When the whistle blew at the end of general swim we all groaned. We were still thoroughly enjoying the goofy diving game, including myself.

“Do you want to stay on the raft a little longer?” I asked the girls.

“Yes please!”

All the campers on the raft dove into the water as I thanked Ethan for including me.

“No problem Nurse Anne! You are the most fun grown up I have hung out with in a loooong time.” Ethan grinned at me and then gave me a high five before he ran off the raft and dove in the water.

Wow. I smirked. Did that mean I was childish? I thought about that for a moment. Maybe it just meant that I was in touch with my inner child? Ya. That was it. I was just gonna take that as a compliment. I had loved every minute of  participating with the kids on the raft, that was for sure! It felt good to let go and be playful. So much of my days were spent working in the intensive care unit where things were often, well, intense! Success there was measured with monitors and vital signs. Here at camp, success was measured by laughter and smiles. It was no wonder I loved this place!

The girls and I took turns diving off the raft and trying to touch the bottom of the lake. Meanwhile the last of the campers were lined up on the beach to check out before going to their clubs. The girls dove in and swam towards the beach. They wanted to join the end of the line and get an afternoon snack. Himself and our boy were still snoozing in the beach chair.

I sat on the raft, with my legs stretched out, basking in the sun, while the girls swam in. I heard the sounds of a motor boat to my right and I glanced over to see the party boat, with two kayaks on board, carefully pulling into the boat house. Judging by the expressions on the group assembled, it didn’t look like much of a party at all. Father Brian looked serious as he maneuvered the boat in. Mr MacDonald stood at the bow with rope in hand, ready to tie the boat down. Mrs McDonald sat ramrod straight, looking ahead with tight lips. Fred and Ted sat with heads hung, and shoulders slumped–not so happy campers.

I was relieved to see that Ted appeared to be healthy, if not happy. I was also very glad not to have been a part of that drama. Poor Father Brian! While I was enjoying some childish antics, he was off chasing runaways with a couple of anxious parents.

I shook my head and then slowly got up, dove into the water and swam to the beach. I spread out the girls’ towels on the sand in front of our chairs and then grabbed my towel, wrapped myself up and sat down in the chair beside the snoozing boys. The girls ambled back from the snack station each with a couple of crackers with cheese. They plopped down on their towels and contentedly ate.

It was briefly peaceful on the beach before Bobbo and Muddy were coming down the main road with fourteen boys singing.

“Superman is the man of steel,” Bobbo sang and then the campers repeated.

“He ain’t no match for navy seal.” Muddy led and the campers echoed.

“Chief and him got in a fight,” Bobbo chimed in.

“Knocked his head with kryptonite!” Muddy yelled at the top of his lungs and the campers followed suit.

Himself and our son stirred and woke with that. The little guy scrambled off his lap and rubbed his eyes as Himself stretched and groaned.

“What’s going on?” Himself said as he craned his neck to see the group jogging down the road towards the beach.

“Looks like we have some new Navy Seal recruits.” Camper chose a new club for the second week of camp.

“Now this…this is gonna be awesome,” Himself said with a grin.

“Hooyah!” My son shouted and then jumped up and down with excitement as he watched the group jog onto the beach.

I giggled as I realized that this new group of kids had signed up to be in the Navy Seals club to act as brave heros. Meanwhile, I had just thoroughly enjoyed acting childish!