Away at Camp...

Why the lack of posts?

I've been away at camp. In a creation of my own making, I've been working nearly nonstop lately. I still have my normal job as a reporter, but I'm working in the mornings at a Nature Center helping lead camps. I still spend several weekends at the Landing. And, I'm still on board to teach online this fall which will require a greater amount of work since someone deleted my previous class. So, it's been hectic.

But about camp. I am helper-girl number one for Queen Pauline, who gives morning and afternoon camps nearly every week during the summer. Every camp is different, but most have some sort of nature element since it does happen at a Nature Center. I did this a few times last year and had fun, so when the other helper-girl cancelled, I said I would fill in for the remaining three weeks.

The picture above is from Fairy Camp, attended by 8-11 year old girls. I didn't know Tinkerbell had her own entourage with fairies who have special powers, but I do now. I made a fairy dust pink paper mache toadstool for a mailbox so the girls could write questions for the fairies. We went on nature walks to look for the fairy's animal friends plus we made several girly fairy crafts. Even though this was girly fairy camp and pink, ribbons, and curls ran rampant, the first question I was asked was 'Do Dolphins poop?' To which another girl yelled, "Everything poops." Then they all started...."Trees don't poop!" "Headbands don't poop!" "But puppies do!" So, we established the bowel movements of the forest in the first ten minutes.

Survivor camp this week brought together 8-12 year-old boys and girls for fierce competitions. Some kids come back to this camp every year and compete in a variety of challenges for the title of "Ultimate Survivor." They do relay races, play Native American games, put together puzzles, hunt toads, stand on one foot, throw dice... there's no predictabilty to the games and with a mix of skill and chance, there's no predicting who will win.

My best kid-moment here came while on a nature walk. The kid was sad because he was thinking about his dog that died a few years ago. One thought led to another until I was actively listening to a recap of important events and influences over his 10-year-old life. He told me about living in Ireland, and his baby sister being born over there. "Really?" I asked. "That means she's Irish!" "Yes," he said. "She's American too. She has dwarf citizenship." (instead of dual citizenship)

Maybe she would have fit in at fairy camp.