caught in the webb again

like last year, the bean and their BFF registered for a 10-day sleepaway summer camp at the webb schools, a local boarding school.  the day before they were scheduled to check in, we squeezed in a disneyland day together.  well - more like, i took a solo day while the two of them roamed around the parks together.  

knowing that i had a LOT of time to burn it off, i scored myself a spot at the bar at lamplight lounge.  i sat there and enjoyed a leisurely lunch, munching on an order of lobster nachos and indulging in a couple of specialty cocktails.

i was entertained the whole time by the bartenders who bickered and bantered back and forth while making sure my glass was never empty.  and even when i was ready to leave, they mixed one last drink for me and poured it into a plastic to-go cup that i was allowed to take with me as i headed back out into the park.

i took advantage of the single rider lines at all of the rides that offered them - incredicoaster, goofy's sky school, webslingers, even grizzly river run.  that one isn't my favorite for riding solo, though, because the raft holds up to 8 people and joining a group or family is super awkward.  eventually i made my way across the esplanade into disneyland, where i grabbed a seat in the fantasyland theater for the new lion king-themed live show and ran into a friend along the way:

i was supposed to meet up with the kids for fireworks, but they ended up stuck in a long line for a ride through the whole show.  i caught a glimpse of the main street electrical parade by "it's a small world," where i also had a great view of the projection show that played in conjunction with the fireworks.

the next day, the bean and i packed their luggage into the car and drove over to webb, where they took the required covid test and then reunited with BFF in the room they were to share for the duration of camp.

i helped them unpack and get settled, and then we headed down to grab some lunch before saying goodbye.

let the games begin.

our very own dr. ross gellar

the hub and i were super excited to pick up the bean when the day came.  the email we'd received told us to arrive at a certain time in order to catch the presentation the students were going to give on what they'd learned over the course of camp, and i was really curious to see how she'd liked the paleontology course.  when we arrived on campus we inadvertently found ourselves in the wrong place, and by the time we found where we were supposed to be the bean had just been introduced to the group before starting her spiel.  phew.

she'd told me the night before that she was nervous to speak in front of the group, but was grateful that she only had one part in the presentation.  the hub and i beamed with pride as we listened to her speech, giggled with the rest of the audience as she dropped a few joking comments with her typical sarcastic humor, and then gave her huge hugs as we were reunited at last.

when the rest of the group had delivered their speeches, we were given the chance to walk through the museum and look around at the extensive displays of fossils and artifacts.  the bean was quick to point out the exhibits that she and her partner had put together, which would stay in the museum for the next few months.

i thought the museum was pretty impressive - especially since this is a high school, and knowing that everything had been discovered by students and faculty over the years.  

we gathered downstairs in one of the classrooms with their instructors to hear all about what the students had done over the previous ten days, and then they all received certificates of completion before being dismissed.  the bean made sure to pick up the little clay dinosaur that she'd sculpted during one of the classes.

she was happy to take one last climb up the hill to her dorm.

and then just as we were heading back down with all of her stuff, we ran into her bestie.

the school is less than ten minutes from home, and the first thing she did when she walked in the door was make a beeline for the dogs.  i think they missed her almost as much as she missed them.

after she'd had a chance to sit down and have some lunch and bask in the happiness of being home again after ten days of dorm life, she passed out.  hard.  and cocoa was happy to cuddle with her.

i knew she'd had some anxiety about the whole notion of being away from home for so long, with no idea of what to expect at camp and not have us around to guide her through everything.  and so when i half-jokingly asked her a few days later which program she wanted to do next summer, she surprised me when she actually had an answer instead of an instant NOPE NOPE NOPE.  

ah, my baby.  she's definitely growing up.  sigh.

getting caught in the webb

earlier this year, one of my favorite mom friends showed me a website for a summer camp at the webb schools, a local private boarding school for high schoolers.  they were offering several different programs - digital arts, global ethics, science and paleontology - and the session was ten days long, during which the students would stay on campus in the dorms.  it would be the first time that the bean was away from home and on her own, which sounded both exciting and a little scary.  to be honest, i wasn't at all sure that she'd go for it, but when she found out that her two besties were also going for it, she warmed to the idea.

i knew that her heart would probably lead her towards the digital arts program, but i encouraged her to step out of the box and try something different.  it seemed like a good idea to expand her horizons a little and learn something completely new, and when she expressed some interest in the paleontology program i definitely gave her a bit of nudge.  

okay, maybe a big nudge.  heh.

and so we filled out the application, which also involved an essay and a questionnaire that was to be filled out by the student, plus a recommendation from one of her current teachers at school.  we joined in on a parent information session via zoom, where we got to see pictures of the campus and ask the program director questions if we had any.  apparently, they were reading all of the applications carefully to get an idea of each student's maturity level to make sure that they were ready for a sleepaway camp for ten days without parent visits - especially this year, with covid being a factor.

to no one's surprise all three girls were accepted, with each of them choosing a different program.  this meant that they wouldn't be in classes together, but there was plenty of downtime for them to hang out.  and before we knew it, it was time to get the bean packed up and drop her off.

with the hub stuck in a meeting for work, the old lady was able to take a couple of hours off to come with us and get her sister settled into her room.

after we got her checked in, we got to hop into a golf cart for a ride up the hill to her dorm since we had her luggage and everything with us.

once we lugged everything up those steps, we got our first glimpse of where she'd be living for the next ten days.

and there was swag - i didn't get a picture of all of it, but there was a t-shirt, water bottle, notebook and pen all tucked neatly into a drawstring backpack.

she was pretty stoked when she found out that her room was right next to both of her friends.  we'd requested that they be close to each other, but you know nothing is ever guaranteed.  but i think everyone was relieved to see that they'd be together as much as possible, and they'd help each other whenever one of them was feeling homesick or something like that.  we ran into one of them as we finished unpacking and started heading down to the dining hall for lunch.

once we were done with lunch, we headed back down towards the front of the school and joined the rest of the program participants in the tent.  her other friend had been given an earlier check-in time, so that's where we finally got to see her and her mom.

the program director introduced herself and said a few words of welcome before handing the podium over to the "fellows," current and former webb students who would be there acting as counselors and dorm leaders throughout the session.  and then it was time to say goodbye.

bye, kid!  we'll miss you!

the old lady and i accepted an invitation to take a campus tour with one of the fellows, a 2020 graduate named sydney who was assigned to the bean's dorm and had just finished up her first year at dartmouth.  she was really friendly and chatted with us about her high school experience at webb.  she showed us the paleontology museum, which is a nationally accredited museum that houses almost 200,000 fossils and things that were dug up by students and faculty over the years.

we walked up the hill to see the chapel, built over several years in the late 1930s.

the community center, which was recently remodeled and where the students would go for movie night sometime during the session.

we both came away from that tour feeling like we'd learned a lot about the campus, life as a student and the school as a whole.  since neither of us really knew much about it until then, it was all really interesting and made us both kind of wish we'd had the opportunity to attend the school ourselves.

maybe the bean will.  who knows?  at the very least, she can apply and maybe next year we'll find ourselves returning to the campus as a webb family.  we'll just have to wait and see.