Anvil Island

We survived summer camp with a 6 month old! We returned this afternoon from camp 1 at Anvil Island. I have been attending the summer camp there since I was 9, first as a camper, and now as a part of the staff. Jason became involved with the camp there when we were dating. Its a big part of our summer and I was determined to go with Everly. I was told several times over that I was crazy for wanting to attempt to do this, but I knew I was not attempting this with the youngest infant to go to one of the summer camps.

The camp week had a holiday theme, each day was a different holiday. Easter, Christmas, Valentines Day (Single Awareness Day), New Years, and St Patricks Day. Instead of trying to find outfits to match the theme days for myself, I found stuff only for Everly. I checked out the clearance sections of stores throughout the year before camp, and also found a few things used for her to wear.

The morning we had to go to the boat dock was a little chaotic with packing the vehicles, and making sure we had everything. Everly woke up at 4:30am that day, and it worked great for her to be fed, and for all of us to hit the road.

My role that week was mostly to watch my daughter, but whenever she was napping or I had the opportunity I tried to bounce around to different groups and help them out.

Everly was very popular during the week. Everyone showed so much love towards her, which made the week so much easier for me.

The first night though, by 2am I was texting Jason (when I was able to find a cell service in my cabin) and telling him I was going home in the morning with munchkin. Everly was up every hour that night, and permanently awake by 3:30am, I did not get much sleep that first night, and when I do not get enough sleep I am the grumpiest person out there. Thankfully I was able to get a nap in.

Everly has never been a major cuddly baby, she has always been very independent. This week though I got to enjoy lots of cuddles from her as she really liked being in the Ergo carrier, and it worked great for her to fall asleep in if there were activities going on that I still wanted to see, she was able to just fall asleep right there. I will gladly take cuddles when I get them!

The Monday there was hike day, we had a camper get hurt and the call came in that they needed help to get a camper down from the hike as she was going to be put on a spine board to err on the side of caution as she hit her head very hard when she fell. This happened around 2pm, and slowly we started having more and more of the young men disappear up the mountain to help and bring water. It took 12 hours to get her down, and almost 40 staff members. I am so thankful that we have such a willing group of people who will drop everything and help, but it was still a very tense time as they had to hike in the dark at the end and many had not eaten anything since having their lunch at the beginning of the hike. Don’t worry, the camper was okay and she came back to the camp the next day, after being checked at the hospital.

When I went to put Everly to bed for the night on the Monday, she was not happy and was just going in circles in her packnplay, and tossing and turning, she was also calling out “DADA… dada… DADA!” the whole time. Our little one has figured out how to say “dada” and “mama” this past week, she tends to say it when the other person is not in the room as if she is wondering where that person is.

Whenever we had the chance we made sure Everly got tummy time to play, this often happened when in the back of the chapel, we thought for sure she was going to start to crawl this week. It has not happened just yet, but she has taken a few “steps” forward when trying to get to her toys she wants, or other items that are around. It won’t be long now!

Everly got to finish up trying green beans, and started trying butternut squash this past week. So far she does not seem to be a picky eater, she loves her food! Between that, and wanting almost 8oz when she has a bottle now, she is one well fed little girl. The nice thing is its getting more spread out, meaning she can go longer between feeds. Its also really nice to have her sit at the table with us during meals now and she gets to have her little meal.

As a precaution I got noise cancelling headphones for Everly. I highly recommend them if you go to a church that plays loud music, or to sporting events. The camp does an emergency test at the beginning of camp to make sure everyone knows how to respond if there is an emergency. We were standing right beside the siren that blares, and Everly did not flinch when it started.

Best purchase before the camp, was the jogging stroller we found used for a great deal. It made going around the camp with Everly, and the diaper bag so much easier. We are planning to sell it as we hope it will help someone else this summer as we have no intentions of using it again. It does make me consider getting a better quality jogging stroller for in the future, those big tires sure do come in handy!

It was really nice to have amazing weather all week, the first few nights were still very warm. The baby monitor read 27C at 2am! Thankfully it cooled down towards the end of the week.

I did over pack for Everly. Which is good to know since we will be going for a week long trip again next month. I now know what to pack for that trip. I packed just enough diapers though! I still hate disposable diapers, but I like the ones from the Honest Company. No diaper rash, but as can be expected with disposables we had 2 blow outs. Glad I brought laundry detergent with me to hand wash a few things if needed.

Would I do this again? Most definitely! I feel very strongly that we are to be a part of Anvil still, even with a little one. It does take a unique mindset, and willingness to be able to do it. The first night I was a wreck because of a lack of sleep, but it got much better. I couldn’t have done it without Jason, who is such an amazing, helpful, father to Everly. I will always have memories of how loved my daughter was by so many others at camp. I hope that will be something that she continues to know in the years to come at Anvil.