Family Summer Camp

This past Saturday, we spent the afternoon at Bass Pro Shops. They are holding Family Summer Camp on weekends until July 5th. Well, I think they are doing some stuff during the week, too; but the weekends are full of fun activities. It's free, too!

Our first stop was the casting pond. Princess E LOVES to fish. Grandpa takes her fishing periodically and she thoroughly enjoys herself. They used real fishing rods, weighted, for the children to practice casting off. This was serious business for the little princess. I wouldn't say she's talented or anything, but one of her casts overshot the "pond" and cleared a desk about 10 feet beyond that. HA! The supervising staff member gasped, then chuckled, when she did that.

Our next stop was the craft station. Every weekend, there is a different craft. This weekend, they were painting bobbers. She took her work seriously. See how focused she is? The bobber turned out quite nicely. Should we hang it on the Christmas tree, or from a fishing rod?

Bass Pro Shops is offering eight different workshops during their Family Summer Camp. This weekend, Princess E completed four of them. After they listen to the speaker, complete a short worksheet and scavenger hunt, they earn a pin. Princess E earned pins for Animal Identification, Camping, Hiking, and Shooting. Yes, the Princess was excited to learn about shooting a BB gun. She has been begging for a while to go to the shooting range and learn to shoot a gun. I was VERY pleased with their focus on FIREARM SAFETY. After successfully completing the class, the children were allowed to come to the indoor range and practice the skills they learned. Here is another instructor guiding her through the process of firing the BB gun. She didn't actually hit the target, which isn't surprising since she had to remove her prescription glasses and wear the safety glasses; but she did get an opportunity to hold the gun, aim it and fire.

We at lunch at the in-house restaurant, Islamadora Fish Company. The food was good and reasonably priced. As much as I wanted to, I just could not bring myself to try the alligator. That's just too far out of my comfort zone. They have a HUGE marine aquarium inside the restaurant. Beautiful fish.

At the end of a fun day of camp, we were invited to gather 'round the campfire and roast marshmallows for s'mores.

She ended up with lots of chocolate on her face. Probably just as much as she had in her tummy.

The stores are also offering *FREE* photos of the child on the cover of Field & Stream magazine. Oh, and just having a photo taken earns the child a gift certificate for a free lunch at the in-house restaurant.

She has four more workshops to attend so she can earn the rest of the pins. If you have a Bass Pro Shops near you, I encourage you to check out their Family Summer Camp.