Yokosuka Summer Camp Program

WEEK ONE

Warm Up

What to do with the kids all summer long....Well, the base has us covered!  In the summer CFAY offers a wide variety of summer camps for school aged kids (poor Garytt is about three months too young).  So, while I was States-side, Kris went to Youth Sports and got Mackenzie a lottery number.  Yes, since there are so many kids on the base and only so many slots for each camp, the decisions are made by lottery.  The next step...figuring out how to get the camps we want since we will all be States-side on registration day and if you aren't there ON registration day, you're out of luck!  Mary Kay to the rescue!!!  Kris went to Legal and had a special power of attorney filed so she could be our hero and get Mackenzie signed up for whatever camps were available in her time slot.  We had so many choices:  soccer-indoor and outdoor, softball, art, ballet, tennis, bowling, flag football, basketball, Nerf League, sailing, water adventures, or paintball.  Our choices...soccer, softball, and art.  Luckily, our lottery number was one of the first couple dozen numbers selected, so we got every camp on our list! YAY!!!!

First up....Soccer.  Last week we met on Berkey Field every day at 0900 and she spent two hours running around in the heat and humidity like a champ!  And, extra special bonus...her friend Kaylee was in her group!!!

Mackenzie and her pal Kaylee

There were four stations each day....passing drills, dribbling drills, kicking drills, and scoring drills.  The next to last day was a rainy day.  We still met on the field at 0900, but it didn't take long before the coaches moved the kids inside Purdy Gym to finish.  I'm glad Garytt and I headed home that day, because the fifteen minutes we spent in the gym waiting for her to finish nearly blew my eardrums out...forty kids screaming and shoes squeaking on the floor in such a small space was painful!

So...what to do with The Boy for two hours each day while his sister was getting to play his most favorite sport...hmmm.  How about a camp just for him?!  YES!  So, we decided to hold a cooking camp at home this week.  Day one...learn the safety rules of the kitchen, learn special cooking terms, and how to measure.  He was a good Boy and listened intently to all the speeches I made about safety.  :)  But, finally, he had enough and just wanted to get to cooking!  So, first he made easy apple tarts - something even his picky-eater-sister liked!  Something else he made...S'mores in the microwave!  This is something he can do all by himself.  He learned how to use the microwave and even taught his sister how to do it when she came home that day.  Such a big boy!  Day two, he was fed up with all my silly rules and decided he just wanted to hang out at the soccer field.  So, he spent two hours kicking a soccer ball around, catching butterflies with a little girl, and watching his sister.  Day three, (sorry...forgot to take pictures) he made toasted Cheerios...salt, butter, onion powder, and Cheerios.  Yummy!  Day four...he had enough of cooking...he just wanted to make a S'more and have Mommy and Boy time.  :)  (I'm pretty sure I answered a million questions in those two hours).  Day five, we spent most of the day at the soccer field.

 Overall, a very successful first week of camp.  All of the coaches were very involved in the kids' learning, and they kept the kids busy the entire two hours, and not a minute less.  Mackenzie had fun at every station, and had a blast playing sharks and minnows every day.  She was pretty excited to get to play a few scrimmages, too.  Next up...Softball.  Mackenzie really enjoyed watching her cousins play ball when we were home last month, so I thought I'd sign her up.  More on that in two weeks...