Despite my getting carried away with the title (see here for details), this post is really just a reminder to our future selves about the different camps Siena went to this summer as we explored a variety of activities and options to pass the summer time.

After school ended and an initial week of hanging out with me, Siena had eight weeks of certified, third-party-managed summer activity (all architected and arranged, I should note, by her mom). Here’s the run-down:

Week 1 – School camp. Siena’s elementary after-school program offers several weeks of summer activities, which included swimming lessons at the town pond in the morning and various themed craft activities during the day. Week 1 included preparation for a class theatrical production, which Siena would end up missing because she didn’t stick around for week 2.

Week 2 – Cousins’ week. Siena, Thalia, and their chauffeurs, as Mama has called us, spent the week with the maternal grandparents and cousins. Plenty of swimming, food, and desserts were had by all. Tennis, biking, and zip-lining, too.

Week 3 – School camp again. This week the theme was super-hero week. Siena elected to envision herself as a Cat Woman, I think because one of her friends was doing it as well. By the end of the week she was less interested in this, and she ended up not participating in the dress-up finale the kids had.

Week 4 – School camp again. Fashion week this time, but Siena missed the fashion show because we headed out of town Friday night in order to start

Week 5 – Big cousins’ week. For this week, we left Siena with the grandparents and her older cousin (again, on the maternal side), while Thalia, Mama, and I drove back home. Siena had an entire week without us. And she loved it! It’s not clear she wanted us to return the following weekend to pick her up.

Week 6 – Girl Scout week. Siena spent the week at a local Girl Scouts day camp. Although the week started out a little rough because Siena didn’t know any of the kids there, the activities were great, and Siena learned a lot of songs that she’s been singing since. By the end of the week she was seriously considering joining the Girl Scouts, which would be great, except that interest has waned as a result of…

Week 7 – Gymnastics camp. This week she was back at her elementary school for a week of basic introduction to gymnastics activities. Siena got to do some vault work, floor routines, uneven bars, rope swings, balance beam, and monkey bars. A number of her friends from first grade were there, so she had a fantastic time with them, and now wants to do more gymnastics in the fall, especially if her friends will be there. However, this interest is now itself facing a serious challenge because of…

Week 8 – Horse riding camp. Siena is going to a day camp that is offering horse riding and care lessons in the morning, and two specialized activities each afternoon. Her horses this week have been Abby and Cricket, the latter of which looks like one of her stuffed animals, Jumper. She’s been riding some ponies and caring for them everyday, and reported back that she has been trotting, practicing the jump position, which she demonstrated for us at dinner, and finally getting to muck out a stall. Mo will be so proud! In the afternoon she has been doing random things like archery, swimming, nature studies, and mad science. Our own little Katniss.

Next week it’s back to school, and amazingly, and this is just more evidence of how awesome she herself is, Siena has been shouting, “I can’t wait for school!” Oh yeah.