baby got back

When last we checked in, my wee baby boy was all packed up and ready to head off to the wilderness known as sixth grade camp.

We thought for sure that his would be the biggest bag packed for this four night adventure

It wasn't.

He and the man tossed his baggage onto the back of the bus

And then they were off, on a five star tour. Bye bye, baby!

It was so weird to see him off, but I knew he'd have the time of his life. We parents had been told that the camp would take photos of the kids and post them on their webpage each night. Knowing that I'd miss having constant contact, I gave my boy strict instructions to put himself in front of any camera he saw so I could visit his lovely mug whenever I missed him.

I kept a close eye on the webpage all that first night, but photos never showed up! Fortunately, my boy's wonderful teacher was on the job, taking and posting photos to their classroom blog.  

Here's the first photo I saw of my boy. Looks like a great time, right? The problem is that I know that boy too well.  I know that body language. He's not so sure about this (is he nervous about being away, or about whatever he is harnessed up to climb?)  And he looks so cold!

All week long, our shrunken family gathered 'round the computer each night to enjoy a glimpse of our boy's antics.

The Leap of Faith - climb up to the top of this 40 ft pole and then........jump!

CSI class, learning about fingerprints and flashing our prearranged "hi mom" sign

Dissecting a squid

They had one morning of really bad weather, which did not stop them from launching rockets in the rain during aerodynamics class. There weren't a lot of photos that day, but this one sums it up pretty well:

hi mom

But the good thing about a frigid drop in temperature is that it turned the rain to snow!

And then almost before we knew it, the time had come to go meet the returning bus! That poor driver, you could practically see the green lines of stench wafting out of the bus after their three hour drive. They piled out like war weary soldiers from battle. It was hard to tell who had won. But suddenly, my baby boy was back in my arms car!

hi mom!

With a few notably new wardrobe elements

He had a great time, it was such a change of pace from the rushing around that we're always doing, perpetually late for our next obligation. He said he didn't miss electronics at all, but I couldn't help but notice that very shortly after we arrived at home, he slipped off to resume the text-a-palooza that seems to define his very existence.

He was out of sorts all weekend, snappy and inpatient and so very quickly making us all forget the emotional evening photo-watching that had sustained us in his absence. Even though Monday was a holiday, he started whining about going back to school on Tuesday, and initiated the most loathed and ever punishing ritual of trying to fake sick. That whole thing is positively crazy making, I'm going to write a whole thing about it someday. But not today:               

Today I've got to go take care of my baby