The years of the library reading program being our Big Summer Event are over. Gone are the days where popsicles, splash pads and picnics were all the excitement AB needed. “Mom, I love you, but is this summer going to be just me and you ALL day EVERY day? Nobody else?” She is such a motherhood morale booster.

She did a few camps and first up was VBS. AB doesn’t like situations with loud music and screaming children so she hated the first and last 20 minutes of each day while the other children danced and sang. She’d stand on the edge covering her ears or yell to the other children and ask if they also thought it was too loud. Other than that she had a great time. The theme was confidence which was very necessary for her life right now.
I was the snack lady along with another Sara. We know so many Sarah’s that each has a nickname and this particular one is Snack Sara. That is significantly more flattering than the previous nickname we’d given her- Germy Sara. She is sweet but a self-proclaimed germaphobe to the utmost degree. If I had a dollar for every germ comment she made during the week, I’d be able to buy out Johnson & Johnson’s entire supply of disinfectants. For some reason, she decided to become a school nurse which is about the most germ-ridden job you can have. She will put gloves on before helping a child at school tie their shoes because she doesn’t know where the child has worn the shoes and what might be on them. Needless to say, when it came to the division of tasks at the snack cart, she was in charge of the hand sanitizer, and I was in charge of handing out the food. I had to make 90 fish out of goldfish, Mike & Ike’s and sandwich bags. The director wasn’t able to locate a picture of how the finished project should look so it took a bit of trial and error to make them look somewhat like fish. It wasn’t until 53 fish in that I nailed it down. Christopher helped put the eyes and fins on. Most were crooked which made the fish look drunk and/or high which wasn’t a topic we wanted to bring up at this year’s VBS.

The next week was Poolside Pals, the little neighborhood camp across the street. Last summer we noticed a lot of activity at Miss Cindy’s house every morning but assumed she had several grandchildren who came to visit. Upon questioning of the neighborhood rumor mill, we found out she was running a daily camp with upwards of 20 children from our and surrounding neighborhoods. She hired local teens to help her sunscreen, make crafts, supervise and hand out snacks to the children. AB rode her bike over by herself the first few days and she felt like a million bucks. Our road is never busy, but Miss Cindy lives on the corner and every morning of camp there’s a small traffic jam at the stop sign outside her house. Into the mix rode a little girl who has very little awareness of what’s happening around her and doesn’t understand the rules of the road. Every morning she’d cause a pile-up. After the first few days, she decided it was easier to walk. She meet the neighborhood self-proclaimed “Asian cowboy” who was one of the helpers. We’ve seen him driving his golf cart ever since we moved in. He always has his white shirt tucked into his jeans. He wears cowboy boots and a white cowboy hat which he tips at all the ladies. He’s a real charmer. When Kezi was over, both girls went to Poolside Pals and one day Justin drove them home in his golf cart. Annabelle was a smitten kitten. She still lights up when we talk about him.  
Finally, this past week she went to drama camp. They did a Winnie the Pooh musical and she was a green bird. We found out about it and signed up too late for her to have a main role, but she was in the animal choir. She was very excited and told me several times that she “loved being on the stage.” A bold statement from someone who had only ever been on stage for a ballet recital. The play was adorable and everything I hoped it would be. She’s already talking about next year when she “gets a real role. I don’t have to be like, the main character, but I want to have a speaking role. And I don’t want to wear an itchy mask.”Start making her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame now.