You can’t go wrong with a good, soft, basic colorblock tee and denim shorts. I particularly like this top because the fabric is on the thinner side, so it’s very comfy & not bulky. Click here to shop the look.
STORY TIME*![?](https://fonts.gstatic.com/s/e/notoemoji/13.1.1/1f3d5/72.png)
![⛺️](https://fonts.gstatic.com/s/e/notoemoji/13.1.1/26fa_fe0f/72.png)
![?](https://fonts.gstatic.com/s/e/notoemoji/13.1.1/1f525/72.png)
![?](https://fonts.gstatic.com/s/e/notoemoji/13.1.1/1fab5/72.png)
Yesterday, I was watching a group of kids at summer day camp eat their sack lunches in the grass. I was flooded with memories of my own childhood summers, and finding things for the twins to do each summer when they were younger.
When I was growing up, I was never a big fan of day camps, but for four summers, I attended a two-week overnight camp. I eventually became a Junior Counselor and worked there for two months, my 4th and final summer.
The memories I made going to camp– a REAL, traditional camp– were priceless.
Everything you could imagine one doing at camp, we did it: horseback riding, canoeing, learning all the ins and outs of camping (from pitching a tent to setting a fire), songs around a campfire, archery, pool and lake swimming, talent shows, arts and crafts, all-camp games like “Find the Flag,” sockhop dances (do the young people even know what a sockhop is?)… it was amazing.
I had my first kiss at summer camp, playing “Truth or Dare,” and I am still friends with that person to this day!
Lol (IYKYK).
![?](https://fonts.gstatic.com/s/e/notoemoji/13.1.1/1f48b/72.png)
![?](https://fonts.gstatic.com/s/e/notoemoji/13.1.1/1f440/72.png)
What’s funny is, my first week at overnight camp (which was about three hours away from home, up on the border of Illinois and Wisconsin), I sent dramatic letters home, every single day, to my parents BEGGING them to come pick me up. I was not a lover of the outdoors. Dirt and bugs were not for me! I later learned that these letters were a source of great humor for my parents. ![?](https://fonts.gstatic.com/s/e/notoemoji/13.1.1/1f612/72.png)
![?](https://fonts.gstatic.com/s/e/notoemoji/13.1.1/1f923/72.png)
![?](https://fonts.gstatic.com/s/e/notoemoji/13.1.1/1f612/72.png)
![?](https://fonts.gstatic.com/s/e/notoemoji/13.1.1/1f923/72.png)
Obviously, after my first week, I fell completely in love with the outdoor experience.![?](https://fonts.gstatic.com/s/e/notoemoji/13.1.1/1f970/72.png)
![☀️](https://fonts.gstatic.com/s/e/notoemoji/13.1.1/2600_fe0f/72.png)
![?](https://fonts.gstatic.com/s/e/notoemoji/13.1.1/1f30a/72.png)
![?](https://fonts.gstatic.com/s/e/notoemoji/13.1.1/1f332/72.png)
![?](https://fonts.gstatic.com/s/e/notoemoji/13.1.1/1f333/72.png)
![?](https://fonts.gstatic.com/s/e/notoemoji/13.1.1/1f3d5/72.png)
My Dad and my bestie @aisharc sent letters and care packages for each summer that I was there, letting me know that I was loved and missed. They meant so much to me–I even saved some of them.
Did you ever attend an overnight camp as a kid? How long was it? If you have kids, do they attend day or night camp?
xoxo
HLJ
*Reposted from original Instagram post, 7/22/21.
![](https://hollylowejones.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/HLJ_PostSig.png)