2011 Sunday -- Father's Day & Camp

This is our first night at Campus By the Sea Family Camp for this summer. This photo reveals precisely what this camp is all about:  KIDS! Every time we gather in the large group meeting room, the kids are invited to come to the front to sing "The Butterfly Song" and several others.

This is our 31st summer of attending camp. Labor Day weekend, September of 1980, was the first time we went. Our kids were youngsters and we had never been to this camp and didn't know anyone who had. We had read about it and most of all it was AFFORDABLE! It certainly helped that it is on Catalina Island with a waterfront property line. We love the ocean.

After a number of years of attending the last week of family camp that started on Labor Day Monday, we switched to earlier in the summer, and since then we've been on a variety of weeks -- Week 1, Week 6 -- just whatever fits well into our summer schedule. Our registration is usually due sometime in mid-winter. This year we were on Week #1 and enjoyed the longest days of summer.

Back in 1980, we had no idea that we were starting a tradition for the "Fun Family." It was months later, in December that Mr. Fun's mom said to us rather nonchalantly, "You will be going back to that camp again next summer, won't you? Because your kids haven't stopped talking about their vacation there." It wasn't as much a question as a statement.

So we signed up for the next summer and the next, and well, you get the idea. Campus By the Sea is a Christian camp run by Intervarsity Christian Fellowship. So all throughout the year hundreds of university students come for weeks and weekends. It is a rustic camp with no roads in, which is a true plus for parents with worries about their kids and where they are at all times. The food has always been outstanding and this year our food was planned and prepared by Chef D'Arcy and his staff. Very delicious.

The two of us and our 4-year-old great-grandson Tristan all went to camp. We had the thrill of having old friends who used to live in southern California and now live in Tyler, Texas, come to camp again after a 10 year absence.

I've written lots about camp the previous two summers, so I'm going to try not to do that again this year and all of this week is or will be "back-blipped" because there is no Internet connection on the island except for the small haven of Avalon.

Our granddaughter Ashly has stayed at our home with the three pooches, so they did not need to be taken to a kennel, which thrilled them. They ought to have Ashly "broken-in to their whims" by the time we get home. ;-)

Good night from Southern California.
Rosie (& Mr. Fun, and Tristan, aka Carol