Home Again, Home Again

Home is a greeting of excitement as you walk in the door.
Home is lounging on the couch with huge pillows on your lap.
Home is evidence of water balloon fights decorating the yard.
Home is teasing and spontaneous poking.
Home is echos of laughter through the halls and off the walls.
Home is walking at the park and sitting on the porch with mom.
Home is an hour long nap... by mistake.
Home is war cries and dodging darts in each and every room.
Home is eating ice cream out of a flowery mug.
Home is relaxing with my family and enjoying their company.

I love being at home.  I love how silly my family is.
I love being home.

...did I say that already?

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...)

Say Whaa?

More quotes?!? Yes, there are more, due to the fact that I often forget some qhotes until after I publish the post... more soon I'm sure :)  Also included are some photos from this morning / afternoon!  Some silly close-ups and a "smiley" one too!

"I DID'TNT EVIN DET TO SWEEP YET!: —Tyler (very angry that he had spent the entirety of his quiet time messing around — he did, however, get a good 15 minutes before we had to wake him up)

Courtney: "Where's Clayton?"
Me: "In the bathroom"
Courtney: "What's he doing in there?"
Me: "What do you think?"
Courtney: *shy smile*
(Pause)
Courtney: "He goes to the bathroom like my daddy..." (What does that even MEAN?!?)

"Will you help me put on my sun cream?" —Makana  (sun screen)

Hope: "I read almost the whole Bible last night"
Kyle: "oh wow!" *exchange look of amusement with leaders*
Hope: "Yeah, before bed I read 6 whole pages!"

"I HAVE AN IDEA!  Katrina, you should say to Todd, 'You're pretty', and then, he'll look down at himself (*looks down at herself as though to admire herself*) and then you can run past him!!  —Abby (her plan for winning the boys v. girls round of Gold Rush)

"Oh, I win-did it" —Tyler (he won?)

Note from Jack::
Stacy and Katrina
Wanna play with me at our house?
That's it.
—Jack

Beach Party Safety

Our task last night? To throw a beach party.
Our tools? A single hula-hoop and an oar.
What to do... what to do?

First things first: test out the equipment!

And prep for strange situations... whatever they may be...

And of course, we can't just assume that the prizes will be good—we have to take them out for a test drive.  For safety purposes.  And after testing out the equipment, we decided that it was safe for the kids to participate in the games and win some prizes.

It's all for the kids :)

Playing Hard

Me: "You're now in jail"

Noah: "Okay... I just need a harmonica and I'm all set"

Mackenzie: "What animal am I? I'm brown and hairy..."

Devin: "A turtle!!" (???)

"Miss Katrina's playing hard to get" —Zachery

"I know how to play Gold Fish!" —Jared (one of our helpers)

"Didn't you notice my shoes?" —Marissa (she was quite insulted that I had forgotten to mention how much I liked them)

"Just so you know, I put some 'Degree' on" —Mariah (which explains the chunks of deodorant all over the changing room floor...)

Jack: "Where's your flower?"
Me: "Over there by the picture I'm coloring"
Jack: "Why isn't it in your hair?  Girls always wear flowers in their hair!"

"Hewre Twina, here'sth a fower for yo haiwr" —Tyler (sporting the new additions to my new hair accessories in the photo above—one from T-man and one from Jack)

And just so ya'll know, Tyler can say "slip'n'slide" perfectly!  I can't even begin to tell you how disappointed Stacy and I were.

Heat

You know it's hot when...

- You walk outside and your sunglasses (or camera lens!!!) fogs up due to the change in temperature
- The lake water is no longer refreshing
- The ice cream starts melting before you get it out of the freezer. (yes, I ate an ice cream sandwich w/ plate and fork yesterday)
- Socks and shoes are so uncomfortable that even the most decided flip-flop haters are wearing them
- Nobody complains about how cold the water in the fire-hose is
- Everyone would rather put up with itchy bug bites than put pants on in the evening
- The sand is so hot, a camper cries because they can't make it to the beach and we have to pull out the sprinkler
- The windows to "Home Base" are fogged up (the room that ADC starts/ends in)
- You're online during your morning prep-time in order to find a game to play that won't kill all of the kids because of heat exhaustion
- The wet hayride doesn't sound too bad anymore... even to the counselors!
- You wear 2 or 3 shirts a day because of all the sweating

But I'd rather it be hot than cold!

Under Attack

I am being hunted.

There is a deerfly that lies in wait for me outside.  As soon as I set foot outside the cabin door, I hear his wings beginning to warm up, and I grow uneasy.  By the time I'm outside the screen door on the porch, he's in full action.  I am constantly dodging barrel roll attacks and nose dives from the offending fly—though that is only the warm up.
I practically expect small explosives to be going off around me as I ward off these attacks with my wash cloth, though he seems to have skipped to biting.  Sometimes I even find him waiting for me outside of the Anex, where we hold the day camp.  Usually then I am largely defenseless as I speed-walk back to the cabin.

So rude.

Humbled

Oh these kids, always keeping me humble!  Brandon is famous for being quite frank and letting us know how well we look, or how well we do not look, but yesterday after church I was informed of my previous inabilities in the area of polish.
The conversation went something like this:

Girl: "You look familiar"
Me: "Do you recognize me from VBS last week?  I handed out your snack every day"
Girl: "Oh... that was you?"
Me: *nod*
Girl: "Oh, you look a lot better now!"
Me: *eyes wide, shaky smile*
Girl: "It's a good thing you put on make-up"
Me: *mouth open*
Girl: "... and deodorant"

Thank you little girl.  I'll have you know that I was usually more freshly showered, and deodorant-ed when you saw me in the morning for VBS than I was yesterday morning, but it was still good for a laugh ;)  And what can you do after something like that but laugh and share with others how embarrassing your life is?  So that's what I'm doing :)

Apparently the square-cut T-shirts aren't a good look for me?  Oh well, it's a good thing I'm not here to impress anyone!

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 :)

"I Tan Heer You"

Here are some of the more recent quotes from the delightful (though sometimes tiring) world of Adventure Day Camp:

"My sister puts the arm–pit–stuff on" —small girl in the VBS program

"I tan heer you" —Tyler (Heather and I were changing in the girl's changing room that is right next to the boy's.  We were talking about something funny that Tyler did earlier and he sternly informed us that he could "heer" what we were saying)

"If you see a crocodile, ask him what his name is and then do this: 'woo-woo-woo', and we'll be right over" —Jack  (on the hunt for Nile the Crocodile)

"You know, some guys get tossed into the lake for that" —Jack  (just moments after Todd told another kid that "campers have been thrown into the lake for less than that".  Way to go Superman)

"What are those dots on your face? (acne) Trina has those too!  What are those, Trina?" —Brandon

"Twina and Tacy" —Tyler ("Trina and Stacy")

Doubtless, more quotes will soon be appearing among my other musings.  Also being advertised is a picture of me and Superman, courtesy of Mommy (though, right after I got out of the lake might not have been the best timing... lol)

NEW ADDITIONS! (7/15/2011)

"Can you go blow your nose please?" (—Me after Isaac breathed in really hard and revealed his runny nose)
"No.  I'm taking it in!" —Isaac

"Thwisby" —Tyler (Frisbee)

"Are you ready to go play bowling?" —Stacy (we hang out with little kids too much... or maybe with Tyler too much ;) )

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!

Family Camping

Family camp is here!  Which is why I have had absolutely NO time to post anything, but there will be more soon :)
ADC starts again tomorrow, so this post is going to be extremely short so that I may go to bed at a semi-decent hour tonight.  I'm ready to see my kids again, but I'm also very ready for a break.  Like, I'm REALLY ready for a break!  Whipped out from the past few days of constant activity—but my routine will be back soon!  Yay!  Things are still a little mixed up because the room that we usually use for ADC is currently being used for a nursery / craft room for the VBS.  Talk about confusing!  Now we have to jump between hoops and try a different routine until Wednesday.  (Oh, and did I mention that Family Camp is Wednesday-to-Wednesday this year?  Well, it is, and it's kind of throwing everything off.)

I love family camp.  I really do! And I love the fact that I have been able to be with the other staff for a while, but I am stretched much thinner this time around.  NO time to check Email or do any planning or do anything other than run from one activity to the next.  This is my official apology to those whom I have neglected—I love you, I'm just too crazy right now!  Hopefully this weekend <3

The picture is from the Family Fun Fair that we have every year!  This time it was in the middle of the week and we had some of the youth pastors get into a dunk tank!  So funny—especially when Kevin started reading the newspaper as his youth group tried to hit the target and knock him in.  It was priceless fun!  I've missed him, so seeing him and his wife Melanie again added some extra fun to the week.

I've also had more time to spend with the dashing Superman, which always adds some fun to my life—thankfully my bosses are wonderful, and scheduled us to work some of the same activities together this week.  Yay!

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!

Zip Line!

Guess who got to ride the ZIP LINE!!!
*points to self*
This girl.
(Evan too, but it wasn't his first time...)

Yes, I finally got a chance to ride the zip line—and I also got some training on how to put people on the contraption.  Safely, of course.

It was a lot of fun—there was screaming and such from my side, and I wasn't uber excited by the height when I first got up there, but it was a blast!

No pictures of my actual ride—I wasn't about to bring my camera with me (and it probably wouldn't have been allowed), but I'll be adding some pics I took of the (senior teen) campers going down soon.

Yay zip line!


 .