Camp Budget - $1,000,000

It's July today.  Exhale.  June seemed to fly by somewhere on the road between camps and rainstorms.  Time has ticked along one enormous hole at a time (our neighborhood streets etc. are being demolished this summer in the name of capital improvement).

While we're adjusting to life as a family of 24 (us + nanny + pets) the days are crazy, the house has never looked worse and we are hitting the sheets absolutely exhausted at night.  Summer.

I'm quickly learning that summer with a 7-year-old is magical.  Seven is the lucky number for all things camp.  Horse camp?  7 will do.  Tennis camp?  7 is the graduation from baby to adulthood.  Sleepover camp?  At 7 they will let you fend for yourself in a bunkhouse with nothing but a sleeping bag and a flashlight...and the 45 pounds of other crap you need for 2 nights.

It's so exciting to watch a 7-year-old boy enjoy life with little scepticism and all the enthusiasm you expect when shelling out ungodly sums for aforementioned camps.

AXEL'S SUMMER CAMP RUNDOWN:
Tennis Camp (City of Arden Hills)
Art Camp x 2 (LOVE YOU Ms. Picky)
YMCA Sleepover Summer Sampler
Super Summer Learning Camp
Horse Camp (Bunker Hills Stables)
Theatre Camp (City of Arden Hills)

Add this to the YMCA Pool Pass, Minnesota Zoo Membership, Museum Memberships, new canoe (Father's Day present), Grandpa Moustache's pontoon, a literal farm in our backyard, birthday parties, tearing apart the boys bathroom, gardening, neighborhood friends and an endless array of "Diggers" in our front yard – I have two happy little men.

"What..." you might ask "is the price of such a summer?"  I've officially set the budget at $1.0mil and I'm holding firm.  Adding camps on the fly and experiencing all the sunshine we find – my wallet is open and I'm soaking every moment I can out of 7.  

Check out Axel on his horse.  More to come on the beauty of horse camp – needless to say I'm searching Zillow daily for that little spot of a farm where Axel could be perfect and love animals forever.