So it's been a busy winter and spring since I think I last posted anything on here. I think I last updated with pictures from our Disneyland vacation. Since then it was Maddie's 7th birthday, Jason's birthday, Thanksgiving and then Christmas. Somewhere spring popped in and then school was out before I knew it.
Then this summer - what a summer we had. Maddie finished 1st grade with high grades...4 quarters on the honor roll and finally a quarter with Perfect Attendance. At the end of the school year, we had a great Girl Scouts sleep over and then Maddie's bridging ceremony. That is where she bridged from being a Daisy to being a Brownie. That was very exciting and definitely made Maddie feel very grown up.
About half way through the summer, Maddie decides she wanted to attend Girl Scouts' summer camp at Mt. Lemmon. For those not familiar with Arizona, Mt. Lemmon is northeast of Tucson and there are camps towards the top of the mountain - about 8000 ft elevation and 20 miles up. So we got busy picking which camp she wanted to attend (she chose Twist & Shout - all dancing and music), registration, and shopping for camp. It was the 2nd Sunday in July when we drove her up to camp. It's about 1 hour to Tucson but another 45 minutes up the very curvy roads up the mountain. Maddie's first camp experience was probably harder on me than it was her! I was nervous with butterflies in my stomach during the registration/in-processing piece. Then her counselor scooped her off, we got a very quick hug and told to pick her the next Friday. YIKES - I didn't even get to see where she was staying, and started freaking out on the ride down the mountain: would she cry tonight without me? would she be ok? would she have fun? would she get lost? All the crazy thoughts of moms - especially this over protective mom! I seriously cried the entire way down and I'm sure my husband laughed. He then took me out to dinner before we drove the hour home to Sierra Vista. It was so strange to come home and walk in the house without her. I seriously didn't know what to do with myself. After work was really strange - I didn't have to go pick her up at her summer program, I didn't have to get her ready for bed, and I was fairly sad. It was a strange sensation to be at home without her all that time
I packed addressed/stamped envelopes for her to write to us and I stashed notes to her all throughout her suitcase. It was so exciting to get that first letter from her. I ran from the mailbox to show my husband!
That Friday finally came and we talked about how much fun she must have had the entire week. When we got there, it was so nice to see her run to us and throw her arms around us. She had such a great time and was so excited. We asked, thinking we'd know the answer, if she wanted to come back that Sunday for the next camp - Crafty Critters. She jumped at the chance - which through us for a loop. So we registered for the next one and called the camp director and turned around on Sunday and took her back for a 2nd week. By that Friday, I was so ready for my little girl to be home.
She had a great time and I'm glad we convinced her to do it. She gained some confidence, learned to live with bugs and not scream at each and every one, and made new friends. She's already talking about which camp she'll do next year.
