We're back from camp!
I had planned a post full of camp pictures today, but, alas, I have none. (See "Most Important *Non-Spiritual* Lesson Learned at Camp" for details. ;-)) Hopefully I *will* have pictures to post tomorrow afternoon.
While we're waiting, I thought I'd post some random snippets from the Harris family's first week at Family Camp. I may have mentioned earlier, that while I grew up attending summer camp (Bible Memory Association Camp in Ringgold, LA), none of the other members of my family had ever been to church camp of any kind before. So...it was quite an experience for all of us! (Especially Billy, who spent his first-ever week at church camp as dorm counselor for 8 4th-6th grade boys! :))
These are just random thoughts, in no particular order, and I may add to them periodically, so feel free to check back. :)
Ammah Grace's favorite parts of camp (as of Thursday afternoon, when I asked her): Swimming, and going to bed!
Most important *non-spiritual* lesson learned at camp: Never, ever, EVER relinquish possession of your completely full digital memory card to ANYONE, no matter *how* technologically proficient they generally are. (Thanks to Bro. Kent for his assistance in teaching me this lesson by his *erasure* of all 394 photos on my xD card yesterday morning as he was uploading them to his hard drive. I did not require emergency resuscitation when I discovered this fact, although I did scare Sue and Kay half to death when I burst into the *hotel* lobby in search of Bro. Kent and his laptop. Thankfully, Bro. Kent assures me that he has *all* of my pictures safely stored on his harddrive and that he will burn them to disk and deliver it tomorrow. Until then, I am practicing my deep breathing techniques (learned in childbirth classes) to avoid severely elevated blood pressure and hyperventilation. ;-))
Scariest moment at camp: Well, perhaps I should label this scariest *personal* moment at camp...as hearing Allen D.'s head bounce off the pavement when his skateboard hit a crack in the sidewalk, and realizing that what I thought was red hair paint on Payton E.'s forehead under his hairline was actually his *scalp* where *he* hit his head on the pavement when he fell out of the back of a moving vehicle were both quite frightening. Amazingly enough, we did *not* have to make a drive in to the nearest Emergency Room for any of the youth boys all week...but there were a few times we thought we were going to have to take some adults due to heart attack or stroke *because* of the youth boys!
Anyway...my scariest *personal* moment at camp was almost sitting on a large ugly spider in my bed shortly after we got up Friday morning. Erica *assures* me that she is *certain* that it came off the beach towel one of the girls had just tossed on my bed, and that it most definitely did *NOT* share my bed all Thursday night. She's positive. I believe her. I do. Nonetheless, as I told her, it was a good thing that occurred on *Friday* morning; otherwise I would have had to sleep in a metal folding chair all week. :-D
Honorable Mention for scariest moment: Hearing (after the fact, thank goodness) that my husband fought a water moccasin with a (rotten) stick. Ack!
Best *awwww* moment at camp: There is a tie here. The first was watching Peter and Ammah Grace together in the rare times they were in the same place at the same time. It was obvious that Gracie missed her Bubby terribly, and that he missed her. They were really sweet.
The second was Ammah Grace naming the turtle she found on Thursday afternoon after Mrs. Sarah (our pastor's wife). *Hopefully* tomorrow I'll have pictures of Sarah the Turtle to share. It was an exceptionally nice-looking (not to mention brave) turtle, and Mrs. Sarah seemed quite honored that Ammah Grace had named it for her. ;-)
Biggest blessing in the services/classes: Hannah T.'s testimony Tuesday night. What a blessing it was! Kathy and I were glad we were on the back row so that our teary faces weren't quite so noticeable.
Biggest hit of the week in the children's girls' dorm (where I happened to be with the girls): Miss Phyllis coming in early Thursday morning to sing our wake up call of "Oh What a Beautiful Morning". The girls were so disappointed when they asked Thursday night if she was coming back to sing Friday morning, only to find out that she had had to leave camp Thursday evening. :)
Biggest surprise of the week: Ammah Grace slept in her own bed all three nights! I almost didn't even take her her own bedroll because I figured she would be in my bed all week anyway. I'm so glad I borrowed a sleeping bag for her at the last minute, because she *loved* fixing up her own bunk every morning and crawled into bed every night and went straight to sleep. (And my bed was pretty crowded as it was Wednesday night when my two older girls both ended up in bed with me!)
Best meal of the week: Chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, and cream gravy Wednesday night. Yumm!! (Sorry, Erica! ;-)) And may I just say that it was *heavenly* to go four days without cooking a single meal. Or washing a single dish. *Definitely* a treat!
Lots more to tell, but time is up for now. Hopefully I'll be back later today with another installment, and tomorrow with *pictures*!!
I think Em's favorite part of camp was the notebooks (she is her mother's daughter, after all!) Her camp notebook and the altered journal we made in crafts went everywhere except the pool with her. :)
Bro. Lyndel.
Billy, in a rare resting moment.
Phil and Phyllis.
I wish I had gotten better pictures of the camp itself. These pictures do not at all do justice to the chapel.
Billy and Phil delivered ice to all the ice chests every morning during class. The hardest part of camp for Ammah Grace was not getting as much Daddy time as she is used to, so one morning she decided to go along. I could not believe that she could actually *lift* these ice buckets. I've always said she is much stronger than she looks!
Billy in his ever-present camp hat (that used to be my dad's :)).
Bay and Em playing one of Miss Phyllis's crazy games Tuesday night!
Ammah Grace is *not* used to going, going, going all the time, and she was already tuckered out by Tuesday night.
Peter eating baby food during one of Miss Phyllis's *less popular* games! ;-) I was proud of him because he was such a good sport.
Miss Phyllis came to our dorm at 7 a.m. on Thursday morning to wake the girls up with her *unique* rendition of "Oh, What a Beautiful Morning". It was a highlight of the week for the girls. I actually have photos of Phyllis, wet hair, no makeup, and all, but unfortunately, I promised they would *only* see the pages of my personal scrapbooks. So....if you want to see, you'll have to come visit! :-D
Bayley thinks Miss Phyllis has lost her marbles. :-D
I don't know where Em was at this point...probably sitting on Daddy's lap somewhere. These are the rest of the girls in our dorm:
Preschool crafts were always an adventure. Being the 
Well, that is the end of our first installment of camp photos. *After* I post "new baby niece* photos and some other thoughts *and* do some editing on the remaining camp photos, I'll post some more....probably later in the week, though.
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