Camp Waldemar

The long journey to Camp Waldemar in Hunt, TX began with a three hour drive to Dallas.  We rode together with another little girl from Shreveport named Corinne who was attending Camp Waldemar for the first time.  She and Malloy had never met, but quickly hit it off and were acting like old friends at the end of the car ride.

We stayed at the Hotel Palomar in Dallas and the girls love it.  The man at the front desk made them balloon animals, asked if they wanted a live goldfish delivered to their rooms, and did a magic trick for them.  The mommies loved it because they had complimentary Happy Hour in the lobby from 5-7.

Our pet goldfish for the night, "Goldie"

That evening we had a picnic with all of other girls riding the Dallas buses to Waldemar.  The girls had fun meeting each other and playing on the playground.  The next morning, we headed to the bus meeting point and learned that Malloy and her new BFF would not be on the same bus.  They had rising 2nd and 4th graders on one bus, and rising 3rd and 5th graders on the other.   Malloy is going into 2nd and her friend is going into 3rd.  Malloy quickly adapted and found a seat next to a girl named Sydney who she had met at the picnic the night before.

She was all smiles as she got situated in her seat for the 6 hour bus ride to Hunt.  The departed from Dallas at 9:30 and arrived in Hunt at 3:30.  I don't think they made any stops - each girl was instructed to pack a lunch to eat on the bus.

The parents gathered along the sides of the bus and waved (some tearfully) as the buses pulled away.  I was not worried about Malloy being sad.  She was happily waving as they rolled out of the parking lot.  I was more worried about the fact that the bus did not have seat belts.

Then I just had to wait...and wait.  There were over 100 pictures posted the first night of the girls getting off of the bus, but none of Malloy.  The next day I was thrilled to see Malloy (in the pink swim cap) getting ready to take the plunge into the Guadalupe River.  Fortunately, since I packed her trunk for camp, I recognized her bathing suit and all of her outfits.  That helped me identify her in the hundreds of pictures that were posted on the website each day.

Yellow tank top with kitty cat face paint.  Hmm, she looks like she's having fun.  When I read the daily updates about the dance party, carnival, wacky game night, skit night and movie night, I wondered how anyone could NOT be having fun!

Doing the limbo with a smile on her face.

When I saw this tray of bacon, my fears about whether Malloy was going to find anything she liked to eat were alleviated.

A picture with her counselors and kampong mates.  We had requested Corinne as a kampong mate, but the campers were grouped by grade so they could not be together.  We also requested Molly Sessums (far right).  She's from Mississippi and her aunt lives in Shreveport.  The girls had never met before camp but had fun getting to know each other.

I read that her cabin participated in the Sunday church service and found this picture of her holding the "wisdom" sign during the lesson.

We drove down to Kerrville, TX (7 hour drive) and spent the night before pick-up there.  Of course, only a few hours before we would be seeing her in person, I found all of these pictures which confirmed my hopes - that she was happy and loving camp.

Demonstrating the Waldemar signature skill of trick roping

This letter arrived at our house while we were en route to pick her up, so I didn't see it until we returned.  Malloy told me she go SO MUCH mail - maybe too much mail.  It's possible that I over did it with the twice daily e-mails from me, plus messages from Kyle, Grandma & Papa, Dearie, Granddaddy, Aunt Amy, Uncle Marshall and her cousins.  I just wanted her to feel loved!

The morning we picked her up, I finally got to lay my eyes on the picturesque surroundings that she had been enjoying all week.  Camp Waldemar's setting in the Texas Hill Country is just beautiful.

The campers' families anxiously waited for the girls to come out of the dining hall.

We were all happy to see Malloy and hear about her camp experience.  Dearie particularly loves Camp Waldemar as Aunt Katherine attended for 4 years and Grayson and Claire were also Waldemar campers.

Malloy was in Ranch House 2.  It is the bottom floor of this building.

She explained that they drew numbers to see which bed each camper would get and which chore they would be responsible for during their stay.  Malloy got Bunk 8 and was in charge of sweeping the kampong every day.  Other chores included hanging bathing suits on the clothes line, sweeping outside, emptying the dustpan, filling the ice bucket each night and mopping.  They must have done a good job because their kampong got the "Perfect Inspection" award.

There were five campers (all entering 2nd grade) and two counselors in Ranch House 2.

All packed up and ready to go home.

Malloy and her sweet counselors, Evelyn and Ari.

They had an awards ceremony by the river where they recognized the top campers in each activity and the top campers for their overall attitude.  The very best campers got to hold the Texas, American and Waldemar flags as they

passed by the presentation area in canoes.

Malloy's kampong was recognized for their perfect inspections all week and came in 2nd in the kampong race for overall points.  The activities that Malloy participated in were swimming, cheerleading, gymnastics, dance, trick roping and soccer.  

She had a great time and is eager to go back next year.  She says that she will be ready to go for one month the following year.  Campers can continue to attend the short, one week session until they are entering 5th grade or can switch to the long, one month term after 3rd grade.  We'll cross that bridge when we get there.  I'm just glad she had a great time and is eager to return.