Sunday (June 22) marked the start of week 1.3 here at camp.This week I was assigned to a two week group of TST (Teen Service Team) girls. They will be here until July 4th, when they head home.
The time I have spent with them has always been an adventure. I haven't really been able to figure out what to expect from these girls, but was able to spend all day today with them, which was AWESOME! Before I get into today, I'll cover everything between Sunday and today.
On Sunday night, the CoCo K staff was up there until after 10 thanks to dishes. Of the five of us doing dishes, three of us had fun singing Disney songs and laughing rather hard. It defiantly made the dishes go by faster.
Monday through Thursday were normal days for me, and I defiantly enjoyed higher ground on Monday night. Thursday evening was a bit rough. I was a bit tired, wanted to curl up in a ball and sleep, and was a bit frustrated, but when I got a letter from Leesy (a very good friend of mine), and had the chance to read it, I felt at least a little better.
Friday I ended up working from 3:30 until 10 in the New Fro kitchen, which I hadn't found out about until under 24 hours before hand. Sometimes life happens and you have to go with the flow and be flexible. I did my best, but was a little frustrated by the lack of a heads up that I would be needed in New Fro for the afternoon/evening shift on Friday. It was during my shift in New Fro on Friday that I ended up doing front of house stuff, which I haven't done much of, so I was learning as I went. There were times that I wanted to do a face palm (you know, that thing where you hit your face with your hand as if to say "What are you thinking?"), but didn't.
Today was a particularly good day since I didn't have to be in the kitchen and actually got to spend the whole day with campers! I still got up at 7 for breakfast. Since the cabin I'm paired with through the fourth didn't get to breakfast until a bit later, I was able to get some solo time in, which I really needed. The rest of the morning was spent hanging out with the campers, and doing a prayer walk. After lunch, we hopped on the buses and drove to Rose Lake, where we went tubing (it was my first time on a tube in several years), and hung out on the beach. After eating dinner at the beach, and coming back to camp, we had some down time in the cabin that the campers I get to spend time with each day are in. It was fun to get to interact with them there, and get to know them a bit better during that time. After that, we had movie night, and watched the Lego Movie.
I'm looking forward to a good nights sleep tonight. Hopefully I'll remember to write another post next Saturday about how this groups second week goes.
Saturday, June 28, 2014
Friday, June 20, 2014
Week 1.2 conclusion
Today concluded week 1.2. Last week there was a group from Indiana here that was technically week 1 for the activity staff. But for the rest of us this was week 1. Therefore the term week 1.2 came into existence.
I got to spend my afternoons/evenings (from 3:30pm to somewhere between 8 and 9 pm) in CoCo (Copper Country's) kitchen cooking and making tons of cookies for campers to enjoy. Don't ask me to make cookies for at least a month after I get home because I won't want to make any. I also spent some time with a cabin of nine girls that were amazing. These girls defiantly had some good questions and got me thinking about the way I think about and understand things. I also got the chance to go for a horseback ride. It was the first time I had ever been on a horse, and so as I climbed on, I was a bit nervous about how I would do. I ended up doing just fine and had a lot of fun. Just getting on a horse got me out of my comfort zone, and so getting on a horse then going on a trail ride was something completely out of my comfort zone. Yet, I had promised myself that I would go on at least one trail ride this summer. So it was good that I was able to get out of my comfort so early in camp.
This morning, the cabin I helped with, their brother cabin, and I sat in the chapel for a while with paper plates and pens. Each of us wrote our name on a paper plate, then we passed the plates around and each person wrote on each plate. It is great to read what the campers and other staff I worked closely with this week wrote to me.
One of the campers wrote something on my plate that got me. The camper wrote:
Erin,
Even though I don't know you that much I know you are truly a smart person with much wisdom. Your input at the campfires really affected me.
-camper name
I now know what my schedule will be for the next two weeks. I will be up in CoCo kitchen Sunday through Thursday in the afternoons/evenings and have Friday and Saturday off, which is great.
I got to spend my afternoons/evenings (from 3:30pm to somewhere between 8 and 9 pm) in CoCo (Copper Country's) kitchen cooking and making tons of cookies for campers to enjoy. Don't ask me to make cookies for at least a month after I get home because I won't want to make any. I also spent some time with a cabin of nine girls that were amazing. These girls defiantly had some good questions and got me thinking about the way I think about and understand things. I also got the chance to go for a horseback ride. It was the first time I had ever been on a horse, and so as I climbed on, I was a bit nervous about how I would do. I ended up doing just fine and had a lot of fun. Just getting on a horse got me out of my comfort zone, and so getting on a horse then going on a trail ride was something completely out of my comfort zone. Yet, I had promised myself that I would go on at least one trail ride this summer. So it was good that I was able to get out of my comfort so early in camp.
This morning, the cabin I helped with, their brother cabin, and I sat in the chapel for a while with paper plates and pens. Each of us wrote our name on a paper plate, then we passed the plates around and each person wrote on each plate. It is great to read what the campers and other staff I worked closely with this week wrote to me.
One of the campers wrote something on my plate that got me. The camper wrote:
Erin,
Even though I don't know you that much I know you are truly a smart person with much wisdom. Your input at the campfires really affected me.
-camper name
I now know what my schedule will be for the next two weeks. I will be up in CoCo kitchen Sunday through Thursday in the afternoons/evenings and have Friday and Saturday off, which is great.
Tuesday, June 17, 2014
Severe Weather and a youth director
There are two things I wanted to cover in this post.
Right now (9am) we've got a severe weather warning here at camp. So there is a group of the staff (including me) who are sitting in the New Fro staff lounge (also known as the crack house). I'm glad to know that everyone is doing the same thing as me at the moment. If there weren't other people here, I'd be running through the rain to the dinning hall.
The other thing that I wanted to mention is about a former youth director at Trinity Lutheran (Hillary) who died in the fall after an accident in Florida. It wasn't long after I arrived at Spring Hill that I met another Hillary. There are moments when I see Hilary here and think I'm seeing youth director Hillary.
Right now (9am) we've got a severe weather warning here at camp. So there is a group of the staff (including me) who are sitting in the New Fro staff lounge (also known as the crack house). I'm glad to know that everyone is doing the same thing as me at the moment. If there weren't other people here, I'd be running through the rain to the dinning hall.
The other thing that I wanted to mention is about a former youth director at Trinity Lutheran (Hillary) who died in the fall after an accident in Florida. It wasn't long after I arrived at Spring Hill that I met another Hillary. There are moments when I see Hilary here and think I'm seeing youth director Hillary.
Monday, June 16, 2014
Kitchen update number 1
Well, it's been a long 24/48 hours.
On Saturday cabins got cleaned, and everybody moved cabins. Those of us who are support/activity staff moved into our more permanent housing for the summer. Counselors moved into the cabin that they will be in for the next one to two weeks. Most counselors will move every week. But those who are counselors for the TST program will either have campers here for one or two weeks, so will move after their group of campers have left.
On Saturday, the first group of one week TSTers arrived, and I got to hang out with them for the evening. These kids are defiantly sweet. I connected with one of the campers during dinner on Saturday night, which was great.
Yesterday I pulled a marathon 8 hour kitchen session in Copper Country's (CoCo's) kitchen making 800 cookies and at least 100 bread sticks. Yes, I did get a break to eat, which felt great. At the end of that, my feet were screaming at me to sit down, but I still had to walk back down CoCo mountain to get to the cabin I'll be in the rest of the summer. I'm pretty sure the combination of not wanting to eat the cookies I'm making out of having spent to much time handling them, and walking up and down CoCo mountain will kick my but into shape.
In other news, if you have sent me mail, I will be checking again later today to see if it is in the New Frontiers area, or if it is in CoCo area.
Hopefully everyone's summer is going well, and you are enjoying some beautiful weather!
On Saturday cabins got cleaned, and everybody moved cabins. Those of us who are support/activity staff moved into our more permanent housing for the summer. Counselors moved into the cabin that they will be in for the next one to two weeks. Most counselors will move every week. But those who are counselors for the TST program will either have campers here for one or two weeks, so will move after their group of campers have left.
On Saturday, the first group of one week TSTers arrived, and I got to hang out with them for the evening. These kids are defiantly sweet. I connected with one of the campers during dinner on Saturday night, which was great.
Yesterday I pulled a marathon 8 hour kitchen session in Copper Country's (CoCo's) kitchen making 800 cookies and at least 100 bread sticks. Yes, I did get a break to eat, which felt great. At the end of that, my feet were screaming at me to sit down, but I still had to walk back down CoCo mountain to get to the cabin I'll be in the rest of the summer. I'm pretty sure the combination of not wanting to eat the cookies I'm making out of having spent to much time handling them, and walking up and down CoCo mountain will kick my but into shape.
In other news, if you have sent me mail, I will be checking again later today to see if it is in the New Frontiers area, or if it is in CoCo area.
Hopefully everyone's summer is going well, and you are enjoying some beautiful weather!
Friday, June 13, 2014
Kitchen
Up until today, I had no idea which kitchen I would be in here at Spring Hill. Today I found out where I'll be spending next week. I'll be in the CoCo kitchen the whole week (unless something changes), and will be working the afternoons/evenings Sunday through Thursday (3pm to close), and the morning shift (6am to 1pm).
Here at Spring Hill there are three different camp areas, Copper Country, Story Brook, and New Frontiers. Story Brook is for grades 1-3, Copper Country is for grades 4-6, New Frontiers is for grades 6-9. We call Copper Country CoCo, Story Brook StoBro, and New Frontiers NewFro.
Here at Spring Hill there are three different camp areas, Copper Country, Story Brook, and New Frontiers. Story Brook is for grades 1-3, Copper Country is for grades 4-6, New Frontiers is for grades 6-9. We call Copper Country CoCo, Story Brook StoBro, and New Frontiers NewFro.
Wednesday, June 11, 2014
"What were we talking about? Deer p*!s."
There's a group of us here at camp that get along well. Around the table at meals, we get have so much fun. We regularly talk about a lot of random things that we share in common, like Disney trivia. Tonight during dinner, we talked about what our first decree would be if we were to be president. We've also talked a lot about accents, and have even shared bits and pieces of our stories.
Today in the kitchen, I cut oranges, fill napkin holders, and wash 800 potatoes. The morning went well. But in the afternoon I stood at a sink and scrubbed potatoes. It was fun, but I sure am tired. I'm sure that I will get used to it.
I will have more to post later on.
Today in the kitchen, I cut oranges, fill napkin holders, and wash 800 potatoes. The morning went well. But in the afternoon I stood at a sink and scrubbed potatoes. It was fun, but I sure am tired. I'm sure that I will get used to it.
I will have more to post later on.
Sunday, June 8, 2014
Photos
First days at Spring Hill
The first days here at Spring Hill have been filled with a lot of stuff. So here's what I've been up to:
After arriving on Thursday, I checked in and moved into the cabin I'll be in for training. We also did a talking and walking tour of camp. That was great since I managed to get slightly lost walking from where I checked in to the cabin I'm in. I wasn't too lost. I just went in the correct general direction, but took the wrong path towards the wrong set of cabins. I'm glad that the people that I work with here at Spring Hill are awesome and helped me to figure out where I was going. We also had campfires with our training cabins and with another training cabin where we started sharing our stories.
Friday:
Morning meeting--most mornings during training we get together before breakfast with our training cabin to do a half an hour Bible study/discussion. My cabin is doing Luke.
Breakfast
Basic recap from the walk and talk tour of camp.
Spring Hill History
lunch
Bullying intervention--I never thought I would know this much about how to stop bullying.
Emergency Plan--this isn't to much different from what it was at Wisconsin Badger Camp, so I didn't have to much new information from this session to process.
Dinner
Worship
Bed
Saturday:
Morning meeting
breakfast
Child protection plan--basically covering reporting laws since we are all mandatory reporters. Thanks to working in the nursery at church, I was already a mandatory reporter, so the review was nothing new, but good to have.
lunch
Gospel Essentials--I'm sure there will be some point this summer when I'll have a conversation with one of the kids, and will use some of what we talked abut during this session.
Process of check in/check out with other activity staff
Dinner
Crud wars--the staff got together to smear mud on each other, get sprayed by a fire truck, throw flour, throw wet horse feed, throw water balloons, and throw shaving cream at each other. It was great to get all messy. After it was all over everyone got sprayed down with fire hoses, and headed back to their cabins to take strip and take showers. The cabin I am in wore our swimming suits under our junk cloths so that when we got back to our cabin, we could strip on the deck, go in and shower in our swimming suits to get rid of all the junk left on us.
Today I know we have worship, an ultimate and basketball tournament.
I should post in another few days to cover everything we covered since then in training.
After arriving on Thursday, I checked in and moved into the cabin I'll be in for training. We also did a talking and walking tour of camp. That was great since I managed to get slightly lost walking from where I checked in to the cabin I'm in. I wasn't too lost. I just went in the correct general direction, but took the wrong path towards the wrong set of cabins. I'm glad that the people that I work with here at Spring Hill are awesome and helped me to figure out where I was going. We also had campfires with our training cabins and with another training cabin where we started sharing our stories.
Friday:
Morning meeting--most mornings during training we get together before breakfast with our training cabin to do a half an hour Bible study/discussion. My cabin is doing Luke.
Breakfast
Basic recap from the walk and talk tour of camp.
Spring Hill History
lunch
Bullying intervention--I never thought I would know this much about how to stop bullying.
Emergency Plan--this isn't to much different from what it was at Wisconsin Badger Camp, so I didn't have to much new information from this session to process.
Dinner
Worship
Bed
Saturday:
Morning meeting
breakfast
Child protection plan--basically covering reporting laws since we are all mandatory reporters. Thanks to working in the nursery at church, I was already a mandatory reporter, so the review was nothing new, but good to have.
lunch
Gospel Essentials--I'm sure there will be some point this summer when I'll have a conversation with one of the kids, and will use some of what we talked abut during this session.
Process of check in/check out with other activity staff
Dinner
Crud wars--the staff got together to smear mud on each other, get sprayed by a fire truck, throw flour, throw wet horse feed, throw water balloons, and throw shaving cream at each other. It was great to get all messy. After it was all over everyone got sprayed down with fire hoses, and headed back to their cabins to take strip and take showers. The cabin I am in wore our swimming suits under our junk cloths so that when we got back to our cabin, we could strip on the deck, go in and shower in our swimming suits to get rid of all the junk left on us.
Today I know we have worship, an ultimate and basketball tournament.
I should post in another few days to cover everything we covered since then in training.
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