Y Camp...

Ally is, once again, attending Y Camp this year at the YMCA here in town!!!  We learned about this opportunity through a friend of Scott's at work a few years back, and I am convinced it's Jackson's best kept secret!!!!

It is an absolutely AMAZING summer program for kids.  It functions as so many, many things... it's more than just a daycare option for those that work... it's a great experience for kids during the summer months... which can certainly drag on and sometimes be BORING for a child that is active in school during the academic year!

This is Ally's third year participating in Camp... and she is a Pathfinder.  She started out when she was five years old, the summer before she started Kindergarten, in Kiddie Camp.  She doesn't go every single week, as we are fortunate enough to have my in-laws as our "regular" child-care providers.... and now, I am only working part-time, but she has grown to absolutely LOVE and look forward to it!

It costs us $110/week for her to participate in Camp.  You can drop you child off anytime between 7:00 am and 9:00 am..... and pick them up between 5:00 pm and 6:00 pm.  The cost also includes LUNCH each day and you are given a schedule for lunch so you know ahead of time if it's something your child will eat.  We send Ally each day with her Camp-provided backpack... with her bathing suit, a towel, a bottle of sunscreen, a snack and a bottle of water.  That's it...... she's out the door each morning with just a few necessary items.

This week was the first week of Camp and it was dubbed "Friendship Week."  It's the week where they take some time to get to know eachother and make new friends.  She was hesitant at first... any change sends Ally into a fit quite frankly... but as soon as she got there, she saw her freind from Camp in the past years, Kylie... and then, was so happy to see Peyton, a new friend from her ballet class this past school year.  An added bonus was that her cousin, Gene, showed up too! She was surrounded by familiar faces and this made her feel soooo good!

Not to mentioned the Camp counselors...... who I believe are some of the greatest young adults and kids around!!!  Each group has two counselors in charge and a couple "counselors in training" that are 14-15 years old.  I think these teenagers become the kids' favorites!  That's the perfect age... old enough to be responsible... yet young enough to still like to "play!"

So...... this week Ally has enjoyed a trip to Cascades where they played many games and enjoyed a picnic lunch, a movie at the Michigan Theater, where they saw The Tooth Fairy, and today she is at Hawk Island, which is a water park and lake setting!  Tomorrow she will go bowling at Airport Lanes and on Friday they are traveling to Ohio to go to a BIG waterpark!!!!!!!!!

Each day that they are in town, the swim at the Y. They do the rockwall... and play a variety of other games. They have "down time" in the afternoon to read and do art projects. It's an all-around well planned day!

This is not a paid advertisement.....  :-))))))))  I am just one mom who wants to share the great experience that we have had at the Y!!!!  And, if you are looking for something for your child to do this summer... I say, give it a try!!!!