there's no place like camp

This last week has been an eye-opener.

The house has stayed clean and clutter-free (well, except for my clutter, but of course that doesn't count).

Not one trip to the supermarket, and the fridge has stayed full.

Not one complaint about what I was serving for dinner.

It is truly amazing what life without teenage boys can be like -- though I did have to play quite a few board games to keep their younger brother entertained in their absence.

Seriously, I missed them. I did. I swear. And it was wonderful seeing their grubby but healthy, happy faces on Saturday morning, belting out camp songs.

Not so wonderful to be facing these piles of laundry, however.

Once again, be grateful that the interwebz lacks scratch-n-sniff capability. Remember the rain last week? They had it at the beginning of camp week. All those soggy clothes were stuffed at the bottom of their laundry bags and left there to marinate during a very hot and humid week.

Yeah, it's been brutal. Payback, no doubt, for all those thoughts about how easy life was in their absence. All the same, it's nice to have them back.


* An aside for anyone searching for a camp for their kids: I cannot say enough good things about the Lindley G. Cook 4-H Camp in Branchville, NJ. The cost is reasonable and the camp experience is fantastic, at least from my kids' perspective (this is their 3rd year there). You do not have to live in NJ. Your kids do not have to belong to 4-H. It is a very traditional camp -- they do the shooting/hiking/swimming/boating/crafting thing to the nth degree, so much so that my kids are already planning the classes they want to take next year. At the same time, the staff and counselors provide such a healthy, positive experience for the campers that almost-15 year old boys come home singing goofy camp songs and an almost-12 year old boy comes home talking about all the friends he made. That is a hard demographic to please when an xBox is not involved, but this camp manages to do it in spades. Do your kids a favor and check it out!