My daughter spent this week at Track Out camp at the rock climbing club close to us. There were about twenty children in camp, which went from 9am-4pm every day. She had a very good time from what we could tell as we picked her up each day.
She made friends and would introduce us when she heard their voices near. The camp wasn’t for visually impaired children but she’d been to a day camp before with their approval and she was welcomed back for a full week’s camp if she’d like. And she wanted to go.
Today they had open house for the last half-hour of the day, followed by a “graduation ceremony”. For the open house part my daughter wanted to know if I would belay her, and since I’m belay certified at that club I got a harness and proceeded to do my best to keep up with her rapid ascent of the walls. She has made a lot of progress in climbing skills.
While I was belaying her one little girl came over to me and said Reese and she were best friends. She told me her name was Reagan. Then Kate came over, who was older and said she had to leave early. My daughter hugged her three times. Kate was very helpful all week I had heard with making sure my daughter moved around safely and didn’t run into doors or stumble on floor elevation changes.
We were called into the graduation ceremony at that point, which made my hands happy because they were about done with belaying. The ceremony consisted of a short presentation and a bag with a picture of them climbing and shirt. She got a certificate and for the parents there were coupons for additional camps or days climbing.
As the camp director talked about the things they’d done during the week (which was more than just climb) he said they had two people who were voted by their peers as, “Weekly Warriors”. These two people showed perseverance, outgoingness and respect. My daughter was one of the two.
Her friends congratulated her and she was proud to have been selected (she told me later she had voted for herself). As we were getting her things together to leave more of her friends came to say goodbye. She recognized them all by voice, calling out their name from a good distance when she heard them talking. She got many hugs and told her friends she hoped to see them soon.
I asked her if she wanted to go back over the summer again as we got in the car and she said definitely. We’ve been looking for something she could do during her few weeks of summer track out when we’re not visiting family. I’m glad she wants to go back.
The Big Boy Update: My son was drinking his drink with a straw the other night. He put the straw in his nose and said, “I’m drinking out of my nose”. He didn’t get the drink all the way up or I think he might have changed his mind. He liked the second option better: using the straw to blow into his drink saying, “now I’m farting out of my nose”.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: My daughter was telling me about her friends at camp today. She said, “I have another friend named Lexi. She uses a lot of toilet paper.” Then she snickered.
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