Combo Camp

Okay, so I'm a little behind on the posting but I'm human.

We arrived in Ridgecrest after a 13 hour drive from Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida to Ridgecrest, North Carolina. And let me just tell you, I'm so glad that I got out of the van when I did because I promise you I was going to toss my cookies if I hadn't been able to get out. We arrived and unpacked everything and I got asked if I could sew. I answered that odd question with an affirmative and agreed to sew without knowing what object I would be taking a needle and thread to. It just so happens that the object was plastic mesh that is part of the Paca Pit. Now, the Paca Pit is just this HUGE blue square with a partition that we fill both sides with packing peanuts and let the kids hop into and find the red ball for one of our games here at camp. The mesh however in the Paca Pit it a thick plastic mesh with about 1 cm x 1 cm squares. Apparently a child lept into the Paca Pit and busted some of the squares in the mesh and we couldn't have that so Taylor was recruited to sew those back together.... about two hours laterI have a sore back, poked fingers, a huge ego, and a rather dashing looking Paca Pit mesh (if I do say so myself.) After Audi setup I got to meet two counselors that worked the camp I attended last year and it made my heart so happy! It's a small small world.

Plus the laundry was free and so I finally got to clean my clothes without having to put quarters in the machine. Outside of the laundry room was what I learned was called and "Eno Village" an Eno is a type of hammock and Lindsey had one so she put hers up there and was just a swinging when I decided it would be fun to try one out. Although I was completely terrified that I was going to end up flipping out of it and onto the ground, this gentleman got up out of his and let me try it out for a little bit. I successfully sat in and exited the hammock without landing on the ground, and in my world that is an accomplishment all in itself.

Let camp begin. This camp couldn't be normal seeing as we were working along side Fuge Camps and we began on the 4th of July! The kids were great and I was just ready to begin dancing and having fun. My church group was the last one there but man were they awesome. It was their first year doing a CentriKid camp ever and I couldn't be happier that I was their host. After the opening celebration I met my bible study and knew that we were going to be a fantastic match. I had a sweet little girl named Haley that soon became my helper because she clung to my leg and followed me wherever I went. My kids had a lot of energy and a lot of love to give me and coming off of a severely emotional week I was super ready to receive it.

Now Monday night was the same as the regular schedule but that was about it. Tuesday morning the wakeup call was super early because I had to set up my track time since we had to do tracks in the morning. That being said, we get done with I Can't Wait and begin the, I kid you not, fifteen minute trek UP the mountain trail. It actually wasn't that bad until some people started to lag behind and then Fun Miss Taylor disappeared and Business Miss Taylor showed up. I began to herd those kids up the mountain like a flock of sheep and believe me they made it without any scars.... the first two days. The last day of track, the kids were coming back down I hear a yelp and see a kid sobbing and sitting on the steps. Now I've only had one official class of athletic training but I know that a kid sobbing and sitting and holding his leg is never good. I ended up carrying him back up the stairs and to my director to get him taken down the hill. I'd never felt more like a fireman in my life.

After track times was lunch followed by recreation. We had about an hour to eat meals and it was literally like heaven on Earth. I don't know what I'm going to do whenever I get back into the real world and have to carry on an adult conversation while eating and have the option to eat slow... BUT, recreation was fun as always and my kids loved it. (Even with a June beetle infestation) Thursday was OMC and that was AWESOME!! The Green Team did The National Anthem as our cheer and it was fantastic!! We won the oar for the cheer!

Friday was bittersweet. It was nice to get to the last spot but I also didn't want to leave Ridgecrest. The van pulled out and we began our trip to the next and final destination for Team 7 of CentriKid Camps 2011.