We finished up Savior of the World late late on a Saturday night. Early Monday morning Sarah and Rachel left for girls camp. I knew they would be gone all week, so I had registered Ben for golf camp and signed Kate up for swimming lessons so everyone had something to do to keep busy. I've found that it is better if the kids have something to do right away after school gets out. There is something about the transition to summer and lots of free time that seems to make everyone really crabby. The kids aren't used to being together so much and end up fighting. In my romanticized notion of motherhood, the transition to summer vacation should be wonderful and relaxing. However, after years of wanting to pull my hair out as soon as school gets out (and wondering if I am ever going to make it through summer vacation) I've finally learned that it is good have activities planned for the kids soon after school gets out. Somehow that seems to make the transition easier. By the end of summer, I love having them all home and don't want to send them away to school again. It is better to have our down time then.
Anyway, back to golf camp. Ben has been interested (obsessed?) with golf since he was very little. Every time we were in a sporting good store, he would gravitate to the golf clubs. I finally sent him to a golf camp last summer, but it was for really little kids and held at the elementary school where they used plastic clubs and tennis balls. Okay, kind of lame. But it was a start. And it was the only golf camp I knew about. This year, after living here longer and asking around more (that is the hard part about moving--it takes a while to learn all the good secrets about a place) I found Ben a REAL golf camp to go to. At a REAL golfcourse. Using REAL clubs. With a REAL professional golfer as the instructor.
He was in heaven.
Golf camp was Monday through Friday. On the first four days they learned and practiced skills. By Friday, they were ready to test out their game on the course. The parents were invited to come along. David was out of town for work, so I got to go with Ben (luckily Sarah and Rachel got home from girls camp a half hour before we had to leave so they could babysit the younger children). First, Ben and I had a hamburger dinner hosted by the country club with the other golf campers and parents. Then the golfers got ready for the game.
Here's Ben warming up on the driving range.
It looks like he has a good swing to me. But then again, I've never played golf in my life.
Finally it was time to start. The weather was beautiful.
Oops...a sand trap.
They kept score--with lots of leeway--which was good. Ben had a great game, and felt so confident in his abilities when he was done. The other parents and grandparents were so positive. It was such a great night.
It was so peaceful out there on the course, I decided that I should take up golf someday. Maybe David and I can learn to golf together when all the kids are gone. Maybe someday.
Here's his golfing group, striking the golfing pose.
And here his instructor is giving Ben a few pointers.
Ben had to dress in "country club attire" for the entire golf camp. I thought he might have second thoughts about attending when he found out about the dress code. But his love of golfing won out over his dislike of dressing up. (That's actually pretty amazing!) He looked pretty sharp. The funniest comment came when we were pulling out all his collared shirts to figure out what he could wear. Almost all Ben's clothes are hand-me-downs, so he has a few of these shirts that he has never even worn. We found enough for him to wear a different one each day.
Our conversation went like this:
Ben: "But Mom, I don't want to wear a different one each day."
Me: "Why not?"
Ben: "Because I don't want people to think I
actually have all these clothes and wear them all the time."
So funny.
Maybe I ought to keep him golfing, just so he can learn to be a classy dresser.
Ben with Coach Becky at the end of the camp.
Now, if only golf wasn't such an expensive sport...
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