Camp Bongo

Continuing with my summer holiday at home... Some time long long ago when my now 7 and 5 year old nephews were much younger, they gave me the nickname Bongo. I think it was part of a Toy Story outtake. In any event, they spent a week that summer in CT with me and my parents. We planned all sorts of activites- relay races outside, arts and crafts, field trips to the zoo or museums, movie nights, and education too- learning about different cultures and countries of course. One year we had our own minnie Olympics! We built a solar system out of styrofoam, learned about the Gold Rush and panned for gold. Each night a meal from a different country- Mexico, Italy, Greece, Japan...

This year we didn't have quite so much planning time. What really saved us is the Minute-to-Win-It show. I personally have never watched it but Cooper and Cole love the show so we picked a series of challenges to recreate throughout the week with Cooper and Cole on one team and Grandma and Pop on the other team (I was planner and referee.) Some of our favorites included Face the Cookie- challenge is to place a cookie on your forehead and move it to your mouth using only your facial muscles. Another favorite was Bottoms Up- using a yo-yo tied to the back of your waiste to knock over empty bottles. Or don't blow the Joker- blow off 52 card leaving 1 on the top of a bottle. I have to admit that these challenges were usually QUITE challenging. In the end Cooper and Cole eeked out ahead of the grandparents.







Cooper brought his big map of the world so we also had geography quiz competitions. Where is the Eifle Tower? Find the Sahara Desert? What is Mount Rushmore? The questions got more challenging each day.

We spent a day at the Connecticut Museum of Science in Hartford where we watched a 3D movie called Wild Ocean about the migration of billions of sardines along the coast of South Africa and the effects of global warming on the migration and hence, the local people. Popular exhibits with Cooper and Cole were space exploration- there was a Mars flyover, alternative energy technologies, forces of motion, and we made new friends in the Robots and Us exhibit.







We spent an evening with my cousin Jennifer and her two girls, Emily and Alexis. We had time in the pool and made our own pizzas for dinner and ice cream sundaes for dessert. I wish the picture of the four kids came out clearer- We were leaving for a walk after dinner and one of the boys suggested,'let's hold hands and skip!' Thank you Jen, Emily and Alexis!





What would camp be without a movie? We went to the 'old-fashioned' movie theater in the Newtown Town Hall where movies are only $2. When I explained to Cooper that this was the movie theater his Dad and I went to when we were kids he asked if it was because we didn't have 'real' movie theaters. The novelty of the old fashioned chairs and stale popcorn seemed more significant when I was 7. Marmaduke was playing and I think Cooper and Cole were ready to buy a dog to take home.

We designed our camp T-shirts this year with our hand prints- everyone picked a color and we made a circle of hands.






Blueberries!! I miss Jones Farm. They were still picking blueberries so we spent an hour or so one morning picking blueberries and measuring ourselves against the sunflowers. As an aside, I went grocery shopping tonight and bought a tiny half pint container of blueberries-- $7.00!!! Importing fresh berries is not inexpensive.





And nothing says fun more than a round of mini-Gulf. It was a tad warm and sunny but a good challenge of skill and luck for all. Was anyone keeping score you ask- no, we would have been in trouble!

After mini-gulf and a pit stop at McDonalds (I swear only once the whole week!) we attended a Children's music concert. I wish I could post video because some of the dancing would make you laugh out loud.






We were all a bit melancholy Friday when we had to back up and resign ourselves to the fact that Camp Bongo was over for another year. Thursday evening we had a farwell send off dinner with vegetables from Grandma and Pop's garden- tomatoes, basil, cucumbers, squash, potatoes, and carrots. Why do vegetables always taste better when they are grown right in your own yard?!

Back to Saudi stories (and I have a few) later this week!