for the last ten years my kids have been attending a jewish summer camp in berkeley called kee tov. it is a day camp but it seems to have the feeling of a sleep away camp in that the same kids return each year and they get SUPER bonded. the result has been that both of my children have a whole gang of friends they look forward to seeing in california every summer. kee tov is pretty amazing… all of the counselors are really energetic and enthusiastic and creative. they do all kinds of crazy things that i would NEVER do with my kids like taking them out into the woods to sleep on the GROUND and get really dirty or “messy day” when they squirt them up with paint and whip cream and chocolate syrup and who knows what else and they get so dirty they come home in GARBAGE BAGS or swimming in lakes (that are inherently dirty!) i am realizing that there is a dirty theme here. they also have all kinds of adventures in the bay area: rafting down the american river, ice skating in oakland, riding roller coasters at six flags, treasure hunting in san francisco’s china town and tromping through all the parks and outdoor spaces within a fifty mile radius (where they also get really dirty.)
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fentons
i am reposting this story about fentons ice creamery because my daughter just survived a TWO NIGHT stay in the woods with her friends and counselors at camp kee tov. i always promise my children a banana split if they manage to stay alive while sleeping out in the nature and so far this incentive system has ensured that they return intact, if incredibly filthy. some may think i am a bit dramatic about the dangers of this sojourn in the forest, but the bay area is famous for its vicious gangs of wild, maurading turkeys and last week hank and i happened upon a gaggle of them down by the marina. despite my great fear, i managed to get a photo of a couple of them (there were SIX in total)… look how HUGE and gnarly they are. so you see that my worry is completely merited… we have one more sleepover to go this summer and hopefully one more visit to fentons.
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fentons
i am not a camper. there is just about nothing in the scope of that activity that i enjoy… i like to be clean, i like proper toilets, i like hot showers, i like cozy beds, i like to be indoors and i like to be safe. so camping is not something i would ever do, even with my children. i’m happy to do camping-like things (s’mores by a fire pit, blanket forts in the living room, picnics in a park, looking at the stars from the backyard, daytime walks in the nature, what i call “car hiking” and scary stories) but i like to sleep in an indoor bed. when we first moved to boulder, i was picking my son up from school and there was a discussion on the radio about a boy scout who got his face eaten off by a mountain lion in OUR colorado mountains. the story was so horrifying that i forgot i had my children in the car until theo piped up and said, “wait… WHAT happened mama?” “a little boy got eaten up by a mountain lion when he was sleeping in the nature - that’s why we don’t camp!” i replied. and i hoped it would put him off camping forever.
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