Camp Wrap Up - Mini-Hawks Multi Sport

So. This past week Frank participated in his first Day Camp. It was put on by The Skyhawks and was everyday (M-F) from 9:00am to Noon. In our "Sister City", 15 miles away. Here's a group picture from the last day...


If you are having trouble finding Frank and his friend George. Look for the two kids who shirts stick out like sore thumbs... or just look for the Ever-So-Serious George.


Frank was roaring like a Dragon. George has a sense of humor and laughs quite a bit... just not when he thinks others are being ridiculous! George does things on his own terms!

T-shirts were handed out on Thursday afternoon. The kids were told to decorate them with their group/team mascots (King Cobras, Desert Eagles, or Red Dragons). Since Frank loves to tie-dye, we decided to do that and then paint a Red Dragon (Fire-Breathing) on the back. We also decide to invite his friend over to join in.


Of course, The Pixies must have been helping me read the instructions the first two times, because when we'd tied the shirts and put them in the soda-ash solution at 7:30pm, I realized that the dye was suppose to sit for 12 hours! Whoops!!!

With the help of Fairies, the following happened on Friday morning:

3:00 am - got up and started rinsing shirts
3:20 am - done rinsing
3:45 am - rinse and spin done in washing machine
4:00 - 5:00 - laid in bed while tumble dry on shirts
5:00 - 5:30 - painted shirts... THEY LOOK AWESOME!!!
5:45 am - back to bed for a few more hours sleep

I wish the boys could have put the paint on too, but all the same, the boys LOVE THEM! They look so totally cool!


As it turned out, I was *A LITTLE* over the top with the decorations. The Head Coach said that in three years he's NEVER seen anyone tie-dye their shirts, and that they were COMPLETELY AWESOME!!!

When you get a shirt from something like this, it often winds up as a rag or in the donation bag, but, if you tie-dye it, you cover up a little of the logo and create something fun and totally unique. I like this method for give-away shirts, and, like I said, Frank loves to tie-dye.

Personally, I'm really proud of how the dragons turned out too! On Tom's suggestion, I made a stencil, then used a sponge brush and some acrylic paint to dab it on. The scales and eye were created with pieces of masking tape. It went quickly and looks great. Oh, and of course, I put newspaper in between the shirt layers before taping the stencil down.


So. Back to the camp...

Frank learned the basics of three sports. Basketball (he was the tallest, and slowest, in his group)...


Soccer...


Yes. He is picking daisies/clovers in the grass while the goalie waves at his fans.

Seriously, Frank was tired from all the running in Basketball he'd just done. No really. Look. He gets up and participates...


And yes. That's Jack with the Indiana Jones' hat and mini-basketball under his shirt. Every chance he got, he was sneaking on the court/field to try to participate. He really IS Our Athlete, but this camp was for 4-7 year olds and we thought it would REALLY help Frank to have a basic understanding of how to handle the equipment for some standard games.

The last sport... Baseball...


As I said, Frank was the tallest in his group, and they didn't adjust the height of the T-ball stand or his feet stance, so his swings were, shall we say, awkward. Still in all, this was his favorite sport... "the one with the glove" or "the one with bat" as he calls it.

Today, we went to the park. While there, Frank actually hit a ball the Tom pitched to him... his second pitch! It was an exciting moment (not to be repeated yet).


The week was busy and tiring, but worth it. Frank feels much more confident with balls now (though not proficient). He can actually THROW a baseball now. Like, decent throw. Soccer he rarely talks about. Basketball, he's still working on the whole dribbling thing.

And Jack and I got a WHOLE bunch of one-on-one time. More than ever before. I'm enjoying his funny-little-personality more and more.

It's also encouraging us to just get outside and play with the boys more.

Oh. And we had lunch each day with a friend and her kids (George's mom and brother), and she's making me raise the bar. Frank has always been "Frank". No nicknames, just his name. His brother, on the other hand, has had DOZENS of nicknames in his three short years.

So, this week, Frank asks "Mom, what do you call me?"
I say "Frank".
"No, I mean other times?"
"Punk."
"No. Like 'Sugar'."

After being with my friend every day, he'd heard her call her boys "Sweetie", "Beautiful", and or "Sugar" all the time. Suddenly, being a "Punk" just wasn't good enough.

Tonight, at dinner, I took my friends' more baby-talking tone and tried to get Jack, to eat a bite of soup. I was like "here Sugar, have some food." On and on, I oozed baby-talk and sweet nick-names. They all just laughed at me and no food was actually eaten during the process. Then, they went back to being Punks!