“OLS” apparently stands for outdoor living skills. Chloe is learning some of these skills now that she started a new day camp in the middle of nowhere. OK – not quite the middle of nowhere – since we live in the middle of everywhere, but just enough isolation for Chloe to be able to swim in a lake, go canoeing and learn how to avoid bears when camping (isn’t that what OLS are all about?).

She was excited because it turns out that one of her little friends from preschool two years ago is in her group. So they had a reunion of sorts today. Chloe didn’t love the boating because she had trouble paddling and was embarrassed by her inability to go anywhere – she’s a great little diver and swimmer, but as I’ve mentioned before, her coordination skills lag behind some of her other talents.

The kids’ OLS activity today was a nature walk, which Chloe loved. She heard that they might also learn how to make a fire – and she could barely contain her excitement when she told us about that. I better hide the matches before she starts to experiment…She came home fairly filthy (we had been warned), but happy. We’ll see how long her enthusiasm for communing with nature lasts.