Camp, Day 3

On Tuesday morning the counselors and other camp staff put on a skit. Pam, one of the directors, played the part of a patient coming to see the doctor for a routine check up. While she was there, several other patients came in, one at a time, each with a unique "illness" such as random convulsing or non-stop sneezing. I played the part of the receptionist and, as each patient would enter the "office", I would direct them to sit next to Pam where she would immediately "catch" whatever malady they had and they would be instantly well again. One by one the patients came in and by the time the last patient arrived, Pam was convulsing, sneezing, and knee jerking uncontrollably. When she realized the plight of the final patient, she ran screaming from the chapel . . . The last person in the office was expecting a baby at any moment. . .

After chapel, we spent about an hour and a half down at the water front. There were several boats and drivers waiting to take the kids on a thrill ride.

Our cabin group all went together, except Shelby, who stayed on shore.

View of the Lakeside Cabin from inside the boat:

The girls all had a fabulous time!!

Our driver gave us a great ride and we all made it, safe and sound, back to the shore.

The girls each had a turn on the other speed boat as well as the sail boat. It was definitely a morning well spent.

After our waterfront time, the directors decided everyone should have a little rest and relaxation before lunch. Here are my girls laying obediently in their bunks. . . :

This is our camp speaker, Jim. He just happened to be holding cheese when Karla stepped up to take his picture after lunch. . . You'll never guess what he's saying as she snapped the picture. . .

After lunch, we were back in the water for swim time:

Afternoon craft:

Elsie gave me a great milk-mustache smile at dinner:

Megan wore an orange on her finger. . ? . .

After chapel and recreation, this cabin full of busy girls slept really, really well. . .

Camp, Day 2

Routine is crucial to a counselor at camp because it keeps the kids busy and if something isn't going so well, there is always an end in sight. The schedule was the same everyday:

7:45 counselor meeting
8:15 breakfast
8:45 chapel
9:45 block 1 (challenge, boating, hike, slip n slide)
12:30 lunch
1:15 swimming
2:15 snack shack
2:30 free time
3:45 block 2 (crafts, etc)
4:45 block 3 (crafts, etc)
6:00 dinner
6:30 chapel
7:45 recreation
9:00 evening snack
9:15 cabin time
10:00 lights out

In order to have a little time to myself before the day started, I woke up every morning at 6 a.m. In my "normal" life, this is practically the middle of the night, but it helped me stay sane. I also have very little routine in my "normal" life and I almost never get to have a plan, so I enjoyed having a schedule to live by for a few days out of my crazy life.

I took close to 600 pictures during the week and, obviously, I can't post them all, but here are some of my favorites:

Every day in chapel we played "Heads or Tails". The object of the game was to be the last one standing after everyone else was eliminated. Jim, the camp speaker, would flip a coin and everyone would either put their hands on their heads for "heads" or on their rears for "tails". So, for example, if your hands were on your rear and the coin came up on heads, you were eliminated. It was an easy game and the kids all looked forward to it each day.



Gloria was the cabin hairdresser for all the girls:



Monday's block 1 was The Challenge up in the woods. I didn't want to leave out any pictures so I put them all in a slide show. This was one of my favorite activities for the week:

The girls in my cabin did a great job of mingling with the girls in other cabins and ended up making lots of new friends.

We hiked back up into the woods for our free time and took this picture after we all joined hands and "hugged" the Vanilla Tree:

The girls also had a chance to just play on the challenge course without actually being challenged:

Elsie was in charge of the camera for awhile and took some really nice pictures:

These are the rules that the girls came up with and posted on the door of our room:

Some rare shots of the Junior Highers:

More "Heads or Tails":

We went on a scavenger hunt for recreation with a list that included everything from a paper clip to a live frog:

On two of the nights, we enjoyed a campfire:

My girls couldn't resist helping with the silly songs:

Elsie and Megan:

Getting ready for bed:

This is the sign we made in crafts. The girls decided to call our group "The Nicknamers" and gave each of us a nickname.

We were all ready to fall into bed at the end of the first full day. . .

Camp Day 1

After our busy 4th of July week and a late, late tear down on Saturday night, we headed up to McCall for camp early Sunday morning. I volunteered to be a counselor at Kid's Camp a few months ago with a little prodding from Gloria since this will be her first year to go as a camper instead of just my helper. I regretted my decision more than once in the weeks leading up to camp . . . My own memories of camp always included a young, cool counselor who really knew how to have fun. . . I don't remember ever having some one's mom. . . I felt a little better when I met the other counselors and realized they were all moms, too, and we were each getting a junior counselor to help us. I've always loved camp and it was a huge part of my childhood, so I decided to make the best of it. The last several years I've tagged along as Zach has gone to camp but I've been in positions like "craft lady" or "music helper" or, like last year, "all-around-gopher". It was a LOT different being a counselor. In a good way.


The first day of camp is all about getting settled in and meeting everyone. Junior High camp shares the week with Kid's Camp, so registration can be tricky as all the campers excitedly arrive.

From my point of view, it all went pretty smoothly.

I ended up with five 4th and 5th grade girls and I have known 4 of them most of their lives.

Megan:

Karla:

Jordan:

Elsie:

And Gloria:

This is my young, cool junior counselor, Shelby. I couldn't have survived the week without her!:

The kids had quite a bit of free time before dinner, so Gloria made good use of it by playing a few intense games of shuffle ball. She beats me at this every time but this time she had a formidable opponent. . .

. . . and he was good, too:

I can't remember who won, but it may have been the most serious game of shuffle ball all week. . .

This is my group at dinner:

I tried to take a few pictures of Zach and his friends, who were all with the jr high group, but opportunities were few and far between. . .

After dinner was chapel with lots of fun action songs. Ellen always does a great job of involving everyone:

My girls always enjoyed this part although Jordon often told me it was too loud and gave her a headache. . .

After chapel each evening, we all went out to the field for recreation.

A little more free time before settling in for the night gave us a chance to hit the zip line. I love this picture of Gloria and Megan. They look so much older. . . and so serious. . .

Wheee. . .

By the end of the first day, I felt a little guilty for having such an easy group of girls. . .

. . . to be continued. . .