The Nod Makerie at Camp Wandawega

The weekend began with our soon to be friends arriving two-by-two. Upon arrival everyone made a good old-fashioned camp name tag, got a sleeping bag and was shown to their room (tent or camper) by yours truly to settle in. After a couple of hours of exploring, the chow bell was wrung and we all headed over to the Underground Food Collective food truck for some delicious tacos. Day one came to a close with camp fire songs from Little Miss Ann and a massive bonfire, complete with s’mores and bread on a stick. And off to bed!

Day two we were awoken by a rousing round of Revelry blasted through the PA. Breakfast was the yummiest homemade sausage and skillet potatoes, served off the food truck of course! We all ate up and got right to crafting. The crafts were put on by four of my favorite people in the world – Michelle Romo, Ashley Goldberg, Dee Clements, and Michelle Jewell. These are four of Nod’s amazing artists and everyone at camp got to make with them over the next two days, dream come true. Stay tuned for more on each individual workshop.

Me and my cutest, Everett, got to weave first with Dee. It turns out Everett is more an art director than artist. So, he left me with very clear instructions and went off to hunt for frogs. I wove two awesome potholders out of recycled t-shirts. Next we headed over to Michelle Romo’s paper camp world. Everett decides to customize every element of the pre-cut project and when I say customize I mean – he decides I will do it. At least this time around he stayed and kept me company.

After crafting we all head down to the lake for some canoeing and swimming. I think mainly only the kids swam, but us grown-ups were put in charge of canoe rowing, which we did to varying degrees of success. Happily no one capsized and we did find some snails and a toad – so, fun was had by all.

After swimming we all got together and took a big group photo and headed inside to get ready for dinner. We had a really special dinner Saturday night, of course fed by our friends from the food truck. Everyone lingered around the tables and we all just laughed and enjoyed each other and the beautiful weather. It was really magical. Once it got dark enough it was time for “Honey I Shrunk the Kids” under the stars. And I even snuck in a midnight boat trip with a friend, perfect day at camp.

Our third and final day again began with Revelry and a delicious donut breakfast. On this morning we were all business, because our time was short. So, we quickly made our way to our last workshop. Mine and Everett’s was stuffed animal making with Michelle Jewell of Finklestein. Of course, we could not follow the pattern provided by Michelle – we made a big black wolf, rather than a medium sized white or brown bear, but he’s pretty awesome and has become a favorite at our house.

We had a final lunch, with campfire songs by one of our little guests and then we said our good-byes. We were all so sad to leave. We had all become friends in just 2 ½ short days and we were already missing each other and Camp Wandawega. It was truly the most magical weekend, and I will always be thankful for it. Thank you to David and Tereasa for so graciously hosting us at Camp Wandawega, to Ali from The Makerie for creating such a warm, comfortable weekend, to all of our lovely artists for being there and teaching us, and to everyone at Nod who worked so hard to make the weekend so special.