Why Had I Never Heard of Apple Camp Before?

Did you know that Apple retail stores offered a free movie making camp to kids ages 8 - 12 during the Summer??  Neither did I!  That is, until I saw a post about it in June on one of my favorite mommy blogs, Money Saving Mom.  I immediately clicked on the link in her post and was taken to a detailed description of the camp on Apple's website.  I knew this was right up B's alley.  Not only would he enjoy learning how to film, edit and add music to his own movies, it was free.  Something for both B and me.  :o)  I signed him right up for a Monday/Tuesday/Saturday session.

During attendance on day one of Apple Camp, the camp counselors took down shirt sizes and within a few minutes, each child had a free Apple Camp t-shirt.  On the front is a constellation of a clapperboard surrounded by musical note stars.  On the back are the words, "Make movie magic."  They also received a lanyard and  "pass" with their name on it.  The kids watched an example of what they'll learn to create in the camp then worked independently at their own station with an iPad and their headphones.  B was able to draw his movie's storyboard and create his own score using Garage Band.  The counselors were very engaging with the kids and made learning fun.

While the kids learned how to make movies, we parents received our own Apple lesson.  Our counselor navigated us through the Accessibility options in Settings and answered questions/solved problems that we were having with any of our personal Apple products.  I learned a lot, myself.

Day one ended with a homework assignment - all kids needed to create approximately 2 - 5 minutes of film to bring into Day 2 of camp, where they would edit down to a movie of no more than 90 seconds.  B was armed with his storyboard and knew just what his movie was going to be about.  "The Epic Battle" was filmed outside later that afternoon, with the help of the boys from next store.  B calls them his, "little brothers from another mother".  ;o)

Day two got off to a rocky start.  When we arrived, some of the campers form the previous session were still there, working on their projects, so B's session did not exactly start on time.  Plus, the number of counselors was cut in half, due to customer assistance needs in the store.  There were a lot of kids who didn't know what they were doing and patience was hard to come by with all that excitement and eagerness to start editing.  But the counselors made sure they instructed each child and the kids helped each other out, as well.  Everyone from B's session was finished with their movie by the end of day two.

Day three of camp wasn't until Saturday, "a whole four days away, Mom!" and B just knew it would never come.  Thankfully, he was able to pass some of that time by creating more movies at home.  We arrived at the Apple store Saturday around 8:45am, B wearing his camp shirt and lanyard, and were let in at 9am.  After the kids were seated around the viewing monitors and we parents were standing behind them, one of the counselor gave a short talk.  He said the employees had a great time with the kids and there were definitely some JJ Abrams and George Lucases among the campers.  I was surprised to hear that all the sessions at this Apple location had filled up in two days!  I will start scouring Apple's website next year for registration info by June 1st to make sure B gets in again.  There is so much to do in iMovie and he was not able to absorb it all.  Another year of this camp will teach him even more.

Then, each kid was called up front to introduce their movie and we all watched.  These kids amazed me with their imaginations and what they were able to film in an afternoon.  After each movie, the creator was presented with a certificate of completion, four apple camp patches and the bracelet shown above which contains a thumb drive with his or her own movie on it!  B has worn it every day since camp and offers to show his movie to everyone who happens to have a device with a USB port on it.  LOL

Free Apple Camp gets an enthusiastic two thumbs up from this mom!

Our First, But Definitely Not Our Last, Trip to Greenbrier State Park in Maryland

One of the boys is "fishing" with a bug net.

One of our alleymates (neighbor who lives off the same alley as us) invited us and another alley family  to Greenbrier State Park in Boonsboro, Maryland today.  She had been a few times before and said it was a nice park with a beached lake, not too crowded during the week and within an hour of where we live.  I could not wait to check it out!  So 3 moms, 4 boys, a cooler and beach bags piled into a minivan and headed to Boonsboro.

The drive was lovely and the weather was absolutely perfect today!  Fluffy white clouds were constantly rolling by, so you weren't too cool not too hot for long.  Since we do not live in Maryland, it was $5/person (exception - the children in carseats were free); Maryland state residents pay only $3.  You can choose to set up your chairs/umbrellas/towels on grass that has some trees for shade, but we went right down on the beach.  I was surprised that there were rocks mixed in with the sand, but it wasn't a bother to me.  If your feet are sensitive, you can wear your flip flops down to the waters edge.

As you can see in the pictures, there are two roped off areas.  The 1st one probably goes out 30'-40' from the shore and the 2nd one is another 20' after that.  B, who is 4'10" went out to the farther rope and the water was just below his chin,  The shallow water, combined with no waves or current like you'd find at the ocean, makes this park friendly for kids of all ages and makes me feel safe letting B roam (swimmers must remain inside the roped areas).  In addition to swimming and sunbathing at the lake, they had paddle boats and fishing outside the ropes.  In fact, the lake is stocked with trout, largemouth bass and bluegill.  There are picnic tables available and even charcoal grills.  Besides the lake, the park offers camping, hiking trails and lots of flora and fauna to see.

The bathhouse with restrooms, showers and a first-aid station was right behind us and there are lifeguards on duty from 11am - 6pm.  One of the boys got sand in his eye and the lifeguard offered to call up to the first-aid station for an eye wash to be brought down.  The boy and his mom decided to walk up to the station, but I was impressed the lifeguard was paying attention and offered that assistance.  I also like that there are no trashcans.  Any trash you make, you must take with you.  Full trash cans can not only be smelly and unsightly, but they also attract bugs.

The lake is man-made and the bottom is soft sand and some rocks, like the shore.  The waters in the swimming area were clear and you could see down to the bottom.  There were also lots of little fish playing tag with the children.  Our boys were trying to catch a fish with bug nets most of the day and finally one of them caught a fish in a sand castle bucket - that's talent, right there!

All 7 of us had a great time.  Greenbrier State Park is close, inexpensive and relaxing, in my opinion.  We will definitely be frequenting this park!

When we arrived, this is what the lake in front of us looked like...

...and to the left of us...

...and to the right of us.  I'd say over the next 5 hours another 40 - 50 people came and went.

My Little Fasionisto

Ben and I went to Kohl's in the beginning of April because we all needed sandals for Summer and I had a 20% off coupon.  We found great, cheap sandals for all of us and, as we were heading to the checkout, I decided to "just look" at the women's section.  I really needed some new shorts, in a larger size than last year, and since my 20% off coupon was good for my entire purchase, it just made sense to do some window shopping.  ;o)   As I was looking at capri pants, B says, "Mom, you should buy these; they'd look great on you!"  He was holding up what I thought was a skirt but, on further inspection, it was a skort.  I said, "B, I can't wear that.  I can't pull off a skort."  B replied, "Of course you can, Mama!  You can pull off anything!"  What a sweet boy, filled with unconditional love!  He proceeded to search for, and find, three shirts to go with the skort he found for me.  When I looked at the bright blue shirt he picked out that matched the skort, I said, "I think that shirt color, and the skort color, are too dark for me.  Don't you think?  This aqua shirt would go much better with my eyes."  B replied, "Mama, you already have a shirt that color!"  OMG - he was right; he observes and absorbs everything!  So I bought the skort and the 3 shirts (pictured above) that he picked out, in addition to our Summer sandals.

When we were checking out, the cashier said, "I love how all three of these shirts go so well with this skort!"  "Thank you," I replied.  "I can't take credit.  My son picked them all out for me."  "Well," she said, looking at B, "You've got a great eye for fashion."  Ben smiled at the cashier and then turned to me.  "Mama?  What do they call a male fashionista?"  A....fashionissssss...to?"  A big grin spread across B's face.  I grinned back.  As we walked out of Kohl's, we both felt proud of him.

Our Summer Bucket List

My friend, Julie, has a wonderful blog, Creekside Learning.  She is the put together blogger and homeschool mom that I aspire to be.  A couple of weeks ago, Julie and the Creekside Family came up with a Summer Bucket List, and I thought that was a fabulous idea.  The other night, while putting B to bed, we thought up all the things we'd love to do this Summer.  Our list is very ambitious (read - too long and unattainable) but that's us!  I look at it this way - everything we don't get done this Summer will carry over to next year so we won't have to create a list then.  :o)  So here it is:

Our Summer Bucket List

1. Drive-in movie
2. Zoo
3. Amusement or water park
4. Beach
5. Skateboarding camp
6. Gymnastics camp
7. Cartooning camp
8. Get an Avengers LEGO set
9. Free Summer movies
10. Go out for ice cream
11. Catch an ice cream truck
12. Make our own ice cream
13. Sleepover with best friend
14. Sprayground
15. Lay in the backyard and admire the stars
16. Campout in the backyard
17. Make s'mores
18. Have friends over for a BBQ
19. Whenever we want/need to go to the library, walk instead of drive
20. Save a life
21. Art classes at home
22. Pick berries
23. Go on a nature hike
24. Make a new friend
25. Scavenger hunt through the alphabet with a camera
26. Get B to ride a bike
27. Michael's in-store passport crafts
28. Vacation Bible School
29. Minor league baseball game

Since we made the list, we have done #10 and #24.  Out of necessity (no car) we walked to the library twice in the week before making the list.  We enjoyed it so much, we put it on the list and committed ourselves to continue doing that.  He's already signed up for VBS later this month and I am working on getting him signed up for the camps he's interested in.  I look forward to seeing what we can accomplish from it this Summer!