Memoir Monday: Dog Days of Summer

There is this great local website that we have here in the Jacksonville, FL area that I visit on a regular basis for upcoming events for the kiddos.  Jax4kids.com lists free and pay events from Public libraries, special engagements, to whatever.  They also have scouted out where kids eat free every day of the week, by surrounding areas, since Jacksonville is SO spread out, and a commuter area for several cities in the greater area.

I was searching the site today for a pumpkin patch, a real one, not the come-to-our-church-patch-and-overpay-pumpkin-patch, and found no place to go for pumpkins, BUT, found something else.  So, in typical, fly by the seat of my pants, and plan nothing but go somewhere cool with the kids fashion, I made plans at 2:45pm to do something at 4:00pm on the other side of town.  My husband is such a good sport!  Today is launch day for Diary of a Wimpy Kid 4: Dog Days.  Our favorite place Barnes & Noble had a launch party, and we went as soon as the boys got home.  It was a major hit.  There was a letter from Jeff Kinney, read aloud to all the children.  They had a drawing for a couple of t-shirts, and the poster from the window(which was seriously cool).  The boys didn't win but they were thrilled with the games and the Release Party!  They got free temporary tatoos, book marks and we purchased the book!  We finished off the night with Five Guys Burgers for dinner(everyone's fav)!

So my buddy Travis over at I like to Fish has instituted a new Memoir Monday tradition, so I am gonna give it a shot.

Since I made you sit through my impromptu family excursion to B&N to acquire the latest installment of DoWK, Dog Days of Summer, I thought I would give you a Dog Days of Summer Memoir.

When I was a teenager we used to go to Girls Camp as a part of our young women's group at church.  Girls from 12-16 would spend a week at camp, we learned first aide, swimming, had nightly gatherings, sang songs, did crafts, and enjoyed fellowship with each other.  It was always HOT, and I mean REALLY HOT.  Florida is not the place to camp if there is no air conditioning, but somehow we always survived the week.  

As with most camps, there were always a lot of pranks.  And girls can be quite "catty".  We would always do the typical camp counselor pranks, like toilet paper the leaders cabins.  Sometimes that would include fishing line so they were locked in for a while.  That was always a good one.  But my ALL TIME favorite prank ever, was one that still makes me laugh when I hear a certain song.

So, once you completed your four years of camp you could come back as a Jr. Counselor at 17.  The girls who decided to come back enjoyed it because they got a cool cabin and got to stay out later than the rest of us, and they didn't have a cabin counselor (OLD PERSON) as their leader.  My last year, I had the coolest counselor ever.  She brought all sorts of "supplies" for pranks, and we were going to prank everyone!  BUT, we found a "MARK" right away.  One of the JR. Counselors was a prude, and nobody likes a prude, and she was a Busy Body, and nobody likes a busybody.  So, we planned.  We gathered "intel", meaning simply we watched habits.

The Jr. Counselors showered late because they didn't have to be in their cabins with lights out as early as the rest of us.  We noticed she only used one bathroom stall.  Awesome!  We snuck into the bathroom late, covered the toilet bowl with Saran Wrap, and covered the seat with Vaseline.  We made it back to the cabin with lights out for cabin checks.  Then, with our fearless cabin counselor, we snuck out to watch our plan in action.  We watched the Jr. Counselors enter the bathroom as we peered around the corner of the side of the bathrooms.  We snuck around to the door and peered in just as we hear.....bear butt hit wet pavement, and a SQUEAL!  Amongst laughter, we RAN FOR OUR LIVES back to the cabin. 

Word spread quickly of our prank through the camp.  Each time we went to the Mess Hall for breakfast, lunch and dinner, when the Jr. Counselors would enter the hall, they were greeted with a rousing chorus of "Slip Slidin' Away".  It was seriously, the best prank ever!  And, to this day, if I hear "slip sliding away", I laugh and remember Summer Camp!