Let's Climb a Mountain

Yesterday was good. I know I keep saying that, and it is true every time, but yesterday was exceptionally good. It was the last day for our first group of campers, so it was sad to see them go. Luckily, while we were cleaning up the kitchen we ran outside to say goodbye one last time, just before they got onto the buses.

After that, we were done, and were on break for 24 hours. What does one do with a 24 hour break? Lots of things, possibly. But we wanted to make the most of our 24 hours this weekend. We headed into town first to eat and stop at Walmart. Then we made our way back to camp, and went on a hike. But this wasn't any ordinary hike, it was a hike up the Mountain next to camp. Yup, we hiked a mountain yesterday, Me and my friends Ali and Zac. Don't worry, we were thoroughly prepared. We had lots of water, food, and sunscreen as well as a radio that someone back at camp had on incase we needed help.

Now, if you're from the area and you saw pictures of the mountain we climbed, you probably wouldn't be too impressed, since it's not the largest mountain around, but it's still pretty big, and it took us over 5 and a half hours to climb up and down it. And a lot of the reason it took so long was because we didn't hike on a trail, but instead made our own. We literally just walked across the road and began climbing. There were a lot of bushes and large rocks that stood in our way, but we somehow managed to get round them (or crawl through or over them). We mad it to the top in about 2 1/2 hours, but it took 3 to get down, since it was getting dark and we wanted to be safe. And we made it, without any major complications. We look like we've been attacked by cats from all the scratches we got from the bushes, but no broken arms or legs (thankfully!)

But all that hiking was definitely worth it. We got to see California from a BEAUTIFUL view, that our pictures can't do justice. Here are some shots from the hike:

Starfish

Today was a ball of many different emotions, all good of course.

It was the last full day of camp for these kids and we've all grown to know and love each other. The kids really opened up these last two days and it's impacted us all more than they realize. 

Tonight we had a talent show and campfire. At campfire we all got popsicle sticks and went around, said our favorite part of the week, and tossed the stick in to the fire. It was a great time to hear all the campers speak about how much they loved the week, what they learned, and how they all grew closer to each other. They refer to each other as one big family and they're glad they have each other. It was a very emotional night for a lot of them too, which is typical for the last night at camp. 

It was also emotional because of two things that were done after campfire. First, "Oh, the places you'll go" was read to the campers. It's a Dr. Seuss book about the journey of life and it really spoke to a lot of the kids here. Then Stew (the camp leader) told a story about starfish that goes something like this: 

"A young girl was walking along a beach upon which thousands of starfish had been washed up during a terrible storm. When she came to each starfish, she would pick it up, and throw it back into the ocean. People watched her with amusement.

 

She had been doing this for some time when a man approached her and said, “Little girl, why are you doing this? Look at this beach! You can’t save all these starfish. You can’t begin to make a difference!”

 

The girl seemed crushed, suddenly deflated. But after a few moments, she bent down, picked up another starfish, and hurled it as far as she could into the ocean. Then she looked up at the man and replied,

 

“Well, I made a difference to that one!”"

It was another good reminder that everything we do really does make a difference, even if it seems little. We all got starfish beads, which are now tied onto all our name necklaces to remind ourselves of the difference we're making.

Big Day

Today was a very good day.

Since I work in the kitchen it's hard to feel like you're getting to really know the campers since you don't spend as much time with them, but today I realize I've made a bigger impact on them than I thought I originally had. There are a couple of girls I got to sit down and chat with for awhile, and it seems like I've known them for years, but it's only been a few days. I love that they can come up to be and chat like we're best friends. Plus, tonight was Casino night at Camp Ronald, so we spent the night playing cards and dice and it was another good change to get to sit down and chat with the kids.

Today was also fun in the kitchen, since the week has progressed, our work load has slowed down since we aren't preparing for the week, but it'll pick up soon when we really get ready for next week. I got to sit down and learn how to put in a food order online through Sysco today, so now I know how to order more food if I need to.

And once again, I had a great time at our staff meeting tonight. We have one every night and we're often all really tired, but when we sit down and talk about our day we always laugh a lot and I'm reminded again why I love camp and how I can't take this for granted. I'm thankful for my team this summer, a LOT. We like to laugh a lot, and everyone's really funny, so that makes my job more enjoyable.

Today was also just another reminder of why camp is so important to campers. There's a lot of campers here this week dealing with a lot back home and for them to come to camp means the world to them. They get a lot out of these weeks here and I've been so blessed to get to work with these campers this week, they really are near and dear to my heart and I'll definitely miss them, but I'm glad to see who else will be coming in the weeks ahead.

June 12th 2013

I kept debating on whether or not to post anything about yesterday. It felt like just another day, but then I remember how significant each day is to the campers here. So what may feel like just another day at camp to me, really still means the world to these children. It's something I have to keep remembering.

As far as what I did, it really as a lot of what I"ve done before. I helped with lunch and cooked dinner: Asian stir fry, rice, and egg rolls. The hardest part of yesterday was trying to work on our food order for next week. It's hardest for me because I don't know exactly how much we need and how many come in each box, so I had to keep asking questions, but we're getting through it. Thankfully yesterday was a slower day inthe kitchen, so we weren't as rushed as Tuesday night, which was pretty hectic.

We ended the night with a campfire and night hike, where the kids were lead out on our hiking path where they were involved in a fairy tale adventure of the Great Captain Jack who was on an adventure in search for Princess Pat. They enjoyed everyone being dressed up and in character.

At our staff meeting we got to hear more funny stories of how the campers loved the hike, and I was reminded why I love my job so much. The kids really take to heart everything we do, and brining joy to them is what makes my job so special (:

Tuesday

This will just be a quick update, but an update nonetheless:

Today was good, I guess I don't have a lot to say about it. We have internet again, and all things seem to be up and running.

OH! Yesterday I forgot to mention, It has hailed for the last two days in a row. And I guess that's not very common, either. It's just so weird to see balls of ice coming out of the sky in the middle of June, but I guess that's the weather for ya. Their first time they were small, but the second time they were probably about the size of a dime to a nickel, so still small, but not really.

Everything else seems to be going well too. I'm getting used to working all afternoon to make dinner by (basically) myself and it's been a good time to learn more about quantity foods.

My high light of today was getting to pet our camp dogs with one of the little girls here. Normally this wouldn't be a big deal, but it is in this case because the first day of camp this was the girl that was TERRIFIED of the dogs and didn't want anything to do with them. But tonight she really opened up and sat down and petted the dogs for awhile with me and the director. Pretty neat to see.

June 10th

Yesterday the internet was out. We were told we wouldn't have internet for two or three days. Fortunately this morning on my break, when I checked, the internet was down. Here's my post that was supposed to be up yesterday:

"Today was good, overall. Very long, very busy, very eye opening. I got up just before breakfast and headed over to the flag pole to sing morning songs with the campers before eating breakfast. After breakfast, I got to sit in on one of the counseling sessions for some of the girls here. It was a good way to get to know some of the girls and hear their stories. To see their real feeling and not just the happy smiles they put on each day.

Starting at eleven I started working in the kitchen for the day and didn’t’ get done till about seven thirty. I got to help put away the first big Sysco order that we got in.

The afternoon was spent prepping dinner. We made homemade breaded chicken tenders, cheesy broccoli, and three seed bread with butter and honey, all of which I made by myself (100 servings worth). Plus I also prepared other kitchen supplies such as beverages and salad bar materials, so today was definitely productive.

After dinner we played KNOCKOUT with the campers. We were split into teams by cabin and played a ton of relay games. We ended the night with a campfire, some skits, and a few songs."

FIRST DAY OF CAMP!

FIRST DAY OF CAMP!

Yes, today was officially the first day of camp! The buses full of campers rolled in about 2:30 this afternoon and it hasn’t slowed down since. I got to cook dinner for the group tonight, and survived, so I’d call that a success. Similar to Sky Lodge, the first day of camp is shirt day at camp, and this year the staff T-shirts are my favorite color: red. And this weekend we got our lanyards with our keys, sunscreen lip balm, and CPR mask. So, we are all official. This first week I have the third shift on our rotating schedule, so I don’t officially start work until eleven o’clock. But we still have to be up at eight each morning to help lead songs at the flag pole, so I’ll still have to

get up semi-early.

Today work was pretty typical as far as the kitchen goes. As I said before, I made dinner, and we prepped more food for tomorrow. Fortunately for us, we have a really good and hard working team, so we got done early this afternoon and weren’t stressed out the entire time. I’m looking forward to working with my team this summer, we all get along so far and I’m excited to see how our friendships continue to grow.

One of the biggest differences between working on staff at Sky Lodge and working on staff at Camp Ronald, is that at Camp Ronald we have staff meetings every night, whereas the Sky Lodge staff meetings are only once a week. It will be interesting to see if we get sick of staff meetings as the summer goes on, but so far everyone seems to enjoy them. It’s a time for us to each go around and describe how our day was, what happened, and what we have to look forward to tomorrow. So with that, I’ll see you tomorrow!

Dressed in our staff shirts, and ready to GO!!!