If you build it, they will come!

Every year around this time I start thinking…what camps are the kids going to do this summer.  And we start looking and looking and while I could fill up both Betsie and Eli’s summer, there are not many choices for Anna Cate.  When she was in preschool things were so much easier, but now that she is in elementary school, many people do not want the responsibility of a child that requires “more” attention, even if she is going with Amy, who will give her everything she needs to feel just like any other little girl.

Last year, we did find one camp, vacation bible school, and while the girls had a fun time (I assume), I don’t think they truly enjoyed it, as when asked if they want to go back, there was not an answer, from both of them!

And while I try to “fill” their summers with camps, I have to keep asking myself, what is it that I want them to get out of their summer break.  The only thing I want my kids to have, is a fun summer filled with memories.  And they have the most fun when they are doing things that they love with their friends.

All I want is for Anna Cate to be just like any other nine year old girl and to have fun too!  I want her to be able to do as much as she can like her peers, even if some things have to be altered for her.  I want her to be able to participate not in a camp with other children, but a camp with her actual friends.  I want her to remember her summers of being filled with fun, not always work. 

So when I couldn’t find a camp that I thought would be the best fit for Anna Cate, I decided to start one in our neighborhood with the girls that she goes to school with every day.   And so….

                           

                     Where your friend is the girl next door

                          ‘Bella’, Italian for Friend                     

has been born! 
(Please forgive how the logo looks....couldn't get it right on here....name is in pink and the tag line is below)

Camp Bella is an all girls mini day camp, for ages 6-10, which will be held during the summer for three sessions, two in July and one in August.

I sent out my first email to the girl’s friends who I would love to have as my campers last week and I was overwhelmed by the response!  Nine, out of the first ten, that I sent it to, have said yes!  And from word of mouth, I am finding out about other girls in our neighborhood who go to the same school that I did not know. 

It is a going to be a great summer!  I know my girls are going to have fun and that my campers will to.  I am most excited for Anna Cate that this has fallen into place like it has so she will get to experience summer with her friends, like the girl next door.  But more importantly, I am thrilled for the experience that all the girls will have and the true meaning of friendship that will come from this camp.  We all are unique and special in our own way and no matter how we were made; we all can be someone’s “bella”.