summer camp

In the spring we tried to plan ahead a little bit so that Ledger could be involved in a few extra activities over the summer.  One of the activities that we found for him was going to a week of summer camp!  We figured he wasn't quite ready for an overnight camp, so we were very pleased when we found Camp Kaskitowa, a great camp that's only about 10 minutes away.  They do the over night thing, but they also offer what they call 'day camp' for younger kids.  The kids get to participate in the same activities as the regular campers but then head home right before dinner.
I have very fond memories of going to camp when I was young that I really wanted him to have these great experiences too.  I remember going a couple years in a row up to Jack and Jill Bible Camp (since renamed to Pine Ridge) with my cousin Jeff.  We has so much fun and I've got some fantastic memories that I still think back to fondly.
Hoping that Ledger would have the same wonderful time that I was able to enjoy, Diana and I have been talking it up for weeks, getting him as excited about it as possible.  The morning for camp to start finally arrived and he was pretty excited.  I brought him and checked him in for his first day.  He was nervous but looking forward to it.  The day starts at 8am and goes until 5pm, so its a long one.  At the end of the day I came to pick him up and he was not happy at all.  At all.  He was beside himself with frustration and anger!  I asked him what he was so mad about and he was just so flustered he couldn't really put it in to words.  He demanded that there was no way he was going back for the rest of the week.  After we talked him down we found that the biggest problem seemed to be that camp wasn't what he had expected.  He really struggled with the uncertainty and confusion of the day's schedule, which made it really hard for him to enjoy any of it.  We stuck to our guns and told him he didn't have a choice, he was going back on Tuesday whether we wanted to or not.  He moaned and groaned about it all night and all morning, but we dropped him off none the less.  By that afternoon when we picked him up his story had changed- he totally loved it now!  I think once the initial shock and worry had passed, he was able to get comfortable with the situation and really enjoy himself.  It also helps that they got to spend an hour swimming!
The rest of the week went off without a hitch and he loved each day more than the last- especially the day they got to ride horses!  After initially hating it, but the end of the week he was asking if he could do it again next summer.  I'd call that a success!