Photo Frenzy!

Alright! Here are some photos from the past 2 weeks—I have been very bad about taking photos lately, but I'm hoping to make up for that shortly...

 Little Courtney before her turn at the carpet ball table—we all played this for a while.  I've never quite fallen for the game, but for some reason the boys absolutely LOVE it, and some of my campers have in the past as well.  I can do it for a while, but then I always tend to move on...

 Emily and Alyssa!  Both only here for this week, though Alyssa is trying to come back another day.  They were good buddies and had a lot of fun at the beach :)

 Noah.  Well, our ham hasn't changed a bit—still as goofy as ever :)

 Last week Abby was picked to stand up front with Jerry and hold a sign for one of the songs! She did a great job :)

 We were also visited by the "Animal Man", who showed us how God provides for the animals by giving them special protection.  Marissa loved the snake—Tyler, was less than thrilled.

I personally loved the Chinchilla (spelling??) the best—it was SO precious!  Super soft, all of the kids liked this one, even the youngest ones :)
"It's so fluffy I'm gonna die!" (if you haven't seen this movie, you're missing out...)

Notes From Jack

Dear Jared & Katrina,


If you don't want me in Adventure Day Camp anymore that's fine, but if you do, tell me.  What? You changed your mind? Ugh! I'm gonna kick you out of camp and take you to jail.


Love, Jack

Jared and I got this note from the character above.  Life is definitely never boring around here! Haha, and this one had us laughing for quite a while, and it still tickles a little as I read it again.

Love you too Jack :)

Napping Again

*Insert sigh of relief*


Back to a somewhat normal summer routine for us!  We still have VBS in the morning, which makes our day both easier and harder.  I did not know that was possible before now, but let me tell you: it is!  Stacy and I are still running around trying to help everything run smoothly during the VBS itself, and now we have our own kids to keep a second eye on.  But it's still good, just mixed around some—swim time is in the afternoon instead of the morning, for example.

We only have 4 kids right now.  It's so strange!  1 left during lunch because she had plans with her mom, and just after lunch 2 more left because Bre has a case of pink eye (prayer welcome on this!), so her mom came and took both her and her brother home.  Never a dull moment!  But I'm glad to be back with my kids again—to be in our little room (sorta), and to be headed towards something closer to what we have been doing.  It was nice to have a break and to be with the other staff members more, but I do like what I am doing now.

A definite plus side to the 'normal' routine is that nap time is back! Yay-yay-yay!  So now I have some time set aside for me to start posting again :)  Here are some pictures from the Family Fun Fair on Saturday.  It was a blast and all of the kids really seemed to enjoy themselves.

And of course I had to snag one of Superman and Red Brother (even if it is a bad picture technically / artistically speaking)  Sometimes I worry about how well they get along... last Wednesday my fears were realized when Superman helped my family soak me with a handy squirt gun.
Multiple times.
*sigh* I guess I should be used to it by now ;)

I think it's time for MY nap now, hopefully another post tomorrow!

Buddy Check!

You might not be aware of this, but buddy checks during swim time are serious things around here.
You can only be 'buddies' if you are best friends, and a refusal to be someone's buddy is the highest insult you can produce!
Here are two of my favorite 'buddies'!  Tyler and Brandon are buddies each day, though they ask to be buddies each morning.  Sometimes, it doesn't go over as well as you would think.  Earlier this week, Brandon came to me in pathetic little tears to tell me that he didn't have a buddy, and that Tyler didn't want to talk to him.
Broke my heart!
Of course by the time 10 o'clock rolled around, the two were buddies again as though nothing had happened!  Too cute :)
As buddies, they have to grab the other's hand and hold it in the air in an "A" shape until we finish counting the groups.  We do this to make sure that we have all of the kids and none of them have drowned. (true story) Here's their buddy-stance for Thursday.  Slightly modified during an extra long buddy-check period.

Yes, they were dancing.

Yes, they provided their own music!

Shortly after, Brandon begged to be buried in the sand—which we did, maybe 3 times?  That was good for a few more laughs, he's so giggly that it was super hard to burry him!

It was a fun morning at the beach—despite the fact that Ashley found a sandy little hand print on the bottom of my shorts... that was embarrassing, but that's as high as most of them can reach...  :/ Hopefully we'll find another solution soon!

"Knac"

Oh, kids say the best things!  When you take the time to enjoy them, it's really entertaining to hear all the things they say—and what they actually say, not just what they mean (though that's important too)!

"Do you remember when you used to call me Brandon?" — Brandon
"Can I have a knac?" —Tyler ("snack".  I had no idea what he was talking about!  When I finally got it, Stacy and I laughed for a good 5 minutes)
"Your 'rudolph' isn't brown anymore!"  —Brandon (Poor Stacy scrapped her nose last week.  Brandon noticed that it is healing nicely)
"I'm gonna twickle you!" —Micah
"Bel-bow" —Ben ("elbow")

"Those Poopers!" —Tyler and Brandon (they call the geese 'poopers' because, well, they poop everywhere!)

"Why dows it tay 'no tish watching'? —Tyler (why does it say 'no dish washing')
"I'm trying to get a sun burn!!" —Tyler (he was laying on a beach towel and we told him it looked like he was getting a sun tan—Rose came by and asked what he was doing and this was his response)


ps. photo of me taken by the lovely Emily before I got to ride the ZIP LINE for the first time!

Smile. I Dare You.

It’s just been one of those days.

There are tons of people at the campground—which is fine, really, it’s only a sneak peak into what Family Camp will be shortly—but the level of rude that people can reach has surprised me today.

Maybe I’m more sensitive to it today?  I don’t know.  But I was struck by how impatient everyone was in the bathroom this morning—so short tempered and offended that the paper-towel dispenser that they were banging on had quit working, so angry that they had forgotten their soap, and appalled at the sight of a handicap shower.

You might not have known this, but people who are physically handicapped don’t shower.  Yeah, it was news to me too.  Needless to day, it wasn't too much fun getting ready this morning... especially in my staff shirt.

It didn’t stop there.  At 9:00 and we only had about 9 kids.  Awesome!  A super manageable size, but we can still do a lot of fun things!  And then 9:45 rolled around, and in the middle of our morning routine, 6 kids walked in.  Oh, and I forgot to mention: drop off time ends at 9.  Coming in 45 minutes late, and ‘mom’ was not too thrilled with me.  Apparently we charge too much?   Sorry, I don't set the prices...?

Ugh, but despite that, it's been a pretty fun day. The campers are great and not to blame for their crazy parents or the strange visitors in the bathroom.  It's super hot outside, (FINALLY!) and some fun activities at the horse ranch planned for this afternoon.  Should be great :)

Go-Go-Go!

So, yesterday we had 18 kids.
Yes. 18.
Remember when we were worried that we would get any campers? Well, that feeling has long since passed.  Today we have 22 kids, most are around the ages of 6 and 8.
It's been a blast, but it can completely wear us out.  On top of that, I'm still recovering from the cold I had this past weekend—which has left a cough and a runny nose to keep me company :(  Hopefully I'll have pictures to post soon!

I'm taking pictures for the senior teen campers this week too, so I've been plenty busy in the evenings!  I want to be involved in the over night camps, but that leaves little rest time for me after a full day with the day campers.  And most of my quiet time is spent trying to sort through the pictures and edit those that I do have... which I have been behind in lately... oops!  But it's worth it—I've also had a chance to see some of my girls from last year! And that was super exciting :]

But now I'm tired. Hopefully more later, but with only a few minutes left in quiet time, I need some rest!

Adventure Day Camp—Week 2

Look at these silly boys!  We had a blast with them (though still dealing with some bad attitude issues from the little man in the hat...).  But we love the hay rides!  Hopefully we'll have more kids on the next one though, because without the weight to hold it down, this one became VERY bumpy!

 And how can you not fall in love with this face?  Isn't he darling? :)  Unfortunately he got sick yesterday and had to go home early.  And I'm blaming him for my current state.

More time at the beach this week! They made some epic sand castles—the one above had the largest 'moat' of them all!  It was pretty intense, and she was very proud :)

 And my lovely co-workers :)  I love getting to spend time with them every day.

Tag games! 

Chalk and Nikie Names

Our theme this week is "Growth".  So we went outside yesterday (during the few moments that it wasn't raining) and drew things that grow on the sidewalk!

Hoping to incorporate some home-made sidewalk paint within the next few weeks, but we'll see how that goes.  Anywho, here are some photos that I snapped during that time.

Also to share: some newly acquired nick names! Compliments of Head Lifeguard (Nikie)

For the 3 leaders of the Adventure day camps:

Becca — Boss Lady

Stacy — The Teacher

Katrina — Mother Dearest

Theme Verse: 2 Peter 3:18, "But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ"

Relays Gone Rogue

While planning our schedule last week, we were informed that the beloved 'swim time' was not going to be available for Monday.  Not that we're really attached to the 10am swim routine, but we were informed that we couldn't go on the water at all on Monday—not morning or afternoon, for either swimming or boats.
Not okay!
The campers love being in the water, and as a campground, that's one of the biggest perks that we have to offer to them—not to mention, it's pretty easy on us to just play around in the water, or to sit on the beach and keep an eye on them.
But we planned some water relay games to do instead.  We figured that they would still be getting wet that way, and it could be fun—right?  I think the Becca and Stacy joined me in being a little unsure about the activity.  Not that it wouldn't be any fun, but that it wouldn't quite measure up to the fun of the beach and sand.  And did I mention that it was overcast and gross outside?  Cuz it was overcast and gross outside.

But oh! We had an absolute BLAST!  We started out with the relays, and though we had about 6 planned, we only did the first 3 and a water ballon toss before ambushing them with water balloons and sponges filled with water. It was the most fun I have had in a while!  Dripping wet and screaming, we ran around the field, dodged between picnic tables, and tried to get everyone else as wet as we were!  SO much better than the lake!

I don't have any pictures of the fight, because I was quite busy getting my campers wet and trying not to get hit by another bucket of cold water—but I will add some photos of my war wounds soon.  While giving a hug to a dry friend (who dumped a bucket of water on me!), we tripped and fell on the cement.  We weren't hurt very badly, but I've got a few scrapes to show off now  :)

Oh, how I love counseling!

Quotation Marks

m Oh, how I love working with kids—they say the best things! haha
Here are some of my favorites from week 1 and 2, hopefully more to come :)

Week 1
"Rubbish" — Adam
"I'm allergic to girls" —Jack
"We used the other-different-kind-of-baby-turtle-food" —Brandon
"It's not the 'Amazing Race', it's the 'Handsome Race for all Super Heros and Princesses'" —Jack
"We hugged for longer than 7 seconds, that means it was a real hug" —Allison (which explains the death-grip around my neck...)
"You dot to be tidding me" —Tyler ('you've got to be kidding me')
"Baa" —Ben ('bye', said like he's from the deep south)

Week 2
"Why can't you talk right?" (Brandon to Tyler, who doesn't say his 's's)
"Are diamonds poisonous?" —Tyler
"I'm dur-ty, I nee a dink" —Tyler (no, not 'dirty', but 'thirsty')
"Is this for fake?" —Brandon
"I'm going to wear my cow girl clothes every Thursday..." —Lindsay
"Reach for the sky" —Jack


There were so many more, but my lack of preparation caused me to slide on the whole "write it down so you remember" thing, so this is all I have right now

"Rubbish"

Well, yesterday was Day 4 and we had 4 campers.
Today we have officially reached the esteemed Day 5 and were joined by 5 campers!
This has been great so far God, but don't get too carried away now...
But it's been great—we're working with our own schedule, so the great thing is that we can spend more time on what they love (or need, like nap time), or we can spend less time on something that they don't have as much fun with (or we don't have enough people for...).  And in the end, it's just really neat to be in this position!  I could live without the 6am wake up, but the quiet time in the morning is kinda nice.


T-man—shown in the bottom picture with the shell he found—is learning to say "please" and "thank you" this week.  He's getting pretty good at it :)

Our most loyal camper's favorite word is "rubbish".  Everything is either "rubbish", or "better than that other rubbish".  Haha, it's pretty funny.  And we're breaking through to him—he was refusing to admit that he was having fun (responded to everything with "eh" when not using "rubbish"), but yesterday we caught him saying "yay" about our next activity! hahaha, victory is sweet!  He also started reading the Bible we gave him‚ which is really exciting!  Praying that it continues :)

Our theme this week is "Treasure", with the theme verse being Matthew 6:21 — "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also".  So we have spent plenty of time finding God's treasure—both in nature and with the people that we meet—and we are seeking after His treasure by treating His creation well.

The other counselors are finally back—I'm so glad!  Even though we don't get to see them very much, it's nice to know that they are there, and to at least see them at dinner again.

Three for Three

Today started off rather slow—but a slow pace that I needed.  The majority of the drop off time was spent without any kids, though towards the end I started to fear that we wouldn't have any!
Day 3 brings 3 kids (if this pattern continues, we shall soon be too full to function!).
And despite the cold, we have been able to have some fun today.  We built sand castles on the beach and played some on the playground before roasting hot dogs over a fire for our "fun" lunch of the week.
We're currently enjoying some down time—though it is becoming clear that the personal quiet time (PQT) is more for the counselors than the kids.  Oh well, we'll stick with the theory that it's good for them! haha

One of the funniest things of today happened right when we got to the beach.  Head Lifeguard proudly displayed all 700 layers of long sleeved shirts, her pants and her hat and informed us that she was still cold.  Once we got onto the beach, the oldest boy, Adam, requested to take the swim test that would allow him to swim in the "shark" zone (deeper water).  He hasn't been interested the past few days, but he really wanted to this time.

Nikie looked at him in stunned disbelief.  In order to give him the test, she would have to go into the water herself—something she had no desire (or intention) of doing.  The rest of us busted up laughing while poor Adam was entirely lost and Head Lifeguard sputtered her refusal.

It was super funny

Camp Surprises

Well, it's been a crazy few days.  I don't even know where to begin.  As of Saturday (i.e. day before I move in / day of brother's party), I was switched to a slightly different position at camp.  Instead of being the traditional counselor, I am now co-directing the new program: the all summer day camp.

Oye.

So now my responsibilities have doubled as I not only have to care for the children, their needs and interests while they are here, but I am also coming up with lesson plans, creating a schedule for each day, back up plans in case of rain or other set backs (more on that soon), communicating our plans and needs to the other staff members, themes for each week, and take home material for the parents (thankfully with the help of 2 other people—soon to be reduced however...).  Needless to say, it's been a rather prayer-full last few days.

Very dependent on God.

Very experimental.

Very on our toes.

Very tired.

We came up with the majority of this week's schedule on Sunday night—it was the first time that all 3 of us had a chance to get together with our bosses and talk over our plans (and fill me in on what was going on!).  We expected about 4 kids the first day—not bad, we could start off easy and get into the grove of things.  Small, but totally do-able.

Monday morning came—pick up time is from 7-9, and by 7:30 we had our first child!  Yay!  Filled with excitement, some nerves and anticipation, we eagerly awaited the other children.

All of whom didn't show up.

Oye.

So we had a very different kind of day, but it went well overall.  We were able to delight in him and get used to our new schedule.

Today we doubled our number of campers: A grand total of two.

More fun, but now getting kinda discouraged...  but it will get better when more of the schools are out—we are expecting quite a few more in two weeks if not before then.

Only expecting two again tomorrow, and rain.  Well, pray for some creativity this week as we strive to show them how fun camp is despite some limitations :)

(oh, and I'm leading the lesson / "story time" tomorrow—extra prayer towards that would be much appreciated.  Pre-planned teaching isn't exactly a talent that I have really worked towards...)