Happy Camper!
Freida started day camp on Monday! I was mommy-ed out, and freaking about how much I had to get done before the end of the month... So! I signed her right up to Camp Israel @ Shaarei Tefila, and we've been a duo of Happy Camper and Blissed-Out-Mama ever since. :)
The camp is down our block, so we walk there together in the morning at 9am (sometimes joined by her best-buddy cousin Zali), and I take Hudi for a walk in the stroller to pick her up at 3pm. It's perfect.
She cried plenty on the first day when I left, but 30 minutes later my phone dinged with a photo-text from her counselor featuring a happy-faced Freida sporting hot-pink goggles in the pool! :)
While Freida's camping happy, I've been feeling like I'm racing the clock! 10 whole days to myself (Hudi doesn't demand much - a variety of toys, a walk for fresh air, and some good food pretty much keeps her smiling!) have proven insanely useful! My task-list seems to be a mile long (preparing my home for PLAY involves baby-proofing, outfitting the outdoors, baby toy and gear roundup, First Aid + CPR training, and lots more! Plus, planning Babyccino 2013 is super-fun and creative but super time-consuming as well!), but I'm making so much headway without my little ladybug in tow!
Walking her to camp is totally dreamy for me. I grew up in the suburbs and always had to carpool for 20 minutues minimum to get anywhere! While Skokie is beautifully awesome (!), I kind of always wished I had friends to walk to on Shabbos or neighbors to play with after camp etc. It's so blissful for me to walk my little girl down the block with her lunchbox and meet the whole entire neighborhood on their way to one nearby camp or another. Even her best-friend next-door-neighbor goes to another camp in the same building and they see each other at drop-off every morning. And the concept of being able to walk there with the baby to get her, stop at Coffee Bean on the way, or head for ice cream on the way home is SO fantastical to me! Ah, the little things in life.. :)
Anyways, while Freida's off at camp and Hudi is currently napping, I'm going to tackle re-organizing my kitchen pantry and laundry room (which includes making a list of things I need to buy to make the storage spaces more efficient), meet up with some girlfriends for lunch at RFD, head to The Container Store (and once I'm in Century City I'll probably make my way into Kate Spade :)), pick up Freida from camp, play a few mellow rounds of matching game with the AC full-blast, and run a warm bubble bath for the girls to enjoy together before dinner. As I said, it's been blissful. :)
Huge thanks to wonderful staff and people behind Camp Israel!!! You folks obviously know what you're doing!