You can mark this date….

as the day that I am overwhelmed and definitely feel like I have my hands full.  6/6/11.  First day of summer camp for Finn.

For some reason I REALLY hate it when people say “wow, you’ve got your hands full”.  I take it as an insult for some reason, like it looks like I don’t have a handle on things or that my kids are being unruly.  When I know in actuality that people are just pitying me because who in their right mind would have 3 children under the age of 4….but I digress.

Today Finn started his first day of summer camp.  Our YMCA has a bunch of FUN camps for kids that are 9am-1pm Mon-Fri.  We signed Finn up for 3 different weeks for the summer.  Partly to keep him occupied and with friends and partly to give momma a little break.  Today he started “Little Scientist” camp, next up “Tumbling Tikes” and then “Super Heroes”.  Pretty FUN stuff!

Turns out I haven’t packed a lunch for Finn since he was a baby, and that food was in jars.  Much trickier now, especially since it has to be peanut free and PB&J could be the easiest lunch ever.  I substituted sun-butter instead.  Once lunch was packed and figured out then it was time to pack up for me, Riley and Kellen.

3 kids = 3 bags.  This gives me hives, I’m a minimalist and try to carry around the least amount of stuff possible.  Since Kellen is still too young for the nursery at the gym, he has been “working out” with me while Riley goes to the nursery to play.  So Finn needed a bag for camp, Riley needed a bag for the nursery and Kellen needed a bag to be with me.

As the weeks led up to camp, Finn sounded very hesitant.  He hadn’t been to the place he was going to camp before, none of his friends were going to be in his camp class and he missed Mr. Laird and Ms. Hart.  I was really nervous that he was going to cry and not let me leave.  On the contrary, Finn was SUPER excited about camp and just walked right away from me when we walked in the room.  But it was Riley that was the one melting down.  Before we left the house he kept grabbing his backpack and saying “my backpack, I go to school!”.  Oh little buddy.  So I packed his things for the gym nursery in his backpack and let him wear it.  But he did NOT want to leave when we dropped Finn off and was super sad.  :(  Luckily, our gym was starting a music class today, so we had a FUN activity to head off to.

But drop-off and pick-up at camp was hard.  I had Kellen in his car seat in the snap ‘n go and held hands and walked with both Riley and Finn.  This we have been practicing alot lately, the boys like to help push the stroller and know to keep their hands on it and its been working really well!  But once we got inside we had to use this OLD elevator, you know the kind where you have to close the door and then close the gate and hold the button all the way up.  And why is it suddenly stopping half way up and a very loud bell is ringing????  So we made it upstairs, dropped Finn off and reversed back to the car.  But at pick-up, we were picking up on the playground.  This time I decided to wear Kellen in the sleepy wrap and walk with Riley, skipping the stroller and the scary elevator.  It is almost 1 now and it is HOTTER than HELL and Riley fell asleep in the 10 minute ride to pick up Finn, so he is in an awesome mood.  Pick Finn up on the HOTTER THAN HELL playground and attempt to head back to the car.  There are hundreds of families doing the same thing.  It is chaotic.  It is HOTTER THAN HELL.  So I open the doors, get the kids in the car, I have to take Kellen out of the sleepy wrap, buckle him in, head to the other side of the car and buckle in Finn then head to the back to buckle in Riley….having troubles with an uncooperative Riley when Finn starts yelling that he has to go pee….RIGHT NOW!!!!!!!!!  sweating…stupid buckle, why won’t you buckle???  HOTTER THAN HELL.  Finn pees in the car.  Only a little and I can get him out and he can finish in the tree that is thankfully in front of our car.  But his shorts and undies (and car seat) are wet and I don’t have a back up pair because he never has accidents.  I did have a gym towel though, so naked Finn, with a gym towel wrapped around his pee-pee, covering the pee seat, we head home.

I’m gonna need a new game plan.  And I need to not think about what is going to happen every.single.day starting in the fall when Finn starts school and I have to take all three in for drop-off/pick-up.  I suppose by then I will have this nailed down and this day will just be funny.

Right?

But how cute are the boys with their back-packs?

and yes, Riley now closes his eyes and says “cheeeeeese” every.time. I take a picture now.