Camp Jewell Part 2

It seems we overdosed a bit on Camp Jewell on Saturday. We were all dragging a bit on Sunday. We invited Grandmommy to come up and visit with us for the day. Justin was excited to bring her to see the "secret" playground that his Age Group counselor had showed him the day before.

As we left he asked "Grandmommy did you enjoy that?" G: "Yes I was thrilled to see it" J: "um, yeah, but did you ENJOY it??" hee hee. So Grandmommy headed out to join the girls at Arts and Crafts and Matt and I took the boys to BBs. Justin was not very good and I can't say that it disappoints me that my son can't shoot a gun- oh well.

Then we headed over to A&C and Marc and I swapped out and the boys all headed to Archery. The girls were very into their projects. Jessica was painting a bobble head- and giving me this look when I took her picture...

Grandmommy was making a stained glass project.

Emma painted her snake.

Grandmommy concentrating so hard to get it just right.

Then we headed over to make a candle- they had already done leather craft.

The boys were very into Archery. These pictures were taken during the session in which Jack decided that bow #14 was the lucky bow.
See!
Checking out the results of their hard work.

Now the big event of the weekend was the Cardboard Regatta. Every family was encouraged to create a boat out of cardboard, duct tape and paint. Emma was a girl on a mission. They had some supplies that you could buy with Camp Jewell dollars. You could earn these dollars by accomplishing certain tasks throughout the weekend. Emma worked herself (and us) through this list. Including earning dollars for performing on stage during the campfire. So off Emma goes, on her own, up onto that stage to lead a song. Emma is usually a little more reserved and quiet, so I wish we had a picture of the faces on the adults as she headed up on stage- she did great. She sat back down and then placed a check mark on that box- too funny.

Here is our boat making crew. Having never seen the regatta before we had no idea what kind of boat or structure would work best. (of course if you google cardboard regatta you will come up with lots of helpful info). The three of them spent hours constructing our entry.
Want to know what Bec and I were doing? We were sitting on the dock watching the three younger kids swim and play in the sand.

Here is the end result of all of their efforts! The USS Crazy Man! No idea where the name came from.
Our fearless crew! In hindsight putting 3 young children into this less than stable vessle with no idea how to power it or keep it level might not have been the best idea we ever had...

The shoreline before the race began (this is only half the crowd).

Just before they tipped (don't mistake Justin's finger chewing for nervousness- he just does that).
Here is a video of the event for your viewing pleasure...



Here are some examples of some more successful boats.


That night there was a beach party/ carnival- very fun! Justin took the tug of war very seriously. The kids danced and played. They loved the "Arm Wrestle a Counselor Booth"- man that guy couldn't beat anyone!

Monday morning we put the kids in age groups so that we could go pack- then we went off to do some of our favorite activities one more time. Here is my family canoeing.

We had a wonderful weekend, truly truly. Everyone had a great time. I have to give Marc credit for going and loving it- when you are a camp person many times you can't imagine others camps being as good as your camp and Marc embraced Jewell and agrees it is a no-brainer to go back next year. The Odells were great companions and jumped right into camp life- shared quarters, camp bunk beds and all. We had to restrain Emma from going to the office to sign up for every family camp weekend and summer camp- she was ready.

It was wonderful for me to be in a place that holds SO many memories and feels like home in many ways. And now my kids are beginning to feel the same way, and that is so fun too. I am excited to go back again and again- and keep bringing friends.

Monday night around 9pm Jessica came downstairs sobbing. She said she couldn't fall asleep because she misses Camp Jewell so much. Of course this is Jessica. She loves everything she does and cries when she leaves. A wonderful weekend!