My trip was pretty cool. Yes there were ups and downs but I got through it. First of all before I get ahead of myself let me tell you about last week. Last week was one of the best week I have had in a long time. I had a group of boys.
The boys were energetic, funny, going, and wanted to do all the fun things! We had a blast this week from canoeing, caving, fishing(seeing a snake that I think was dead), camping out, having a mild heart attack, getting thrown into the pool about 5 times, doing evening program, and other crazy things.
To explain the heart attack: We were camping out and a boy decided to walk back to the cabin by himself. Didn't notice he was gone until another counselor brought him back. That is when I had the heart attack. And then later on when I thought he left again by himself but he was only outside the tee-pee.
Also getting thrown in the pool is pretty natural around here. Especially with the staff around. Campers love to "push" us counselors in. We also like to push other counselor/staff in.
Cheyenne, WY Trip:
We left Sunday the 19 of July. We stopped in Lincoln, NE to eat at King Kong's and the campers loved eating there! They loved seeing minature King Kong's.I will also say, it was good to be back in my HOME state!! Then we went to Grand Island and spent the night. The next day we went to my parent's house to eat lunch. My mom was great! She made roast, mashed potatoes, corn, green beans, rolls, salad, homemade ice-cream, brownies and drinks (Tea & Lemonade). My dad was really great too. They opened our house to the campers. The campers couldn't stop talking about eating at my parent's house.
Then after we ate we went to Cheyenne, WY for Frontier Days. That night we went to the PBR and ate at the fair. The next day, Tuesday, we went to the parade, went to the Old West Museum, and Cheyenne Frontier Rodeo. I loved going there! The campers went shopping and if they had the money they probably could of bought out the WHOLE Frontier Days.
Wednesday we went to an air show with the Thunderbirds. It was pretty cool. Then we went to Chris and Ann Delay's grandparents' house. They feed use GOOD. We ate brats, huge carrots, rolls, onions, and desserts. The campers loved that too.
That night we stayed in North Platte, NE and then left Thursday morning to head back to camp. We arrived at camp about 8:30 pm/ct. Friday the campers left around noon. I really liked going to Cheyenne.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Sunday, July 12, 2009
What has been going on ...
Okay last time I wrote on here I was depressed. Well I was just feeling down and lonely. Tons of things have happened since then. First of all I thought I would tell you we are on our 8th week of camp. That week starts on Sunday. It is another Youth Week. I am so excited. I am with boys! I am happy about that. They only thing I am scared of is that they are teenage boys. I know I can handle it but I am just scared because it is teenage boys and their hormones change all the time. My weeks of campers have been great.
My first week of camp was Adult week. I had a great week of ladies. Our name was the "Giggling Gals". They giggled all the time. One would laugh and then another would laugh. Yes they were older but they had great personality. I really bonded with one of my campers. Her name was Tammy. She couldn't really communicate as well as the others but she loved eating apples. It was funny, we were told that her security was holding an apple. So the first night we gave her an apple and the next morning it was gone. We thought she just throw the apple and we would find it. During rest hour I gave her another apple because she wanted her security. During half way through the rest hour I checked on her and she ATE the WHOLE apple. I am not kidding about eating the WHOLE apple. She ate the core and stem too! After that my group decided to not give her an apple during rest hour or time for bed! The other ladies were great. Dorothy, Vivian, and Deb was great too. Vivian was our first blind camper. She was cute and slow! She couldn't really communicate but loved to say "Eat" "Eat"! It was funny. Deb and Dorothy just laughed. Deb loved listening to music and yelling "Big Money". I miss all of my gals. I also worked with two other counselors, Laura aka Skaggs and Sarah P aka Phillips. These two ladies were great to work with. I did butt heads with one of them but that happens off and on.
My second week of camp was another Adult week. This time I had younger ladies. They were all in their 20's. That week we talked about Hannah Montana, hot guys, and the color pink. My mom would love to be there and listen to me talk about different colors of pink. Just for your information, I really do NOT like the color pink. But for my campers I didn't dislike pink for them. We danced, did outdoor spa, did arts and craft. I worked with Caitlin. She is a great counselor and she did great with them. Especially when I was sick. I could not work one day due to being sick and running a fever. i hated that day. I also felt bad and sad. I cried and slept most of the day. At least the next day I felt a little bit better. One of my campers loved to steal food. She was on a restricted diet, so she really couldn't have so much to eat. Anyways, the first time she took food was at supper time. One camper was done eating and didn't want her dessert. She put her tray in the middle of the table. I didn't think of anything wrong with her doing that. Then suddenly the camper who loves food took her dessert of her tray and ate it. She started laughing after she ate. She also tried to hide the evidence. It was hilarious! She did that all the time. She even took a counselor's sandwich from her without us noticing until she started laughing!
Also thinking about working with people, I worked with a gal from Imperial, NE. Her and I grow up kinda with each other. We both knew of each other. She did some 4-H things but was mainly in show choir and drama. It was weird that we had to basically travel about 11 hours away and see each other.
My third week of campers were Youth week. This was one of my favorite weeks! I worked with some good counselors. Our group also had a GREAT volunteer. His whole youth group and some other church members came up and volunteered for a week. They were all so great! My campers were teenage boys. I was excited for them but nervous at the same time. We had one boy who was about 7 ft tall. I will say I am not that short but standing next to him I felt short and nervous. He was a big ol' teddy bear. The only thing that was bad was when he ran and gave you a hug he would lean his whole body into you. Another camper loved to grab you by the neck. He loved our volunteer and me. He had some really great moments. Our other two campers were pretty chilled and relax.
My fourth week of campers were Just for You campers. That is a week were campers can come for one on one attention. For that week I was scared. My camper was great. I think I could of been a little better at making him move from one place to another but he was a great guy. That was my very stressful week. I learned a lot about the counselors that I was working with. Some of it was okay and the other was GREAT! My camper was pretty good.
The fifth week of campers were suppose to be MDA meaning Muscular Dystrophy week but MDA canceled their camps nationwide due to Swine Flu. MDA is an association for Muscular Dystrophy. They put on camps all over the United States. And here at camp they have it here for a week. It is suppose to be the funniest week here. Then it got canceled. I was really bummed. Instead that week turned out to be "Working Week". It was okay but I wish we had campers instead.
The sixth week we had Youth week. This time I had teenage girls. The week was good. They were all independent and it really didn't feel like I was doing my job. I just basically kept them in line. We did have a fun time! We went out to Prim my first time! Prim is a two day camping experience. We made dirt candles, sleep in tents, did outdoor cooking, went swimming, did outdoor spa, and pulled off a prank. It was a fun time. The counselor that I was with was pretty amazing.
My seventh week of camp was Visually Impaired week. This was my favorite week so far. One of the reasons is because one of my campers was Deaf/Blind. I was so excited. My group was older gentleman. They were all so relaxed. We really didn't do that much activities but we sure had a lot of fun! I have a lot of quotes now from my group last week. One of campers said a very true statement. He was climbing the playpen and told us, "My feet belong on the ground." Another quote from a camper was "I'm bashful." This coming from a man who is tall and older and doesn't look like he could get bashful! We asked him if he would like to sing for karaoke. He responded that he was bashful. Another camper started singing a song he made up with loving egg salad to the tune of "If your happy and you know it."
This week is Youth week again. I have teenage boys for campers. I am excited. This summer I have accomplished a lot of things. I can now drive the bus and I can now watch the pool. I am officially a lifeguard. I did the swimming and the written test. It took a lot of work but I accomplished it. I just had my midseason review and they think I am doing a good job. So I know that I will still be working here for a year. In two weeks I go on my first travel camp. I get to go with campers to Cheyenne, WY for Frontier Days. I am looking forward to that. My parents are going to come up and see me. Also thinking about parents coming up, my mom is going to volunteer for a weekend in August. So August 7-9 my mom will be working at camp for a respite weekend. I am really looking forward to that. I can't wait to show her the ropes. Then on August 14th-23rd I get a week vacation and I am coming back home to see people. I am just a little bummed that fair ends that week. Oh well.
Nothing else is really going on. I am just working and having fun with my friends here at camp.
My first week of camp was Adult week. I had a great week of ladies. Our name was the "Giggling Gals". They giggled all the time. One would laugh and then another would laugh. Yes they were older but they had great personality. I really bonded with one of my campers. Her name was Tammy. She couldn't really communicate as well as the others but she loved eating apples. It was funny, we were told that her security was holding an apple. So the first night we gave her an apple and the next morning it was gone. We thought she just throw the apple and we would find it. During rest hour I gave her another apple because she wanted her security. During half way through the rest hour I checked on her and she ATE the WHOLE apple. I am not kidding about eating the WHOLE apple. She ate the core and stem too! After that my group decided to not give her an apple during rest hour or time for bed! The other ladies were great. Dorothy, Vivian, and Deb was great too. Vivian was our first blind camper. She was cute and slow! She couldn't really communicate but loved to say "Eat" "Eat"! It was funny. Deb and Dorothy just laughed. Deb loved listening to music and yelling "Big Money". I miss all of my gals. I also worked with two other counselors, Laura aka Skaggs and Sarah P aka Phillips. These two ladies were great to work with. I did butt heads with one of them but that happens off and on.
My second week of camp was another Adult week. This time I had younger ladies. They were all in their 20's. That week we talked about Hannah Montana, hot guys, and the color pink. My mom would love to be there and listen to me talk about different colors of pink. Just for your information, I really do NOT like the color pink. But for my campers I didn't dislike pink for them. We danced, did outdoor spa, did arts and craft. I worked with Caitlin. She is a great counselor and she did great with them. Especially when I was sick. I could not work one day due to being sick and running a fever. i hated that day. I also felt bad and sad. I cried and slept most of the day. At least the next day I felt a little bit better. One of my campers loved to steal food. She was on a restricted diet, so she really couldn't have so much to eat. Anyways, the first time she took food was at supper time. One camper was done eating and didn't want her dessert. She put her tray in the middle of the table. I didn't think of anything wrong with her doing that. Then suddenly the camper who loves food took her dessert of her tray and ate it. She started laughing after she ate. She also tried to hide the evidence. It was hilarious! She did that all the time. She even took a counselor's sandwich from her without us noticing until she started laughing!
Also thinking about working with people, I worked with a gal from Imperial, NE. Her and I grow up kinda with each other. We both knew of each other. She did some 4-H things but was mainly in show choir and drama. It was weird that we had to basically travel about 11 hours away and see each other.
My third week of campers were Youth week. This was one of my favorite weeks! I worked with some good counselors. Our group also had a GREAT volunteer. His whole youth group and some other church members came up and volunteered for a week. They were all so great! My campers were teenage boys. I was excited for them but nervous at the same time. We had one boy who was about 7 ft tall. I will say I am not that short but standing next to him I felt short and nervous. He was a big ol' teddy bear. The only thing that was bad was when he ran and gave you a hug he would lean his whole body into you. Another camper loved to grab you by the neck. He loved our volunteer and me. He had some really great moments. Our other two campers were pretty chilled and relax.
My fourth week of campers were Just for You campers. That is a week were campers can come for one on one attention. For that week I was scared. My camper was great. I think I could of been a little better at making him move from one place to another but he was a great guy. That was my very stressful week. I learned a lot about the counselors that I was working with. Some of it was okay and the other was GREAT! My camper was pretty good.
The fifth week of campers were suppose to be MDA meaning Muscular Dystrophy week but MDA canceled their camps nationwide due to Swine Flu. MDA is an association for Muscular Dystrophy. They put on camps all over the United States. And here at camp they have it here for a week. It is suppose to be the funniest week here. Then it got canceled. I was really bummed. Instead that week turned out to be "Working Week". It was okay but I wish we had campers instead.
The sixth week we had Youth week. This time I had teenage girls. The week was good. They were all independent and it really didn't feel like I was doing my job. I just basically kept them in line. We did have a fun time! We went out to Prim my first time! Prim is a two day camping experience. We made dirt candles, sleep in tents, did outdoor cooking, went swimming, did outdoor spa, and pulled off a prank. It was a fun time. The counselor that I was with was pretty amazing.
My seventh week of camp was Visually Impaired week. This was my favorite week so far. One of the reasons is because one of my campers was Deaf/Blind. I was so excited. My group was older gentleman. They were all so relaxed. We really didn't do that much activities but we sure had a lot of fun! I have a lot of quotes now from my group last week. One of campers said a very true statement. He was climbing the playpen and told us, "My feet belong on the ground." Another quote from a camper was "I'm bashful." This coming from a man who is tall and older and doesn't look like he could get bashful! We asked him if he would like to sing for karaoke. He responded that he was bashful. Another camper started singing a song he made up with loving egg salad to the tune of "If your happy and you know it."
This week is Youth week again. I have teenage boys for campers. I am excited. This summer I have accomplished a lot of things. I can now drive the bus and I can now watch the pool. I am officially a lifeguard. I did the swimming and the written test. It took a lot of work but I accomplished it. I just had my midseason review and they think I am doing a good job. So I know that I will still be working here for a year. In two weeks I go on my first travel camp. I get to go with campers to Cheyenne, WY for Frontier Days. I am looking forward to that. My parents are going to come up and see me. Also thinking about parents coming up, my mom is going to volunteer for a weekend in August. So August 7-9 my mom will be working at camp for a respite weekend. I am really looking forward to that. I can't wait to show her the ropes. Then on August 14th-23rd I get a week vacation and I am coming back home to see people. I am just a little bummed that fair ends that week. Oh well.
Nothing else is really going on. I am just working and having fun with my friends here at camp.
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