If you have any photos you'd like to add to this, please send them my way! :o)
Saturday, November 11
Thursday, August 3
GREATEST DAY OF THE SUMMER!!!
So it turns out that today was in fact the greatest day of the summer at Camp Wa-Nik-Ska-Ka .... IT WAS SURVIVOR DAY! I love how it's always a surprise until we get there too ... and it was a million times better than last year (and last year was awesome!) ....
Anyway, first, WE WON! Biggest adrenaline rush ever! EAST SIDE PRIDE! We won it all ... I'll get more to that later, but a big hand to our allies (remember Dave, circle of life), the Red team of West!!! WOOT WOOT! Big second place....anyway ....
So we get to camp this morning and their doing morning announcements as usual and then they put the Survivor music on and all the counselors who knew what was going on went absolutely nuts and everyone else just looked confused.
We got split into four groups (north, south, east, west) ... our group was East represented by yellow. And we had an amazing group! THe campers were solid, and the counselor list was like a dream. I dont think I could have picked out a better group if I tried. It was Shane, Brandon, Carley, Katie, Teresa, Tristan, Aaron and myself ... and it was once again, amazing!
Anyway, I'll go activity by activity as experienced by my tribe.
Totem Pole Trivia: Great idea, but too hard to do with like 50 campers ...especially with not enough time. And you'd think since my Dad helped carve the totem pole (as did Red team's Sherrie Rhode's Dad) their be an advantage there. And yet both Sherrie and i were quite frustrated as we remember our fathers talking about each question listed, but couldnt remember exactly what the answer was. Nonetheless we must have retained something as the Red team took first and we took second.
Group Banner: #1 rule, counselors couldn't touch the banner at all. This also included a presentation of the banner to the group. We went with a Spongebob thing singing a spongebob tune with new lyrics and a banner that sports East outlined in gold glitter, yellow outline, sand at the bottom, a spongebob in the middle next to an oversized totem pole. It was amazing overall and we ended up placing first for that challenge! We led off the day by winning this (trivia winners werent announced till the end), so it was awesome to start off on a winning foot.
Pool Time: No challenge here. Although, last night I left my suit/towel on the deck to dry and forgot about them ... so they got rained on and I had no suit/towel to bring to the pool today. Nonetheless, it was a productive day as we formed an alliance with the West siders (red team) that proved amazingly fruitful at the end. It was also a rock solid alliance. Oddly enough it was formed at first purely for dodgeball in order to eliminate the team with Mike, Walter and David Lammers ...
Lunch time: This was supposed to be a silent lunch. And it worked-ish ... turned out to be really hard to judge. Especially because some judges were harder than others (i.e. Amy tallying like 8 times when the wind blew a few items that couldnt be stopped and "we could have stopped them" or something ridiculous like that, haha) ... also we arrived five minutes earlier than the next closest tribe (green), which means thats like 5 min more time for tallies ... among other things. All in all even if it had counted the lunch wouldn't have affected first place (we beat red by 7 and the scoring for each event was 8 for first, 6 for 2nd, 4 for 4rd and 2 for 4th) ... but it was good to scrap that event as it turned out to be way too problematic. All in all, it was like communism it looked like an amazing idea on paper but in the end it bombed out in a big way ...
Relay Race: This was a fun event! Although A) We got our butts kicked and B) it needs to be tweaked for next year, i.e. make it longer and incorporate more things with all the campers and counselors involved .... we got third, but pretty much singlehandedly because Shane was a track star who went so fast if u blinked u missed him and because of Brandon and his amazing canoeing skills. We started off decent, we left the first station in third and then in the third station our tennis girl couldnt serve it apparently so we got waaaay behind. The first place team was arriving at the 6th station when ours was just leaving the 3rd. True story. All in all, we did come back, as I said to place third because the campers leap frogged their butts off, Shane beat the wind to the lake and Brandon skillfully made the canoeing portion look like a calm walk in the park. At this point in the afternoon we hadnt heard about the trivia or lunch, so we went from leading with 8 pts after tha banners to being in second with 12 to Green's 14.
Team Dodgeball: This worked and didnt. It was a lot of fun. The alliance hung firm, except for a few wayward West kids who threw at us (knocking one of our best players out int he process). To which Sherrie, amidst a very apologetic conversational tone said, "We cant help it if our campers are just gnerally unintelligent!!" Green was the first to go (that was huge), followed by Blue. Then red make quick work of us, finishing first. However getting second and having green get last put us in first with 18, and green and red tied for second with 16. It was a tight ball game to say the least. However, to go back to the dodgeball, I still think it would have been better to play team 1 vs. team 2, team 3 vs. team 4 and then counselors of the winning teams play for first/second and then third/fourth. Not gonna lie, no counselors in team dodgeball was a huge let down and I think an oversight. I understand not playing with the kids, but a cousnelor only game for points should have happened ... anyway ... it was fun nonetheless.
"Suprise Challenge": Our initial choice for this "surprise" was Carley. However, minutes before hand our team observed cool whip in the kitchen and being hte detectives thy were took a gamble on it being a food challenge or something crazy at least and went with cousnelor Aaron. An excellent choice. The Animal (as I shall now refer to him) obliterated his competition in the whip cream pie eating contest (eat as much as u can in 2 minutes) Admittedly it was a close call with Jordan of the green team. However, seeing as how Jordan didnt touch the crust and pushed all of his whip cream out of the pie with his face in th ebeginning, forcing him to spread it around the table he tried to go for it, I think ti was clearly the Animal winning (we did end up getting 1st).
Break Time: Campers watched a Making of Survivors special while the counselors got a half hour off. In this half hour I disclosed to Katie R that I had Narcolepsy to which she made a comment like, "Jim, do yo uknow how exciting this is?!?" Clearly she meant it was cool for her to know someone with Narcolepsy or something ... I get a similar response a lot ... but we all got a big chuckle from her remark which seemed to imply how exciting it was for me to have a disability. Haha .... anyway, then came the big moment ...
THE TORCH CEREMONY: This was nerve-wracking. Blue got last (no surprise, good try gys). And then surprisingly green got third (by a point!). Scottie wavered between red and yellow forever, before putting out the red flame (meaning they got second). Our group erupted.It was such an adrenaline rush!! And as stated by Trisitn who was so giddy, its weird because were so happy and we all feel like we realy won something, like an international olympics someting or other. Anyway, I tried to stay as low key as possible. I felt like too much hoopla and chanting was bad sportsmanship and like we were rubbing it in everyones face. I felt like we did taht a little bit and then stopped. And then after we were dismissed Shane and I led the group for a victory jog to the totem pole, everyone touched/rubbed it and we chanted something about the East side. It was amazing! I think a victory jog and rub of the totem should happene every year for the winning team!
Anyway, it was like the greates day of the summer ... for the next year we are the reigning Survivor champions and all I gotta say is ... WHICH SIDE IT THE BEST SIDE?!? ... EAST SIDE!!!
Sunday, July 30
Cockroaches, Mailmen, & Dilly Bars - Oh My!
(I actually wrote this last Monday, I just didn't post it on here.)
...
While I have the basement to myself, it's time for:
Sherrie's Short Stories
Story #1: "When I Grow Up"
Perhaps just to prove correct the theory that little girls think about marriage from pretty much the day there are born, Shelby (a Monday camper) informs everyone at Check-Out that she knows who she's going to marry. After many giggles, the girls around her decipher that the future (and much unsuspecting) groom's name is Nick. Upon disclosing this piece of news, said camper (Shelby) proceeds to ask if anyone else knows who they are going to marry. Around this point, I lost interest and began talking to some other campers at the adjoining table. However, soon after, India (the camper across from me) informs me that she's knows who she's going to marry when she grows up.
"Oh really."
"Yep, want to guess?"
"Um, is he a camper here?"
"Nope."
"I give up."
"The mailman!"
"... Oh, so you think he's cute?"
To which she enthusiastically, yet shyly at the same time, nodded her head yes. Upon further conversation Melissa (another counselor) and I discovered that it was not indeed her mailman, but a different one. Don't be decieved though, he exists in the present. It's not just an occupation she wishes her future spouse to have. Perhaps mailmen should add that to the list of things they will deliver the mail inspite of: rain, snow, sleet, hail, and six-year-old admirers.
Story #2: "Cockroach Hide 'n Seek"
So last Wednesday, this camper randomly pulls off his shoe by the coloring tables and shakes it until this two inch long, half inch wide, cockroach falls out onto the ground and scurries around a bit. Almost as quickly as we shrieked in shock, one of his three sidekicks (Roof's Husband) stomped on it. Per our request, said sidekick then kicked it out into the grass, foot by foot. The four person eight-year-old gang then proceeded to tour the shelter informing every counselor of their cool find. I'm pretty sure the owner of the cockroach's ex-home was the hero of the day for any boy there. The girls, on the other hand, found much joy in going to look at the squashed bug and then shrieking with claims of "Ewwwww!" and "That's disgusting!" I just hope he doesn't keep his shoes in his house, *shudders*.
...
Yeah, that's it for now. I will say though, that watching six-year-olds eat Dilly Bars in the middle of July at one of the hottest points of the day is pretty amusing. Matthew, one of my campers, had ice cream pouring down one hand and chocolate down the other. All of their faces, and in some cases hair, had at least some significant amount of ice cream and/or chocolate on them. Way too cute ... and messy.
I'll leave you with a few photos from today:
...
While I have the basement to myself, it's time for:
Sherrie's Short Stories
Story #1: "When I Grow Up"
Perhaps just to prove correct the theory that little girls think about marriage from pretty much the day there are born, Shelby (a Monday camper) informs everyone at Check-Out that she knows who she's going to marry. After many giggles, the girls around her decipher that the future (and much unsuspecting) groom's name is Nick. Upon disclosing this piece of news, said camper (Shelby) proceeds to ask if anyone else knows who they are going to marry. Around this point, I lost interest and began talking to some other campers at the adjoining table. However, soon after, India (the camper across from me) informs me that she's knows who she's going to marry when she grows up.
"Oh really."
"Yep, want to guess?"
"Um, is he a camper here?"
"Nope."
"I give up."
"The mailman!"
"... Oh, so you think he's cute?"
To which she enthusiastically, yet shyly at the same time, nodded her head yes. Upon further conversation Melissa (another counselor) and I discovered that it was not indeed her mailman, but a different one. Don't be decieved though, he exists in the present. It's not just an occupation she wishes her future spouse to have. Perhaps mailmen should add that to the list of things they will deliver the mail inspite of: rain, snow, sleet, hail, and six-year-old admirers.
Story #2: "Cockroach Hide 'n Seek"
So last Wednesday, this camper randomly pulls off his shoe by the coloring tables and shakes it until this two inch long, half inch wide, cockroach falls out onto the ground and scurries around a bit. Almost as quickly as we shrieked in shock, one of his three sidekicks (Roof's Husband) stomped on it. Per our request, said sidekick then kicked it out into the grass, foot by foot. The four person eight-year-old gang then proceeded to tour the shelter informing every counselor of their cool find. I'm pretty sure the owner of the cockroach's ex-home was the hero of the day for any boy there. The girls, on the other hand, found much joy in going to look at the squashed bug and then shrieking with claims of "Ewwwww!" and "That's disgusting!" I just hope he doesn't keep his shoes in his house, *shudders*.
...
Yeah, that's it for now. I will say though, that watching six-year-olds eat Dilly Bars in the middle of July at one of the hottest points of the day is pretty amusing. Matthew, one of my campers, had ice cream pouring down one hand and chocolate down the other. All of their faces, and in some cases hair, had at least some significant amount of ice cream and/or chocolate on them. Way too cute ... and messy.
I'll leave you with a few photos from today:
PowWow Definitions
So Ryne overheard one of our campers explaining to a new camper that PowWow was "when we eat a snack and sit around doing nothing for awhile." He said Zack overheard another camper explaining that "It's like crafts, only we eat a snack first." A few weeks ago Russell (one of our campers) informed me that he hates PowWow; I felt highly ... complimented?
Thursday, July 27
And camp just seems a little off all of the sudden ... can't quite put my finger on it ... wait, hm ... OH YEAH! Miss Melissa Ritchie left yesterday for Ecuador!! HOW SAD IS THAT?!? WTF! Seriously, camp today was fun, but something just seemed off today ... like camp was just missing something ... sad.
In other news, Katie Olson celebrated a birthday today!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!
Today was generally a good day. If not a sad one. I did get to wear a clean shirt as Melissa hooked me up with two of her camp t-shirts and my immediate response at the time was, "SWEET! Now I dont have to do laundry the rest of the week!" Ah its the little things in life.
Anyway, Godspeed ... and now onto Friday morning's compass treasure hunt ... ARRRGGH MATEY!
-Jim-
Monday, July 24
Camp Wa-Nik'-Ska-Ka
Camp Wa-Nik'-Ska-Ka
Best quote of the summer by a Monday camper nominees:
1) "I thought I knew where I was going [checkout shelter], but then I took a wrong turn, and then I saw some ducks, and it got scary. I decided to find you instead."
2) "I was born to be a kisser." -Frank Sellmyer
3) "My tummy hurts, but I think its actually my head. I'm not sure anymore, can I go play now?"
Best quote of the summer by a Monday camper nominees:
1) "I thought I knew where I was going [checkout shelter], but then I took a wrong turn, and then I saw some ducks, and it got scary. I decided to find you instead."
2) "I was born to be a kisser." -Frank Sellmyer
3) "My tummy hurts, but I think its actually my head. I'm not sure anymore, can I go play now?"
Saturday, July 22
Yesterday's Fowl Three-some
The first Friday of the second session, also known as yesterday, was one interesting day all the way around.
First, the weather couldn't make up it's danged mind all day. It started off looking rainy-ish, and their was this huge green blob of rain covering most of Iowa coming towards camp ... however, it did get a little sunny around lunch time and then nose dived back to iffyness, sprinkled some in the afternoon, got really hot then really not and then back to general iffyness. Damndest weather we have here ...
Before camp was kick ball! WOOOO! And even better, its Friday kickball, which means the kids are pretty good and their are way less counselors ... oh how I love Friday Kickball! It's kickball, how it oughtta be! (POP QUIZ: Which baseball team's slogan did I modify there?)
For the morning had outdoor study with Ashton ... and we had the campers build a tent! WOOOO! The first hour was amazing. Mostly females. They whipped through one practice construction a timed deconstruction/construction and finished with 15 minutes to spare. Soooo we had Outdoor Study story time. HILARIOUS! Amazingly this group also took down the tent, put it away, took it back out, put it up, got inside it in a circle and zipped it all up in 12:22. The second hour was all male (save one lone female) and this was awful. They were bickering, had too many boy scouts, kept out thinking themselves, etc. It was a social experiment ... but they finished the first practice construction in 28 minutes and took so long that we didnt have enough time to give them a final time trial so we finished with a rock, paper, scissors and thumb war championships. The final group of the day wasnt as harmonious as the first, althought did end with a record breaking time trial of like 10:30, including me telling them their inside circle wasnt circley (yes that's a new word I crated) enough and that they needed to reform it.
At the end of the hour came the moment of the summer. A duck three-some, ON LAND! Never seen a duck threesom, nor ducks doing it on land so this was a huge event. And it happened right in front of Creative Arts and Outdoor Study so like 8 counselors and 40 campers all gawked together. Actually Roof and Ryne came running out of the shelter yelling at me to look quick cause I had my back to it. And it was actually less of a three-some and more of one duck on the other duck while a third duck seemed to fight the on-top duck for that position. So I suppose it was more like king of the hill or a fight over a girl while int he middle of doing it. And all the campers were squealing and screeching about "WHY IS THAT DUCK ATTACKING THE OTHER ONE?!" "IT'S TRYING TO EAT IT!!!" "EEEWWW CANNIBAL DUCKS! THEY'RE CANNIBAL DUCKS, SOMEBODY STOP IT!" .... haha, and while admittedly had I not known any better it certainly did appear more like one duck was attacking or eating the other, the information stored in my brain from the Animal Planet tells me different ... haha ... that was the news of the day that just spread like wild fire. Every counselor was talking about. I wouldn't have been shocked to see Anderson Cooper of CNN or Jeff Corwin of APL on loaction at any moment!
Not suprisingly in comparison, the rest of the day was shockingly bland. Backyard games was good times and then we went home. The end!
Haha, I'm sad because I remember some serious quote-age went down like twice that I really wanted to blog but for the life of me I can't remember it now ... sad ... anyway, yeah for the duck three-some ... on land!
Wednesday, July 19
100% Humidity, 500 million % Fun
Ladies and Gentleman I do believe that today may qualify, once the dust has settled, as the hottest day of the year ... the heat index was predicted to peak at 109 (I dont know if it actually did, but it was close) and when I left my house this morning accuweather.com said the humidity was 100%! 100%!! Is that even possible? Shouldn't that mean the air was so saturated it was like raining or constantly misting or something?
Anyway, did get some good kick-ball-age in this morning. And I've decided taht one of my biggest irks at camp is how every single pitcher lines up with shortstop or thirdbase to pitch ... haha, its not bad with certain pitches, but almost everyone does it to some extent and its like either pitch from the dirt or move the bases a different angle but dont pitch from the shortstop position! Haha ... its sort of a laughing irk I suppose ...
Anyway because of the heat it was all camp everything today! All camp pow-wow wasn't bad, minus the camper needless booting the gator ball as far as he could over my head and thus into the Lake (what do you think is gonna happen when we're maybe 50 feet away and the last 15 of that is a sharp decline) ... followed by me watching the ball drift in the center of the lake until it became close enough to jab at with my 9 foot PVC pipe supplied by counselor Brandon! Woooo...
All camp swim was amazing. I had such a good time. It was great having fun with counselors I never ever see throughout the day. *sigh*.
Thanks to Zach again for readying our lunch table! Um, and thanks to everyone I ate lunch with for making sure I got pizza to go with the salad ...
The break conversation was hilarious. From debating whether mind control would establish my divinity (not spear headed by me), to slot c, to an intricate information Q and A session of how the male reproductive organ chills/hangs and finally an indepth lecture on the jock strap and jsut what exactly it's used for and why that explains baseball players readjust themselves every 10 seconds on national television .. it was a rousing break ....
Followed by the Incredibles, where the option was either turn the huge fan on and u cant hear th emovie oooor no fan but u can hear the movie. Eventually the campers voted ont he latter and it was about 125 degrees int aht basement. They'd probably have been better off in the sun ... I would have! But in better news, Kelly, being the excellent teacher she is, taught me how to make a friendship bracelet and an uber sweet design at that. SO THANKS KELLY!
Um, many many quotes occurred throughout the day...most of which being at the pool.
The first occurred after Tristin, Kelly and I had a conversation about a scary movie called "The Hills have eyes" which Tristin watched the previous night. A camper came over and butted in something like, Nothign scares me! Something inaudible to me was said by Tristin which ended with "no we're talking about scary movies" or something. To which the camper replied, Oooh, you mean like Harry Potter?. Between Tristin, Kelly and myself I dont think any of us expected any response remotely like that and we jsut sort of laughed our way through "Yeah just like that" ...
And then later one of the cutest and best campers Ive ever had (Ginny!) in the pool today, while in the midst of a discussion about Spongebob Square Pants (started because a camper called me Barnacle Boy) said ... "I think it's silly and has no redeeming qualities." Turns out its an opinion she picked up from her parents word for word and at the time it was hilarious to Tristin and myself ...
and that was possibly the hottest day of the summer at Camp Wa-Nik-Ska-Ka for Super Jim...! (or so the Wednesday campers have begun calling me ...)
Monday, July 17
The second first Monday
As stated in a previous post we did in fact return to the beautiful (and hot!) Camp Wa-Nik-Ska-Ka for the second first Monday of the summer! Here's a rundown of my day ...
Woke up to my last alarm at 6:47am, the first being set to like 6:05 with like five in between. This was my last last last last ditch alarm. Thank God I set it, but not a great start to the day, arriving at 7:38am ... not the first time I've been a few minutes late either. *sigh*
Nothing spectacular happened this morning except I forgot to bring the blanket for our campers ... and thank God my co-co Ashley was on top of the medical conditions. We have a camper with a "severe allergy to nuts. If comes in contact with any give epinephrin and call 911 immediately". This of course left both Ashley and I paranoid all day.
Wait, wait, I remember the funniest story of the day did happen about five minutes before morning pick-up time was called. So I walk to the bathroom and as I near the water fountains I notice three kids standing by the silver tub/sink thing on wheels staring into it. I sort of keep an eye on them as I walk past, noticing their are totally mystified and excited. They all three are jumping around, giddy and looking quite adrenaline rushed. They notice me and take their eyes off the tub to exclaim in my direction, as if I should be totally in awe and excited too)! "SPIDER! LOOK A BIG SPIDER!" Mind you I am really arachnophobic, although I am getting better (slightly) at least at camp. And spiders are known to visit the tub, so I put my sarcastic "Yeah Woooo" face on and walked back a few steps. As I did, before I could look in the tub two of the campers, with the third squealing their guts off, peered deep into the sink's basin, went to poke the spider and then jumped up and back at least 10 feet squealing with disgust and delight simultaneously. They then yelled, "SPIDER!" "TOUCH THE SPIDER!" "WERE PLAYING TOUCH THE SPIDER" "YOU TOUCH THE SPIDER!!!" .... I could see where this game had been and where it was going and it was all bad news ... touch the spider is never a good game to play, for any age group ... especially six year olds.
So before I even saw the spider I shooed them back to the shelter and some better game ... as I passed I naturally looked int he sink to see the spider they had been enthralled with ... and OMG, it was an inch long (which if u think about it a big spider), thick ugly wolf-spider, that was bristly, a nasty brown color with some black thrown in and just as mean looking as can get. And of course, being a wold spider it was nimble, ultra quick and a real athletic spider. Not gonna lie, I was way grossed out ... and had it been any bigger I might have reacted much more strongly. Anyway, I was like, you have got to be kidding me. They played touch the spider with that nasty thing. This was no daddy long legs ... oh man, these kids have more issues than I thought ...
1st period: In the early stages of our Pow-Wow time Ashley made sure that all the kids washed their hands after eating granola bars just in case they managed to contact the nut allergy and send him into epiphilactic shock. Good thinking. And I went to the front office to double check that we did in fact have the nut allergy's epi-pin and that someone in the front office knew how to use it ahead of time. Turns out we did and they do. So Mission Control, all systems were go for launch. And note to self: Pow-Wow today was very successful.
2nd Period: In leagues we played BLOB. Not gonna lie, I LOVE THAT GAME! Although after the first game, in which I managed to barely stay blob free (saved by the ending whistle) I decided to retire from the game of Blob officially. I know it's tough to leave at the peak of my game, but I felt that I wanted to go out a champion. I also announced my decision to join a minor league 007 team since I've always wanted to go pro as it was my Father's ... (quick, quick, which sports star am I?!?). With all seriousness, I do love Blob.
3rd Period: One of my most interesting periods at the day ... we were at swim which meant it was attack of the Japanese Beetles. Dave, Jordan and I began slapping at a few to try and rid the world of a beetle or two ... then one got in my hair, terrible feeling ... and by the end of swim time most of the counselors and a good majority of the campers were one crazed mob hell-bent on extermination. Although the beetles outnumbered us about 100-1, and we could have spent all day in the pool and not rid the pool or pool area of the problem we did make our presence known ... so just give a few kick boards and who ya gonna call?!? BEETLE BUSTERS! ...
Oh and learned that smallest Monday camper at camp (by a lot), who is also the one of the cutest littlemunchkins has a Dad that is like 6'7", according to counselor Jordan ... that was shocking to say the least. Also of note, I forgot deodorant today (Thank you Jordan Van Loon!) and Gold-bonding was amazing ... wooo...
Lunch: Sat with the nut allergy in our little quarantined table. Whenever anyone asked I either told them I was in detention the camper was being a good friend and keeping me company, ooor I had been voted off the island and the camper was being a good friend and eating one final meal with me on the island. It was a good lunch, although I did have a total awe moment. The nut allergy and I talked most of lunch, but near the end we had like 5 min of silence. Then randomly and without warning, he spoke up and said "You're a pretty good teacher. That's what I think." It was sooo random and so like awwwww shucks kid, how do u respond to that.
...And it turns out this counselor named Zach Oyer ... yeah real good guy. Was scurrying to set up our lunch table as we arrived late from swim ... one armed and all. Really appreciated that.
Quiet Time: Apparently a camper of mine from last session, still has my nose that she stole ... I miss that nose ... it's hard going through life with no sense of smell ...
5th Period: Was fairly confident I was gonna kick in the head or crotch by a camper learning the self-defense kicks. Thank goodness that ended when it did. By the time this period ended our small tribe of 8 had been whittled to five by early pick-ups due to heat. Sad.
6th Period: Watched Cinderella. Never been my favorite Disney movie, but better than Sleeping Beauty.
7th Period: Took one of the most amazing naps I've ever had at camp in the old shelter with two fans on us. Of course Ed on the loudspeaker to end the period was a rude awakening ... although he was pretty funny as he concluded the day's activities by saying "Thank you for sweating here at Camp Wa-Nik-Ska-Ka". Okay its not that funny, but considering no one ever puts a little flair into the loudspeaker I was enthused.
And that was our first Monday back! WOOO!
Design Update
The week-long sabatical has ended and once again we returned to begin session II of this summer. Unfortunately I did not get a new blog design created for this blog, although I did come up with an angle I want to take and hopefully I'll at least get some version of it out this summer. Unfortunately blog layout template creation takes a load of time (at least to do it up properly) and many versions. Anyway, thats my blog design update...
Friday, July 7
Midsummer Extravaganza!!!
Okay everyone... party at the lake on Tuesday. Here is a link to a map with directions:
http://local.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&cp=40.60325~-89.015479&style=r&lvl=12&scene=1809377&rtp=pos.qrns9b7kh9n3_Origin~pos.qs6ngy7knjhf_Destination
1) Start off going north on I-39 out of Normal.
2) Take Exit 8 (Lake Bloomington Road) and turn right.
3) Go straight until you reach a 4-way stop with the Green Gables on the corner. Turn right.
4) Follow the road around the sharp right curve and it is the last driveway on your left before the left curve. The house is the yellow one on the end.
I know some of you said you were going to carpool. I was thinking we would get out there around noon. If y'all want to make it a different time, just say something. Bring food to share. The party is BYOKA, and we should probably wait until after day before we break that out too much. I know there is a soccer game that night, but if we want to have a bonfire afterwards, that would be fine.
Questions? Comments? Concerns? Please call me at (309) 310-4710. See you all there!
http://local.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&cp=40.60325~-89.015479&style=r&lvl=12&scene=1809377&rtp=pos.qrns9b7kh9n3_Origin~pos.qs6ngy7knjhf_Destination
1) Start off going north on I-39 out of Normal.
2) Take Exit 8 (Lake Bloomington Road) and turn right.
3) Go straight until you reach a 4-way stop with the Green Gables on the corner. Turn right.
4) Follow the road around the sharp right curve and it is the last driveway on your left before the left curve. The house is the yellow one on the end.
I know some of you said you were going to carpool. I was thinking we would get out there around noon. If y'all want to make it a different time, just say something. Bring food to share. The party is BYOKA, and we should probably wait until after day before we break that out too much. I know there is a soccer game that night, but if we want to have a bonfire afterwards, that would be fine.
Questions? Comments? Concerns? Please call me at (309) 310-4710. See you all there!
Thursday, July 6
Feeling sooo 'refreshed'
Staff refresher day was tonight and let me tell you I feel soooooooo refreshed! Haha, anyway, it was good times ... tomorrow is the last day of the week and then we have our mid-summer week off! Hopefully Ill grab the time to update about camp like mad and completely revamp the blog look! Haha, I stress that word hopefully!
Godspeed.
-Jim-
Godspeed.
-Jim-
Tuesday, June 27
Oh what a Tuesday
Today was a good day at camp ...
Began the day by harassing a camper sitting by herself by following her wherever she sat. Fun game. Then getting my butt whipped in Uno ... and then going to relay race it up in place of kickball. Good times ... except bunny hopping is ridiculous and should not be a part of any relay race for anyone over the age of say, like 20. Haha ...
No first period swim becuase it was too cold. Convient considering I left my towel at home. We watched Sword int he Stone in the basement. Very nice morning nap. Even more convient considerng I barely got 5 hours in last night ...
Second period pow-wow was the peak excitement for the day. We started off with "Bird's nest" as a warm-up, amazing game the camper's love. We then jumped into Freez Dance, anaother amazing game. Well, we got a few minutes in and then disaster struck. I was stopping the music by pressing the power button, which sucked because there was like a 4 second delay when u pressed on again for it to go. So I decided to mess witrh the kids and slowly fade out the music and then fade it back in (the idea being the dancing u'd do would slow to a freeze and then speed back up from a freeze). Great idea, except the stereo volume control wasn't a dial. It looked liked a dial but it was a weighted switch that u moved slightly to the left or right to turn it up or down. Anyway, I turned it down okay, but when I went to turn it back up I dont know what happened. I slowly got it back up and going and then the tension broke and the knob could spin clear around ... it was no good.
Anyway, so I spent the rest of pow-wow and half of the next period working with Maintenance crew Jason Hospelhorn taking apart the stereo to fix it. I feel like a qualified stereo mechanic now! (Which means at camp we have both an aviator mechanic in Kate and a stereo mechanic in me!). Jason knew more of what he was doing than I did (big shock, he is a maintenance guy and a fireman!), but I wasnt completely useless! Anyway, we got it to the point now that its all unscrewed, but we figured out whats wrong. this piece broke off and so like I can manually adjust the volume deep inside the stereo, but thats no good ... but we're both fairly confident that given half an hour with a soddering iron and superglue it can be fixed up good as new .... so guess what Im doing tomorrow before camp or on break! Haha ....
And ofc ourse I got plenty of jokes about being fired and having the money for a replacement come out of my paycheck ... including some ribbing from Scottie! Hhmmm, oh and Sarah, Kate, Krista and Teresa in the main office were racking there brains trying to figure out what was going on because they thought I was dealing with a personal issue. First I came in asking for a screwdriver ... then Hoss came in and got the plastic medical tweezers from the cabinet (hes an EMT, remember that) and then I came in a little while later asking for metal tweezers ... and when I finally came in with the opened stereo to store it they all started cracking up and were like, oh its just that, we thought u had a serious personal problem u didnt wannat ell us about ... and that explained why Hoss was involved. And Im like, what personal problem could I possibly need a screwdriver, a pair of metal tweezers and an EMT for?!? haha ... it was sooo funny ...
In other news, lunch was interesting as not 20 seconds in juice was spilled on our blanket ... and then these two ducks kept approaching the kids for food. I shooed them away for the first 10 mintues, and then just let them get as close as they dared (pretty damn close) and had the kids not throw things and stay on their bottoms and I just hovered close in case. Worked well. the Kids loved it, and it beat having to beat the ducks with a rock or something to make thne understand that when I shoo them away that does not mean come right back!
The magician was great. Crafts was crazy ... Buffalo Bradley was MIA, so sad, and our movie afternoon which we all looked forward to got canceled as it rained for all of ten minutes (the only rain cloud in the area hovered over us for a few fleeting moments) .... All in all, another good day at Camp Wa-Nik-Ska-Ka
-Jim-
Began the day by harassing a camper sitting by herself by following her wherever she sat. Fun game. Then getting my butt whipped in Uno ... and then going to relay race it up in place of kickball. Good times ... except bunny hopping is ridiculous and should not be a part of any relay race for anyone over the age of say, like 20. Haha ...
No first period swim becuase it was too cold. Convient considering I left my towel at home. We watched Sword int he Stone in the basement. Very nice morning nap. Even more convient considerng I barely got 5 hours in last night ...
Second period pow-wow was the peak excitement for the day. We started off with "Bird's nest" as a warm-up, amazing game the camper's love. We then jumped into Freez Dance, anaother amazing game. Well, we got a few minutes in and then disaster struck. I was stopping the music by pressing the power button, which sucked because there was like a 4 second delay when u pressed on again for it to go. So I decided to mess witrh the kids and slowly fade out the music and then fade it back in (the idea being the dancing u'd do would slow to a freeze and then speed back up from a freeze). Great idea, except the stereo volume control wasn't a dial. It looked liked a dial but it was a weighted switch that u moved slightly to the left or right to turn it up or down. Anyway, I turned it down okay, but when I went to turn it back up I dont know what happened. I slowly got it back up and going and then the tension broke and the knob could spin clear around ... it was no good.
Anyway, so I spent the rest of pow-wow and half of the next period working with Maintenance crew Jason Hospelhorn taking apart the stereo to fix it. I feel like a qualified stereo mechanic now! (Which means at camp we have both an aviator mechanic in Kate and a stereo mechanic in me!). Jason knew more of what he was doing than I did (big shock, he is a maintenance guy and a fireman!), but I wasnt completely useless! Anyway, we got it to the point now that its all unscrewed, but we figured out whats wrong. this piece broke off and so like I can manually adjust the volume deep inside the stereo, but thats no good ... but we're both fairly confident that given half an hour with a soddering iron and superglue it can be fixed up good as new .... so guess what Im doing tomorrow before camp or on break! Haha ....
And ofc ourse I got plenty of jokes about being fired and having the money for a replacement come out of my paycheck ... including some ribbing from Scottie! Hhmmm, oh and Sarah, Kate, Krista and Teresa in the main office were racking there brains trying to figure out what was going on because they thought I was dealing with a personal issue. First I came in asking for a screwdriver ... then Hoss came in and got the plastic medical tweezers from the cabinet (hes an EMT, remember that) and then I came in a little while later asking for metal tweezers ... and when I finally came in with the opened stereo to store it they all started cracking up and were like, oh its just that, we thought u had a serious personal problem u didnt wannat ell us about ... and that explained why Hoss was involved. And Im like, what personal problem could I possibly need a screwdriver, a pair of metal tweezers and an EMT for?!? haha ... it was sooo funny ...
In other news, lunch was interesting as not 20 seconds in juice was spilled on our blanket ... and then these two ducks kept approaching the kids for food. I shooed them away for the first 10 mintues, and then just let them get as close as they dared (pretty damn close) and had the kids not throw things and stay on their bottoms and I just hovered close in case. Worked well. the Kids loved it, and it beat having to beat the ducks with a rock or something to make thne understand that when I shoo them away that does not mean come right back!
The magician was great. Crafts was crazy ... Buffalo Bradley was MIA, so sad, and our movie afternoon which we all looked forward to got canceled as it rained for all of ten minutes (the only rain cloud in the area hovered over us for a few fleeting moments) .... All in all, another good day at Camp Wa-Nik-Ska-Ka
-Jim-
Sunday, June 25
It's Back!!
This weekend was good times all around!! Thanks to those who came over last night - it was a blast!!
I just wanted to post a little notice of an upcoming event, a repeat of last year's.
I just wanted to post a little notice of an upcoming event, a repeat of last year's.
~*~*~COLORED BRA DAY~*~*~
This Tuesday, June 27 is our Second Annual Colored Bra Day. (Gents, feel free to join in if you like). I feel that it's relatively self-explanatory . . .
Friday, June 23
This Weekend
Hello to all!! Just wanted to get an update in here on the weekend.
Friday Night
Kaite Rassi's place for movies, starting at 8:00. Bring movies, food, beverages; however you would like to entertain yourself for the evening. If you haven't been in her basement yet, you're definitely missing out and should come over tonight (we're talking 6-foot, wall-mounted projection TV with a surround sound system . . .), and of course, the people are worth coming over for, too. :o)
Directions from Veterans Parkway
Turn onto GE Road and follow it almost to Towanda Barnes. She lives in Hawthorne II, which is the last neighborhood on your left (across from a strip mall). Take your third left onto Longwood Ln. Follow this street around the curve and turn onto the second street on your right, Weaver Ct. Kaite's house is number 8, and it's at the very end of the circle.
Directions from Towanda Barnes
Turn onto GE Road and follow it just past a building under construction. Hawthorne II will be the first neighborhood on your left. Take your third left onto Longwood Ln. Follow this street around the curve and turn onto the second street on your right, Weaver Ct. Kaite's house is number 8, and it's at the very end of the circle.
Google map ps - don't trust the green arrow, just use the map as a street guide
Kaite's cell # (309) 706-9963
Saturday Night
My parents are out of town Friday afternoon - Sunday evening, so it's my house for movies/massages/food/good times, starting at 7:00 on Saturday. I don't work on Saturday (whoo-hooo!! A day off!!), so feel free to come over before 7 if you'd like; please just call me first. Bring whatever movies you might be interested in watching (my TV is several steps down from Katie's, and my basement doesn't boast a pool table, but we'll make up for it with coziness and an air hockey table!). Also feel free to bring pop, chips, candy, popcorn or anything else you might like to eat. Please don't bring any alcohol unless you're 21+. If anyone would like to stay the night, you are more than welcome to (I hate staying in my house by myself.) The more, the merrier!! :o)
Directions from Veterans
Take Veterans all the way north (past Sam's and the Saturn Place and all that jazz) through the road looking highway-esque, until you hit the stoplight at Northtown. Turn left. follow Northtown; you will see a neighborhood on your left - this is Ironwood. Turn left into the neighborhood onto Towanda; take your first (and immediate) left onto Ironwood drive. Follow the road as it curves around a bit; turn right on Quail Run Ct., the first sidestreet you come to. My house is number 1908, and is the second on your left. It's grey and may have my car (blue Saturn Vue) in the driveway.
Directions from Towanda Avenue
Take Towanda north out of town (past the Methodist Church and Prarieland Elementary). Towanda will take you directly into Ironwood neighborhood. Turn right onto Ironwood drive, which is the 5th and last street on your Right before you leave the neighborhood. Follow the road as it curves around a bit; turn right on Quail Run Ct., the first sidestreet you come to. My house is number 1908, and is the second on your left. It's grey and may have my car (blue Saturn Vue) in the driveway.
Google map - again, don't trust the green arrow, just use it as a guide
My cell # (309) 287-0368
Hope to see lots of people out both nights!! Have a wonderful day, to those of you who work Fridays, and hope it's not too sticky . . . see you tonight! :o)
Friday Night
Kaite Rassi's place for movies, starting at 8:00. Bring movies, food, beverages; however you would like to entertain yourself for the evening. If you haven't been in her basement yet, you're definitely missing out and should come over tonight (we're talking 6-foot, wall-mounted projection TV with a surround sound system . . .), and of course, the people are worth coming over for, too. :o)
Directions from Veterans Parkway
Turn onto GE Road and follow it almost to Towanda Barnes. She lives in Hawthorne II, which is the last neighborhood on your left (across from a strip mall). Take your third left onto Longwood Ln. Follow this street around the curve and turn onto the second street on your right, Weaver Ct. Kaite's house is number 8, and it's at the very end of the circle.
Directions from Towanda Barnes
Turn onto GE Road and follow it just past a building under construction. Hawthorne II will be the first neighborhood on your left. Take your third left onto Longwood Ln. Follow this street around the curve and turn onto the second street on your right, Weaver Ct. Kaite's house is number 8, and it's at the very end of the circle.
Google map ps - don't trust the green arrow, just use the map as a street guide
Kaite's cell # (309) 706-9963
Saturday Night
My parents are out of town Friday afternoon - Sunday evening, so it's my house for movies/massages/food/good times, starting at 7:00 on Saturday. I don't work on Saturday (whoo-hooo!! A day off!!), so feel free to come over before 7 if you'd like; please just call me first. Bring whatever movies you might be interested in watching (my TV is several steps down from Katie's, and my basement doesn't boast a pool table, but we'll make up for it with coziness and an air hockey table!). Also feel free to bring pop, chips, candy, popcorn or anything else you might like to eat. Please don't bring any alcohol unless you're 21+. If anyone would like to stay the night, you are more than welcome to (I hate staying in my house by myself.) The more, the merrier!! :o)
Directions from Veterans
Take Veterans all the way north (past Sam's and the Saturn Place and all that jazz) through the road looking highway-esque, until you hit the stoplight at Northtown. Turn left. follow Northtown; you will see a neighborhood on your left - this is Ironwood. Turn left into the neighborhood onto Towanda; take your first (and immediate) left onto Ironwood drive. Follow the road as it curves around a bit; turn right on Quail Run Ct., the first sidestreet you come to. My house is number 1908, and is the second on your left. It's grey and may have my car (blue Saturn Vue) in the driveway.
Directions from Towanda Avenue
Take Towanda north out of town (past the Methodist Church and Prarieland Elementary). Towanda will take you directly into Ironwood neighborhood. Turn right onto Ironwood drive, which is the 5th and last street on your Right before you leave the neighborhood. Follow the road as it curves around a bit; turn right on Quail Run Ct., the first sidestreet you come to. My house is number 1908, and is the second on your left. It's grey and may have my car (blue Saturn Vue) in the driveway.
Google map - again, don't trust the green arrow, just use it as a guide
My cell # (309) 287-0368
Hope to see lots of people out both nights!! Have a wonderful day, to those of you who work Fridays, and hope it's not too sticky . . . see you tonight! :o)
Wednesday, June 21
The 2nd Wednesday of camp...
The 2nd Wednesday of camp ... was generally uneventful in terms of stories and quotes...
My day did begin interestingly enough. I arrived, and as I checked in Key-staff Krista was like I knwo you just got here, but could you go check on that camper sitting off by himself. So I trotted over, and I was like what's up man ... and apparently he was sitting at this seat by his lonesome because he's got "lots of memories there" (implying that seat). He spouted something off about being stung by a baby bumblebee ... so I coaxed him over to the tables of kids/counselors coloring, except on the way he like ducked behind me and said something like, "only if you shield me. I can be pretty weird." Haha ... so yeah, interesting morning.
Played 007 for games ... AMAZING!
Swim was actually mildly warm. And i busted out the towel as a cape which prompted all campers all day to call me Super Jim. Haha, except one kid int he locker room who called me (while naked from the waist down and running around mind you), "Super Weiner #2" ... I just want to know who Super Weiner #1 is ... haha ...
Had a juice spill at lunch today ... I feel like we need a sign above our lunch tables that say somehting like, "This lunch table has been juice free for ____ days" ... or perhaps hours instead of days ...
And then during crafts I DEMOLISHED Logan in the seek n' find to regain my title. I blew through it, finishing it in like record time. He still had like four to find and was shocked. Anyway, that puts me at 5-1 and once again reigning supreme!
WOOT WOOT!
-Super Jim-
My day did begin interestingly enough. I arrived, and as I checked in Key-staff Krista was like I knwo you just got here, but could you go check on that camper sitting off by himself. So I trotted over, and I was like what's up man ... and apparently he was sitting at this seat by his lonesome because he's got "lots of memories there" (implying that seat). He spouted something off about being stung by a baby bumblebee ... so I coaxed him over to the tables of kids/counselors coloring, except on the way he like ducked behind me and said something like, "only if you shield me. I can be pretty weird." Haha ... so yeah, interesting morning.
Played 007 for games ... AMAZING!
Swim was actually mildly warm. And i busted out the towel as a cape which prompted all campers all day to call me Super Jim. Haha, except one kid int he locker room who called me (while naked from the waist down and running around mind you), "Super Weiner #2" ... I just want to know who Super Weiner #1 is ... haha ...
Had a juice spill at lunch today ... I feel like we need a sign above our lunch tables that say somehting like, "This lunch table has been juice free for ____ days" ... or perhaps hours instead of days ...
And then during crafts I DEMOLISHED Logan in the seek n' find to regain my title. I blew through it, finishing it in like record time. He still had like four to find and was shocked. Anyway, that puts me at 5-1 and once again reigning supreme!
WOOT WOOT!
-Super Jim-
Tuesday, June 20
Some camp randomness
Soooo much I've wanted to blog every night since that first post, and Im always too exhausted!
First, and foremost, THANKS TO KELLY, SHERRIE, ROOFIO and co. who made my birthday at camp last Thursday amazing! I definitely thought that after Kelly greeted me at the office and didnt say anything I was homefree, but then I rounded the corner and saw my tree covered in some ribbon stuff and I was like (instert bad word) people found out! Amazing friends...
I've had a lot of requests during pool time for the infamous "jet face" this year, and Im not gonna lie, not sure its gonna happen. I'm just not feelin. I am afraid it may have to be retired to camp lore only. I've tried a few times behind closed doors to duplicate it and I just dont have it. Something is missing. Maybe I'll re-read the posts about it to try and recapture the magic...
Anyway, quotes and incidents of the day ... let's see ...
As we began to put stuff away at like 8:15am Ashley walked by and said, "It's never good to get your butt wet to start the day" ... apparently she sat in a puddle.
Imagine Will Ferrel in Anchorman for the next quote. For first session pool it was overcast and freezing, so lots of campers and counselors alike were avoiding the pool. I was sitting poolside when a camper said something in a very Will Ferrell in Anchorman sort of way. "I like the water ... a lot. It's cold, but it's GOOD." (Imagine sort of a Jim Carrey in Bruce Almighty for the "good" part). It was hilarious!
Then in Crafts (8th period not including lunch), I got beat in the seek and find. Everyone agreed it was by far the hardest seek n' find Camp Wa-nik-Ska-Ka has ever seen ... and newbie Logan upended my previous 4-0 record. First lost of the summer is tough, but hopefully I'll bounce back tomorrow.
Oh, and one of the most classic moment came compliments of Buffalo Bradley (see last summer) during 7th period games .... so Bradley, who is in another tribe, but my pod, sitting off by himself during some relay races. I decide to meander over and chat it up. He's playing with a bouncy ball and I was like "sweet bouncy ball Bradley." He got all excited, his eyes lit up, and he was like "It bounces (bounced it), rolls (rolled it) and it even spins! (and spinned it)" ... haha, ya really had to be there.
And then ... what made my day, he had a small plastic pokemon dragon toy (like real small) with a long red shoelace tied to its neck/torso with a nut on the other end of the string for weight presumably. Knowing how imaginative Bradley can be, I was like, "is that a leasch for your Charizard" as he dangled it in front of himself. He immediately stopped dangling it, got the biggest YOU'RE AN IDIOT look on his face and says, "No it's a red string." HAHAHA ... I couldnt contain myself. Best part is, not thirty seconds later after asking him what exaclty the red string was for since it clearly wasnt a leasch, he says somehting about how its the "perfect contrapection" to make his charizard fly "during battles" ... (He later described hanging it from something and swinging it at things) ... here we are discussing him making a way to make his plastic pokemon toy "fly" during "real" battles", but me thinking the red string was anything more than just a red string was absolutely ridiculously moronic. Oh it was way too classic!
Oh, I have missed Buffalo Bradley!
And now, onto Wednesday....!
First, and foremost, THANKS TO KELLY, SHERRIE, ROOFIO and co. who made my birthday at camp last Thursday amazing! I definitely thought that after Kelly greeted me at the office and didnt say anything I was homefree, but then I rounded the corner and saw my tree covered in some ribbon stuff and I was like (instert bad word) people found out! Amazing friends...
I've had a lot of requests during pool time for the infamous "jet face" this year, and Im not gonna lie, not sure its gonna happen. I'm just not feelin. I am afraid it may have to be retired to camp lore only. I've tried a few times behind closed doors to duplicate it and I just dont have it. Something is missing. Maybe I'll re-read the posts about it to try and recapture the magic...
Anyway, quotes and incidents of the day ... let's see ...
As we began to put stuff away at like 8:15am Ashley walked by and said, "It's never good to get your butt wet to start the day" ... apparently she sat in a puddle.
Imagine Will Ferrel in Anchorman for the next quote. For first session pool it was overcast and freezing, so lots of campers and counselors alike were avoiding the pool. I was sitting poolside when a camper said something in a very Will Ferrell in Anchorman sort of way. "I like the water ... a lot. It's cold, but it's GOOD." (Imagine sort of a Jim Carrey in Bruce Almighty for the "good" part). It was hilarious!
Then in Crafts (8th period not including lunch), I got beat in the seek and find. Everyone agreed it was by far the hardest seek n' find Camp Wa-nik-Ska-Ka has ever seen ... and newbie Logan upended my previous 4-0 record. First lost of the summer is tough, but hopefully I'll bounce back tomorrow.
Oh, and one of the most classic moment came compliments of Buffalo Bradley (see last summer) during 7th period games .... so Bradley, who is in another tribe, but my pod, sitting off by himself during some relay races. I decide to meander over and chat it up. He's playing with a bouncy ball and I was like "sweet bouncy ball Bradley." He got all excited, his eyes lit up, and he was like "It bounces (bounced it), rolls (rolled it) and it even spins! (and spinned it)" ... haha, ya really had to be there.
And then ... what made my day, he had a small plastic pokemon dragon toy (like real small) with a long red shoelace tied to its neck/torso with a nut on the other end of the string for weight presumably. Knowing how imaginative Bradley can be, I was like, "is that a leasch for your Charizard" as he dangled it in front of himself. He immediately stopped dangling it, got the biggest YOU'RE AN IDIOT look on his face and says, "No it's a red string." HAHAHA ... I couldnt contain myself. Best part is, not thirty seconds later after asking him what exaclty the red string was for since it clearly wasnt a leasch, he says somehting about how its the "perfect contrapection" to make his charizard fly "during battles" ... (He later described hanging it from something and swinging it at things) ... here we are discussing him making a way to make his plastic pokemon toy "fly" during "real" battles", but me thinking the red string was anything more than just a red string was absolutely ridiculously moronic. Oh it was way too classic!
Oh, I have missed Buffalo Bradley!
And now, onto Wednesday....!
Thursday, June 15
The Controvery Continues
So week one of my 2006 camp experience is over.
Camp on Tuesday, was pretty good. Several of my Monday campers from last year are in my pod on Tuesday so I got to see them all day even though they weren't in my tribe! Including, my Emily & my Natalie!! :) This was pretty much the highlight of my day.
My foot was bothering me nearly all day. Whenever we were stopped at an area for a lengthy period of time, I would take off my shoe to alleviate the pain a little. Finally, at the end of the day I removed my sock as well to see what was going on. There was blood all over two of my toes. Apparently I had managed to clip my toenail into a ridiculously sharp point and it had sliced down the complete length of the toe next to it. It was really bizzare, especially since it had been 2 or 3 days since I clipped it. A bandaid solved the problem until I could get to some toenail clippers.
Yesterday, Wednesday, was exhausting as those of us who stayed the night at Kelly's only got 4.5 hours of sleep. I tried my best not to let it effect me, but I know that it did.
Remember the Cardinals Fan incident on Monday? Well on Wednesday several of my campers came up to me at the beginning because they wanted to meet me (typical of the first week at camp). One of them, Claudia, sat down next to me and started asking questions including where our tribe's meeting place was. I pointed out the tree as you could see it from where we were sitting. Well, she sees the Cubs blanket hanging on the tree limb, where Ryne keeps it until we go over there, and asks, "Is that a Cubs blanket?"
Remembering Monday, I hesitantly say "Yes."
"Can I just stand? I'm a Cardinals fan, I can't sit on that."
Trying very hard to control my amusement, I calmly told her we had another blanket she could sit on. Though I think she ended up sitting on it anyway as the boys claimed the other one and it is apparently against the law to sit on the same blanket as the boys. At least, this is what I've discovered every day this week.
The story does not end there. For Pow Wow, we played "The Skittles Game." For awhile we got the typical "My favorite color is blue." or "I have two dogs and an annoying sister." answers, but then Ryne said "I like the Cubs." This of course, led to a very interesting round of:
Camper 1: "I like the Cardinals."
Camper 2: "I like the Cardinals."
Camper 3: "I like the Cardinals."
Camper 4: "I like the Cubs."
Camper 5: "I like the Cubs."
Camper 6: "I like the Cubs."
There were a few random non-sports related comments interspersed between those, including mine, but that's the gist of how it went. Well, halfway through the next round and leading into the round after, not initiated by Ryne this time, the facts went like this:
Camper 4: "I hate the Cardinals."
Camper 5: "I hate the Cardinals."
Camper 6: "I hate the Cardinals."
Camper 1: "I hate the Cubs."
Camper 2: "I hate the Cubs."
Camper 3: "I hate the Cubs."
My next fact was that I didn't really care about either of them. They of course looked at me with eyes wide open and jaws hitting the picnic tables. I'm pretty sure I lost about 500 counselor points on that one, but the looks were worth it.
So 2 out of 3 days with this big controversy and then we come to today where Ryne lays down the blankets and almost instantly a camper spews out his speech about how he can't sit on a Cubs blanket because he's a Cardinals fan. Ryne and I pretty much both lost it that time ... there was no holding back. Then later they were harassing him about it:
"Why'd you buy a Cubs blanket anyway?"
"I didn't."
"Is it Sherrie's?"
"No."
"Then you bought it."
"No, I found it at my house."
"Did your mom buy it?" (This was asked with that you-are-so-not-cool-if-you-say-yes tone of voice as if this soon to be 3rd or 4th grader's mom doesn't buy anything for him.)
"I don't know."
"Well the Cubs suck."
"That's fine if that's your opinion."
"It's not an opinion, it's a fact."
"... Okay."
I think he pretty much was getting tired of the Cubs/Cardinals debate at that point.
...
I almost forgot, quote of the day for Wednesday goes to Melissa R who after being thrown in the pool by David B and then brutally splashed while on the side nearly dry and in her towel (also by David B) shouted out "You're a ... bad word!"
Kelly later asked her which would have been her word of choice had there not been campers around ... she stated that she really didn't know and that all that popped into her head was "Jerk" but that it wasn't strong enough.
Good times.
Camp on Tuesday, was pretty good. Several of my Monday campers from last year are in my pod on Tuesday so I got to see them all day even though they weren't in my tribe! Including, my Emily & my Natalie!! :) This was pretty much the highlight of my day.
My foot was bothering me nearly all day. Whenever we were stopped at an area for a lengthy period of time, I would take off my shoe to alleviate the pain a little. Finally, at the end of the day I removed my sock as well to see what was going on. There was blood all over two of my toes. Apparently I had managed to clip my toenail into a ridiculously sharp point and it had sliced down the complete length of the toe next to it. It was really bizzare, especially since it had been 2 or 3 days since I clipped it. A bandaid solved the problem until I could get to some toenail clippers.
Yesterday, Wednesday, was exhausting as those of us who stayed the night at Kelly's only got 4.5 hours of sleep. I tried my best not to let it effect me, but I know that it did.
Remember the Cardinals Fan incident on Monday? Well on Wednesday several of my campers came up to me at the beginning because they wanted to meet me (typical of the first week at camp). One of them, Claudia, sat down next to me and started asking questions including where our tribe's meeting place was. I pointed out the tree as you could see it from where we were sitting. Well, she sees the Cubs blanket hanging on the tree limb, where Ryne keeps it until we go over there, and asks, "Is that a Cubs blanket?"
Remembering Monday, I hesitantly say "Yes."
"Can I just stand? I'm a Cardinals fan, I can't sit on that."
Trying very hard to control my amusement, I calmly told her we had another blanket she could sit on. Though I think she ended up sitting on it anyway as the boys claimed the other one and it is apparently against the law to sit on the same blanket as the boys. At least, this is what I've discovered every day this week.
The story does not end there. For Pow Wow, we played "The Skittles Game." For awhile we got the typical "My favorite color is blue." or "I have two dogs and an annoying sister." answers, but then Ryne said "I like the Cubs." This of course, led to a very interesting round of:
Camper 1: "I like the Cardinals."
Camper 2: "I like the Cardinals."
Camper 3: "I like the Cardinals."
Camper 4: "I like the Cubs."
Camper 5: "I like the Cubs."
Camper 6: "I like the Cubs."
There were a few random non-sports related comments interspersed between those, including mine, but that's the gist of how it went. Well, halfway through the next round and leading into the round after, not initiated by Ryne this time, the facts went like this:
Camper 4: "I hate the Cardinals."
Camper 5: "I hate the Cardinals."
Camper 6: "I hate the Cardinals."
Camper 1: "I hate the Cubs."
Camper 2: "I hate the Cubs."
Camper 3: "I hate the Cubs."
My next fact was that I didn't really care about either of them. They of course looked at me with eyes wide open and jaws hitting the picnic tables. I'm pretty sure I lost about 500 counselor points on that one, but the looks were worth it.
So 2 out of 3 days with this big controversy and then we come to today where Ryne lays down the blankets and almost instantly a camper spews out his speech about how he can't sit on a Cubs blanket because he's a Cardinals fan. Ryne and I pretty much both lost it that time ... there was no holding back. Then later they were harassing him about it:
"Why'd you buy a Cubs blanket anyway?"
"I didn't."
"Is it Sherrie's?"
"No."
"Then you bought it."
"No, I found it at my house."
"Did your mom buy it?" (This was asked with that you-are-so-not-cool-if-you-say-yes tone of voice as if this soon to be 3rd or 4th grader's mom doesn't buy anything for him.)
"I don't know."
"Well the Cubs suck."
"That's fine if that's your opinion."
"It's not an opinion, it's a fact."
"... Okay."
I think he pretty much was getting tired of the Cubs/Cardinals debate at that point.
...
I almost forgot, quote of the day for Wednesday goes to Melissa R who after being thrown in the pool by David B and then brutally splashed while on the side nearly dry and in her towel (also by David B) shouted out "You're a ... bad word!"
Kelly later asked her which would have been her word of choice had there not been campers around ... she stated that she really didn't know and that all that popped into her head was "Jerk" but that it wasn't strong enough.
Good times.
Monday, June 12
The First Day of Camp
Captain's Log -
Stardate: -317443.83 (That's the stardate for June 12, 2006)
And so our new adventure has officially began. Having a full season under our belts, and nine months rest we began our voyage this morning with the utmost confidence, although admittedly I did have a few jitters as not all of of the pre-flight checklist went as planned. Then again, it never does. Nonetheless, what follows is an hour by hour breakdown of the first day in our long, yet all too short journey.
0630-0730
I wake up at 0n 0630, surprisingly on-time and well rested. I did toss and turn some the night before, however I had managed to get to bed early enough to still get the necessary amount of rest in for a Galactic voyage. However, not all was well with those in the same housing as myself. As i arose I made my way to the bathroom, put in my contacts, turned on the shower and began to strip (oh stop it, its a basic part of human maintenance). I had come to a complete state of nudity (easy now) when I realized that nature was in fact calling my name. I sat down on the pot and did my business.
As I stood up and flushed, my almost 19-year-old brother who got his first job this spring, and began working 7:30-3:30 about two weeks ago, knocked and then opened door. So there I am, completely nude, having just used the bathroom and about to get into the shower when he opens the door a crack sticks his head with his eyes at such a squint I'm not sure any sunlight was getting to his pupils and asked very politely (seriously), "Can I have my shower now?" - the implication being he normally showers at that exact minute of the morning and was wondering if he could. Having my smart-eleck side not awake, I didnt not say anything smart about how naked I was and instead said "Naw, wait 5 I'm about to get in". to which case Mr. Hyde erupted from Dr. Jekyll. He growled (I swear to you), slammed the door. Marched to my parents bedroom next door and had the shower on before I could turn around and hop in the shower myself (which was all of one foot away).
After the shower incident my brother left about 07:00, I ate a bowl of hot oatmeal in three minutes (I know, I'm amazing), and had planned to leave about 07:10. Unfortunately I could not find my camp sweatshirt, which I know I had a few weeks ago. This dilemma caused me to forget my mug and not leave until about 07:16, clearly a huge delay in a well timed launch.
0730-0830
I arrived according to camp time, at 0742. Although I am supremely confident this was not accurate. Nonetheless, the mishaps of the mornign we corrected by wearing a white long sleeve under my camp shirt and by having my dear dear friend Miss Counselor Ashton bring my mug from my house.
The interaction with campers began by playing with the building blocks with two male campers. We all found great amusement in how high we could build tower before an "earthquake" would come shake it down (I'd merely, with my butt in place, sway side to side ever so mildly on the benches in the lunchroom. This would chase the unstable atmoshophere of the bench to shake causing the whole structure to become unstable).
I eventually then followed one of the campers out to the kickball game where a counselors vs. campers game had begun. Literally it was like 15 counselors vs. a mob of about 200 screaming 1st graders. As I told Counselor Dave, in this history of Daycamp's top ten ideas, this easily cracked the top five. A little while later, when the campers were switching from either batting to fielding or vice versa Counselor Dave made the wisely hilarious crack, as a couple hundred first graders ran around like chickens with their heads cut-off: We have a name for this, it's called CHAOS!
0830-0930
Pow-Wow time! This meant the starburst name game, which lasted all of five minutes ... followed by the ball name game, which lasted about 10 minutes ... followed my improv of Simon Says, lasting about 15 minutes ... and then a rousing game of follow the leader. I didn't think it was possible to wear out Monday Campers, but we did, if even for a brief few moments. After Follow the Leader they were wiped and begging for mid-morning nap time! YES! SCORE TWO FOR ASHLEY/JIM!!!
0930-1030
It's games!! And the opening at bat for ex-counselor Aimee who is now the games coordinator (almost making her our boss, weird!). We played many rousing games of "Backyard Clean-up". Thanks to the new counselors, it was the most competitive Monday games session I'd ever experienced ... although that also meant it got a bit out of hand. But Miss Aimee handled herself and the sitch very well and I give her an A for the morning! It also turns out that despite trying to employ multiple ways to attain victory shaking one's hips and citing Carley's voice and words by saying "ITS A STRATEGY" does not in fact work or justify many attempts to win. Sad ... maybe its just a kickball thing. (Notably Carley did not bunt in her only atbat of the morning's kickball game, although she did reach first on a blooper single).
1030-1130
For the first time in my daycamp experience morning swim was cancelled! A bit too chilly. Which Im surprised mweant anything, as last year Im fairly it could have been snowing adn we'd have gotten in the water. As a substitute we played ont he playground. Good times, but it turns out that after about 3 minutes, anyone older than 16 gets too tired of or tired from freeze tag ... yet the kids could literally play it all day.
1130-1215
Lunch! AND A NEW RECORD FOR KOOL-AID SPILLAGE! Literally the first cup given to the first girl of orange kool-aid, which was on the table for no more than 2 seconds and had been given only after a two minute lecture about drink spilling, was emptied on the table by a young girl named Sabrina, who then had a second spill at the end of lunch. At least she's consistent. This, fortunately represented 100% of our juice spillage incidents.
1215-1310
GAMES AGAIN! We got to spend an hour playing with the parachute. It wasn't bad, although it was no backyard clean-up.
1310-1405
Craft time ... I love craft time usually. Today we colored in wooden airplanes! WOOO! I whooped Counselor Aaron Gross in the seek and find, putting me at 1-0 for the year ... counselor Lindsay (she's new) proved that while she's got seek and find talent she still needs practice ... and Craft Leader Kate had the quote of the afternoon as she said: "Broken Wing?!? No problem, I can fix that. I've become a real master at aeronautical repair." And in other news I believe the United States Air Force contacted Craft Leader Kate later that day about becoming a chief mechanic on their new F-22 Raptor, a supersonic military jet.
1405-1530
Napped with the other counselors that had the hour off. To which I also took my shirt off as wel as socks and shoes. Tiffany had the quotes of hour about 20 minutes after I did this saying, "Jim what happened? You're naked." I was quite tempted to look down and WHAT? WHO STOLE MY CLOTHES?!
And that ladies and gentleman was the first day of camp.
Here's hoping tomorrow is another fine day of flight. Until then, I remain Captain James P. Boyer of the Starship Comanche. Godspeed.
Stardate: -317443.83 (That's the stardate for June 12, 2006)
And so our new adventure has officially began. Having a full season under our belts, and nine months rest we began our voyage this morning with the utmost confidence, although admittedly I did have a few jitters as not all of of the pre-flight checklist went as planned. Then again, it never does. Nonetheless, what follows is an hour by hour breakdown of the first day in our long, yet all too short journey.
0630-0730
I wake up at 0n 0630, surprisingly on-time and well rested. I did toss and turn some the night before, however I had managed to get to bed early enough to still get the necessary amount of rest in for a Galactic voyage. However, not all was well with those in the same housing as myself. As i arose I made my way to the bathroom, put in my contacts, turned on the shower and began to strip (oh stop it, its a basic part of human maintenance). I had come to a complete state of nudity (easy now) when I realized that nature was in fact calling my name. I sat down on the pot and did my business.
As I stood up and flushed, my almost 19-year-old brother who got his first job this spring, and began working 7:30-3:30 about two weeks ago, knocked and then opened door. So there I am, completely nude, having just used the bathroom and about to get into the shower when he opens the door a crack sticks his head with his eyes at such a squint I'm not sure any sunlight was getting to his pupils and asked very politely (seriously), "Can I have my shower now?" - the implication being he normally showers at that exact minute of the morning and was wondering if he could. Having my smart-eleck side not awake, I didnt not say anything smart about how naked I was and instead said "Naw, wait 5 I'm about to get in". to which case Mr. Hyde erupted from Dr. Jekyll. He growled (I swear to you), slammed the door. Marched to my parents bedroom next door and had the shower on before I could turn around and hop in the shower myself (which was all of one foot away).
After the shower incident my brother left about 07:00, I ate a bowl of hot oatmeal in three minutes (I know, I'm amazing), and had planned to leave about 07:10. Unfortunately I could not find my camp sweatshirt, which I know I had a few weeks ago. This dilemma caused me to forget my mug and not leave until about 07:16, clearly a huge delay in a well timed launch.
0730-0830
I arrived according to camp time, at 0742. Although I am supremely confident this was not accurate. Nonetheless, the mishaps of the mornign we corrected by wearing a white long sleeve under my camp shirt and by having my dear dear friend Miss Counselor Ashton bring my mug from my house.
The interaction with campers began by playing with the building blocks with two male campers. We all found great amusement in how high we could build tower before an "earthquake" would come shake it down (I'd merely, with my butt in place, sway side to side ever so mildly on the benches in the lunchroom. This would chase the unstable atmoshophere of the bench to shake causing the whole structure to become unstable).
I eventually then followed one of the campers out to the kickball game where a counselors vs. campers game had begun. Literally it was like 15 counselors vs. a mob of about 200 screaming 1st graders. As I told Counselor Dave, in this history of Daycamp's top ten ideas, this easily cracked the top five. A little while later, when the campers were switching from either batting to fielding or vice versa Counselor Dave made the wisely hilarious crack, as a couple hundred first graders ran around like chickens with their heads cut-off: We have a name for this, it's called CHAOS!
0830-0930
Pow-Wow time! This meant the starburst name game, which lasted all of five minutes ... followed by the ball name game, which lasted about 10 minutes ... followed my improv of Simon Says, lasting about 15 minutes ... and then a rousing game of follow the leader. I didn't think it was possible to wear out Monday Campers, but we did, if even for a brief few moments. After Follow the Leader they were wiped and begging for mid-morning nap time! YES! SCORE TWO FOR ASHLEY/JIM!!!
0930-1030
It's games!! And the opening at bat for ex-counselor Aimee who is now the games coordinator (almost making her our boss, weird!). We played many rousing games of "Backyard Clean-up". Thanks to the new counselors, it was the most competitive Monday games session I'd ever experienced ... although that also meant it got a bit out of hand. But Miss Aimee handled herself and the sitch very well and I give her an A for the morning! It also turns out that despite trying to employ multiple ways to attain victory shaking one's hips and citing Carley's voice and words by saying "ITS A STRATEGY" does not in fact work or justify many attempts to win. Sad ... maybe its just a kickball thing. (Notably Carley did not bunt in her only atbat of the morning's kickball game, although she did reach first on a blooper single).
1030-1130
For the first time in my daycamp experience morning swim was cancelled! A bit too chilly. Which Im surprised mweant anything, as last year Im fairly it could have been snowing adn we'd have gotten in the water. As a substitute we played ont he playground. Good times, but it turns out that after about 3 minutes, anyone older than 16 gets too tired of or tired from freeze tag ... yet the kids could literally play it all day.
1130-1215
Lunch! AND A NEW RECORD FOR KOOL-AID SPILLAGE! Literally the first cup given to the first girl of orange kool-aid, which was on the table for no more than 2 seconds and had been given only after a two minute lecture about drink spilling, was emptied on the table by a young girl named Sabrina, who then had a second spill at the end of lunch. At least she's consistent. This, fortunately represented 100% of our juice spillage incidents.
1215-1310
GAMES AGAIN! We got to spend an hour playing with the parachute. It wasn't bad, although it was no backyard clean-up.
1310-1405
Craft time ... I love craft time usually. Today we colored in wooden airplanes! WOOO! I whooped Counselor Aaron Gross in the seek and find, putting me at 1-0 for the year ... counselor Lindsay (she's new) proved that while she's got seek and find talent she still needs practice ... and Craft Leader Kate had the quote of the afternoon as she said: "Broken Wing?!? No problem, I can fix that. I've become a real master at aeronautical repair." And in other news I believe the United States Air Force contacted Craft Leader Kate later that day about becoming a chief mechanic on their new F-22 Raptor, a supersonic military jet.
1405-1530
Napped with the other counselors that had the hour off. To which I also took my shirt off as wel as socks and shoes. Tiffany had the quotes of hour about 20 minutes after I did this saying, "Jim what happened? You're naked." I was quite tempted to look down and WHAT? WHO STOLE MY CLOTHES?!
And that ladies and gentleman was the first day of camp.
Here's hoping tomorrow is another fine day of flight. Until then, I remain Captain James P. Boyer of the Starship Comanche. Godspeed.
Hooray for the first day of camp!
Dear Sun,
Thank you oh so very much for hiding just long enough for the kids to complain that swim time was cancelled and then blaring up just enough to make me bright pink. At least you picked a color that matches my tribe's bandanas.
Sincerely,
-Sherrie-
...
Really though, it was a good day ... our campers were great until about the last 20 minutes I was with them, and I couldn't ask for a better co-counselor. I wish I had a story to share, but really about the only thing story-worthy was when Ryne threw a ball at Aimee and she told the campers Ryne was going to be in trouble later to which one of our campers asked Ryne "Is that your mom?" I'm pretty sure the camper was dead serious, which is fairly amusing since Ryne's a year older than Aimee.
Oh wait, we also had a die-hard Cardinals fan. When Ryne laid down the Cubs blanket he brought for the kids to sit on, Brady asked me, "Can I just stand?"
Used to strange requests by campers, I replied, "Sure."
"'Cuz I'm a Cardinals fan, so I can't sit on that blanket," he explained.
To his relief, Ryne had also brought a sleeping bag with no Cubs endorsement so he felt it was alright to sit on that. Later he asked Ryne to wear his Cardinals hat while he played with the parachute.
"No, I'm not wearing your Cardinals hat!"
Really I'm not sure what the kid expected after making such a big deal about the blanket. It was pretty amusing, though. :)
...
Here are a few pictures:
...
PS. The cuteness factor of Monday campers is extremely high.
Thank you oh so very much for hiding just long enough for the kids to complain that swim time was cancelled and then blaring up just enough to make me bright pink. At least you picked a color that matches my tribe's bandanas.
Sincerely,
-Sherrie-
...
Really though, it was a good day ... our campers were great until about the last 20 minutes I was with them, and I couldn't ask for a better co-counselor. I wish I had a story to share, but really about the only thing story-worthy was when Ryne threw a ball at Aimee and she told the campers Ryne was going to be in trouble later to which one of our campers asked Ryne "Is that your mom?" I'm pretty sure the camper was dead serious, which is fairly amusing since Ryne's a year older than Aimee.
Oh wait, we also had a die-hard Cardinals fan. When Ryne laid down the Cubs blanket he brought for the kids to sit on, Brady asked me, "Can I just stand?"
Used to strange requests by campers, I replied, "Sure."
"'Cuz I'm a Cardinals fan, so I can't sit on that blanket," he explained.
To his relief, Ryne had also brought a sleeping bag with no Cubs endorsement so he felt it was alright to sit on that. Later he asked Ryne to wear his Cardinals hat while he played with the parachute.
"No, I'm not wearing your Cardinals hat!"
Really I'm not sure what the kid expected after making such a big deal about the blanket. It was pretty amusing, though. :)
...
Here are a few pictures:
...
PS. The cuteness factor of Monday campers is extremely high.
Sunday, June 11
Friday's Frollies
I just wanted to recount the wonderful times of Friday morning's training.
First and foremost, I'll catch anything remotely in my area in kickball ... total all-star ... put me at the plate and I pop out 9 times out of 10. Haha ...
We are going to start the first ever Camp Lacrosse team with our new junior lacross sticks!
Counselor Dave has not in fact in killed any children with his car.
Bunting, while normally not allowed in kickball ... especially when it's 4 on 5, or similar numbers, is a completely legal kick for Counselor Carley, who upon getting to first base shoke her hips from side to side and slowly said while she danced, "Its a strategy". (I wish we had an aud/vid uplink to demonstrate the hilarity of this.
The Kimbo/Carley/Jim captained kickball team is an unstoppable force. WOOOOO!
Oh my, I cant wait for camp to start tomorrow!
First and foremost, I'll catch anything remotely in my area in kickball ... total all-star ... put me at the plate and I pop out 9 times out of 10. Haha ...
We are going to start the first ever Camp Lacrosse team with our new junior lacross sticks!
Counselor Dave has not in fact in killed any children with his car.
Bunting, while normally not allowed in kickball ... especially when it's 4 on 5, or similar numbers, is a completely legal kick for Counselor Carley, who upon getting to first base shoke her hips from side to side and slowly said while she danced, "Its a strategy". (I wish we had an aud/vid uplink to demonstrate the hilarity of this.
The Kimbo/Carley/Jim captained kickball team is an unstoppable force. WOOOOO!
Oh my, I cant wait for camp to start tomorrow!
Friday, June 9
Monday, June 5
It's Starting!!!
Training started last Thursday, and camp officially starts one week from today!!!!
Who's excited??? I know I am!! :o)
Who's excited??? I know I am!! :o)
Friday, February 24
It's Almost Time!!!
I know people probably aren't reading this yet, but keep an eye on the mail, because the letters for this summer are coming out. I can't wait until this summer!
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