Kids' Church Camp Fun

Joy and I had a great time at kids' church camp this past week! It WAS tiring, but really FUN. The church services were great! The speaker was a fabulous annointed ventriloquist. She was so talented....The kids had a lengthy discussion on where the voice for "Ralph" (the dog) came from...she was THAT good! One little girl, Sydney, told the kids, you know she's a therapist. (well you know ventriloquist...therapist....they do sound a little alike!)

The kids were fun AND funny (interesting and entertaining)! We had 18 girls in our cabin...plus 3 counselors including myself. The girls were great! They ranged in age from 6 years old to 10 years old.

In the picture below from left to right on the back row - Sydney, Bryanah, Joy, Haley, & Mandy. Sitting is Eryn and on the floor is Katie Beth (Joy's close friend from church):



Circle of friends:



Girl talk on the bunks: (Left to right - Sydney, Eryn, Katie, Joy & Hannah)



And all 18 girls: (my lens cover on my husband's camera was stuck on a few of these pictures...thus the dark spots on the corners)



We had a whole day pretty much devoted to water activities..Our Aquatopia Day! There were giant water slides....the blue monster....water guns, water syringes, water buckets....if water could go in it...they pretty much had it! The counselors decided pretty early on that day that we were much wiser and better off getting wet by way of volunteering on our own for water slide fun. If the kids saw us WILLINGLY getting wet, we were less likely to be targets of their water mischief! I don't think there was one dry person on the campgrounds that day and we all had our share of sunburns too! One of our girls went to sleep on her beach towel in the middle of all this madness. We had to cover her up to keep her from getting so burned! I wished I had taken a picture of that (too much water around to have a camera then!)

We were also treated to a fireworks show over the lake on the last evening.

The food was even good...except did YOU know that they don't give you forks at breakfast...not allowed....?? Have you ever tried eating french toast with a plastic spoon?

Joy claimed a bed that was on one side of the cabin and I was on the opposite end. When it came time for "lights out", Joy decided she didn't like that arrangement very much and guess where she ended up? Yep...in the bed with me...this very small bed...with me...every night.



At least it WAS against the wall which gave us a little more room to move. Thankfully, I don't really think either of us moved much...we were so worn out every evening!

I did have to keep my eye on one particular boy that followed by daughter around the campgrounds though! He spotted her the very first day on the swing and asked, "Don't I know you?" He was a gentleman though because when I asked if I could take their picture, he said, "If it's okay with her." I guess she had been making it a little clear that she was getting tired of him following her around, knowing Joy. He was really sweet and cute though. (But try telling daddy that!)

Joy & Jared



When it came time to go home, I was definitely ready. I was tired and ready to get home to Jason and Colt. Joy and the other girls all made friends and it was hard for them to leave each other. This is a picture of a little girl named Bryanah that Joy met and made friends with...saying their goodbyes.




And...as the saying goes...there truly is NO PLACE LIKE HOME! Although Joy would disagree and it was fun, I am glad church camp only comes around once a year. I love MY home, MY bed and MY shower (even if it isn't always as clean as I would like). And I especially love having all my family together under one roof...at home (all my eggs in the nest I say). But Joy and I just made memories at our first week of kids camp. I'm certain there will be plenty more to come...she just asked, "Mom, you WILL GO WITH ME every year, won't you...I don't think I can go without you?" And I think you know my answer.

And this says it all about a week at camp...Thursday evening when we got home: