City Livin'

Camp has been over for a week and I miss it, but I also I feel like summer was a million years ago. J, C, D and I drove home from the woods on Sunday last week and spent some time relaxing, eating out and going to the mall. They flew out on Monday and Tuesday and then I began my week of relaxation. I was reading back to posts at this time last year and I was surprised to see how HAPPY I was that it was over. This year, I was ready for the break, but sad it was over. I will miss my staff, camp, the adventure of summer. It is nice to be home though...

So far this week, I have enjoyed some quality time on the couch with Tivo, eaten pizza, steak, Thai food, and a lot of wonderful fruits and vegetables. I have been to Target 5 times, cleaned my house top to bottom, enjoyed cooking in my kitchen while blaring the Wicked soundtrack, eaten many healthy, entirely organic meals with my roommates, had burgers and malts with my mom, scrapbooked, and generally relaxed. The weather has been perfect and yesterday as I sat in my backyard, my feet up reading a People Magazine and eating cheese popcorn, I couldn't help think life couldn't get any better. I love my camp life but I also really love my city life. I am very lucky to have the best of both worlds.

On Monday, I shall return to the office and get to work preparing for summer 2010. I feel energized and excited and the only thing I am concerned about is figuring out which project I want to tackle first!

It's Over

Camp is over. Yesterday was our last day. It was totally bittersweet. I am exhausted and so are the staff. All week I have been losing motivation to do anything, other than hang out with staff and chat. But at the same time, summer has FLOWN by and I am not ready for it to be over. So it's bittersweet.

Once the campers left and we did or final staff meeting, everyone had about 30 minutes to complete last minute cleaning projects, final packing and then I checked everyone out. Last year, after I dropped staff off at the airport, I had to come back to camp and clean and pack for a full week. But this year, throughout the week we started packing and by the staff meeting, we were mostly done. Aside for draining water from buildings and other important maintenance things my dad has to do, we are ready for winter. I can't believe how easy it was this year. This summer has been awesome, start to finish.

Once everyone had turned in their clipboards, camp store money and end of the summer evaluations, and had loaded their cars, we all stood around, unsure of what to do next. We took a group picture in the same place we had at the beginning of the summer and afterwards, we had our first and only meeting of the Traveling Notebook Club. Program Director S had several friends working at other camps this summer and they had a traveling notebook that they would write in and then mail to each other. She decided we should do the same and so her and D created two, as well as a set of rules and membership cards. I think it is the cutest idea ever and I can't wait to get the notebook! This group of staff is so hilarious and creative!

After that, we all stood in a circle, no one ready to leave yet, but nothing left to do. Goodbyes are difficult. We've been together, 24/7, working, playing, living. For better or worse, we were family this summer and it is hard face saying goodbye to people who you have spent such intense time with.

Working at camp is like riding the longest roller coaster ride ever. Once you get on, you can't get off, you just have to ride, through the highs and lows, when it is fun and even when you are sick of it. There is no stopping once the summer has begun and it is the most intense thing in the world. Being isolated in the woods, with little free time and little contact with life outside camp is difficult to adjust to at the beginning of the summer, but once you do, it's difficult to adjust back to real life.

Today I slept really late, sat on the couch for several hours, played with Olivia for a long time and then started packing and cleaning and getting ready to drive home tomorrow. It is time to go back to the city, back to my office, back to real life. I think I will be excited when I get there but right now I'm still a little sad that it's over.

Best.Night.Ever!

Last weekend, the staff set up the big screen and projector and had an outdoor movie on the field. Several people said, "we should do this with the kids!" I am firmly against using movies in programming. Too often in kid's programs, a rainy afternoon or just a regular day, lazy, uncreative staff plop kids in front of a screen and waste the hours away. I could go on and on, citing sources and child development philosophy about the negative effects of that much time in front of media and why movie time will never be on my schedules. I don't care if it starts to rain at the last minute, or everything gets messed up and you are facing a group of kids with nothing up your sleeve. Play a game. Sing a song. Make something up. Okay, okay, I have to stop, that's not the subject of this post.

My goal this summer has been to plan creative, innovative and exceptional programming that fills kids with wonder and makes them feel as if they are in a magical place. I want them to leave saying, "I've never done that before!" or, "I could never do that at home!" So in addition to regularly scheduled programming, Program Director S and I have tried to come up with random surprises throughout the summer to keep both kids and staff on their toes.

With the wonderful memory of the outdoor movie fresh in our minds, we talked about it for the campers and decided that if it wasn't in place of regular programming and if we could make it special, it could be acceptable programming. We decided that after the talent show on Thursday, instead of showers, then bed, we would let them stay up late and we would turn on the popcorn maker and let them lay in the field under the stars and watch a movie. We decided on "Camp Rock" because of it's 'G' rating, it was about a camp and because neither of us had seen it but wanted to. We sent a staff into the nearest big town to buy it (2 hours round trip), and we decided to make it a surprise for not just kids, but staff too.

After the talent show last night, we stood up and had the following conversation in front of the group:

"Hey, S! You know how it's the last night?! Instead of taking showers and going to bed, we should do something fun" (that got their attention, you should have seen them hanging off our every word).

S said, "they could sweep" (groans from the crowd).

"Aren't you supposed to be the person in charge of all things fun?! Can you do better than sweep?!"

"What about a late night movie with all the popcorn you can eat" she said, as I pulled out the DVD from behind my back.

**DEAFENING screams**

The absolute best part of my job is when we can make an entire group of kids FREAK out and start screaming in excitement.

We sent the kids of to shower and change into PJs and get their sleeping bags and pillows. It had been raining for three days straight, so it was inside, rather than on the field. We popped popcorn and turned out the lights. The kids were so well behaved and totally focused on the movie.

The staff were not. After ten weeks of camp, the best term I can think of is "loopy". We danced in our chairs during the songs, we compared the movie camp to our camp, we joked around and laughed through the whole movie. It was one of the most fun experiences I have had at camp and during the next 8 months until I return to camp, I will think about it every time I am stuck in my office, doing some mundane task involving budgets or paperwork. It was the absolute best way to end the summer and one of the best nights of camp ever.

End of the Summer Anxiety

Right before I left for camp in May, I was anxious and dragged my feet packing and felt hesitant to come to camp. I was nervous about the summer ahead, didn't know what to expect, didn't want to leave my roommates, my house or my life. I got to camp and spent the month of May working hard with A, A and S and was enjoying myself. As staff training approached, I once again started feeling anxious and hesitant, not sure what to expect of the new staff.

And now it is the end of the summer, and that same anxiety, same hesitating to move forward, same nervousness of what to expect is here. It has been a fantastic summer and while I am exhausted, I don't want it to end. I spent the summer playing in the woods, but now I have to go back to the office where a messed up budget of a struggling camp, clueless board members and a mile long to do list await my return. Couldn't it just be summertime forever? Popsicles at the camp store, s'mores and songs by the campfire, sunshine, adventure, brainstorming sessions and constant laughter...

I will miss the staff terribly. We weren't peers and I worked hard to maintain a boundary between supervisor and friend. But they have become my family away from home and I will be sad to leave them. We have been together all day, every day, creating memories, sharing adventures, laughter and frustration. Each summer is a unique experience and only the people who were here sharing it with me can truly understand what summer 2009 was all about. It will be difficult to leave them and not have someone right there all the time, sharing inside jokes, understanding looks without words, and relating to the exact feelings and thoughts we all share because of our bond from the summer. I will leave, the same way I arrived, dragging my feet and sad to switch seasons.

Water Rescue

It was five minutes into lunch and the canoe group still wasn't back. No big deal, we started without them. Then it was 10 minutes into lunch and so one of the lifeguards went to check on them. Then it was 15 minutes into lunch and he wasn't back either, so Program Director S went to check on everyone. Then it was 20 minutes into lunch and the other lifeguard went to look for them. 25 minutes into lunch, I left and went to see what was going on.

When I got to the lake, I couldn't see anyone, so I got into a kayak and headed out to see if I could find them. It was a little bit windy, but there weren't whitecaps on the lake, and the waves didn't seem bad.... until I got about 40 feet from shore, at which point the lake turned into a wave pool and I stopped paddling because I was being pushed across the lake. I am a pretty strong kayaker, but I got nervous as I realized there was no way I was going to be able to turn around and paddle back to shore.

I could see the camp pontoon across the lake, rescuing the canoers I assumed, so I headed towards them. When I approached the pontoon, I could see all of the campers and staff safely inside, 3 kayaks stacked on top and dragging 2 canoes on either side. I climbed aboard and dragged my kayak on top as well and we all headed to shore. 8 campers, 3 lifeguards, 2 counselors, the camp director and my dad (who was waiting on shore)- the ratio of campers to staff was pretty excellent.

One last adventure before the end of the summer. It ended safely and life is good.

End of the Year Party

Last night, we had our end of the year staff party. It was such a wonderful night, and a great example of why the 2009 staff is so awesome!

We started the evening with Praise and Worship, during which I was able to thank them for their hard work this summer and it was a nice way to come together as a staff.

P&W was followed by dinner. Almost everyone had spent the entire day preparing for the evening in some way or another. Some were decorating, some were cooking- so when it was dinner time, we had everything ready to go and we just took it our of the over or refrigerator. We had planned to grill, but it had rained all day, so we moved the party inside. Instead of being in my house or the dining hall, some staff had set up the meeting room table. They set out the plates and silverware, put out candles, flowers, etc. It looked so nice. We had a great dinner and afterwards, I handed out memory books, staff photos, lead staff gifts and nice black fleece sweatshirts for everyone. Everyone was excited to get gifts and look through the memory books and it was wonderful!

This wasn't just a dinner party though, this was a multi-event evening. After dinner, we headed to the art barn, which P, S, and An had spent literally all day decorating. They had hung long pieces of fabric from the ceiling, completely covering the walls. Took out the big tables, and replaced them with comfy chairs and small round tables. They turned off the lights and filled the whole place with candles. Earlier in the day, some of us had made several pitchers of "mocktails" with blended drink mix, and so we enjoyed dessert and "drinks" in the lounge. They worked so hard and it looked beautiful, nothing like the art barn, and it was wonderful!

We eventually turned on the music and had a rockin' dance party. I was EXHAUSTED, but dancing was a blast and they had worked so hard to set up the art barn, that I decided to stay until everyone was done. In the end, it was just S, P, An, J and I dancing like crazy and sweating so much our clothes were soaked. It was so humid and hot, and so we decided to run down to the beach and jump, fully clothed, into the lake. The water was so warm and it was a great way to cool off.

They had planned a late night movie (also in the art barn) and I wasn't planning to go, but after I dried off from the lake, I went back, just to check it out and ended up staying for the whole movie. Olivia was also there, eating popcorn by the handful, which she enjoyed immensely. I didn't go to sleep until 1am, but it was a fantastic night. Everyone worked together to have fun and put together a great last night. I don't usually participate in weekend staff events. It is difficult to hang out and have fun as a peer and then transition back to being the boss. But last night was fun and carefree and I didn't have to be in charge and could just have fun. I am really going to miss this group of staff and I am sad the summer is coming to an end!

Camp Pranks

Last year staff thought it was funny to ambush other staff, pick them up, carrying them across camp screaming and throw them in the lake. That's not a funny prank for so many reasons I don't have enough room to type them all. So at training this year I let the new staff know that if they wanted to pull a prank, they had to get permission from me or Program Director S.

The staff this summer has been creative without being disrespectful, unsafe or destructive. The girls have decorated the boys' cabins with Jonas Brothers posters, replaced tables in the dining hall with canoes, and last week, one of the girls' groups got ready for bed early, snuck into a boys' cabin and hid under their beds. When the boys came in, the girls grabbed their ankles and scared them.

This week, the same counselor who pulled the ankle prank planned to do it again, however, her campers were a little younger and got so excited about the prank that night that they ended up telling the male counselors. I heard this story as they were getting ready for bed on Wednesday night and also found out they were going to wait until the next night to surprise the boys. So I ran over to Counselor J and told him what was going on and that if his boys could get ready quickly enough, I would stall the girls and they could pull the prank on them! I've never seen little boys get ready for bed that quickly! As the girls got ready to head back to their cabin, S and I ran outside and stood in the dark waiting to hear the reaction. Deafening screams followed shortly afterwards by a parade of victorious boys was absolutely priceless. We couldn't stop laughing. It was awesome!

On Thursday morning, the male staff bathroom (not to mention the entire downstairs) was filled with the worst smell I'd ever smelled in my whole life. The bloated, rotting carcass of an enormous dead fish was laying in one of the showers. The female counselors that put it there didn't realize just how much it would decompose in just one night. They also didn't realize that when you pull an unauthorized prank at camp, you end up spending your break scrubbing the bathroom with bleach. It was kind of hilarious overall though.

On Friday morning, my dad and I were heading to breakfast. The dining hall is about 100 yards from my house, maybe even less than that, but my dad is like a kid with a new toy and so he drives the 4 wheeler there every morning. He offered me a ride and just as we stepped out of the front door, there was the 4 wheeler, completely covered in plastic wrap. As my dad whined "Who would do that to my 4 wheeler?!?" I noticed that almost all of the surrounding staff cars had also been wrapped. And when we got to the dining hall, where chairs had been put on top of the tables and then tightly wrapped with plastic wrap. I couldn't stop laughing. I think that was the best prank yet. I knew right away that it had to be the Work Crew. S and I had attempted to plastic wrap a few different things at other times this summer. But the giant roll of plastic wrap is SUPER heavy and very hard to maneuver. The Work Crew is mostly teenage boys, lead by A, who is a strong guy, so it had to be them. I congratulated them on a great prank and they all looked very satisfied with themselves.

Yesterday, activities were running smoothly and I had nothing to do, so S, counselor P and I headed to the camp store to eat popsicles and hang out. We made plans for when the campers went home, to get all of the staff together and take the pontoon over to a nearby rope swing. That afternoon, as I teetered across a rickety balance beam, which jutted out of a hill covered in tree roots, 20 feet above the lake, I would have sworn places like that only existed in movies. Hanging onto the rope, jumping off the platform, swinging out and then dropping into the lake was one of the most terrifying/ fabulous things I've ever done. Afterwards, we celebrated our achievement by going into town and getting ice cream. A perfect end to a crazy week.

When I imagined working at an overnight camp (prior to actually working here) I thought it would be just like every camp movie I've ever seen, with funny pranks, crazy adventures and carefree summer days eating popsicles and swimming by the lake. Last year was 3 months of plunging broken toilets, cleaning up a junk filled property, answering angry phone calls and dealing with crabby staff. I still believed in the mission and loved camp, but I left the summer reminding myself that in the future, I would NOT make life decisions based on movie fantasies. This summer has been exhausting and a lot of work, and there have been a few bumps along the way, but overall, it has been an absolute dream come true. I am constantly, at least one a day, awestruck by something going on around me. I regularly catch myself thinking, "wait, is this real or am I in a movie?!" It has been an exceptional experience and I think one of the best summers I've ever had. It has flown by and I can't believe we have only one week left.

Being a Kid

Camp is a super fun job, but whether I'm having fun or not is mostly based on if kids are having fun and if everything is going smoothly. My fun isn't playing games or doing activities, and that's okay, at the risk of sounding totally lame, I have little desire to participate in most things campers are doing. Even when I was a camper, I can remember standing on the sidelines with the counselors, thinking (even as an 8 year old), "I'd like to be supervising this and if I was, I would do things differently..." I like to facilitate fun, but don't expect to see me playing soccer any time soon.

Every now and then, we have activities that I participate in, like the all-camp jello fight or making s'mores and I enjoy myself as an individual, not as a satisfied overseer. It is times like those that make camp really special, because, as I get caught in the moment, laughing, running, playing and absolutely carefree and childlike, I am always amazed that this is a job I am getting paid for.

This week, my little cousins are campers at camp. They are used to me going out and playing with them on holidays or other family get togethers. And so when we had spontaneous all camp swim last night, my cousin K said, "are you swimming?!" and I answered, "sure!" And it was really fun. We jumped off the dock and she rated my cannonball as "terrific". The staff and other campers were a little surprised to see me splashing around, but it was really fun. Today, during third hour swim time (K's swim time), I turned off the computer and put away the paperwork and headed down to the beach. I spent an hour jumping off the dock, playing "Marco Polo" and splashing around with kids. They were totally into it and it was a great reminder of why I always tell staff that connecting with kids, building relationships and interacting is the most memorable thing for kids, not how elaborate the activities or fancy the facilities. And I am also reminded why this job is the best job EVER! Where else do you get paid to play?!!

Sad

Thursday night. Staff A- "Can we talk?" (sad, sick, stressed out... I can't tell, but this is not going to be a good conversation).

We decide it is best to walk and talk. We're not out of my driveway when she says, "Counselor T is dating K (K is a 17 year old who was in our Leader-in-Training program and then came back later in the summer as a volunteer)." I wish I would have worn my running shoes because this is going to be a long walk.

I started the teen programs last year and encountered a lot of questions about rules and expectations, and so before this summer, I created a VERY long list of what was allowed and what wasn't. I revised the code of conduct, the staff handbook, and created a detailed training to make everything clear to the staff. These are kids we are responsible for. Yes, they are 16-18, and staff are 19+ but they are kids, whose parents sign them up. Staff are representing the organization and ultimately responsible for the kids. No dating. No friendships even. KIDS= OFF LIMITS.

So we walked and we talked about teen programming overall. We came up with some things we want to change and improve and I used the brainstorming session to calm down and figure out what to do with the information I'd just received. When we returned to my house, I got out the staff handbook, code of conduct and paperwork from training. I couldn't have been more clear unless I'd actually used his name.

In real life, a 19 year old dating a 17 year old wouldn't be a problem. At camp, it is a huge problem. We have these rules in place for safety. What if she was 16? What if he was 20? What if her parents called me and freaked out. The bottom line is, staff can't have relationships with kids. He broke the rule. Details don't really matter.

But Counselor T is one of my best staff. He's a great leader, takes initiative, kids love him, he is fun and wonderful and I see him coming back to camp for several years. There are two weeks left and next week we are already stretched thin in staff because of high enrollment.

So I called my old boss K and asked for advice. I like being in charge of camp and being able to have complete creative freedom. However, times like these are not fun at all and I just needed someone to tell me what to do. I explained the situation. She asked what I was struggling with. I said, "I really like him... Hmmm, that's probably not a good answer." She agreed. Ugh.

Firing someone at an overnight camp is not a simple thing to do because we all live here, so there's an issue with transportation and moving stuff and timing. I was so thankful to have K to talk to because I didn't know when or where or how to talk to him and she was able to not just answer my questions, but give me the language and process to use. When our conversation ended, I felt prepared, but absolute sick with dread. I knew he would be sad, that the staff would be sad, and I was really sad too. As Director, I'm not one of their peers, I'm not a friend, and it is my job to uphold the policies of camp, maintain a safe environment and represent the organization in all decisions. But I'm still a person who has connected with these people and I knew it would be difficult to say goodbye.

On Friday morning, Program Director S and I met with him. It was a relatively short meeting. He admitted to having a relationship with her and was pretty much silent as I handed him the highlighted copies of everything he'd already received in staff training. He had tears in his eyes as I explained that he would have to pack his stuff and find a ride. He quietly said he was sorry and then left to pack. It was AWFUL. In some ways I wish he would have thrown a tantrum, insulted me, argued with me, anything to make it easier to see him go.

We had lunch, parents arrived and I put on a happy face as I lead the closing program and then the staff gathered for our weekly meeting. I went through usual announcements and then I reminded them that safety is my number one priority at all times. That with two weeks of summer left, if they needed to review their handbook or code of conduct to do so. I told them that I make all decisions based on the policies of camp because they are there for the safety of campers, staff and the organization. And regardless of my personal feelings, my job is to represent the best interest of camp. At the end of the day, my decisions might not be popular, but my hope is that everyone can agree that I am consistent, fair, and follow the rules.

After I said that, I told them "Counselor T is a very valuable member of the team. His work this summer has been outstanding. I consider him a leader and I have great respect for him as a person and the work he's done. Today is his last day at camp. I will be sad to see him go and he will be greatly missed."

I told them I would bring him in and they could say goodbye. Once he was in the meeting room, I left. I had said all I needed and didn't want them to feel awkward. Later, he came back to my house to apologize again. He had been crying. I felt so sad for him. It's been a fabulously fun summer, and I forgot that my job isn't all about singing and games and laughing and being goofy. I think that this will be a good lesson about professionalism for him. I think that this story will be repeated by staff for years to come and that I've set a precedent that breaking rules will not be tolerated, regardless if you are a great staff or if there's only a few weeks left. I think there's a lot of positive that will come out of the situation. But it feels terrible right now.

T left and the sky was gray and I felt drained. S came to my house and told me I'd handled it well and it would be okay. I asked her if everyone hated me and she said she didn't think so. I felt slightly better. Later, Counselor J, who was T's closest friend, came to my house and just stood awkwardly at my door. I asked how he was doing and he said sad. I told him I was sad too. We talked a while and it was good. He understood. He doesn't hate me. He knows that I still care about T. When he left, I felt better. Counselor D came by a little later and apologized for not saying anything even though she knew. I told her it was okay, it was a tough situation.

I think we will feel his absence in the next two weeks, but I think we will be okay too. It's not a fun situation, but he didn't die or anything terrible. He's only missing two weeks. Camp is still fun. Life will go on.

Project- Organization

When I got to camp last May, the entire place was in shambles. Buildings filled with piles of broken or old or just unnecessary furniture, piles of junk and garbage, shelves and cabinets filled with old papers and basically garbage. Outside there were piles of more broken furniture, more junk, dead boats and vehicles, and rotting wood. It was clear that it had been years since anyone had cleaned, organized, or even paid attention to all of the stuff that camp had accumulated.

I started out motivated and ready for the challenge. I was going to clean up, create systems and get the place organized. Quickly, I realized what a massive project was ahead of me and last summer, I often felt overwhelmed and frustrated. I wish I would have taken pictures the first day I arrived. No one can possibly understand what a terrible mess it was.

Throughout the month of May, my staff and I worked HARD and moved more furniture than I thought possible.I threw away or burned a MASSIVE amount of junk. It was an improvement.

This year at work weekend, I had several big strong guys helping and they moved even more piles, furniture and junk. More improvement.

This week, we have a small number of kids, and instead of putting staff in the kitchen, tripling them in cabins or making them take time off, I decided to assign Counselor A to a special project- organize camp. She loves organizing projects and we've talked about it before, so it was a natural assignment and also something she was excited for. I was excited too because I've wanted to do these things, but just haven't had time.

She has been an organization tornado, swirling through buildings, moving things around, creating systems, getting rid of more junk, going through shelves and cabinets, labeling everything and I am BLOWN away by what she has accomplished. We now have a beautiful and ORGANIZED office/copy room. A room of programming supplies. A books and games area for kids to sit. A specific lost and found site. And so much more. Camp looks beautiful. We also have plans for turning an old building that is being used for staff housing (but should be something else since it is at the front of camp) into a Welcome Center and also plans for a "Camp Archives" which will be a great place for photos, old stuff we've found, etc.

I am so excited to see camp becoming what I have envisioned since I arrived. We are making progress like you can't believe. It is energizing and thrilling and I am so proud of this camp. Less and less often I think of it as "dirthole junk camp" and more as a life changing place of beauty and fun. Each week seems to bring more and more wonderful things and I couldn't be happier.

Mustache Day!

It's Mustache Day at camp! What?!?! And then... why?

It's August and we are in our 8th of ten weeks. If you don't create a crazy random holiday every now and then, you will go crazy. Counselor T has been letting his facial hair grow out this summer and I have been trying to convince him to shave it all off except for a mustache. He didn't want to. And so I created Mustache Day and basically forced him into it.

Yesterday Program Director S and I told all of the kids and staff that it would be Mustache Day and to be prepared. Counselors P and J both shaved their faces leaving just mustaches and even counselor T gave in and did it as well.

Late last night, in typical "late night crafting at camp" fashion, S and I were in the Art Barn, painting a huge sign, making giant fabric mustaches and planning out the day ahead. I don't know why we don't have these brainstorms at a more reasonable hour so we could get to sleep at a decent time, but we don't.

This morning, we headed into the dining hall, Counselor A helping us by carrying the "Mustache Train" sign behind us and blowing a whistle as we shouted, "come on and join the moustache train!" while marching around the dining hall. Kids and staff didn't even hesitate, and so we marched and then S and I got them into a circle and sang (to the tune of Happy Birthday), "Happy mustache day to us, happy moustache day to us. It's the happiest day of the year! Happy mustache day to us." Then we taught them the "mustache dance" which consists of wiggling around your upper lip, while shaking your hips and pointing your fingers in the air. We let campers know that any time they saw the moustache train today, they should do the mustache breakdown and celebrate!

We also set up a "grow your mustache here" sign on our table and painted all of their faces. We designed 6 different stickers (see photo) and throughout the day, we've created mustache challenges (singing songs we've written about mustaches and other silly random things) and if they do the challenge they earn a sticker. We baked cupcakes this afternoon and decorated them with mustaches. At the end of the day, if they have all 6 stickers, they will get a mustache prize (aka- cupcake).

We do a lot of silly things at camp but sometimes they aren't always original and counselors have to be super professional and laugh at the same jokes they've heard 50 times throughout the summer or act surprised at the same stories that have been repeated over and over. So it is extra fun when we can plan something that earns genuine laughter and surprise, which is exactly the reaction we've gotten all day today. It has been awesome. I am enjoying this random, hilarious day so much.

Compliment

Today I got a great compliment. Two girls came up to me and said, "this is our 8th summer coming to camp. It was really fun, and then for a while, it really wasn't, but you've really made camp fun again. Thank you."

So often at camp, I hear kids whining or I receive calls or emails with parents complaining. Good things don't often inspire someone to write or call or give positive feedback. So I appreciated that they made the effort to come and talk to me. Also, teenage girls are definitely the toughest critics, so it was a big deal for them to say that.

Last summer, I heard about the directors from 5 years ago over and over. "When M and B were here..." Kids never mentioned the directors after them, or the director before me. I contacted M and B in the fall and we've talked several times. I have made a HUGE amount of changes to camp since last summer, and so to be told camp was "back to being fun" really made my day!

Exhausted

"At least we won't have to paint at 11pm tonight." Famous last words from Program Director S, encouraging me through my exhaustion yesterday. We'd been up late on Sunday night, painting the code on the field and then finishing schedules.

As we left the dining hall last night (it was nearing 10pm), we discovered that someone had taken down all of the signs (the prayer sign, decorations, photographs, etc) and had left a ransom note at our table, identifying themselves as a terrorist group, demanding cookies.

Our oldest male cabin had chosen the wrong people to mess with. They messed with people who have more free time, no bedtime, a better budget and who are WAY more creative.

Cue to us at my kitchen table, at 11pm last night, painting...

It took nearly two hours, but we put together some very nice "anti-terrorist squad" uniforms. We painted shirts and hats, gathered sunglasses, walkie talkies, fanny packs, and matching shorts. We made several signs and gathered materials and made plans for putting it all together.

At 5am this morning, I briefly considered giving in to the ransom note and going back to bed, but instead, S and I headed to the dining hall where we took down their tale and chairs, replacing it with a red outline and a sign that read, "this table has been removed due to terrorist activity."

When we finished, we headed to their lockers, and put up another big red X and another sign that said, "condemned due to terrorist activity."

Then we tip-toed to their cabin and covered their entire doorway with a really big sign we had painted bars on with the message, "Camp does not negotiate with terrorists."

Our final act was to hang a pair of underwear (borrowed from my dad's drawer) that we had painted "Funk Master P" (the name of the counselor who had lead this bunch) and strung them up on the flagpole.

At breakfast, we had already set up the speakers and music, and one of the JCs helped us by blasting the theme song to "Cops" (downloaded the night before around 11:30pm) as we marched in, in full "Anti-Terrorist Squad" gear, and ambushed their table. When we got to the table, the music shut off, S blew her whistle, and we announced that we would not negotiate with terrorists while we ripped the note up in front of everyone. We tied a rope around the whole group and marched them outside.

It was brilliant.

Even more brilliant, was arriving to the flagpole after breakfast, hearing counselors say (in awe), "is this really happening? Are we in a movie" as they gazed upwards towards the underwear in the sky. Hilarious.

Yes, I am so exhausted I can't keep my eyes open today. But it was well worth it.

MYSTERY!

This morning, campers awoke to a challenge! On the steps of each cabin, there was a box. Inside the box, a letter with their mission. Here’s what it said:

Go to the field.

There is a code on the field, which is the answer to the following riddle:
This is the most valuable treasure on Earth .

Throughout the week, there will be hidden clues all around camp that will help you decipher the code.

Collect these clues and work together to decode the answer to the riddle. The first cabin to do so will be victorious.

Enclosed in this box, you will find items to help you in your mission.

Good luck. Remember to work together as a team…

Inside the box were the following items: a bible, a book of poetry, a chocolate kiss, a photo of Taylor Swift, and a clue notebook to gather information. The items are supposed to help campers solve the riddle.

When the campers went to the field, they discovered a code.

Here is a picture of the kids discovering the code and also a condensed version of what is painted in huge letters on the field.

Kids and staff have been stopping at the field all day, trying to figure out what it means and everyone seems to have a different theory.

Program Director S and I are beside ourselves with pride this morning. This is going to be the best, most elaborate activity ever! At 11pm last night, we were sneaking around to each cabin, delivering clue boxes and then out in the field, getting eaten alive by bugs, in the pitch black, covered in paint and giggling at our own genius! The entire code is close to 30 feet across. It looks super awesome.

Each day, kids will discover clues for decoding. Today, they will find the seventh symbol (a rectangle with part of it colored in) on all of their napkin dispensers at lunch and at dinner, will see Shayla wearing a really big hat with the swirl symbol on it. Hopefully they will realize that the symbols correspond to the items they are on (Napkin and Hat). By the end of the week, they will be able to spell out the answer.

I am eager to see how it goes...

Worst Idea...

Bad idea- piercing your ears with a safety pin while getting ready for bed in the camp bathroom.

Worse idea- lying to the Camp Director when she asks you about it.

Worst idea yet- while said Camp Director is standing in the bathroom watching you carefully braid your hair to cover your ears, whisper to your friends, "did you snitch?"

Here are my questions-

A- Did you think I was going to believe you, or trust the Junior Counselor who you asked to go get you ice because your ear hurt?

B- When you lied and I didn't leave, did you think you had really pulled it off?

C- Did you really think you were playing it cool with that hairstyle and the whispering? Follow up question to that- do you know that whispering is supposed to be MUCH quieter than out loud?

D- Safety pin... SERIOUSLY???

And it wasn't just one camper who did this. Two 14 year old girls thought that would be a great before bed activity.

I told them I knew they'd pierced their ears and I knew they lied to me when I asked them if they had. I told them lying was a worse choice than piercing their ears. They looked like they might cry (I'm not sure what they thought I was going to do, it was 9:30pm and they leave tomorrow morning, but I'm glad I have that kind of power).

I made them take the earrings out. I told them that since they jabbed them into their ears today, they could easily do it again tomorrow when I wasn't responsible for them, but until then, their ears belong to me. They looked at me with angst and annoyance and looked like they might roll their eyes, but luckily had enough sense not to. Tomorrow I will call their mothers to let them know they need to pick up some cotton swabs and peroxide and that they need to have a conversation about good choices and bad choices with their lovely daughters.

Seriously, a safety pin?!?!

Good Staff and Um...

Bitch slapping staff: unprofessional or an effective way of communicating my displeasure?

It's probably not a good sign if I'm really unsure of the answer to that question. Hmmmm...

I have some incredible staff this summer. Focused on campers, creative, constanly dreaming up new ideas and filled with enthuiasm. They not only make my job easy, but they inspire me and make me feel so proud and impressed and they give me hope for the future of this little camp. Their positive attitudes and energy are unmatched. As I type this, a comittee of 5 people are busy planning a staff event for Friday night. They have decided to turn the art barn into an Italian Bistro. They have decorations, menus and food for diners to order, table cloths and placemats, music, and I heard a rumor the Pope might make an appearance. They are creating invitations and costumes. This is all spontaneous because they are hilarious and fun people who I adore.

And it's not just weekend stuff that they put energy into, the work they do with kids is WONDERFUL. They don't just teach archery, they create contests and games at archery. If kids get sick of fishing, they teach them how to craft their own fishing poles, or make paper fish. The ideas I've seen this summer are innovative and impressive.

One of the counselors in particular, P has been consistently amazing all summer. He created a Cabin Council, and each of his boys are elected into a position (President, Vice President, Itinerary Manager, etc.) and they all have a role. He created a whole new activity- bucket drum line. He created a "Man of Virtue" award based on the conversations his cabin had all week about what it means to be a strong man (keep in mind,, we're talking about 10 year old boys here). When the overnight camping trip got cancelled because of rain, he single handedly planed an alternative cookout, boating adventure. He's the most exceptional staff I have ever worked with in ten years, and that's saying a lot because I have worked with some truly gifted people. During his review, I struggled to give him anything to work on to improve or grow, because I literally just want to follow him around and listen as he works with kids and has brilliant ideas. And he inspires the rest of the staff to be creative and focused. I am blown away by him.

Because there are so many exceptional staff here, it makes the ones who are just average or who are getting burned out and coasting along look that much worse. Yesterday there was an incident that made me so mad I was shaking and had to call my best friend and literally scream at her for several minutes before I could calm down. When kids divided up into activities, one girl was missing. I had been dealing with a malfunctioning fire alarm, and when I came upon lead staff S and A, they had already searched the nurse, the bathrooms, the beach and were kicking into the "not panicking, but moving really fast because it's getting serious" mode.

10 minutes.

That's how long our camp couldn't locate a child.

I can't even begin typing why that is terrifying, horrible, and filled me with such rage I wanted to violently shake her counselors. Where was she? SLEEPING IN HER BUNK! Her counselors didn't wake her up. They mis-counted, or didn't count at all, both as the kids walked out of the cabin and also at the flag pole as the kids were waiting to go to their activities. No words can describe how many things they did wrong. Firing both counselors on the spot crossed my mind. I wanted to scream at them. It took ALL of my energy to calmly, patiently meet with them, ask questions, explain where the mistakes occurred, and warn them in such a way that they understood I was serious, but in a guiding, "this is a time for growth and learning" way. I tried to remember they are 19, this is their first job, and it is my job to help them develop. I imagined bitch slapping them as I did all this and that seemed to help.

Imaginary bitch slapping continued this morning as I had the, "you are not allowed to speak to me like that, I am your supervisor" conversation for the 4th time with my head cook (who is also 19). He has a lot of strengths, but flexibility isn't one of them. He thinks the kitchen is his personal 5 star restaurant and his overall attitude is "I run the show, no one (including his boss) is allowed to alter his plans." ...Um, yeah, it's camp. Sometimes it rains and we have to cancel the cookout. Sometimes I need someone to make me a gallon of pudding. And if I say tacos aren't a good lunch for Friday because they take too long and we end up running late with the parent program, I expect an answer of, "okay, we can solve this problem" and not a reaction filled with attitude and the tone of "how dare you." Also, when I say, "can I talk to you about lunch yesterday..." the appropriate response is, "sure" and not, "don't even talk to me, I'm not in the mood" (directly quoted from 8:30am this morning).

Once again, my patient, guiding, "here's what the professional response would be" re-directing voice came out while I imagined slapping him in the mouth and saying, "19 year old, don't push your luck, I haven't even had any coffee yet." I will inspire these young people and I will refrain from striking them, but clearly both are going to be a challenge.

Flexible

Last night as we were sitting in the chapel, it started to thunder and lightening and the sky got really dark. Program Director S and I quietly slipped outside to gather up all of the drying flags that cabins had spent the afternoon painting. By the time we had them all, it was POURING. Our evening activity was supposed to be an all camp game that we play outside. Our other evening activities during the week are a dance party, a talent show and a campfire. None of those was an easy switch, so instead, we had Counselor P tell stories and do comedy improv for the hour. Luckily he is incredibly gifted and enjoys entertaining, so it was a great night.

We woke up this morning to the same downpour from last night, so at breakfast, S and I reassigned activities and came up with a plan until the rain stopped. Counselors got to spend the morning coming up with new activities instead of canoeing or shooting archery and all of the other outdoor activities we do at camp.

Our oldest group of kids go on an overnight adventure every Tuesday night and this morning I received a very well-written note from some of the girls, detailing all of the reasons why they shouldn't go on the overnight. I actually agreed with all of them, so I cancelled it. However, both the boys and the girls want to do something special, so the counselors and I have been planning and re-planning all day. Pontoon trips, camping inside of buildings, cookouts and several other things are on the schedule.

For the rest of the day, we have plan A and plan B in case of weather, and we also have plans C-X, which are all variations. I feel like I've been planning all day and my head is spinning. After several suggested plans, requests and conversations during lunch, I am now planning only one hour at a time and I am prepared for ANYTHING. What a day!

Good Idea/Best Idea?

At camp this summer, we have the question, "good idea or best idea?" Counselors like to come to me and pose this before sharing their thoughts. And so I ask that question about my newest ridiculous idea...

This week at the camp store, I have been experimenting. I gave a few of the more popular counselors red shorts and visors, both of which haven't sold at all this summer, and asked them to promote these items. I wanted to see if we could sell some of the merchandise that is gathering dust on the shelves.

It worked like a charm! And so I took a picture of some of the counselors wearing camp store clothes, and I hung that up too. As I was hanging it up, several campers asked how much the photo would cost. I laughed and asked how much they would pay for a photo of counselors. $10 was the average bid. And that was around the time that the idea for counselor trading cards happened...

If I didn't already have enough to do, I decided to create staff trading cards. Program Director S and I went around and took photos of each staff member and gathered statistics like favorite food and future aspirations for the back. 24 hours later, I was in the dining hall, asking staff if they had been to the camp store lately, as I held up my deck of trading cards.

Absolute pandemonium.

You would have thought I brought out actual treasure. The kids surrounded me, begging for a look and demanding to know how much they would cost and when they could buy them. I told them $500 dollars and then S jumped in and said, "wait! We should have a sale." Cue campers cheering and screaming "Yeah!" So tomorrow, kids will be spending $2 for the set of 17 staff trading cards (including a fat bulldog puppy card as well).

I gave them a preview, allowing them to choose just one staff card to look at, despite begging and pleading to let them see, hold, "just touch" or get near the set. And tonight I will be printing like it's my job... Good idea or best idea? I'm not sure yet...

Jello

6 hours- that's how long it takes to make 40 gallons of jello. The slowest part is boiling that much water- that takes a REALLY long time. It is also a challenge to find enough containers, enough space in the refrigerator (even a big walk in camp-sized one) and of course there is the issue of mixing and then carrying sloshing bowls of liquid across the kitchen while your head cook looks on in disgust.

I ran back and forth from the dining hall to my house most of the day. My hands are stained red and I am sticky, really sticky, but I am also very proud of myself, because I was a jello making machine.

On Wednesday, we will spread the containers across the field and let the kids throw it at each other until they are covered head to toe.

Just another typical day at the office...

Operation Purple

Operation Purple was a success! It was as whirlwind and I'm exhausted, but it was a great week.

I was a little nervous the weekend before the kids arrived. Our camp nurse was going through the kids' health forms and there were many more needs that usual. Kids who had had serious medical issues like a kidney transplant and a cracked skull, and serious trauma like abuse, parents with terminal illnesses and kids who had behavioral problems, in addition to the fact that every kid had a parent deployed. Normally we have a few kids with needs, but this week, it was the majority- 9 or 10 out of each cabin of 12. Add to that, each of the counselors was going to be without a co-counselor because we had so many more kids than usual, so I was anxious.

But the week was great. There were a few more cases of homesickness than usual, but otherwise, there wasn't much of a difference, despite the long list of needs. By the end of the week, the staff was exhausted, but they handled it well, putting on their "counselor faces" and staying positive.

Tuesday was "military day" and it was a wonderful day! When I went to the Camp Director training in February, many people who had done OPC before made military day sound difficult and awful. They told us to have backup plans so that if your military personnel cancelled, you could still have activity and so I was a little nervous. I didn't even technically have a military liaison (a contact to help me arrange the day). I'd called a military family organization and a woman there had said she could help me take care of it, and the next thing I knew, someone was calling to make arrangements to land a helicopter, but I never actually knew who my contact would be. In my wildest dreams, I couldn't have imagined such a well-done day!

The National Guard sent 12 soldiers who had an inflatable obstacle course, face painting, military time bingo, relay races, and MRE packs (meals ready to eat) which I'd been told are impossible to get, but they arrived without my asking. The kids rotated between stations and the soldiers lead them through everything. At noon, the helicopter landed and it was SPECTACULAR! I was as excited as the kids were. The helicopter was there for the day and groups got to get inside, touch everything and I stood and took pictures of every single kid and staff in front of it. I figured if my staff and myself were that excited, the kids would be too. Program Director S and I took over 600 photos over the course of the day. The whole day was so organized and fun and I couldn't believe I had pulled it off as I looked around. Midway through the day, one of my staff asked me very seriously, "did you have to pay a lot for all of this?" which was a good question, and impressive to look around and know it was all free!

More parents than usual dropped their kids off and picked them up from camp, so I talked to 70 or 80 parents. They were so appreciative and had such great feedback. MANY of them had been following the week on the camp blog and had been looking at pictures and it was great to hear that they enjoyed those things (which are time consuming and sometimes annoying jobs that I usually do at 11pm when I am exhausted and want to skip to go to sleep). The entire week was gratifying and while I firmly believe all kids benefit from camp, this week in particular, the kids needed camp and it was an honor to be able to give that to them. I don't have a lot of experience with the military, but this week gave me a new appreciation and made me feel really connected.

Next week is a much smaller group, which will be a good break for the staff. We are entering our 5th week out of ten, so we are almost halfway through.

HOORAH.

Ice Cream

The game of camper trivia works like this- counselors start out asking if they can have the Camp Director help out with a little game they want to play.

Camp Director acts shocked and excited to be invited.

Counselors explain the rules- for every trivia question campers get correct, the Camp Director will get a prize!

Camp Director gets SUPER EXCITED and cheers! The counselors go on to explain that the prize is an ice cream sundae and Camp Director licks her lips shouting, "ice cream is my favorite!"

Camp Director is further excited when the trivia questions are super easy, like "what state are we in?"

When it comes time for the first prize, Camp Director is SHOCKED and her eyes bug out and she screams when ice cream is DUMPED ON HER HEAD!! She continues to FREAK OUT as chocolate sauce, whipped cream and sprinkles are also added.

The kids go WILD. WILD like you can't imagine. They have never seen anything funnier. Even the counselors watching are pretty amused. When the game is finished, campers take pictures and try to take swipes of chocolate off of the Camp Director's arms and they go on and on about how amazing it was and how shocking it must have been and how well the counselors pulled this off.

Camp Director continues to act amazed as she squishes to her house, fights off a puppy (who follows her into the shower, desperate for a few more licks of drippy sugary goodness) and shows up to dinner with a full head of chocolate sauce (which I stand behind as the best plan because it took 20 minutes and two washes to get out, and I didn't have enough time before dinner, so I simply dried the mess off of my body, changed clothes and left my head a sticky mess until I could deal with it in peace after dinner).

Campers don't realize that this whole thing was the Camp Director's idea, that the Camp Director drove the hour round trip to town to get all of the supplies and also suggested that they leave the ice cream out for a while so it would be extra drippy. Somehow those details make it all a little less fun, so Camp Director will continue to shake her head all week and agree when campers say, "those crazy counselors are hilarious!" Because they are, and making kids laugh is by far the best part of my job.

Young Adults

The oldest person on the staff this summer (besides my dad and myself) is 21 years old. This is a young bunch.

Yesterday was a frustrating day and I repeatedly wanted to scream, "where are all the adults?!?" which is a phrase I have heard come out of more than one parent's mouth. It bothers me when they say that (I am always tempted to say, in my most snotty, teenage voice, "um, hello, you are looking at one"), but yesterday, I was right there with them.

Yesterday afternoon, four of us went to the grocery store to buy some food to have a 4th of July barbecue. Between long lines and road construction, it took forever and I was leading an in service from 5-8pm. We got back around 4:45 and I dropped two of the staff off at the dining hall and asked them to take the groceries in with them so that I could go back to my cabin and grab a few things before the meeting.

Around noon today, Program Director S came into my house and let me know that the guys hadn't put anything in the refrigerator the night before, so the pork chops, bratwursts, potato salad and coleslaw (pretty much everything we had bought) were all ruined. That left chips, corn and cake for us to serve. The reason we rushed to the grocery store last night was because it was closed today. I am so frustrated.

I found some hot dogs and ground beef and managed to pull together a full meal, but I just keep shaking my head. Seriously??? They were with me when I bought everything. Maybe it was my fault for not being more specific. I try to give them the benefit of the doubt by assuming that they have common sense, but apparently not. Next time I will say, "please take this to the dining hall AND put everything that needs to stay cold in the refrigerator." Ugh.

Yesterday afternoon, before the in service, I needed to make about 500 copies. I have been working all week (literally all day, every day) putting together information for next week. I had a HUGE stack of papers that I set on the copy machine and planned to copy after the campers left. When it was time to photocopy, my papers were nowhere in sight. I looked everywhere and I finally had to start the training with nothing. I asked the staff if anyone had been near the copy machine or seen my papers. One of the staff said, "oh yeah. Yikes... Um, I made a copy and when I opened the top, I heard, "whoosh" but I assumed it was just scratch paper so I left it." I hadn't thought to check behind and under the copy machine, but that's where all the papers I had worked for 5 days to put together were. Shaking my head again...

My job has many parts, but one of the biggest (at least during the summer months anyway) is working with these young staff, many of whom this is their first job. During training, I talk to them about how it is their job to make sure kids are safe by watching their behavior and preventing them from making poor choices. Their job is to guide campers through the camp experience, helping teach them activities and also to make sure that they help them through any emotions they experience. Our goal is for campers to develop life skills through the activities at camp and that counselors will be patient as the kids learn. All of these are the things that I am responsible for too, but my group is the staff.

They look like adults. They even act like it sometimes. But they are young and they need guidance and sometimes that means I have to take deep breaths and speak in a patient voice rather than lunging at their throats and screaming like a madwoman. It has been an exhausting weekend for that and I am working hard to come up with a motivational speech that reminds them to "use your common sense or I am going to start killing you off one by one."

Is This the Same Camp?

What a week... and it's only Wednesday. Last year I had several "what a week" experiences, but it was due to broken toilets, misbehaving staff, and all around chaos. This week, there have been so many exciting, awesome things going on, I can't figure out if I'm at the same camp or if I'm having a really good dream.

My staff totally rock, they are creative and camper focused like non-other. Today I walked up to a group who were supposed to be fishing, but none of the kids wanted to, so the counselors had them drawing, cutting out and attaching paper fish to sick and yarn fishing poles. They were "catching fish." Brilliant. Later, I went down to the archery range and watched a game that the counselors had created with teams of kids earning points for shooting at targets. I was not your typical boring line of kids standing their shooting.

On Tuesday, I got an email letting me know that we are in the final stages of approval to bring a black hawk helicopter out to camp next week. If we have a helicopter land at camp, my head my just fly off in excitement, and if I'm that excited, I can't imagine what the kids will think! I also got a call from one of the National Guard members I have been talking with and he let me know they would be bringing out a giant, inflatable obstacle course as well as several other cool things for our military day. A little while after that, I got another email, this time from a local congressman asking if he could come and visit as well.

My dad has been saving pennies and desperately wanting a utility trailer for camp and so far, we haven't had any luck. A few weeks ago, I hung a sign in town, asking if anyone had one they wanted to sell. On Tuesday, I got a call from a neighbor and so A and I went to look at it and it was practically brand new! When I googled it later, I found out it is a $1500 trailer. He sold it to me for $450! My dad is going to be so excited when he gets back to camp and sees it!

If all of that wasn't enough to make my head spin, later in the day a gentleman arrived and let me know he has a 16 foot catamaran that he doesn't use anymore and he would like to donate it to camp. I asked if it needed any work or anything replaced and he told me it was in great shape and he would bring it by later this week. Awesome.

There are so many good things going on, I've just been walking around smiling to myself. Wonderful

Mint...

Our youngest campers are 7 years old. No matter how many come to camp, I am still always shocked and slightly apprehensive every time they arrive, barely past my waist, unable to lift their sleeping bags and luggage, tiny little kids.

Scene last night- bathroom. I'm standing by the sinks, keeping the shower-line moving and helping kids as they brush their teeth and get ready for bed.

Teeny tiny, little girl walks up to me and tells me she has no toothpaste. I look in her toiletry bag and find a brand new tube.

Tiny- "Well look at that! I've never seen this before!" She's impressed by her travel size toothpaste which, apparently she's never seen before.

I unscrew the cap for her (in her defense, it was on really tight, even for me).

Tiny (eyes like saucers- she is awestruck)- "White?!? I've never seen white toothpaste before!"

Me- "That's the good kind."

Tiny (mystified, breathless)- "What does it taste like?"

Me- "You should brush your teeth and try it out."

After several long moments of putting toothpaste on her brush (7 year olds move like turtles), she finally puts it in her mouth.

Tiny (satisfied)- "Mint!"

Camp is not just about fun activities and keeping bored kids busy during the summer. Camp is an opportunity for kids to learn life skills and develop independence. I hope that as an adult, Tiny remembers the first time she saw white travel toothpaste, and laughs at her youthful innocence. But even if she doesn't remember the moment, I know, in a small way, her experience at camp has already touched her life.

I Can Sit Down In September

It's officially summer because my lustful fantasies about sitting on my couch doing absolutely nothing have returned. I haven't sat down in a week, and I dream of September when I can put my feet up... But I also really love this part of my job.

Last year, I didn't sit down for weeks at a time and there was a lot of drama, but 99% of it was because of poor planning, poor staff training and completely preventable issues that I was stuck dealing with as I cleaned up the messes of my predecessor. This year, there is still a lot going on and even some drama, however, everything I can prevent has been done and the rest of the situations that pop up are specifically why this job is interesting.

Counselor P has been in the health center resting and recovering since we returned form the hospital in the wee hours Thursday morning. The doctor had said he would be on antibiotics for the next 3 weeks, but he should be feeling better in the next few days. However, he wasn't looking or feeling much better, so when the camp nurse called me in on Friday morning and told me he had been coughing up blood he needed to go back to the hospital, I wasn't shocked.

Fridays are crazy at camp. Organized chaos- I am on top of every detail, but a lot goes on in a short time. Parents arrive at 1 and the closing program goes until 2:35 and getting everything set for the day requires 12 million details all at once. The nurse called me in around 10am, right before the camper closing prayer service. Bleeding staff vs. 12 million details.... I wasn't sure where I was needed more.

I have said the same thing at the camper closing and the parent program for most of last year and both weeks this year and I've pretty much perfected the best combination of serious/meaningful/funny/entertaining that I can. I pretty much lead the entire ceremony, so handing it off to someone else made me a little nervous, but a bleeding staff seemed to be more pressing.

I managed to write about 13 bullet points and rapidly (re- 3 minutes) tell S that I had to go back to the hospital and here's what she would be talking about in my place. I went to the Health Center and checked in with P, ran to my office and then started making a list of what needed to happen in the next two hours and what S needed to do and say for the closing program, but as I got to the second page of notes, I realized P wasn't dying, and whoever was with him would mostly just be sitting around anyway and that attempting to hand this day off to someone would most certainly end in disaster.

I walked into the chapel just as the kids finished singing and S stepped up to the podium. She and I made eye contact and she said, "Okay, now I would like to introduce the Camp Director who is going to lead us in our closing program." I went to the front and said, "welcome. Now I want to introduce A who is going to lead us in the camp prayer." The staff were all sort of shaking their heads at the revolving door or leaders, and looked on as I grabbed S and headed outside. In 40 seconds, I told her that we had to switch, gave her directions to the hospital and made it back inside the chapel to lead the closing ceremony just as the kids finished up the prayer.

Last day activities, lunch and then parents arriving followed. I stood in front of the parents and hosted a very well put together program and then spent the next hour and a half debriefing first with staff, and then with the teen leaders who are here for the weekend. I could almost feel the gloriousness of my couch as I patiently made it through each step of the day. Somewhere during all of this, S called to let me know that P has pneumonia (the tick disease diagnosis from two days before is still maybe correct, or maybe not, we have to wait a week for the results) and would be staying in the hospital for the next few days.

The meetings ended and I realized I should really go to the hospital. S, A and I gathered up some of P's things, headed to the grocery store to buy him some magazines and treats and then to the hospital. Upon arriving, I found out he is in the Intensive Care Unit in a closed room and I would have to wear a mask to go in and see him. He was actually in a pretty good mood and looking significantly better than I'd seen him in a few days, but it was still kind of crazy.

The hospital is 30 minutes away, so by the time I got back to camp, it was early evening. I was excited to still have some time to relax and lay on the couch with my feet up.

Except...

Upon arriving back to camp, I found that the majority of my staff were gathered together as D shaved most of the males' hair into mohawks. Amused, I got totally sucked into the ridiculous situation and Olivia was in heaven because the boy's were in a "let's chase the puppy" mood and so she was the center of attention for most of the night. They chased her while she literally bounced, flopped, flipped and smiled in her bulldog way the whole time. I wanted my couch, but how could I leave all the action?! By the time I got back to my cabin, talked on the phone with my BFF for an hour, checked facebook, etc. there wasn't really time to relax as I was ready to pass out in my bed.

Summer is a crazy, hilarious, dramatic, alternate universe that I have to enjoy while I can and I can sit down in September.

Prank War

Pranks are as big of a tradition at camp as s'mores and mosquito bites. When done well, I think they are wonderful, memorable and what kids will hold in their memory long after they've forgotten about my extensive programming or well planned activities.

However, I cringe at the thought of pranks because, in my experience, they are not usually well done. 19 year old counselors are still learning about boundaries, how to make good choices and are not always aware of how quickly things can get out of control when you are dealing with ten year olds who have no idea of boundaries nor decision making.

Last year, counselors thought picking up other staff members, carrying them kicking and screaming across camp and throwing them into the lake was great. I outlawed that immediately with my new set of staff this year. It's not that I'm afraid to get wet. It's that kids see that and think it's okay to push other people into the water. They see a lack of respect between staff and, even when the staff being tossed in laughs, it's annoying and can ruin your day (and your watch, cell phone, etc.). It's unsafe in a variety of ways and a great example of a bad prank.

This week, the 4th-6th grade girl cabin played a prank on the boy cabin of the same age. Someone had brought several Jonas Brothers posters to camp and the girls snuck into the boy's cabin and hung them everywhere. When the boys returned, there was screaming and 10 year old outrage over the girly posters. Hilarious.

At the staff debrief meeting, Counselor D talked about the prank as her high of the week and one of the other staff said, "wait, how did the girls get into the cabin when they aren't allowed in that area?" D immediately pointed to Program Director S saying, "I got permission from her to go over to that area!" And S immediately pointed to me and said, "yes, but I got permission from her first!" Everyone thought it was extremely hilarious that the counselors came up with the prank and that both S and I had known about it.

I was happy because it was a great example of a good prank. They got permission, didn't cause damage to anything or do anything unsafe. Kids had specific boundaries. No one was singled out, embarrassed, targeted, or hurt. And it was good, clean fun without negativity or any trace of mean-ness.

I fully encouraged the staff to continue with such ideas (letting them know that asking permission is a prerequisite for all future pranks). Counselor T asked what they should do if they wanted to pull a prank on S. I said, "get permission from me." "And what if we want to prank you?" I told them to get permission from S. When I told my best friend X this story, she said it was funny that I hadn't said, "don't prank me" but I think pranks are hilarious and if they can think of something creative, I welcome anything they can come up with- that's all part of camp and why my job is awesome!

Hand Crafting

At full capacity, camp can sleep 144 kids. For the past few years and this summer as well, we will average 75 kids per week. Through luck, prayer, a little bit of negligance from the Board and 62 years of history, we have managed to keep going, despite being half full. It's not ideal, but I have been assured and reassured by the Board and so I know that camp will remain open and I just need to be really focused on turning it around.

Less kids isn't ideal. Obviously financially, it's a struggle, but also I find that the more kids we have, the more energy and excitement fills camp, so when there's a small group, it's kind of dull. However, there are some advantages to the small camp size.

The oldest group of campers go on an overnight camping trip each week. They set up tents and cook over the fire. We own a piece of property a little ways away and it is heavily wooded and the perfect place for roughing it in the wilderness.

We figured out that it is 9 miles away by canoe and the boys this week decided that's how they wanted to get there. I was against it. I thought it would take them 4-5 hours and it would be hot and exhausting and I wasn't sure they'd be able to do it. But they practicied canoeing and assured me they were ready.

They made it 9 miles in 2 hours and 57 minutes on the way there and 2 hours and 27 minutes on the way back. They were exhausted, but so proud of themselves. Counselor P came to me afterwards and asked if we could give them some kind of recognition, "just like a paper certificate or something?" He doesn't know me yet.

I don't like paper certificates. That's the easy way out because they take 5 minutes to type up. And kids end up throwing them away just as quickly, because, well, they are lame.

The awards we give out for program areas are AWESOME. Program Director S made BEAUTIFUL trophies. The golden bobber award (for fishing) is a real bobber, glued to a round wood piece, sprayed gold. Super cool, especially if you are a kid who's used to getting lame certificates.

And so when P asked for something for recognition, S and I started brainstorming. It doesn't hurt that we both love crafting and are impressed by spray painted junk- we are the perfect people to create cool stuff kids love.

S has been dying to try out my dad's wood burner. And so we created the Adventurer Award (see photo). On the back, she burned the name of camp and the date. At the closing ceremony, we recognized the boys and handed out the awards and everyone was super jealous and impressed by how cool they were. This week I had also spent some time making candles that we will use with the Leaders-in-Training group next week. And between the two projects, I realized that maybe having a smaller group isn't all bad. If I had 200 kids a week, I couldn't give such individual attention to kids and highlight the most special accomplishments. And so, for the next few years, I will enjoy the moments I am able to celebrate every little thing. Camp is all about building relationships anyway, so, half capacity, yes, but doing exactly what we are supposed to be- 100%.

Taking Care...

Yesterday, as we sat in the sweltering chapel, I couldn't help but mentally review emergency procedures as I watched the red-faced priest gush sweat as he stood before us. Not more than 2 minutes after I'd contemplated what to do when he hit the ground, counselor P made eye contact with me, mouthed, "I need help" and then exited the chapel. My first thought was, "like carrying something?" until it occurred to me that for P to leave (he was also fully robed, at the front, serving with the priest), was probably serious.

I left the chapel to find him in only his undershirt, sprawled out on the ground. "Whacha doin'?" I asked him. "Well, I started to black out and everything is spinning, so I thought I'd just lay down for a minute" he said, matter of factly. I ran and got him some cold water, gatorade and a wet towel to put on his head while the camp nurse sat with him. Apparently he thought he might have had a fever prior to chapel, but forgot to take his temperature and was just going to make it through. Apparently also he's been feeling sick for some time, even before the 9 mile canoe trip he'd taken the day before to camp with his campers overnight, and the 9 mile trip home. He hadn't been eating much and probably, in hindsight, not drinking enough.

P is my best counselor. He created a bucket drumline activity. He created a cabin council and had his campers elect leaders amongst themselves. He is enthusiastic, camper focused, has a positive attitude, is helpful and genuinely seems to enjoy everything about camp. We walked him in to the health center slowly as he couldn't stand without help and had his eyes closed tightly, upon laying down in bed, he asked, "so what time do you need me back with the kids?" I told him it wasn't a widely known fact, but if you pass out, you get the night off and until he felt well enough to run across camp singing a silly song, he should stay in the health center.

His temperature was 101, and he slept most of the afternoon. I assumed that he was just overheated, overtired and maybe a bit dehydrated. The nurse was checking on him, but he was sleeping, so I figured he was fine.

At 9:30, so of the staff brought him a get well card from the kids and accidentally woke him up. When he woke up, his entire body hurt and he couldn't see and he asked to go to the emergency room. My job is never dull...

We were in the ER by 10 and 102.6 degree fever sped up the process a great deal, so he quickly had an IV of fluids as they worked on a whole list of tests. By midnight, the doctors were guessing meningitis, and so he had a spinal tap (actually, he had 2 because the doctor couldn't get the needle in the right position, and had to call in another doctor to do it). I was worried about P's health, but also DREADING the letter I was going to have to send home with campers if it was meningitis.

By 2am, the doctor was pretty sure it wasn't meningitis after all, which was a relief for both of us. By that time, P was on some many painkillers and still sick, so he was mostly asleep. The doctor told me he was pretty sure P has one of the tick-borne diseases (besides lyme disease, there are two others). Tick-borne test results take over a week to get back, but either way, he would need antibiotics, so by 3:30am, we were headed home with a prescription and the instruction to have him rest until he got better. Diseases such as lyme's can be treated with antibiotics and aren't permanently damaging as long as they are treated. He had been bit 7-30 days before and is expected to make a full recovery within the next week.

After getting him back into the health center, covered in blankets and a space heater to stop the uncontrollable shivering, I left a note for Program Director S telling her we were back and he was fine and I wouldn't be at breakfast. I was in bed by 4:30am.

Up by 9, and moving around staff so all activities were covered, I haven't sat down since. P has been doing better today, although still very sick. I went to town to get him some bland food and caffeine (which the doctor said he needed to prevent headaches after his spinal tap) and to fill his prescription. When I got back, I found out counselor N was in the staff house basement because she was sick ("why isn't she in the health center?"... no one ever actually answered that for me). When I got to her, she looked BAD. She had a fever of 101 and the camp nurse and I set up another room for her so she could rest as well. More moving around staff, more small cups of 7-up and bowls of applesauce.

After getting her set, I had to take Olivia to the vet in town. She has been limping for a few days and I couldn't let it go on any longer. The vet determined that her paw might have been stung or she stepped on something, and so she gave her an antibiotic shot and some pain pills for the week. My hope is that she recovers quickly and I won't have to make any more vet trips this summer.

Now all that stands between me and my bed is 40 minutes of prayer, the weekly talent show, camper shower and snack time, and then a brief (45 minutes if I'm lucky!!) meeting with the leaders-in-training teens who, according to the leadership development coordinator, need to have a bit of a "coming-to-God" meeting about expectations... I am ready to be done taking care of other people for a little while...

Tie Dye

For 10 years now, tie dye has been "my thing" at camp. I've worked at three different camps, held several different job positions, and have been part of every aspect of camp imaginable, but tie dye has always been a constant.

It's not just that I enjoy tie dye and "help out" when it comes time for campers to do this activity. I am passionate about tie dye, obsessing about buying the right brand, the proper way to mix the dye, the technique used to actually dye shirts, not to mention being almost dictator-esque when it comes to managing the dying process with staff and kids. I like being right there when the bands are taken off and the shirts are opened. I have strong opinions about every single aspect of tie dying and get excited every time we do it. I feel protective and territorial about tie dye, despite being the Executive Director, in charge of everything at camp, including several much more important things than an art project. For nearly all of the ten years I've been at camp, tie dye has been a weekly tradition, so I estimate I've tie dyed with kids almost 100 times.

It took 10 years, but I think, as of today, I am officially sick of tie dye. Nothing traumatic or earth shattering happened to cause this break. Yesterday we were supposed to tie dye, but it was raining, so we postponed until today. This week, I've been so sick I can't seem to form coherent sentences, my eyes are drooping shut every moment of the day, and even little kids, who never notice anything have said, "are you okay? You look like you need some medicine." This afternoon, tie dye was set up and ready to go, and it hit me all at once that if I have to participate in this today, my will to live will end this instant. And then I thought, hmmmm, that might be the first time I've felt that way in 10 years... interesting...

Whirlwind

Remember when I had staff arrive and I said that camp was officially here? And then kids arrived and I said camp was officially officially here. I take both of those back. I am wearing the maroon sweatpants I slept in and a lime green tee shirt. I can't remember when I showered last and right before lunch, I was absolutely sure I was going to pass out and I realized it was probably because I didn't eat dinner the night before or breakfast this morning. My life is a whirling tornado of to-do lists, camp songs and needy staff... camp is OFFICIALLY here.

Obviously sitting down to blog in the middle of it seems like a waste of time, except that I think it's probably time to take a moment to collect my thoughts and take some deep breaths, so that's my plan.

The end of last week went well. The first week is always a learning week and last week we had 1st-6th graders, so it was also a really young crowd, which means more tears, more meltdowns, more lost items, more repeating yourself. I love the first week, because the staff usually walks around looking absolutely shocked and in awe, and throughout the week, you can actually see the light bulbs going off above their heads as they realize what I meant during training when I said to be specific and prepare ahead of time. At the end of the week, one of my best counselors ran up to me and said, "do you have 8 quarters? I can pay you back..." I said yes and asked what activity he was doing.

"In hindsight, this was probably a poor choice, but I told the boys (he had ten 8 year olds) if they sat down and were quiet, I would give them each a quarter... I know, bad idea..."

In ten years of camp, that was not a strategy I'd heard before. Hilarious. Pure gold. I gladly gave him the quarters and encouraged him to cash out his paycheck and just carry around a can of change for the rest of the summer.

The week ended with little trauma and no further paying off of campers. We had a staff de-briefing and I literally RAN out of camp, because I had to go home for the weekend and my dad was not-so-patiently waiting to give me a ride as my car is still in the office parking lot from a month ago.

We hit a significant amount of traffice and the puppy desperately wanted to rest her drooly mouth on his leg which caused a bit of conflict between them, but eventualy, puppy and I made it home where I got to watch several tivo-ed episodes of John and Kate Plus 8 and relax for the evening. The next morning, I had to drop Olivia off for eye surgery at 8 am, spent most of the morning rushing around, buying stuff for camp and running errands, picked Olivia up, and then rushed off to a wedding. I got stuck in traffic, and ended up sitting, stopped, for 40 minutes (the length of time it should have taken me to get to the church), missed the wedding, but arrived just in time to walk through the receiving line and tell her what a beautiful ceremony it was. I felt terrible for leaving the recovering puppy, but luckily my wonderful mother went to my house to sit with her while I was at the reception, hanging out with old camp friends and eating cheesecake. Yesterday, I woke up early, ran 15 more errands and then headed back to camp in time for a quick staff meeting and campers arriving.

Right about the time the campers started arriving, so did the rain, and so we checked kids in during a downpour. When the bus arrived, half of the staff and I made an assembly line and literally RAN up and down the hill to the dining hall, to bring all of the luggage from the bus inside while it down poured and the other half of the staff lead the kids in songs and games. When we were finished moving luggage, I was so impressed to walk inside and see the kids organized into circles, happily singing. Despite having about 30 more kids than last week, the staff are more confident, organized and seem to have the hang out what's going on. We also have 4th-9th graders, which is a nice change from the little ones.

At dinner, we ran out of spaghetti noodles, and so I was in the kitchen with our frantic Assistant Cook, who seemed to think I was going to hit him the way he was cowering, but eventually the second batch was done and kids were fed and the schedule wasn't too far off.

Other than a mile-long to-do list and being sick, everything is going very well today and week 2 is off to a great start!

Bugs and Robbers

11pm Monday night, I was just drifting off to sleep, ready for sweet dreams of Thai food and Tivo, when I heard my front door open. I was out of bed and dressed before I heard my name being called.

The second night of the summer and counselor C was standing at my door. It was her co-counselor L's night off and she looked slightly frazzled as she explained, "All 8 of them (her 9 year old girls) are crying and I can't get them to stop and so I asked them if I should go get you and they said it would help. Can you come to my cabin?"

Homesickness is the worst when kids get over-tired and once one starts crying, the rest will usually follow. I had absolutely no plan as I walked across camp towards the crying cabin and when I arrived, they were all huddled together on 2 beds. And so, as I'd just finished repeating to the counselors over and over during training, I started with a question- I asked what was upsetting all of them.

It turns out, they were scared.

Of what?

Bugs and robbers.

"Well, you're lucky, because other than mosquitoes, which bite, but just make you itch, we don't have any biting bugs at this camp." As I told them that, I ignored the memories of the fat, hairy, silver dollar-sized spiders I have killed so many times, all over camp. "And as for robbers, you don't have to worry about that either because our Property Manager is not only responsible for fixing things, he also guards camp at night. He walks around and makes sure we are safe."

They accepted both lies without question and then I walked around and checked everyone's beds for bugs. Once we determined they were bug-free, the girls got back into bed. I had all of them say their favorite thing of the day, explaining that happy thoughts help you sleep. One girl mentioned that Olivia had been her favorite part of the day, so then I spent the next 10 minutes telling them stories about her chewing up the couch and eating my office chair until the girls started laughing and were much calmer. Eventually I turned out the lights and stood in the middle of a dark cabin until I heard them start to fall asleep.

Afterwards, I had to sprint back to my cabin because camp is dark and scary at night, and they had a point about the bugs and robbers.

Last night, anticipating the same overtired homesick crying situation, I had a plan. X is still here, helping me with ridiculous projects, so she and I cut and tied 7 fleece pillows. We left one side open and the stuffing out and I found some wooden hearts. I went to the cabin before bed and we had a long talk about self confidence and relying on inner strength and being proud of yourself. As we stuffed the pillows, we talked about them being a representation of holding all of our good qualities that make us strong and overnight, if anyone got scared, to hold onto their pillow and remember that they can get through it. They each went around the circle and said the quality they are most proud of and put the heart inside the pillow to represent it.

When I left, they seemed calm and ready for bed. This morning their counselors told me they fell right to sleep as soon as I left. Either the pillows were a success or they were just really tired from being up late the night before, but either way, I didn't have to get up at 11 and comfort anyone.