Day Three- Rain, Rain Go Away

Today we woke to the sound of rain and discovered everything was soggy outdoors. The day didn’t start out too promising but as to day wore on we found that the rain would clear up when we were ready to go out and enjoy the activities set up for this for the day. By the afternoon we were actually seeing patches of blue.

Blue Skies on the horizon

In fact the afternoon warmed up enough to enjoy some swimming and go for a sailboat ride.

For those who have been following our camp activities for a while, you will know that we always celebrate everyone’s birthday while we’re at camp.

 

This is the way it works; we group the campers together by month and sing the Happy Birthday song to each group, including all the names of campers of that group, which can make for a very long song, depending on the size of the group. Once we’ve completed singing to each group, the campers open their presents, which were distributed as a part of the process, on the count of three.  It was evident that the campers were pleased with their gifts, cupcakes and ice cream that followed.

We had another installment of Joseph’s story during Breakfast Club.  As you might have read yesterday, we left off where Joseph had been taken from his home and put on a caravan to parts unknown.  Today we learned that Joseph’s fortunes had gone from bad to worse.  Joseph reached Egypt where he was sold as a slave.  Although Joseph would be in what many would call unfavorable circumstances, God still blessed him in his situation and he was soon put in charge of the whole household of which he was a member.  Just as things began to look up, Joseph loses his position due to slanderous accusations.  Once again Joseph has everything taken from him and he must move from his home.

Our teachers, Sue and Carolyn pointed out that there was one thing that could not be taken away and that was Joseph’s trust in God.  We’ll be looking forward to learning more about Joseph’s adventures this morning in Breakfast Club.

Day Two- Swimming And Splashing And Having A Good Time…

We have a theme song for Royal Family Kids’ Camp.  The song starts out this way, “Heading for the Royal Family Kids’ Camp, heading for a lot of fun. It’s great just knowing I am a part of God’s family, playing under the sun. swimming and splashing and having a good time….”  We definitely lived up to the part about “swimming and splashing and having a good time.”  Swimming at the lake is a part of the daily schedule and it was a hot day, which made it all the more enjoyable. 

Tonight we had a pop quiz from resident worm  Larry Funzel.  Earlier in the day, we’d learned about how Joseph had been treated badly and had been neglected by his family. Each question Larry put forth was met with the correct answer for the campers. The Joseph story is one of which our campers can relate.  Those who are familiar with Joseph’s story know that he has had many highs and lows throughout his life. But ultimately those experiences enabled Joseph to become one of the most respected Egyptian rulers.  We’re hoping Joseph’s story will bring hope and encouragement to our campers, who too have experienced many highs and lows in their lives.

Our night was capped off by a concert given by The Waiting Kind. The campers immediately connected with the band and the message of the music.   We’re thankful to The Waiting Kind for traveling a long distance to share their music and message of hope with us.

          Link: The Waiting Kind

Day One–Ready, Set, Go

The counselors and staff arrived last night and started prepping for the arrival of the campers.  Meetings were held, rooms were decorated and Welcome signs were crafted to make sure the first day of camp went smoothly and make known to the campers how excited we were to have them at the camp.

Pre-camp Counselor and Staff Meeting

 

Eagerly anticipating the arrival of the campers, knowing the bus is just minutes away

Counselors and Staff Cheering the campers as they depart the bus

Quickly unloading the bus so the fun can begin

Relationship building beings immediately

 

Next on the agenda was lunch and then out to the Activity Center to let the creative juices flow.  Campers had their choice of crafts including face painting, bead animals, and painting plaster forms.  One of the new crafts this year is building wooden boats, which can later be taken to the lake for an impromptu regatta.  Boat building was definitely a hit with the campers this year.

This boat, made by one of our boy campers, is a  Prince Cruise liner. It is NOT a Princess Cruise liner.

It’s a camp tradition to give each new camper a quilt made by the Linus Project. Our Dean of Women will meet many of our campers years later and these quilts are always highlighted by them as one of their prize keepsakes.  We offer our thanks to the Linus Project for

their continued support of our camp.

Dean of Men and Dean of Women distribute quilts to the campers

Our Final Event was distributing stuffed toys that have been donated from various groups in Southern Idaho.  The campers really enjoy their new toys as they settle into their first night at camp. RFKC is grateful to all of the organizations that support our camp and make this experience possible for our campers.

One More Sleep And Then Camp

Yesterday, I was reading a Facebook post shared by one of our teacher’s Carolyn.  in her post she wrote, “  Two more sleeps til RFKC - an amazing camp for some amazing Idaho kids.”  Her post brought a smile to my face.  It was filled with excitement and anticipation of another great camp.  The staff and counselors look forward to the camp every year, much like the campers themselves. So with that, I’ll say one more sleep and it will be time for camp.