Well. I did not get enough sleep this week, which is mostly my fault, but hey, I can sleep when camp’s over. The week itself was challenging, with 13 campers, and some of them very clingy, taking attention that I wanted to give to less-noticed campers.
A huge challenge this week was dealing with a big problem with two fifth grade girls, who had been doing and saying things that 10-12 year olds should NEVER be saying or doing. One of the girls, the one who was most involved, was my girl for the whole summer and it crushed me to find that she’d been doing this while under my care and supervision! It’s impossible to see everything a kid does, let alone listen to every one of their conversations with other kids. It’s a difficult age, 5th and 6th grade, their tweenagers, just starting to have all the teen stuff, but before their ready for it, they’re all still kids!
The camp activities were good, had lots and lots of shaving cream-centred things, like the shaving-cream wars, where about 60 kids and counsellors ran around a carpark chucking and spraying shaving cream and water balloons at each other! I had my makeup done with washable texta (marker) by an adorable, shy camper one afternoon, and looked like a drag queen/peacock for that day and the next. My girls had a talent show one day, and they were great! Great singers, awesome dancers, hilarious people. Three of them were judges including one with a ‘permanent stink face’ (according to Josh), who was Simon Cowell, and it was just great!
Speaking of talent shows, the staff had ‘Sonshine Night Live’ on Saturday, and I choreographed and did a dance with a fellow dancer, Decontee, who is AMAZING!!! It was such a release, we only had 3 quick rehearsals to choreograph and learn it, but those short hours I just forgot my cares and worries and got lost in the dance, like I do, and that was such a precious gift in amongst the craziness of camp. We danced to the Glee version of ‘Without You,’ and it was just great! So many people said they enjoyed it, but there were also a lot of other great, great acts! Awesome songs, funny hosts, deep spoken word poetry and just a lot of talent. Afterwards, we went and got IHOP, which sells deadly-awesome hot-chocolates with whipped cream on top.
We had our last overnighter this week, and went to King’s Dominion (trust me, theme parks are not as fun with 28 kids in tow), which had hectic antiseptic roller coasters, including the Intimidator, which has such a sheer drop and is so fast that you literally black out on it! There was a drop-tower that was 27 stories high; I was genuinely flipping terrified, an 11 year old girl was trying to calm me down, and I was sooooo scared! But I did it, and it was awesome.
Went to a small, young family church, today, with a beautiful message that encompassed the while bible and gospel and everything and all of it and it was just great! Then, the HA counsellors went to our head counsellor and friend Josh’s mum’s house. His mum cooked us spaghetti bolognaise and carrot muffins with cream cheese icing and it was just utterly lovely to sit and talk and eat home-cooked food together. We listened to Josh’s talented younger brother play his piano and played with his adorable little dog. I think it made us all a bit homesick, but it was so nice!
We had our final state-side backyard church service, and then went to the ‘Silver Diner,’ an American diner with jukeboxes at every table! This week has been good, and it’s exciting but also heart-breaking that we’re now going into the last week of camp!
bowerbirdgk 