Camp

Before Grandma Cathie made her plans to visit, I signed Eli up for a half-day camp at the Y. The sports one I was interested in was full, so my second choice was 'camping'. Eli and Lehr have been camping several times this year with great results. This morning I packed a small snack (in Eli's Thomas the Train lunch box), layered sunscreen on Eli's face and arms, and headed out the door. Outside of school, this was the first time Eli went to an organized activity with other kids where he didn't know a soul. And with school, he's always met his teacher beforehand, in addition to the class size being eight. This camping camp included kids from 3 1/2-5, and all of the counselors were strangers to him. But he did great. He stuck a little close to me as I signed him in, but he bravely walked into the playroom as instructed and ended up having a blast. Since Eli is not the best conveyor of information, I'm not sure exactly what happened between the hours of 9AM and noon, but Eli had a good time and that's all that matters!

After naps today, Grandma and I took the kids to the park to play baseball. REAL baseball. On the clay. With the chalk lines. With the bases. Eli dressed himself in 'track pants' and a Cubs shirt in preparation for sliding into home plate. I pitched dozens of whiffle balls to him, and every time he made contact, Eli ran around the bases. Most of you know we have a chalk-drawn baseball field in our driveway. This field is small and running the bases is not a big deal. At the park today, running to first base was equivalent to our homer run. You'd think Eli would have been tired after just one time around. But he ran again and again (and again!), each and every time he hit the ball. Maddux cheered from the dugout, dug rocks out of the clay, wandered on and off of the field, and jumped up and down.