Boston Red Sox baseball camp

kj was here in boston about five days, and he was off to red sox baseball camp. one week, 9-3 each day!

{big papi had him signed up long before we came…}

we attended a brief orientation on the sunday before he started – he met some of the coaches/camp assistants, and was given his uniform.

he was so thrilled to get his uniform, he got in our SUV, and in the backseat he changed his clothes to put it on before we pulled out of the parking lot!

so, in the picture above, i had him get back out of the car & i took his picture by the camp sign which is why he’s in flip-flops instead of cleats!

first day of camp—

warm-up drills:

{dusty & i were totally the parents hiding in the bushes, trying to watch our little buddy at camp. no other parents were in sight!}

kj would come home from camp & take sela outside to play —
then i would catch him teaching her all the drills.

in the process i would hear, “no! sela… get your knees higher! kick your but like this…” — “watch me. this is how you shuffle…!”

***

during the week, the coaches would choose a “captain” for each following day. the captain was given a special wristband, and eye-patches to wear. kj was picked as captain on his second day. he had to arrive 30 minutes early the next morning to greet his teammates and then was a special leader all day.

husband and i were so impressed with the values that were applied all week. it wasn’t only baseball camp – it was similiar to kid-leadership-camp! each day the players would bring home reminders to be a strong team player at home, too. they were encouraged to help their moms wash their uniform each night, prepare their own lunches, to always be kind and honest. kj said that during lunch, the kids were given awards for having healthy lunches, so each day he asked me to NOT put any chips or treats in his lunch! {gasp!} and, we were so impressed with all the camp assistants – most of them were college grads who have a passion for baseball & were such good examples to these kids, all week.

***

during each week of camp, there is one day when they bus the kids to fenway for the day. they take a tour of the ballpark, have lunch, and meet one of the players. during this time, the camp directors email the parents a picture –

on his first week of camp we received this picture with the subject line: “hey mom! thanks for sending me to red sox baseball camp!” —

then after the week is over, we received a picture of kj in the mail with the player they had met.

week 1:

Clay Bucholz
kj said that clay told him, “hey dude! you have long hair just like mine!”

week 2:

Jed Lowrie

{…yes, we caved — kj came home from his first week of camp and BEGGED to go again – so, he went one more week in august. he’s already requesting to go every week next summer!!! new england-ers are crazy about kids camps, there are so many you can send your kids to out here! not sure i could send them away {in cabins} for 8 weeks like so many do. i would go nuts without my babies around all summer.}