Okay, so I have been so incredibly busy (like always) it's been hard to blog. Sunday I got back to camp around 10:30 am. We had a meeting at 11, so I had just enough time to take my stuff up to my room and move my car. We played icebreakers and games with the new camp staff and then had lunch. I tried a vegetarian hot dog for this first time, not bad!
Around 3:00 I headed to the pool to do swim tests. However, it began storming so we had to cancel the tests. The forecast for the week is not looking so hot. After that, I headed to my cabin for the week. I have cabin 3, which happens to be all girls, around 10 years old. They eagerly greeted me with a chant they had already made up within the 2 hours they had been at camp. I did goal bracelets with them, some of their goals were to get "golden syringe and or pump awards". I'm not exactly sure what that is, except that it has to do with mastering skills of their diabetes on their own. After that we headed to dinner and then had the opening program. Some of the staff (about 12 of us) decided that since we always have meetings that interfere with church on Sunday mornings, that we might as well make our own. Treehouse Church was created on Sunday night. We had someone playing the guitar and a drum. Not only did we sing and worship, but we also had a bible study on healing. We talked about miracles and how even though camp this summer is not "religious" based, we can still be a light. I think we are going to try and do this every Sunday night. I am excited to see how this develops! Overall it was a good first day!
Today (Monday) I woke up bright and early, ready for my first day full day with this camp. I headed to breakfast eager to hear about my girls' first nights at camp. After breakfast, I headed back to my room to have some more "me time". My first session started after that, which was biking. The sessions for the diabetes camp are an hour and 15 minutes, so they are longer than last week. We have fewer, but longer sessions. I had a group of boys for biking. For the first time I led a biking session. Let me tell you, it was the most fun I've had biking thus far. I took these boys all over camp, easy trails, hard trails, medium trails. One of the boy's blood sugar started out at 387 and had dropped to 83 by the end of the session. Thats some intense biking! After biking, we headed to lunch. Chicken fingers (veggie nuggets) was on the menu today! This has to be one of my favorite meals at camp, I love the veggie nuggets! After lunch we had "shoes off time" aka rest time. I took another nap after researching bikes for my biking dimension later (more on dimensions later). I then headed to the pool for my pool session, however that was quickly cancelled after thunder and lightening presented itself. I decided I would try a P90X workout with my cousin, Sarah Beth. We did abs, and boy was it INTENSE. I was beginning to realize this day was filled with a lot of exercise! I camp back to the room and played on my computer and hung out with the staff until dinner. I may or may not have thrown in another nap in there too :). Dinner came and went, and then it was time for my biking dimension. The camp has programs for the older campers in the evenings called dimensions. Basically there is a list of about 6-8 things around camp. Campers get to choose what they would like to learn more about. So for biking, we learn essentials, types of biking, how to bike, etc. My roommate and I are in charge of the dimension, and we decided we were going to create a Camp Twin Lakes Biking Hall of Fame. I can't wait to make the certificates and "induct" the kids into the camp. We ended up biking our dimension in light thunder and rain. It was extreme to say the least. For our dimension we have mostly boys and 2 girls. I was talking to one of the girls as I went to her cabin to get her some tennis shoes. She was a candidate to come last week for the camp with heart defects and transplants, however the director of that camp changed the camp age limit. Therefore, she has to wait until the Fall to come to the "Teen" camp. This 13 year old girl has had a heart transplant, double kidney transplant and diabetes. I was amazed at her strength and everything she has been through. After the dimension I was so tired I came back to my room to shower. That isone thing I definitely took for granted before camp. I have never cherished a shower so much in my life. It feels amazing to be completely dirty and to actually see it rinse away. Showering is relaxing and relieving of the day's stress. After my shower I skyped with mom & dad, as well as my friend Ashley, and John. It was a great day.
This week is so much more high speed and intense compared to last week. I've heard from returning staffers that it gets more intense as the summer goes on. I can't wait! I was reminded today about how difficult it is to have the life challenges these kids have. At every meal, they have to sit and count carbs to make sure they gave themselves enough insulin, or know how much to give to themselves. Although it takes them longer to eat, they are still normal kids.
Camp has been so amazing. I am continually amazed and influenced. I am always anticipating the next days activities!
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