2nd Grade Camp

I'm sure a lot of Americans are familiar with 6th grade camp. Basically for one week (Monday through Friday) you go with multiple 6th grade classes to a camp. You sleep and eat there and do various activities throughout the week. If you decide not to go, that doesn't mean you get a week off of school. Usually you have to stay behind and go to school with the 5 graders for a week.

I myself am a graduate of 6th grade camp and think it was my first time away from my parents.
Thus I was a little surprised when Alex came home with a letter explaining that his 2nd grade class would be going to camp for half a week. Much like 6th grade camp, they would be spending the night, eating all of their meals there and doing activities with another 2nd grade class in a neighboring village. On the last night, there was even going to be a dance! If they didn't go, they had to stay behind at school with the 1st graders.

Maybe it's because Alex is my first, or maybe it's just me, but I felt like Alex was way too young for all of the above. Luckily for Alex, Pete was on his side and thought it would be lots of fun. We ended up compromising and he went all day until dinnertime and then we would pick him up. In the mornings after breakfast we would drop him off again to spend the day with his schoolmates.

He was a little nervous the first day, but by the time I picked him up he was not happy to be the only kid going home. He spent time playing ping pong, reading, playing soccer (in the mud) and even constructed a fort out of wood. Below you can see pictures of the building they stayed in and the surrounding grounds. For Alex, it was another reason why Switzerland is awesome.