Day Three: RFK Definitely Has Talent

     Woodworking Paint Tent                 

It's amazing how much fun you can pack into one day. Camp offers a lot of activities that are sure to strike a chord with our campers. While in the Activity Center, they can choose to build toys from wood and give the a good coat of paint to give them a polished look, The paint isn't limited to just the wood products.  Ceramics and faces are fair game for a coat of paint as well.  Bead Centers, where things like gecko key rings are made, can

provide another artistic outlet and if none of those activities fit the bill fishing is available.

This looks like a good point to give an update on the Fishing Derby. What was an informal derby has become a formal derby now. The camp staff is working on creating fishing medals to be awarded for the biggest fish and most fish caught.  The campers fish tally as of today is 100 plus.  We're not sure how many the Osprey have caught since their last run at the fishing pond, but we're pretty sure it's more than the four we saw caught earlier in the week.

Our Crossing Guards Have Flair

Sometimes we need the  help of our Crossing Guards to reach some of our events. We think it's a nice touch that this Crossing Guard has included one of the world's largest flowers as a part of the overall traffic management scheme.  

When not at the Activity Center, campers can spend time at the waterfront. Today was a perfect day to go sailing and some of our campers did just that, There's definitely something peaceful about gliding along the water with just the wind to power the boat over the waves. 

Sailing at Camp

At RFK, we like to celebrate our campers' Birthdays with them regardless of when their Birthday really  is. With that in mind, an afternoon is set aside to have a Birthday Party. Several Gifts are selected for each camper, placed in  a single large box and wrapped in brightly colored paper.  The campers' birth dates are called out for each camper as they collect their gift box and then the camp sings the "Happy Birthday" song to them to kick off the gift opening frenzy. This is one of the highlights of the camp for our campers.

Birthday Party - Presents Waiting to be Opened

Another highlight for the campers is our RFK's Got Talent show.  This show gives the campers the opportunity to share their talents in a non-judgmental atmosphere.  Some of the talents are pretty mainstream, such as singing, dancing, and puppet shows, while other can be more unconventional such as a tad pole touching demonstration.  This year's participants had fun and had the experience of getting up in front of an audience and performing, which is good skill to have.

Ping Pong Ball Juggling

Mind Meld Ear Wiggling

Puppet Show

So ended our Day Three for this year's camp.  Looking forward to another fun filled day tomorrow.

Day Three- The Hunt is On and Camp Talent Abounds

 

Today camp started like many days. We have what’s known as J-Zone where we sing songs and  learn

more words of wisdom from our teachers, Sue and Carolyn. These women have a way of taking ancient scriptures and putting them in a way that makes sense in today’s terms for our young campers.  We learned about the giant King David had to face as a young boy and how he set his fear aside, as he face the giant problem in his life and depended on God to keep him safe and lead him towards his destiny. Our campers have many fears and giants that have been placed in their lives as well.  It was important  for them to hear that these fears can be faced, overcome, and that they too can march on towards the destiny God has for them. As a side note, our giant known as Goliath is actual size at 9 feet two inches. We got a taste of what David had to face and it was pretty scary. Besides the stories, our camp play can be used as a teaching tool too.

 

We  will talk more about the camp play tomorrow but want give you a preview of it today.  Royal Family KIDS camps around the country are sharing a play about a sheepfold and the good shepherd that
watches over the flock.  Since this is Idaho, we thought it only fitting that our set have a sheepherders wagon on the set (pictured right).

Our Camp Directors were able to create a miniature wagon that looks pretty authentic and we’re all enjoying having it incorporated in to the play.

 

Some of our campers decided today would be a great day to hunt for water snakes. While hunting snakes might not be everyone’s cup of tea, you can see the team pictured below was enjoying it.

In the end, they were successful in capturing a few snakes and one of them is shown in the picture below.

It’s important to note that no snakes were actually harmed in the big snake hunt of 2014.  I do suspect they were annoyed at being captured and having their day interrupted but they were soon released back into their home field to carry on with the day’s activities no worse for the wear.

Snake hunters weren’t the only hunters out in the fields and waterways today.  Many a tadpole, water skipper, and bug hunter were on the banks of the pond, trying their luck.  They too were fairly successful.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you’ve followed this blog in the past,  you’ll know that our camp has many traditional events that we try to host each year during camp.  Two of those events are the Birthday Party and the Give it A Go Show.

We had some first time campers that were quite surprised that we celebrated everyone’s birthday and that each camper received a Birthday Box of gifts. The Birthday Party is one of the highlights of camp each year and returning campers look forward to it eagerly. One of the other highlights is the Give It A Go Show.

This show is geared to give each camper a safe place to share their talents.  We call it the Give It A Go Show so the campers can feel more comfortable in sharing their unproven talents rather than using the talent show moniker where some sort of proficiency might be implied.

We had some of the more traditional performers this year, such as singers and dancers.  Some of the more unique talents displayed where making noises with a cup, a trick ankle and a magic trick involving a small fan and some balloons.  All in all, I think the  campers had a good time performing and being in the audience cheering on the other performers.  Who knows what future stars of tomorrow we might be cultivating at camp today.

Day 3- Hello Sunshine

We woke to a beautiful sunny day today. We didn’t waste a minute getting back to our favorite outdoor activities. The woodworking, face painting, beads and pond were buzzing with

activity. In addition to our crafts and sports the campers had the option to take a sailboat ride on the lake during their swim time. This is a great time to experience the silence and beauty of the creation around us here at camp.

 

If you’ve been following our camp blog over the years, you’ll

know that we like to have a joint camp birthday celebration.  Today was the day for that celebration.  We opened presents, sang the Birthday song to each camper and had cupcakes and ice cream.

Of course every Birthday party has to have decorations and ours was

no exception.  Tables and walls were decorated with all sorts of décor that let the campers know that we were serious about celebrating their birthday.

 

You could tell that the campers definitely enjoyed themselves by the smiles on their faces.  In fact the counselors and staff members had pretty big smiles as well.

 

Our camp grandma and grandpa travel from Australia every year just to be a part of our camp and spend time with our campers.  The campers quickly connect with  Grandma and Grandpa and love to spend time with them showing them what they have made as well as listening to Grandma and Grandpa as they read books to them. This year our grandparents had quite a time reaching us.  Due to missed flight connections it took our grandparents almost seven days to reach us.  Many people would have given up with these type of trials facing them but not our grandparents.  They persevered and they were welcome by the cheers and hugs from the campers, counselors, and staff.

Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for going to such great lengths to spend time with us.