Family Camp Photos

I just realized that I never did update and tell everyone how Camp Twitch and Shout's family camp went.  I apologize for not doing so sooner.

The month of September was crazy for us.  Georgia Boy had a business trip to England, which left me home with Angel Baby, Monster Man, and Little Man for two weeks.  Family camp happened to fall during the time that he was gone, so the kids and I went to camp without him.  My mom was supposed to go with us, but she was unable to take the time off of work.  It was a great experience for the kids and I to have this extra time alone, and it gave us a fun distraction from missing their Daddy.

The camp weekend was filled with activity!  Dodgeball, kayaking, archery, wall climbing... There were so many great activities that we all got to enjoy.

Meal times were great, and they were often followed by dancing while the kids got to dress up in different costumes.

The kids were shocked that I was more than willing to dig for worms and even put them on the hooks when we went fishing.

What would a camp experience be without some s'mores?!

The group was smaller than usual, but we still had a blast.  We're already looking forward to next year's family camp!

A New Widget

I have added a new widget to the side of my blog.  It will be here for about the next month, when it will change to something a little different.   We're trying to save up for this year's family camp at Camp Twitch and Shout.  I don't usually like asking for help, but we've run across a slight (temporary) situation that is kind of freezing the money that we'd planned to use for family camp.  My husband is going to have to go out of town soon for work, and he's having to pay for his expenses and then be reimbursed.  This means that the money we'd planned for family camp is now going to have to be used to pay his expenses.  It was a hard decision for me, but I decided to give Gofundme.com a try.

The current widget is being used as a way to accept donations to help us with the cost of family camp.  Any help we can get with the cost of camp is very much appreciated.  Monster Man's birthday is next month, and I would love to be able to tell him for his birthday that family camp is paid for (whether by partial donations or not).  Even a small donation of around $5 will help make camp more affordable for this session.

I plan to pay the favor forward, giving money directly to the camp to help keep the costs down for next summer's campers, which brings me to the widget that I plan to replace the current widget with.  Once family camp is over, I am planning to replace the widget with another Gofundme.com widget, this time being one that will go to Camp Twitch and Shout to help other campers.

Please check out the new widget (and the one that will replace it) and, if you feel led to, please make a donation to help the camp.  Camp Twitch and Shout means so much to our family, and I am looking forward to doing my best to help the camp soon!

Camp Twitch and Shout Family Camp

I've mentioned previously that Monster Man attended Camp Twitch and Shout over the summer, and that the camp has come to mean a lot to him and to our family as a whole.  During the weekend of September 23 - 25, we got to experience Camp Twitch and Shout as a family.

When we arrived at the camp on Friday night, we were a little nervous.  We knew we would be sharing our cabin with another family, but we didn't know who that family would be.  What would it be like to be put in a cabin with a family we didn't even know?  I guess that is what Monster Man must've felt like when we first dropped him off at camp over the summer.  

We'd barely gotten a chance to introduce ourselves to our roommates (which, thankfully, turned out to be the family of one of the boys from Monster Man's summer cabin) when it was time for dinner, followed by some get-to-know-you games and then a dodgeball tournament.

The tournament was followed by s'mores around a campfire and then bedtime.  We had to turn in early because our Saturday was packed with activities.  Shortly after our breakfast, the kids were taken off in supervised groups while the parents had some time for a quick meeting followed by some Minute-To-Win-It games.

Afterward, we had some family time.  We took a few minutes to practice some archery, and then my hubby and the kids all went either kayaking or on paddle boats.

After lunch, the kids went back in their supervised groups while the adults got to enjoy some activities without the kids.  For my hubby, this meant wall-climbing.

After a kickball game and some more family time, it was time for a cookout in the pavilion.  Angel Baby enjoyed this a lot, since she ended up dancing before dinner with some of the counselors and campers.

That night, despite the cool temps, we had a pool party and a build-your-own ice cream sundae event.  We all enjoyed both events before turning in for the night. 

Sunday morning was a little sad.  While we enjoyed the activities that were planned, we knew that our time together was coming to an end.  After breakfast, we spent some family time doing activities we enjoyed.  We spent a little time fishing, and Little Man caught his first fish.

After our family time, the families all came together for some messy olymp-tics games.  

We barely had time to clean up before it was time for lunch and then closing ceremonies.  As part of the closing ceremonies, we were asked to write our wishes for Tourette Syndrome or for Camp Twitch and Shout on a card, which we attached to a balloon and let go at the end of the ceremony.  During the closing ceremony, everyone was invited to come up on stage and share his or her wish with the other campers.  Monster Man shared his wish, that he could have camp everyday, with the crowd before we released the balloons.

We were sad to see family camp come to an end, and to have to say goodbye to all the new friends we made while we were there.  We are already looking forward to Camp Twitch and Shout's family camp next year!