The "Adventurers" is Over!

I missed the initial invasion on Sunday of 178 kids ages 5 to 9. But I arrived at work Monday morning to hear them laughing, and screaming, and running about as they headed to breakfast…and then cabin clean up…and then morning games…and then lunch. This was followed by a break for rest period, but it wasn’t very long before the laughing, and screaming, and running about started all over again with afternoon games…free time…canteen…dinner…and then I went home!

It all ended yesterday. Since they’re younger, we only have them here until Wednesday. It started with breakfast and clean up as usual, but it ended with a closing rally, picnic lunch and lots of playtime before camp cleared of kids. Settling everything back down took until the end of the day. And when I arrived at work this morning, the place was like a tomb. No screams. No laughing. No hundreds of kids and staff running all over the place. The day has crept by at an alarmingly slow pace… Remind me yet again of how full and wonderful life is with kids – and how dull and boring it is without them!

I’m not sure what the kids would qualify as highlights of their week, but I have a few to share:

• A little girl running up to Pete at breakfast Tuesday morning and proclaiming to him that she is now a Christian!
• Three or four little boys running in the woods near my office window, one of them shouting, “We have to stay together, boys! We have to stay together!”
• Kellen (one of the summer staff) duct-taped to a wall. (She was being “gift wrapped” as part of carnival.)
• Two counselors marching from breakfast back to their cabin with their nine little boys lined up between them, shouting as they marched “Hup-two-three-four! Hup-two-three-four!”
• Hudson locking himself in the bathroom. (Okay, that was not really a part of camp. Hudson is Aaron’s adorable 2-year-old who was here Wednesday morning who first simply locked the bathroom door so Aaron had him help jimmy it open with a credit card and then he locked himself inside…)

It’s going to be a fun summer, even if I don’t get out much to actually be with the kids. Just hearing them and seeing them brings joy to my heart. I’m going to hate it when it’s over!

Weddings!!!!

I think it’s safe to say it was an exhausting whirlwind of a weekend. For when I got home I slept a grand total of 12 hours between 1:30 and 6:30 the next morning when I got up. Not only that, but I can hardly remember driving home. I just know I did, and – praise God! – safely!

I headed to Boston Thursday morning. It was more than 12 hours of travel that day between my car, two airplanes, a bus, the subway and a commuter rail. Now I’ve been on the T in Boston many times, so the whole process wasn’t completely foreign. Doing it from the airport with luggage was different. But I arrived safely, got picked up, grabbed a bite to eat and got into bed about 10:30. Not bad, except it was a new place and a new bed and I couldn’t sleep. So, not only did I start out the weekend with two 12-hour work days behind me, I got only four hours of sleep!

The rehearsal was quite smooth. Anna knew what she wanted and we were done within an hour or so. The rehearsal dinner was a bit long. It was at a very nice restaurant and we had lots of food. People gave toasts. The groom’s party discussed Star Wars. I can’t remember everything we girls chatted about. Then we headed back to Gordon Conwell (the seminary Anna and her new husband David attend).

For a “bachelorette” party, we sat out in a glassed-in room of one of the buildings and painted on canvas. Since it was the first time I had ever done such a thing, my rainbow looked like a picture a 3^rd grader would do. Then we joined the guys (who had been at a shooting range – how come we couldn’t do that?) for dinner. We couldn’t get into the hall where the reception was going to be until 10. (For some reason the donors of the college are more important than we.) So, it was a late night…followed by an early morning.

In all honesty, I think everything went very smoothly. We bridesmaids were ready by 9:15. We drove to the church where Anna finished getting ready. Then we had pictures. The weather cleared beautifully so we could walk Anna outside and around the church to walk the aisle. I didn’t have butterflies in my stomach at all, but I knew no one was looking at me anyhow. And I was too busy trying not to cry. I didn’t manage that, although I held most of the tears back from rolling down my cheeks. This was accomplished by looking at the floor a lot. Anna was a beautiful bride. The service was quite long (Anglican!), but we all remained standing for the full hour and fifteen minutes. More pictures. And then the reception!

The reception was quite nice – good food and dancing (which I didn’t do). Didn’t cry at all there but laughed hilariously when Anna’s grandfather sat down with a plate full of all four different kinds of pies being served (this was after he already had a slice of cake!). He concluded they were all equally good. We saw the bride and groom off about five o’clock, cleaned up and collapsed at their new apartment on campus about 8:00. I guess we bridesmaids hadn’t had enough of weddings because we watched 27 Dresses. Truthfully, we just wanted to watch something that was more-or-less pointless.

The next morning I was up at 4 to catch my flight back to Minnesota. Hence the twelve hours of sleep later. But it was a good trip. I’ve just re-reached my conclusion that there has got to be a way to have a wedding and get married without falling over from exhaustion when it’s all over. Right?

Busy, Busy, Busy

I barely have time to write this, but I'm waiting for Pete to send me a list so I can finish up cabins, run a million and one reports and then go home, pack and fall exhausted into bed. WELCOME SUMMER!!!

Well, sort of. It's somewhere below 60 and raining today, but I'm beginning to think that's what summer looks like in Minnesota. I will say the lilacs are GORGEOUS!!!!! Haven't seen any in four years and I feel as  if I'm in heaven with them all!

But as far as the office goes, it is beginning to look a lot like summer. Staff is all here, running themselves ragged because they're college students who seem to believe they don't have to sleep...which has caused at least one large conflict. On Sunday nearly 180 first to fourth graders arrive! Thus the million and one reports, and cabins, and all that stuff. Which I have to stay to run as long as it takes tonight. Why? Well, I'm flying to Boston tomorrow to be in a wedding on Saturday. Not great timing, but at least I'll fit in with the staff when I get back: no sleep and exhausted!

Typically these hundreds of reports will get run on Saturday evenings and finalized on Sundays before check-in starts at 4. This week, everything gets run this evening and poor Andrea will make changes by hand with last minute stuff. Which means we have a lot to get in order tonight. Funny, but she's left confident she can spearhead check-in than I am and she was here all last summer. But I've learned one thing in life: look and sound confident. Even if you've no clue what you're doing!

So, now I shall check my e-mail and see if I can't get started...

Field Trip!

I knew my job here at camp would include a lot of variety – something I was looking for in a job. But, being every a good office employee, I never imagined it would include field trips!

Today, Lisa took me on a tour of Long Prairie, a good-size little town about 25 miles northwest of camp. (When I say “good-size” I mean a population of just over 4,000 – ten times larger than most towns around here, including the one I live in.) The point of this field trip was to see some sites she hopes to give a tour of during our two women’s retreats this fall. It was a fun day and very educational. Just like a field trip should be, right?

First stops: Amish farms. I didn’t realize there were so many Amish up here, but there are – complete with their buggies, and white houses, and farms, and wonderfully crafted woodwork. Since the Amish don’t have electricity and, therefore, no internet, Lisa found these on the Long Prairie Chamber of Commerce. That equals surprises.

For instance, at the first one there were two vans in the driveway and the girl that came out to greet us wore jeans and a shirt a little too short. Now, granted, this particular Amish family have been “enlightened” and are somewhat “shunned” by their old neighbors. But this enlightened? Thankfully, no (although they do now drive vehicles). The Amish family was up in Michigan helping at a camp for a year. The family living there were former missionaries watching the house and working with Hispanics around the state. However, we did get to see the woodwork of the Amish man: coffins. He does those almost exclusively now. I have to say they were VERY beautiful. And, although expensive for something you just bury in the ground, cheaper than most.

After a stop at a farm that no longer does woodwork, we were led to the shop just up the street. The owner wasn’t there, but his brother was working on a set of drawers. We looked around at the beautiful pieces: a gun showcase that wasn’t complete (no windows or lights yet), a lovely desk with lots of cubby holes, a dining room table set just the style I would love, and – my dad will LOVE this – a table with two sets of legs. Why? Well, I asked the man if the dozen leafs sitting on top of the table all went to it. Yes, indeed. Completely pieced together, it stretches 18 feet!!!! I also had to ask him if he had ever made a roll top desk (my dream). He shook his head. He said they didn’t have the proper tools to make the roll. However, he added that he wished they did, for lots of people ask for them.

The last Amish farm was truly educational. They, too, had beautiful woodwork, most of which were beautiful hope chests carved with roses and Bible verses. Inside the shop, two signs hung. One asked for the donation of empty pint jars (for all the jams, jellies and honey they produce). The other asked for Singer treadle sewing machines. We got to talking to the woman about the machines, asking for details as there are so many quilters that come to camp, you never know what they might have. This got us an invitation into the house to see exactly what the woman would desire. I’ve certainly never been inside an Amish house. It was simple, of course, with beautiful wood floors, cabinets and a few furnishings. It was very open and the two machines she has were each sitting beside windows. Except in a museum, I don’t believe I’ve ever seen a sewing machine that doesn’t run by electricity. And now we know exactly what to look for.

The last stop we made was at a Vinegary. The man there makes homemade vinegars. These vinegars are wine based (but non alcoholic) from grapes, mixed fruits, tomatoes and anything else one can possibly think of. Once they are vinegars, he infuses them with other fruits, vegetables and herbs. We tasted dill/apple, tomato/basil, jalapeno, raspberry, cherry, sage, thyme, horseradish, ginger and a few others. All the herbs and much of fruit they grow on site. I also learned that you can grow a garden in bales of hay. That’s my kind of gardening – no weeding!

Like most field trip days, it was a bit exhausting. But it was very educational and a lot of fun. And I get to do it all over again in the fall…Lisa asked if I would like to be one of the drivers!

Thank You