Camp: Week 1

"There's nothing like children to develop your character."

The first week of camp flew by with wings. Sometimes it felt like the minutes were dragging, but almost before I knew it the week was over and all seven of my little hazards had survived the week and I was waving goodbye to them as they packed up their things and left with their parents. With each one that left there was a little piece of sadness and a little piece of relief.

Being a counselor is hard work. At the same time it's rewarding work. Going from college sophomore to "mom" of seven was a shocker. I don't think any amount of orientation can really get you mentally prepared for all the challenges that come with being in charge of children. Especially seven of them from all different backgrounds, homes, and families.

My amazing friend and cabinmate Kelsey gave adventure campers the nickname of being "little hazards" and it's oh so true. My littlest "hazard" used up all my bandaids within three days. I felt so sorry for her always hurting herself, but she was a trooper and always kept her chin up despite her many scrapes and bruises.

OH! An example of hazards.....The Sabbath afternoon activity this year at camp has been an "End Times" scenario where you run and hide in the woods and have "soldiers" driving all around or chasing the group, the counselor is "kidnapped" and taken away for standing up for their belief in the Sabbath, and the whole thing takes about two hours. Well, lucky for me, I was kidnapped after the third station and headed back to the cool auditorium for some R&R while they finished the activity. About halfway through I see my girls in the lobby and wonder what's going on, but didn't worry because they were still with their leader. Later I get to the place where everyone meets after the program and everyone starts talking at once. No one cares that I survived the kidnapping...the top news was that two of my girls had passed out on the activity. Way to stop my heart. I guess they had overheated or something and one passed out, and within five minutes the other one passed out and a third one looked like she was ready to do the same. Later that night one of them kept running around excitedly saying...I can't believe I passed out! That's so awesome! I can't believe I passed out ....literally every 5-10 minutes. Every time she said it a little groan came from my heart. I now know why people that have kids age faster!

Getting Ready for the Little People

I can't believe it's been almost a full three weeks since I arrived here at Camp Au Sable. The first week I spent most of the day out at High Adventure getting training for certification. Soon all the counselors arrived for our orientation and the busyness began. We spent quite a few hours reading and talking about the ins and outs of being a counselor....I definitely felt like I was getting a crash course in parenting! There was time for fun too and on Saturday night all the counselors headed out to the Fort for a fun-filled evening. Marshmallow War with Capture the Flag sent mini marshmallows flying around the fort until everyone slowly ran out of..or ate their ammo.

Orientation week was full of icebreakers ranging from many games with golf balls to having to sit on a random strangers lap! Definitely not my favorite way to meet someone, but it's a quick way to get to know someone fast when you have to sit on them!

I am going to be a candle making teacher for two weeks so I spent a bit of learning about the art of candlemaking! I still have a lot to learn, but found some pretty cool ideas :)

Soon it was Agape Feast on Friday night, Communion, Church, Sabbath School, and the last bit of peace before the campers arrived on Sunday!

It has been an exciting time for sure! More about my very first campers to come soon :)