Camp Ree-Ree

I never went to camp when I was growing up.  But I began liking the idea of camp ever since the first time I saw The Parent Trap (the 1961 Disney version).  How cool would it be to stay in a cabin with your friends, going swimming and canoeing, marching in formation while whistling, having food fights, and even finding your long lost twin sister?!

Credit: Walt Disney

While I don't have a long lost twin sister, I do have a sister almost two decades my junior.  I remember her arrival fondly...I was on my senior trip to Disney World, and got a phone call from my dad as I stood outside Cinderella's Castle with my friend Kristy.  "You have a little sister!  She just got here!"  And then a bird relieved itself on Kristy's head.  It was memorable on two counts.

So doesn't it make perfect sense that now, after all these years, I should host my own camp with my very own sister?  I may or may not have had visions of myself wearing knee-high socks and sporting a whistle around my neck.   Just like the camp director in Parent Trap!  But, no....I played it cool.

"Camp Ree-Ree" was a hit!  We did almost everything this city has to offer a pair of generation-gapped sisters.  Six Flags, Grant's Farm, the zoo, The Muny, Ted Drew's...the works!  We also watched a lot of Harry Potter and she introduced me to Billy the Exterminator...

Credit: aetv.com

Yeah, he's a bit of a strange bird.  But he doesn't kill his catches, which is nice.  Unless they are giant alligators.

It was great having Little Sis here.  She is much cooler than I ever was at ten years old.  She even skateboards!  At one point, she was skateboarding in the living room and I asked if she wanted some music on.  She said she'd like to listen to some heavy metal.  I said, "I have some of that."  Her response: "But you're quiet...And you go to the library.  Why do you have heavy metal music?"  I think I definitely racked up some cool points there.  Good thing I purchased that Big Hair cd in high school...

Cooking Tacos

Child labor with Bil (Bil = "Brother In Law")

Skateboarding in the middle of the street

Petting sting rays at the zoo

We even made matching camp shirts!

My only regret is that Little Sis and I did not do this routine together: 

So, was Camp Ree-Ree a 2012 edition of The Parent Trap?  No.  It was better.  Move over, Hayley Mills!