Camp has Begun!

The kids are here!
Repeat!
The kids are here!!

The gates opened at 8am and a line of cars, that had been there for hours, drove in one by one like a consistent stream of water. You could feel the excitement in the air as the kids began to pile out of cars and run up the stairs to their new homes for the next 3 weeks.

Opening day is very different here. Once the gates open, the kids are assigned cabins and the cars are directed to the appropriate parking grounds. The "trunk boys" then help the families carry the luggage into the cabins and the parents help the kids make up their beds. The kids then go to the infirmary where they go through a health check, and if they pass, they head off to lunch with their family. They are free to do as they please until 1pm when the parents reluctantly leave and campers report to their cabins for a first Cabin Meeting.

Our kids are great! There are 8 girls, 2 of whom are new, who are all friends and are all so aware of how things should be done. The "oldies" are so on point with the camp operations and they have taken the "newbies" under their wings. They are all good kids who are cheerful and fun, and are all looking forward to the rest of the summer. In our Cabin meeting we got to know each other a bit better and made some cabin rules. We then headed off to the opening assembly, where we were introduced to all the campers, and talked about our activities and rules for the session to come. The campers were then divided by age and half left for the swim test, while the others stayed and signed up for the activities that they wanted to do each day. The groups then switched.

Karate killed it! All of my classes were filled except for 3 places which I was surprised by! Kids seemed so excited to join my class and I couldn't be happier! I won't let them down. I am so excited to get these bright eyes and bushy tailed karate kids into the dojo as soon as can be, we are going to have a blast!

After all the campers had been through the swim test, and had filled up their daily activity slots, we all made our way to the dinning hall for dinner, and headed to the EP with full tummies. The game was Dodgeball in the gym and the snacks were s'mores by the fire. This was followed by bed time, and every single one of us passed out with no problems!

Second day of camp and it's been great so far! All the kids are super enthusiastic about all their activities, and teaching a different class each period is a great way of keeping the staff from getting bored.
Today I will be teaching karate as well as Kayaking and Mad Science for the first time, which I'm looking forward to! The Mad Science class was sort of dropped on my Co-Co and I but we are gonna make it work, even though we are not too sure what we are doing and only have high school science and National Geographic as a reference. Still, I'm sure we can impart some kind of wisdom to these happy campers! I was also told today that next session, the Canoe teacher would be leaving and that I am going to be taking over. Let's do this!

Tonight is my first official night off and Kelly and I, along with some other great girls, are going to go to dinner and and movie as they are half price on Tuesdays! It's going to be great! I believe we are going to watch "22 Jump Street" which myself, Anna, Caroline, and Palmer are very excited to see.