Positivity & Looking Forward to Something

After the craziness of Friday, it was a breath of fresh air to get a large piece of mail yesterday, from The Painted Turtle.  If you dont recall, Mailyna went away to camp last year at The Painted Turtle in SoCal last summer.  It was her very first time that she was away, without family.  Heres a little bit about the program:

"The Painted Turtle is a year-round nonprofit camp for children with serious medical conditions and a member of the Association of Hole in the Wall Camps. All campers and their families attend camp free of charge. http://www.thepaintedturtle.org/
Company Overview

The Painted Turtle is a nonprofit year-round camp for children with serious medical conditions and a member of the Association of Hole in the Wall Camps. All families and campers attend camp programs free of charge.
Mission 

The Painted Turtle seeks to reach beyond illness, to inspire children with serious medical conditions to become their greater selves. Our mission is to provide a year-round life-changing environment for these children and their families-- one that allows children to participate in an authentic camp experience by supporting their medical needs and offers their families care, education, and respite."

I know I mentioned the camp in a previous post (here) & I am more than thrilled that they invited us to apply again this year!  The timing of us receiving the application was perfect.  I know that Mailyna was feeling super run down because of Friday & this completely lifted her spirits at the thought of attending camp again!  I gave her the "we'll see" since we actually have to apply for the camp since its a free program.

It's absolutely amazing what the camp does for the children.  Each session is broken up by illness & Mailyna came home with stories, memories & new friends from those 5 days at Lake Hughes.  She was afraid to meet new friends, but did seem to take comfort in knowing that they were all "like her".  Honestly, its a blessing that there are programs out there that reach out to children & families with illnesses.  Sure, Mailyna has gone camping countless times, but going to a camp is so different.  Thankfully the time frame is a lot more accommodating this year.  Last year, I remember it was a pain getting here there on a Thursday morning & picking up on a Tuesday... So I was excited to see that it starts on a Monday & ends on the weekend!  Its not like its a quick drop off up the street, Lake Hughes is a 5 hour drive away!  As my sister, the drive was craaaazy!  Here's to another SoCal trip... Disneyland for the 5th time in 2 years maybe?

xo, Mailyna's Mama