June 14, 2008

Prior to breakfast we had a volunteer meeting to run over some last minute details. Following breakfast we had an all camp meeting, cabin, and committee meetings. After the lunch the campers started arriving, YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY! I am in a Blue cabin again this week, have the oldest campers (15-17 year olds), and the session is Liver Transplants and Arthritis.
The first camper to arrive was in my cabin and has been to camp since it first opened five years ago. One notable comment that stood out to me in our conversation was he mentioned when he is at home and wishing he was at camp he goes online and looks at the website. I’ve said it before but comments such as this really helps me appreciate how I am devoting my summer to continuing the impact that these camps have on these children’s lives.
There was a “block party” going on down cabin row so we all hung out in and around the cabin while the remaining campers arrived (although only 4 of the 6 of them did). After a fire drill and dinner, we started off with the camp fire which featured skits related to the weeks theme and camp policies.
The oldest campers get a late night activity each night here so tonight we had smores around the camp fire when the younger campers left then went to the dining hall to do "get to know you" type activities with everyone. We ended up combining the blue cabins 3 and 4 tonight since there were only 7 campers between the two and over 8 counselors (I guess enough coverage won’t be an issue this week).
There were a lot of laughs before and during the cabin chat. We have what looks like a pretty great bunch of campers this week. After we got them to bed (between 11-12) we had a cabin meeting and a meeting for the oldest camper activities.