Summer Camp Isn't Always Just for Kids

My 11-year old son just got back from summer sleep-over camp yesterday.  He went to Islandwood, which is a really wonderful camp located on Bainbridge Island (a quick ferry ride from Seattle).  It’s a 255-acre outdoor learning center designed to inspire lifelong environmental and community stewardship.  They also have really good food.

He went to Islandwood last year and absolutely loved it.  For a kid who has been “plugged in” since birth, I was surprised at how much he embraced camp.  A week in nature suited him.  Parents can send emails once a day to their kids, but the kids can only write letters.  No phone, email, texts, television, computer.  You know, camp.

This year the kids spent three nights at Islandwood and the last two nights at the Seattle Aquarium.  How cool is that?  They got to dissect a squid, talk to a SCUBA diver while he was under water, and eat in the aquarium cafeteria.  They learned about whales and harbor seals and—get this—they got to sleep in the Under Water Dome Room. 

I think my parents let me sleep in a tent in the backyard a few times one summer.

Anyway, I highly recommend sending your kid if you can swing it.  It’s kind of pricey, but it’s worth it.

This year his bunk mates were from all over the country—Washington D.C., New Jersey, and East L.A.  I thought this was kind of odd, and then I got to thinking that these parents probably dropped their kid off at camp and then went on a nice little vacation in and around Seattle.  They had a reliable, guilt-free babysitter WHO COULDN’T CONTACT THEM. 

Well, you know, unless the kid got attacked by a shark or something.  Like that’ll happen.

I am now currently researching summer camps in Vegas.  I’ll let you know what I find out.