Camp Mommy: Letter Scavenger Hunt

This week our camp mommy was guided a little bit around learning as well as a lot of fun. We had a letter scavenger hunt in our yard (and it cost us less than $5 - the letters and chalk were from Dollarama). Bug loves finding things once they've been hidden, so that's where this activity stemmed from. First I went outside and wrote his name in big letters with chalk on our sidewalk. Then, once all the letters were hidden in our yard, and everything was set up, Bug came out and went searching. Each letter he found, he had to come and match it with one of the letters in his name. We first discussed the letter quickly, making sure he knew what it was; then placed it on the corresponding chalk letter. Once all of the pieces were found, we practiced spelling his name and getting him used to seeing what his name looked like. After the first time, Bug wasn't done, so he proceeded to "hide" all the letters again and self directed the activity multiple times. Bear was once again on supervising duty, eating his baby mash! Check out the video with Bug in action!

After we were done with his name, I took out the letters A through F, hid them around the yard and wrote the letters on the sidewalk (giving each letter their own cement panel). Bug became the explorer again and went hunting for the new letters. Each letter he found, I got him to bring it over to the corresponding cement panel and place it on the chalk letter. Then we discussed that letter and spoke about words that started with it. Bug loves watching me draw animals, vehicles, etc; so a few of the words we came up with got an "amazing" artist rendition :) Bear sat once again watching the fun unfold, playing with his own letters.

Today had an unfortunate beginning...I found out on my way home from my last night shift this set that a very dear friend of mine, whom became affectionately known as Momma 2 for me and Gramma C to my kids, passed away. She had a short but courageous battle with lung cancer, and thankfully passed peacefully in her sleep. I had been expecting this news, given my career and her initial prognosis; however, nothing can prepare you for the heartache you feel. I was debating doing Camp Mommy today; however, I only have 2 days off this set, and I wasn't sure if the weather would hold up tomorrow (I'm really trying to keep our Camp Mommy activities for outside). Actually, the weather around 1 PM, during my indecision, wasn't great at the tail end of a thunderstorm. Then the clouds cleared up and the sun was shining, and I thought that Momma 2 wouldn't want me to be holed up inside with my grief. So I basked in the joys of my beautiful boys, went outside and enjoyed our activity. She always told me how proud of me she was for the mother I had become, and how beautifully I fell into this role.  We dedicated this day to this amazing woman, spending a little bit of time reminiscing and speaking of her when we got to the letter B. Butterflies were her absolute favourite, purple ones all that much better. So we drew a purple butterfly and told her we loved her, being thankful that she was no longer suffering. We love you so much dear friend!

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