A taste of Camp Fowler

My apologies in not writing in so long. What can I say, camp life becomes very consuming. But a good consumption. I believe my last posting was about Camp Fowler's "Trail Mix" week. It was a week full of high energy and games.

The week that followed was Horizons, a middle school week. It was quite a change from the younger kids. These middle school kids are at a point where they are losing track of their "pretend" and "playfulness" and trying harder to impress their audience. It was our job to make sure they did not grow up too fast, that they still allowed themselves to play.

The week following Horizons was Una Tierra. Una Tierra is all age group week, from 3rd grade all the way up to 12th. The kids are organized into different activities that suit their age group. But it is a week that provides parents with the option to send their kids to camp at the same time. Or, perhaps, there are intellectually disabled campers, this week better suits them to what age they are at mentally and physically. It was a fabulous week.

Following Una Tierra, I was finally able to hit up the woods again. I was the leader for a middle school "Paths & Paddles" trip (meaning half the week is canoeing and the other half is hiking). Originally, there were supposed to be two trips going out. However, as it has been, Wilderness has been low in numbers. So, we had one group of five kids. Rather, one group of five BOYS. 

Matty and I started the week with them at Raquette Lake, paddling. We quickly learned that these boys were not the best of listeners. Time and again we had to remind them to keep their shoes on at the camp sites (camp policy, due to possible glass, sharp objects, etc.). Constantly, there was a reminder not to climb on the lean-to roofs. They also had an un-usual amount of whining during the different portions. It was very odd to me. And, to go with that, we had to teach them quite a bit in the "manners" department. Things like "Give me that!", "That's mine!", "Get off!", etc., were the angry shouts back and forth to each other, with a mix of swearing that needed fixing. It seemed as though some of the kids just never learned some of the basic manner/courtesy things that you would at home. They got much, much better throughout the week. But I felt that I had to be the Mother figure all week. It was hard to find a balance between being a mother and having camp counselor fun. 

On top of all of that, I was the only girl. Wednesday night, we got to our lean-to and saw that it was filled with packs. Then the lean-to was surrounded by about 12 different tents. Come to find out that there were 12 boy scouts staying there (each with a two or three man tent to themselves). They burned their trash, they weren't eco-friendly---they basically tore down everything we were building up (share the lean-to, speak kindly, take out what you carry in). All I was thinking was, "man, I can't wait for a snuggle party with all the girls when I get back." Two nights later, we got to out lean-to, set up, and then six grown men showed up. So, since we carried tents anyway (and they had none) we gave them the lean-to and shared the overall site. 

Needless-to-say, I was very, VERY happy to see that I was not the only woman left in the world upon my return to camp. 

It was a great learning week.