Do your kids attend a sleep away summer camp?

[4kids4karen]

Don't make promises you're not willing to keep. You said if Susie goes, your child goes. So, if Susie goes, you send your child.

Well bless your heart. You asked if anyone had kids that traveled to sleep away camps. I'm sorry the sleep away camps my kids attended don't meet your high standards to qualify me to answer your question.

I never made a promise I couldn’t or wouldn’t keep. For whatever reason You want to post assumptions.

Susie’s mom is on the fence. I talked to her earlier, told her our normal flight and driving route, and offered to escort her daughter with us (flight, hotel, and rental car).

 

[robinb]

My DD did sleep away camps for maybe 3 years. She enjoyed them but stopped going once she was in high school.

No, this is a very specific camp. The weekly rates vary from around $1000 to $1600 depending on the chosen week. It would be over 16 hour drive so we normally fly. Which means three round trip tickets (one for her, one for the parent dropping off, and one for parent picking up). I am considering letting her take the return flight home alone. The camp charges extra to transport the kids to/from the closest airport which is a more expensive airport. Then the rental car (need one for both drop off and pick up) and one night hotel cost (the night before check in).

Many kids stay multiple weeks. Next year she will be eligible to apply to be a junior counselor. Which means paying for one week and she would stay an additional two weeks as a junior counselor free.

She meets up with previous year camp friends if they can all attend the same week. One of her friends stayed three weeks last year but said friend older sister was a junior counselor who had to be there for three weeks.

It sounds like this is something she really enjoys and you did make the deal if "Susie" went so would she. I would allow her to go even though it's very expensive. Especially since she'll be a junior counselor next year and that $2000 will be for 3 weeks instead of just one.

 

[NotUrsula]

Perhaps if you only wanted answers about camps in that price range, you may want to consider changing the thread title to reflect that. When you say that you are trying to save money, posters (naturally) assume that you were asking about lower-cost camp experiences.

Mine goes to the sort of camp you describe. It's a 7 hour drive from here (kind of in the boondocks on an isolated college campus, a 2 hour drive from the nearest airport. By the time you factor that in, the time it takes to get there washes out.) Here is what we do to save travel costs: we designate travel parents. Usually about 6-8 kids from her club attend each summer, so we parents work out a deal that 2 parents volunteer to either take them or go get them, and the rest of us split the cost of these adults' travel expenses.

Trust isn't an issue; we are a very tight-knit group of parents, and all of us have passed background checks because volunteering with the team is a requirement. Our children also travel with the team during the season, so they are used to behaving for whomever happens to be chaperoning.

 

[robinb]

This is an elite camp for action sports with state of the art facilities where many pros attended as kids and visit as guests in the summer. There are kids who come from overseas to attend this camp.

That explains why it's so expensive. My DD also went to swim camp at the University of Wisconsin two years in a row and was coached by the UW coaching staff (one of which was a gold medal Olympian). Kids came from all over to go to that camp. She slept away in the dorms but I didn't count it since it was just a few miles away, LOL. That camp is $979 this year for only 5 days so yeah ... it could easily be $2000 for some families.

 

[4kids4karen]

My kid is a nut. I talked to Susie's mom (after the original post) and she said they are still considering it. I have been looking up flights, etc. They want to go because one of their favorite coaches is coaching that week. We had an afternoon private lesson with said favorite coach so I told him I heard he was coaching there for that week and he said he is still up in the air on which week he will be there, he is waiting for the camp to send him the final dates they need him there. There are a couple other girls who want to be first time campers there the week he coaches.

On the drive home, I remind her of the high school camp obligation later in the summer and ask her to lookup the dates for that again. It's a sleep away camp at UCF at the end of the summer, so those dates are fine. I remind her she is still invited to go on our overseas summer vacation, she still declined (one of her brothers also declined so I am just taking two kids). While we are listening to the radio all of a sudden she says "wait, I can't go to camp, Luke Bryan!" LOL. The last day of camp she has Luke Bryan tickets and the concert starts at 4PM. So I did tell her it might still be possible to go to camp and attend Luke Bryan since that is her return day. There is one flight that would get her home on time, just one. So she is thinking about it. She is now thinking she may want to go to this camp a different week (if she goes). Mr. Luke Bryan trumps all? LOL.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I thought we had dodge the summer camp bullet this year and DD finally stopped begging to go back. I actually said if her friend Susie went (who has never went before and we thought was a slim chance of going) then she would go. Just got the text that Susie may be going to camp... so of course she wants to go to.

This camp we would have to fly her to. She has been several times before and loves it. It is a great camp. Just trying to save money. One week is going to be over $2k if we are counting travel costs.

So, who else has kids that travel to sleep away camps?

I wouldn't to a camp they have fly to. But all our kids did sleep away camps (Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts) since they were about 10.

 

[QueenIsabella]

3 out of 4 of my kids went to sleepover camp, all three were in Scouting. The oldest also went to a Christian camp one year, because her friend wanted her to. The fourth kid didn't do Scouts, and was probably too anxious to do sleepover camp, just her personality.

OP, you might get more appropriate answers on an "elite sports" website, versus here. Your original question doesn't seem to be the one you're really interested in having answered. They might understand your dilemma a little better.

 

[4kids4karen]

3 out of 4 of my kids went to sleepover camp, all three were in Scouting. The oldest also went to a Christian camp one year, because her friend wanted her to. The fourth kid didn't do Scouts, and was probably too anxious to do sleepover camp, just her personality.

My DH and boys loved Boy Scout camp. They also enjoyed when their troop started doing multi-day hikes on the Appalachian trail. My DH wants to do the Appalachian trail with my younger son. He was too young to go with them at that time.

 

[robinb]

My kid is a nut. I talked to Susie's mom (after the original post) and she said they are still considering it. I have been looking up flights, etc. They want to go because one of their favorite coaches is coaching that week. We had an afternoon private lesson with said favorite coach so I told him I heard he was coaching there for that week and he said he is still up in the air on which week he will be there, he is waiting for the camp to send him the final dates they need him there. There are a couple other girls who want to be first time campers there the week he coaches.

On the drive home, I remind her of the high school camp obligation later in the summer and ask her to lookup the dates for that again. It's a sleep away camp at UCF at the end of the summer, so those dates are fine. I remind her she is still invited to go on our overseas summer vacation, she still declined (one of her brothers also declined so I am just taking two kids). While we are listening to the radio all of a sudden she says "wait, I can't go to camp, Luke Bryan!" LOL. The last day of camp she has Luke Bryan tickets and the concert starts at 4PM. So I did tell her it might still be possible to go to camp and attend Luke Bryan since that is her return day. There is one flight that would get her home on time, just one. So she is thinking about it. She is now thinking she may want to go to this camp a different week (if she goes). Mr. Luke Bryan trumps all? LOL.

That's a teenager for you!

Would she be considered for the junior counselor next year if she skips this year? If so, the two free weeks at this type of camp would have me making sure my DD went this year.

 

[KristiMc]

My boys have gone to summer camp since they were 10 & 8. It is only about 1.5 hours from home so an easy drive. They love it and my oldest who has aged out will be working there this summer.

 

[rlk]

My boys have gone to summer camp since they were 10 & 8. It is only about 1.5 hours from home so an easy drive. They love it and my oldest who has aged out will be working there this summer.

My boys have gone to sleep away camp for 7 years. My younger son FaceTimes with his camp friends who live several states away at least 3 times per week. My oldest aged out this summer, but will go back to camp next summer as a counselor after his first year of college.

 

[kimblebee]

My kid is a nut. I talked to Susie's mom (after the original post) and she said they are still considering it. I have been looking up flights, etc. They want to go because one of their favorite coaches is coaching that week. We had an afternoon private lesson with said favorite coach so I told him I heard he was coaching there for that week and he said he is still up in the air on which week he will be there, he is waiting for the camp to send him the final dates they need him there. There are a couple other girls who want to be first time campers there the week he coaches.

On the drive home, I remind her of the high school camp obligation later in the summer and ask her to lookup the dates for that again. It's a sleep away camp at UCF at the end of the summer, so those dates are fine. I remind her she is still invited to go on our overseas summer vacation, she still declined (one of her brothers also declined so I am just taking two kids). While we are listening to the radio all of a sudden she says "wait, I can't go to camp, Luke Bryan!" LOL. The last day of camp she has Luke Bryan tickets and the concert starts at 4PM. So I did tell her it might still be possible to go to camp and attend Luke Bryan since that is her return day. There is one flight that would get her home on time, just one. So she is thinking about it. She is now thinking she may want to go to this camp a different week (if she goes). Mr. Luke Bryan trumps all? LOL.

 

[holden]

Our neighbors send both of their kids to sleepover camp for 7 weeks in the summer. It costs them $16,000 for the two kids. I can’t wrap my head around that.

 

[Floridaman999]

My parents just bought the camp for me so I could go whenever I wanted.

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

My kids will be attending an uber exclusive summer camp at their grandparent's house in FL.

 

[Tattylou]

My kids have expressed no interest in sleep away camps. I never did it when I was a kid either, so I have not really looked into or suggested it.

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

Don't make promises you're not willing to keep. You said if Susie goes, your child goes. So, if Susie goes, you send your child.

Well bless your heart. You asked if anyone had kids that traveled to sleep away camps. I'm sorry the sleep away camps my kids attended don't meet your high standards to qualify me to answer your question.

Haha! When I first read the thread, I thought the OP was asking about the month long sleep away camps in the mountains where kids do canoeing, archery, tennis, hiking, arts and crafts like the camp in The Parent Trap movie! Lots of my friends send their kids to those kind of camps for 4 weeks each summer. They cost $6500 per session! DH and I couldn’t afford that kind of camp, so our kids went to week long sports camps at universities for football and softball instead.

I would have loved going to a Parent Trap type camp when I was growing up. My dad was a forest ranger in Northern California. One summer he took us to Visitors Day at Camp Trinity at the Bar 717 Ranch, which was filled with kids from LA and San Francisco. I fell in love with it and wanted to go so badly. I didn’t get the chance to go to overnite camp until I chaperoned my DD’s 3 day Girl Scout camping trip at Camp Kittamaqund. I think I was more excited about it than she was!

ETA - The Lindsay Lohan Parent Trap camp was based on Camp Walden in Maine. It costs $11,100 for a 7 week session. Yikes!!!

 

[VandVsmama]

My kids don't attend sleep away camps.

But if Susie is going, then you should totally get on board and have your child go. Do what works best for your family and for YOUR situation.

 

[4kids4karen]

Haha! When I first read the thread, I thought the OP was asking about the month long sleep away camps in the mountains where kids do canoeing, archery, tennis, hiking, arts and crafts like the camp in The Parent Trap movie! Lots of my friends send their kids to those kind of camps for 4 weeks each summer. They cost $6500 per session! DH and I couldn’t afford that kind of camp, so our kids went to week long sports camps at universities for football and softball instead.

I would have loved going to a Parent Trap type camp when I was growing up. My dad was a forest ranger in Northern California. One summer he took us to Visitors Day at Camp Trinity at the Bar 717 Ranch, which was filled with kids from LA and San Francisco. I fell in love with it and wanted to go so badly. I didn’t get the chance to go to overnite camp until I chaperoned my DD’s 3 day Girl Scout camping trip at Camp Kittamaqund. I think I was more excited about it than she was!

ETA - The Lindsay Lohan Parent Trap camp was based on Camp Walden in Maine. It costs $11,100 for a 7 week session. Yikes!!!

That would be my ideal camp. This camp has traditional camp activities as well, which is what makes it so great. My cousin sent her daughter (she is an adult now) to a great horse camp where her daughter took her own horse. She went there every summer. The daughter still works with horses and runs her own stables.

 

[Sparkly]

I'm not the only one who wanted to go to summer camp after watching The Parent Trap!!! It looked so much fun, although not sure about the meeting my long lost twin sister bit.