Science Camp with Zach

You know what's awesome?  Having the opportunity to go on field trips with your kids.

When Nick was younger, I hardly went on a single field trip with him.  I always had little kids to take care of so it was hard.  Fortunately as time has gone on though, certain things have gotten easier, and I've been able to take advantage of these opportunities.

So, Science Camp with Zach.  I was able to go with the older two, and was happy to be able to continue the streak and go with Zach. 

It was at the same place where Maddie attended science camp her sixth grade year.  I think I've decided those hills outside of Prescott must just be full of all these little private camps.  They seem to be owned by various churches whose members attend all summer long, then rent them out to school groups all throughout the rest of the year.

It was fun.  I seem to luck out with the groups my kids are in.  Except possibly the year Nick went to science camp.  I had to bunk with a bunch of bratty girls who would say things like, "If you let us stay up all night, we won't be mean to Nick..."

So, what do you do at science camp?

They do a lot of outdoor activities,

"Team Building" kind of stuff.

And since the emphasis is on science, there's the classroom stuff, like dissecting owl pellets. (The fur and bones and "leftovers" that the owls can't digest so they cough up.)

At night they do campfires, and perform skits and even have a "dance".  My kid and his friends sat out the entire dance. Dancing is not on his list of things he wants to do. Ever.

At school, Zach hangs out mostly with these three other boys.  I was talking to one of the dads of those boys and he confessed to me he calls them "The Nerd Herd." They're a bunch of smart little geeks who take band (I think they all play trumpet), read and draw their own comic books, enjoy sci-fi, and play video games.  And they all seem like great kids and good friends to Zach.

The big event was of course the giant rock wall and the zip line at the top of the rock wall.  Zach had been looking forward to this for such a long time.

One thing I've learned with Zach is that he needs time to process things.  You can't just say, "Hey! guess what we're going to do today?!?! Climb a giant rock wall then jump off the top!"  He'd just fall apart. 

So we talked about that rock wall and what was at the top for weeks.  And then we saw it in person on the first day.   And he saw his friends do it first.  And he saw that they were fine, and not only that, they were smiling and saying how awesome it was.  And then he was ready.

And it was hard.

I could tell that half way up he was struggling.  He'd never climbed anything so tall before. But I cheered him on from the bottom, and I don't know if that helped him or not, but he did it!

And then I have to admit that I was worried he wouldn't be able to ride the zip line.  It's hard and scary.  You know it's safe and it will be okay, and everyone else is like "That was so AWESOME!!!" But your brain is like, "Uh, you want me to do what? Jump off this platform? You're crazy. You're gonna have to figure out how to move your legs without me, cause I'm not going anywhere near that edge." 

During Nick's science camp there was this cute girl in my group.  (Not one of the obnoxious ones in the dorm) and she was so excited to do the zip line.  She was the first in line to climb to the top of the tower, but when she got to the top, she just lost it.  She just sat up there and cried in front of everyone for an hour until they finally lowered her down the side.

You just really don't expect it to be so scary. So I really worried how Zach would react when he got to the top.  And you know what?  He did awesome.  I was so happy that for once he could get over any anxieties that might be holding him back, and see that he can in fact do hard and scary things. 

And he loved it.  And I was so happy that I could be there to see it.