Last year was the first that we started thinking about the girls “aging out” of Summer Camps. What I remember from growing up is countless hours with family, mostly entertaining ourselves over the summer, and I think we turned out OK. But without family nearby, we’ve been all-in for camps where they can learn and play with other kids while we work our full-time jobs.

This year, ironically, what the girls (well, especially the BIG girl) asked for was some independence. And so, Welcome to the Summer of Independence.

We booked a few weeks of age-appropriate camps (new ones this year), but the first week off from school was a “Free Week”, where they had a few things they needed to do each day to show their “independence”, but other than that, FREEDOM. And so, to remind them that with great freedom comes great responsibility, they were greeted with the sign above and a personal note.

The note reminded them how many fun things they have to do right here in this very house and to make the most of their time and enjoy themselves. It also let them know that at dinner we’d be checking in on 3 things that went well and 3 things that could have gone better. Oh, and BRIBED them with BOBA after dinner if they worked together, limited screen time, and showed how they can be independent (and tidy).

They got boba.

On day two, they were presented with a note that shared the 3 things they said they wanted to do better, one of which was “Do nice things for one another”. Love that. Their offer: Create a 5+ minute musical theater performance together (brief song and dance) and perform it before dinner. For that, they’d get a trip to Joann to buy some fun crafts.

They did NOT get that trip…

In fact, Day Two went a little off the rails, but hey, independence is all about choices, amiright? Realizing that bribery wasn’t going to work, we basically left them to their own devices (pun intended) for the last three days of week one and were just glad the following week would include summer camp direction that was NOT from one of us…

ZOE’S SUMMER CAMP

This year Zoe went to a really cool Musical Theater camp at LACHSA, the school about which the Fame High documentary was made, which also boasts Josh Groban as an alum. The mom of one of Zoe’s grade school friends recommended this camp to us and told me about the movie, which of course, I watched (available on Kanopy, an app that lets you watch movies for free with your public library account) and enjoyed.

Each day they learned about all the disciplines (cinematic arts, dance, music, theatre and visual arts), and in the afternoons, they broke out into their official camp groups (for Zoe, Theatre) to dig into specific topics. They learned about improv, auditioning, scene study and a crowd pleaser: Stage Combat.

In fact, they literally learned sword fighting, with swords (dull but metal) and how to choreograph fight scenes safely. And to think I was most excited about the improv… After three weeks of study, they put on a final showcase performance, with small groups of kids acting out a variety of scenes, for which they had to audition. The scenes came from various productions, ranging from Steel Magnolias to The Odd Couple to Monty Python.

Zoe was cast in a scene from the play, Proof, and along with another student she performed a short part of Act One. We arrived early for the show and ended up on the front row, from which I got this recording (and also got to see her eyes get wide when she saw me on the first row with a camera):

Proving yet again that no one really knows when things go wrong on stage, apparently her scene mate forgot his lines around the time she when kicked him out–then he struggled to deliver the ones he read from the book as well. But in my opinion, she did a fabulous job both delivering her own lines and helping prompt him to his own. This kid’s got talent.

ELLA’S SUMMER CAMP

While Zoe was putting her heart onto the stage, Ella had a variety of fun experiences at a local STAR camp (that’s a brand), with one week each of the following:

• World of Cooking – International Cuisine
• Wooden Toy Design & Entrepreneurship
• Digital Art: Cartoon Design & Animation
• LEGO® Builders of the Future

In the cooking class, she learned several recipes, including one for Apple Turnovers, which she recreated for us at home (mostly so she could eat them):

During Wooden Toy Design week, she designed her own toys, created her own brand, and set up a shop to show off her work. You heard about it here first: EJ’s Cosmic Toys!

While they didn’t (obviously) get to use any dangerous woodworking tools, they did get to learn how toys are made, paint their own, and hawk their wares to all the parents on the final day at their “Toy Store”. Here’s Ella wearing her spider pin, more like jewelry than a toy, but handmade:

In Digital Art class, she learned how to use a tool called Procreate on the iPad and an app called Stop Motion, with which they created their own stop motion scenes and a video in groups. My favorite comment Ella made about her video (this link from the camp MIGHT work) was that they didn’t realize they were accidentally filming their hands and arms in the first half of it. Ha! But my favorite art was her Dog on the Moon picture:

Apparently there are tiny green men (or BIG dogs) on the moon? Who knew? For the final week, they learned about building with LEGO to make their own cities. And here you can see a video walkthrough from the artist herself, which we captured during their show & tell on the final day:

And now, our Summer of Independence continues. Next week is another FREE week (wish us luck – or send any ideas you have!), followed by another musical theater camp they are both attending, followed by one more FREE week before school starts back mid-August.

Hopefully we can squeeze in a bit more Family Time in before heading back to school – there’s a blog on our Summer Trip coming up next! – though I’m not sure how much “Independence” these kids will say they had this summer. We shall see. It’s an adventure.