up moving him to the other YMCA's sports camp, which I'm sure tOtally solved the problem, right? :rolleyes:

And finally, in the midst of a running-around game today, one kid turned to me and said "Why did you just say 'Oh shit!'?" and I was rather taken aback because a) I hadn't said that or anything else and b) it was kind of funny hearing those words come out of his little 9-year-old mouth.

[Miso Vegan]

ROFLOL :laugh:
Seriously though, at least they know and provide for a vegan diet. But I couldn't help but laugh, especially since I bought a whole weeks worth of groceries to donate to his camp (on top of the fee, not reduced or anything) to make sure minimeder has plenty of vegan meals... :)

Last year, I did the same. And most of it was returned to me. Even though the chef said he ate very little. :blank:

[Miso Vegan]

What camp is Miso Lite doing this year?


A local Campfire USA camp, one week of sleepaway. We're only ding it because the mom of one of his classmates wanted someone her son knew, to be there. And it's 1/3 the cost of Canoe Island French Camp.

In case anyone was wondering, my long-haired boy camper that I mentioned earlier did indeed end up leaving camp after the second day. His parents ended up moving him to the other YMCA's sports camp, which I'm sure tOtally solved the problem, right?

Yes, an excellent decision on their part. Because sports camps, y'know, they're all about long haired boys, so he'll fit right in. :rolleyes: indeed.

And finally, in the midst of a running-around game today, one kid turned to me and said "Why did you just say 'Oh shit!'?" and I was rather taken aback because a) I hadn't said that or anything else and b) it was kind of funny hearing those words come out of his little 9-year-old mouth.

:laugh:

[La Végétalienne]

I think the real motivation to move him to sports camp (which is co-ed, btw) is because his grandfather works maintenance at that Y, so yaknow, he can intimidate any would-be bullies.

[Miso Vegan]

Perfect! Just perfect.....

[gladcow]

the girl is home! she's a little bitten, but had a great time! her cookies got lost in the mail! :sad:

[La Végétalienne]

Oh no! I bet a postal worker somewhere ate them.

[ganymeder]

Why do I have a sudden urge to be a postal worker now? :rolleyes: :)

My little boy is 2 shades tanner now! Ha! :D

[La Végétalienne]

My little boy is 2 shades tanner now! Ha! :D
We used to joke that by the end of the summer, one's toes would belong to one ethnicity and one's belly to an entirely different one.

[La Végétalienne]

I've been meaning to post this for weeks now.
Remember this?
Lil Sis is at sleep-away summer camp this week. [...] She promised to write me letters and hasn't yet. :brood:
She said she would write me 6 letters, but I didn't see that happening, so I gave her enough supplies for two letters. A few days after she got home, I received this in the mail:
http://i81.servimg.com/u/f81/11/71/68/81/letter10.jpg (http://www.servimg.com/image_preview.php?i=6&u=11716881)
It's written on the back of an envelope that she borrowed from someone else because she lost the paper I gave her. My reaction was a mix of :rolleyes:, :brood:, and :happy:.

[squirrel]

I don't see nuffin. :confused:

[tin can]

Hmm, that's odd. I saw it this morning, but now I can't. :huh:

[La Végétalienne]

Iunno. I could see it when I posted it and I can see it now on carnelian's computer.
It says:
Dear ---- my first day of camp was fun! And this is my second day of camp. That's it love -----.

[squirrel]

I see it today! Weird! :alien: writing.

[tin can]

same here!

[tin can]

Oh, and:

She said she would write me 6 letters

Dear ---- my first day of camp was fun! And this is my second day of camp. That's it love -----.

That's a full 72 (or so ;)) letters! What're you complaining about? :silly:

[La Végétalienne]

Well she wanted 6 stamps...

[quagga]

A vegan activist in the California Bay Area is starting a 5-day-long pilot program of a summer camp for young people who are interested in activism and social change. The camp will be vegan, though that's not the focus of the camp. It will be in the beautiful Santa Cruz mountains from August 17-21.

Well last year she did this in Santa Cruz, but this year she's bringing it to Portland, too!
Pretty awesome.
LINK (http://www.yeacamp.org/DatesandDetails.html)

ETA: Camp Food (http://www.yeacamp.org/CampFood.html) :drool:

[gladcow]

:o

[quagga]

The testimonials are pretty cool...
LINK (http://www.yeacamp.org/testimonials.html)

When I go home I'm definitely going to follow up on my issue, and I really want to make a difference. It's different --its not just 'let's stay in touch.' You have a mentor during the year to help on your project. I was a little worried about eating vegan food for a week, but it was really good! Everything tasted good!"
-Jesse, 13, San Francisco, CA

gladcow, you have a tweener now, right?

[gladcow]

Yup, the boy just turned 12 & the girl will be 9.

[Miso Vegan]

can'twaitcan'twaitcan'twaitcan'twait

[Jessica?]

Has anyone heard of Youth Empowered Action camp? I just saw a post about it on food fight. It looks pretty cool (, and they only serve vegan food there!)
this is their site: http://www.yeacamp.org/

[quagga]

Yes! I just posted about it two or three posts down...but it would have helped if I had actually used the camp's name in the update. I heard about her camp last year, and I'm glad that it went well enough to expand to Portland.