Last week was a whirlwind to say the very least! I love being busy though, (especially now when it’s helping these last weeks of pregnancy go by a wee bit quicker!) and the week was focused on something Branden has been looking forward to for a couple months – so it was 5 full days of happiness for this mama! Branden attended one week of Kids of Summer Baseball Camp at Riverside Park and seriously had the time of his life.
As with anything new, it can toy with your emotions a little bit sending your child somewhere new for the whole day, for an extended period of time. Branden had never tried out baseball before, so I thought that sending him to a week long camp where he would have his skills evaluated, get a feel for the sport in a fun setting, and get out of the house over summer vacation would be a great way to start. My hopes were for him to get a feel for the sport and see if it was something worth trying out for a season or two coming up.
I will admit – I was a little emotional on the first day when Chris took him, but my heart was so full picking him up later on that afternoon. He had the absolute best time!
The kids met everyday between 8:45-9am and then were dismissed at 3:30 everyday, though you can pop in and watch as a parent if you want, which I did on the last day. I was so impressed with the way the whole camp was run and can honestly share that Kids of Summer Baseball Camp (though the offer tons of other sport options for kids to try and you can even mix and match if you sign up for multiple weeks) was the most organized camp we have ever participated in.
Beyond the skills that Branden learned, his camp counselors were absolutely outstanding! I want to say they were all high school boys, but were so amazing with the kids and really made sure that all their needs were being met. Branden has a bit to learn about sportsmanship, and got really upset on the last day during their awards ceremony when he didn’t get a special medal. I could sense his anger as I watched from the sidelines, but kept my distance because I knew this was a lesson he needed to learn on his own. Sure enough, his counselors and a few of the other campers quickly surrounded him and helped him through. While he did end up with a participation trophy (see picture above), he quickly realized on our walk home that this was something everyone got (no fooling this kid!). He learned the importance of working hard and mastering these skills, and I think that such a valuable lesson for him to walk away from the week with.
We ended the week (on a 90 something degree day, mind you) with a little trip to Ben & Jerry’s for ice cream and toasted to an awesome week of camp. Branden can’t wait to go back next year and wants to try it out for a longer period of time (you can choose how many weeks you want to signup for). I’m so proud of all that he accomplished and that he put himself out there to learn new skills. We’re looking for a league in our neighborhood currently so that he can play on the weekends this fall. If you love in the city, I couldn’t recommend Kids of Summer anymore!
Looking for more summer tips?
- Reinventing Our Summer With Playster
- Summer Survival For Busy Moms
- Summer Made Easy With Groupon
- When Independence Takes Over
- I Fight My Own Battles and My Son Should, Too
- Today, I’m Letting Go
- Life is Better With ENJOY
Fashionably Yours,
Allison
Full disclosure: We received one free week of Kids of Summer Baseball Camp in exchange for our honest review. As always, opinions are my own.
I love that this camp let parents pop in…I can be the mom who wants to rescue my kids when I see them upset so I love the way that you handled it…I’m sure as he grows older and he will understand more that he can’t win all the time and it’s thoughtful that they gave all the kids participation trophies.
Totally! They are super hands on, so if you wanted to pop over and see how your littles were doing throughout the day it’s not problem with them. Yes, I think B just needed to learn the lesson without mom sticking her nose in this issue! lol
I just checked this camp out! It’s so helpful to know about. My son just finished his first little league season (with his dad as coach!) and he’s been asking for Baseball camp.; this look great!
He will love it Monica! How fun to have his Dad coach his first season of little league though!
Glad to hear that Brandon had fun! Andre has been going to baseball summer camp for about 5 years now. He enjoys it. I’m going to check this one out for next year. I like that you can intermix sports because he would definitely love to do basketball & baseball.
Jack has done the soccer and tennis camps on that site in Riverside! He can’t wait to be old enough to go to the baseball one! So glad to hear it’s as awesome as the soccer & tennis. That location is beautiful – I loved stopping in to watch the kids.