camp care packages

It’s a bit quieter at my house this…actually it’s A LOT quieter! Claire left for two weeks of summer camp on Sunday. Grace is also in China for two weeks…she flew to Beijing last week. And their trips overlap a week, so Audrey is the only one home this week (and she doesn’t make much noise).

Claire was sooo excited to go to camp! This is her fifth year attending camp, but it’s her first time going for two weeks. She couldn’t wait to get there and get settled in. I think I barely got a goodbye hug and kiss before she was heading off to an activity.

Claire loves going to camp with her friend, Elle! They don’t get to see each other often, so it’s great quality time for them…and they get to meet other girls and make new friends while they are there.

Don’t they look excited? They’re really just ready for us to leave so the fun can start! But it was Father’s Day when we took them to camp…so I HAD to get a picture with the dads.

I think it’s fun to get packages and mail while at camp, so I send along wrapped surprises for each day. Elle’s mom and I worked together to prepare these packages. She actually did most of the shopping, and I wrapped and tagged them.

Some of the items included…journals with markers, hairbands, hacky sacks, slinkys, sunglasses, uno card game, word search books, hangman, magic 8 balls, embroidery floss (for bracelet making), water guns.

I collaborated with Christina from Sunshine Tulip Design on these fun camp-inspired tags and notes. I just love the sayings on them…”camp hair don’t care,” “life is better at camp,” “happy camper.” So fun! And the natural colors and designs (feathers and arrows) are perfect for the outdoors!

In keeping with the natural look, I wrapped the surprises in brown kraft paper and some were placed in bags of the same material. I used string to tie them and attach the tags. With a red marker, I wrote the day in which it is to be opened…although, I’m 80% certain they opened ALL of them ten minutes after we left them at camp.

These journals were for the first day of camp, along with a note encouraging them to write about their daily experiences. Elle’s mom’s idea…love it!

On the larger tags, I wrote short notes to them. I think I’ll also write a letter to Claire on one and put it in the mail to her. Snail mail is so fun to receive, also!