Our stake held YW camp at a new location this year. The location was a bit more urban than in previous years, a fact which had its pros and cons, but in general it was a great year. We had about 150 girls attend, along with another 40+ leaders or so. The first levels are wearing the light blue t-shirts, orange is second level, pink is third level, green is fourth level, and purple was for the YCLs.
We had 27 girls from our ward attend.
(7 YCLs, 3 fourth levels, 4 third levels, 3 second levels, and 10 first levels).
With the 10 first level girls from our ward, we made up over 1/4 of the 39 total girls that age!
Emma had a great group of girls her age...
and was lucky enough to get two of her best friends in her cabin!
The girls in our cabin (shown below) were energetic and didn't seem to need much sleep, but they were also amazingly in-tune with the spirit and it wasn't that infrequent that I heard in amongst the discussions about which boy was cutest, discussions about certain passages of scripture.
It was a joy to watch them develop their talents...
strengthen their friendships with one another....
and push each other to do hard things.
I was in charge of the hikes this year; a task I had thought would be fairly easy. With the distance between the campsite and the hikes, though, even getting to the hikes turned out to be more of a logistical feat than I had originally expected. That and the trails weren't super well-marked, so I felt like I needed well-written trail notes for people to follow. In the end, I planned a five-miler and a three-miler. There was no shortage of complaining before the hikes began, but I was surprised by the girls' stamina and positive attitude while they were actually on the hikes. I enjoyed both hikes immensely--not only the beauty of the trail, but also my trail-mates!
One of the afternoons, most of the campers were participating in archery activities. The first-levels, however, were too young and as such they got to participate in a "Cupcake War" instead. And who better to lead a cupcake activity than Cami?
She hauled all of our baking supplies to camp for the day and led them in an engaging afternoon of creative baking and decorating.
Cami and the girls seemed to really enjoy it and it was fun to see the beautiful culinary creations they came up with!
It was my third year of attending camp and I'd probably have to say my most favorite yet.
I was happy to be there with these girls...
and especially to be there with Emma.
I looked tired, grungy, and old in this picture, but it was 100% all me.
No make-up. No shower. Grungy clothes.
Pretty much the face Glen wakes up to every morning. Lucky him.
********************************
Facts about 2015 YW Camp:
Theme: "Courage to Become"
Location: Prince William Forest Park
Dates: July 6-10
My cabin: I stayed with a group of 3rd levels (including Emma)
My roommate: Julie M from OM ward
My responsibilities (besides helping my ward girls): Hikes, finding and hiring lifeguards, helping with third levels
Classes/Activities: Zumba, Yoga, Watercolor Painting, Sketching, Kayaking, Archery, Hiking, Lake time, Cupcake Wars, Certification time, CCC {Civilian Conservation Corps} class, plus some others that I'm forgetting
Total girls: about 150
Girls from my ward: 27
Best moment: the satisfaction of the hikes being done with little complaining and zero mishaps (as far as I know). I also loved hearing their happy chatter along the way!
Most frustrating moment: a big misunderstanding with someone about some equipment that was supposed to arrive on Thursday
Weather (in general): It was hotter and more humid than the past two years I've attended camp, which meant I was covered with a layer of sweat from head to toe 24/7.
Weather miracle: Wednesday was scheduled to the hilt with outdoor activities, but since it was predicted to rain we shuffled things around to get it done early. At home, a mere 30-miles away, it rained torrents and torrents and even closed many low-lying roads in the afternoon, but at camp it didn't rain a drop until nighttime when we were all in for the night.
No comments:
Post a Comment