Ann Martin - Mary Anne And Camp

Mal?

She answered the question just then by saying, "Sleep late? The Pike family motto is 'Get up now.’"

And of course, we all knew that Jessi was up at 5:29, every single day, summer or winter, to practice at the barre.

"What's the plan, then?" asked Logan.

Mal and I exchanged glances. I said, "Go for it, Kristy."

Kristy took a deep breath. "Camp BSC," she said. "A day camp for our clients. We can hold it at Dawn and Mary Anne's. We've done stuff like that there before. Their yard is big. And on rainy days we can move into the barn."

"Outstanding idea," said Logan.

Shannon nodded. "I like it."

Dawn leaned forward. "Mary Anne and I

talked to Richard and Mom and they've agreed. But since they both work, they want us to have at least one adult nearby on call. We thought Mrs. Prezzioso and Mrs. Braddock might agree to it, since they live nearby and since they are home during the day."

"Good thinking," said Kristy. "Let's call them."

I flipped through our record book and read their phone numbers out and Kristy made the phone calls. Both Mrs. Braddock and Mrs. Prezzioso not only said yes, but they thought it was a terrific idea, and Mrs. Braddock signed Matt and Haley Braddock up "full-time" on the spot.

After that, everything just seemed to fall into place. We agreed that camp would run from ninea.m. to five-thirtyp.m. so parents could drop their kids off on the way to work and pick them up afterward. We also decided kids (and their parents) could choose a half-day or a full-day program.

"Let's see, we'll need supplies, the usual camp supplies," said Kristy.

Claudia said, "Art supplies: paint, paper, crayons, glue, glitter, clay ..."

"Games, sports stuff," said Logan immediately, beginning a list of his own.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" said Dawn. "We'll make a list. Then we'll estimate how much

everything we want is going to cost and see how that stacks up next to how much money we have in the treasury."

"How much money do we have?" asked Kristy.

"We're doing pretty well," Dawn said. "But we can't buy everything."

"Refreshments," said Claud. "Snacks for morning and afternoon. The kids should bring their own lunches, but we can have fruit juice and milk for them to drink."

"We can buy some of that stuff as we need it. After the parents pay the fees for our camp, we can buy refreshments out of the fees," Shannon pointed out.

Mal said, "The important thing is having everything set up so it goes smoothly the first day. If the kids have fun the first day, then if something goes wrong after that, they are less likely to notice."

"First impressions are important," Kristy said seriously.

My hand was flying across the page as I wrote. We kept firing ideas around the room, stopping only when the phone rang. Claudia agreed to make fliers that we could give or mail to our clients as soon as possible. We discussed field trips and activities and menus.

And then Kristy said, "Circus! Circuses!"

As you know by now, Kristy is full of ideas.

So when she leaps into the middle of a conversation with these random words and sentences, we don't automatically assume she's crazy. Instead we wait. Because we suspect that she's having one of her Ideas.

She was. "A circus," Kristy explained. 'That should be the theme of Camp BSC. It can be part of the activities, see? Making costumes, athletic activities, decorations, props… and then at the end of the camp we can give a

circus."

"Excellent!" exclaimed Claudia. She'd loved circuses when she was little and once had had a circus birthday party. It hadn't turned out quite the way she'd expected, but clearly it hadn't made her dislike circuses.

"Lions and tigers and bears, oh my," Shannon quoted from the movie The Wizard of Oz.

"Karen and her friends went to a circus camp once. That's where I got the idea." Kristy said modestly. Karen is her younger stepsister, Karen Brewer. "They loved it, so they should love this, too."

The phone rang one last time. Kristy took the call and we scheduled one more appointment.

Then Kristy looked at her watch. "This meeting of the BSC is officially adjourned," she said.

But we didn't leave right away. Claudia

said, "Can we have candy apples? I love candy apples. Are they hard to make?"

Dawn said, "Candy apples? Do you know what that does to your teeth?" But she was smiling.

"Cotton candy," said Mal dreamily. "Even with braces, I know I could handle cotton candy."

"I want to be a ringmaster," Kristy said. She grinned good-naturedly when we all started laughing.

Just then there was a knock on the door.

"Hey, come on in," Claudia said.

It was her sister Janine. "I believe you should know that Kristy's brother is here."

"Ohmigosh!" Kristy leaped to her feet. "Thanks, Janine. The meeting really is adjourned."

"Wait for me!" Shannon said. She was getting a ride home with Kristy.

Kristy and Shannon raced out the door. The rest of us followed a little more slowly. I confess, I was feeling pretty excited about Camp BSC.

And I knew, with the club involved, it was going to be one super circus camp. Lions, tigers, bears, and all.

Chapter 4.

School was out. Just like that. And I hardly noticed it. I mean, I was glad that taking tests and having to get up at the same time every morning and all of that was officially over for the summer.

But with Camp BSC starting the following Monday, I was almost too busy to take it in.

Ever since our brainstorming session, we'd been working pretty hard getting everything organized. Twenty-two children had signed up for the camp. They were Kristy's stepbrother Andrew Brewer, Alicia Gianelli, and Jamie Newton, all four years old. The oldest were Vanessa Pike, Haley Braddock, and Linny Papadakis, who are nine. In between were Mal's sibs Nicky, Margo, and Claire; Kristy's stepsister Karen Brewer, and her best friends Hannie Papadakis and Nancy Dawes (all seven); the twins Marilyn and Carolyn Arnold (eight); Matt Braddock (seven); Jessi's sister Becca; Charlotte Johanssen (eight); Kristy's brother David Michael (seven); Bobby Gianelli (seven); Ricky Torres (seven); Natalie Springer (seven); and Chris Lamar (seven).

Whew.

More about our BSC campers: Ten of our campers attend Stoneybrook Elementary School: the Pikes, the Arnolds, Haley, Becca, Charlotte, and David Michael. Eight of them attend Stoneybrook Academy: Karen, the Papadakises, Nancy, Bobby, Ricky, Natalie, and Chris. And eight of them had gone to a circus camp before! Karen, the Papadakises, Nancy, Ricky, Natalie, Chris, and Bobby (who'd gone to a different circus camp from the other seven).

So maybe a circus camp wasn't a totally original idea, but we all loved it, especially Claudia. She kept calling our barn the "Big Top" and suggesting that I train Tigger for. the "Lions and Tigers Act."

But goofing aside, Claudia had designed these super tie-dye shirts for us to wear. We hadn't told the kids about the circus idea yet, though. We decided to wait until they'd settled in the first day and then announce it.

By Sunday night, we'd done all we could do. The only big question remaining was the weather. Would it rain?

It didn't. I woke up extra early and opened