Anvil Island... with a 6 month old?

 

I have been going to camp on Anvil Island since I was 9. That's 16 years ago. I went from camper to staff member. Once Jason and I started dating he became involved with camp as well... we even got married up there.  Its become a huge part of our lives each summer. What about this summer? 

By the time Camp 1 rolls around our daughter will be 6 months old. Before even considering applying for staff spots again, we gave it some thought and prayer. I also asked the Directors if we were even allowed to go/would we be welcome with our daughter this summer. One answered by asking me how many cupcakes I would make him, the other said of course. 

Its going to be interesting and a change for me. I've been a cabin leader, photographer, in the kitchen, and the camp "baby sitter" to take care of the workers kids that come to camp who are not old enough to be staff. Well I'm going back to that last role. My focus will be mostly on Everly and I won't have Jason to help me out very much as he is going to be a part of Sports Crew again (he helps organize and run all the activities the campers do for the week). Which means I hardly see him for the whole week except for when he says good morning to me, and good night. However I am hoping Everly will let me spend time with the other workers kids, and do other behind the scenes rolls like going into the kitchen to help prep meals if they need an extra hand (This is what play yards are for right? Put the kid in her baby jail nearby when she is napping, and help where I can.)

I do know other families who have gone to Anvil with little munchkins and they have survived, the youngest I know of being taken as a workers kid was 3 months old. 

I'm already finding myself planning what all I will need to pack for Everly. The camp is run on a generator so the power normally goes out around 11/11:30pm it just depends on when it gets turned on each day. There is also no place for me to do laundry... so cloth diapers are not really an option for the week, unless I bring enough to a) last the week and that would mean having to own a whole lot more cloth diapers than I do or b) hand washing all of them and air drying them.  The first isn't really an option for me as I do not want to break the bank buying enough to cover a whole week of no laundry. I'm not really liking the idea of hand washing diapers while at camp... plus campers would probably think I'm crazy. I also do not need my daughter getting pranked and having her cloth diapers run up the flag pole. 

Did I mention that a chunk of the garbage at the camp goes into an incinerator, where it gets burned? This makes things a little interesting too. I am leaning towards buying disposable diapers (blah!) for the week. Doing so, I also have to bring up the Diaper Genie because all of those diapers are going to have to come off the island with us, and back to our house to go in the garbage. 

There are many other things I am wondering about and trying to plan for. Like the fact that she will need to be able to have her formula while we are there, I'm going to have to be able to boil water to make it and store that water. Thankfully there are accommodations with a kitchen.

 Accommodations... where will Everly and I stay for the week? Are there other brave people willing to crash in the same room as a 6 month old? Let's not even start on the amount of laundry I will be bringing back to do.

All of this doesn't really matter to me because I still feel like I am supposed to be a part of Camp 1 this summer with my husband and my daughter. I will be taking on a bit of a different role than I am used to but I am still hoping to have an impact on the young people that come to the camp for the week. I've already had a few people tell me I am crazy for wanting to do this, but I have a different mind set towards attempting this and a willingness to try. Anvil is a part of my life, and I am hoping it will become a special place to Everly too. Anvil is my home away from home and there is no way we will be missing out. Everly is going to be an Anvil munchkin.