Olivia left for camp on Sunday. This was the first time in six years that I didn't bring her myself. I was at a blogger gathering in Niagara Falls, thoroughly enjoying myself, albeit a bit guiltily. I talked to her several times on the phone over the weekend and she seemed fine with me not going. "Well, I won't have to watch you cry this year," she said. Rotten child. (She's right. I do cry, every year. I'm a sap.)

Before heading for camp, we had to go shopping, of course. For some reason, Olivia doesn't believe in wearing a pair of shorts more than once, so she needed more shorts. More underwear, more socks, more, more, more. It's expensive to ship a kid off to camp! Even though we did it on the cheap, we still spent over $150 getting her stuff. I'm pretty sure she has everything, though, including a cute outfit to wear to the all-important CBC/Camp Joslin dances. She's been talking about the dance since, oh, February, checking out outfits and trying things on to make sure she's going to look super-cute. I tell ya, I wouldn't be 13 again for all the money in the world. The angst over dances...ugh. I remember loving the drama at the time, and I'm sure Olivia does, too. She is a bit of a drama queen. I have NO idea where she gets it from. *ahem*

I can't believe this is her sixth year. Fortunately, she still has several more years where she can attend as a camper. She wants to be a CIT or LIT or whatever they're calling them these days (when I went to camp, we were Junior Counselors). I want her to go for as long as she possibly can - she gets so much out of it. She's made some great friends and she's gained far more confidence than I ever would have expected. Things like that make it worth every penny.

She's there until next Thursday. I do miss having her around - she's a good kid (most of the time) and I miss talking to her. But I know she's having a blast. Still. I can't wait to see her again.