we are back from an eventful “family camp” weekend in middle tennessee at camp NaCoMe. with the exception of an unavoidable conflict here and there (such as my brother’s wedding last october), i have gone to this church camp twice a year since i was five years old. in all of these 28 years, i have yet to adequately describe to others what exactly we do at NaCoMe and just why it is so much fun.

we dance…

…sing, eat lots of food, practice yoga, do some makeshifting…

jog, eat more food, walk in the creek…

…eat more food, play horseshoes, catch crawdads, play tennis, eat, talk to old friends on the porch…

and let grandparents, other people’s parents, and other people’s children look after our little ones.

in turn, we look after other people’s children and grandchildren too. the great outdoor challenge was not such a challenge in this beautiful, green, wide open space.

this nacome had the added element of four (FOUR!) tornado warnings/watches that sent us to our cabins to clutch our packed-and-ready emergency bags and to prepare to huddle together in a crawl space down below. in the end, the crawl space remained empty (apart from a few adventure-seeking children and their gracious parental chaperon), and we were left on the porch to watch the sky unleash its wrath on a little town five miles down the road.

this morning, it was as if the storms never happened.

as the sun brightened the rain-soaked trees, we packed up our boys, with new memories of adventure, and carted them back to memphis. there, they too will fail to describe to others what exactly we do at NaCoMe and just why it is so much fun.