My one and only Summer Camp

3.) Share a Summer Camp memory.

I honestly don't remember how old I was. I want to say I was 11, or maybe 12, but I think 11. We were still living on 56th place. We moved to 83rd Dr the summer before I turned 13.

We'd never been to a summer camp before. My older brother & I were made to do this. My parents thought it would be a good idea to keep us busy during at least one of the summer months. I dreaded it - absolutely, categorically dreaded it. I did not want to get up early in the morning. I did not want to be bossed around by people I didn't know. I did not want to be told what I had to do all day long. To me, it felt like I was going to outdoor school. No more school - that's why it's called summer "break".

I remember being dropped off the first morning to be picked up by the bus and wanting to cry. I was so pissed! I can imagine the sour look on my face, standing there in stupid 80s shorts & tube socks up to my knees with colored stripes on them.

I want to be able to relay the many fun things we did in our Summer Camp. I can't do that because I don't remember most of it. I remember the Adams county fairgrounds & the "rocket" we got to play on; and the drive that felt like a near lifetime it took to get there on the hot, steamy bus. I remember Rotella Park before I knew it was Rotella Park. (83rd Dr. was close to Rotella Park & that place holds many a memory for me once we moved there).

I remember the warm, soggy sandwiches & the banana tasting oreos or chips ahoy from being in the same box/bag with the banana. Sometimes even the sandwich tasted like banana. I remember water that was never cold enough & koolaid that was watered down by ice that melted too fast.

I remember the first girl I ever knew that shared my name. Alexis. Everyone called her Alex & I remember wishing that I could be called Alex. If people call me that now, I cringe. I just don't find it as appealing as I once did, but it's also because I am Lex or Lexie (only by old family & friends, no peers call me Lexie - not too fond of it as an adult).

I remember the smells of the fresh mowed grass and the fishy smell of the sprinkler systems at most of the parks we went to. I remember my first real kiss with a tall dark haired boy. No, I don't remember his name. I do remember how he looked. Dark, almost black hair cut in the short "bowl" haircut of the time. He was older than I was. He was a head & shoulders taller than I was. He wore a white t-shirt and blue jeans. There was a group of us & we were playing games we shouldn't have been playing (so much for supervision...) like Truth or Dare and Spin the Bottle - in the middle of a hot afternoon. We were in some kind of tent. Out of the view of most everyone. I don't remember what prompted the kiss, I just remember the kiss. His lips were soft & dry. I felt something in my gut stir & spread up though my shoulders and my head felt light, the stirring swept down my arms & my legs. It was so blissful & then his lips parted. I felt something warm & moist glide over my own lips. I was stunned, but shockingly amused. I giggled & it was done. I looked at his face, smiling & he smiled back. It was like he knew my secret - that was my first real kiss.

This was near the end of our time at camp & it was a day camp. They didn't have anything planned for us besides hanging out at the park. I'm thinking the tent was for shade. As I'm typing this, I think this may have been the very last day of camp. What a memory to take away from it. I'm smiling on the inside. ;)