Jr High Winter Camp

Last year, Laurel came to visit us while Aline was at camp and we talked about how maybe next year Alison could go too.  The camp is lead by the OPC and churches from all over the California and Arizona area meet in Idyllwild, CA every February.  As we signed the girls up, we found out that they needed counselors and since we had to drive up there anyway, Laurel and I agreed to help out.  It's been a LONG time since I've done youth ministry, but it was fun to be back at it with my own daughter in the group.

We all met up in the little town of Idyllwild before camp to get some dinner and took some pictures with this...I'm not sure what to call this, but it was cool.

Laurel brought Alison Salas, Aline and Lily from Yuma :)

 

 After dinner, we went to claim our bunks at the very rustic camp, and then met up with all the kids to play some classic youth group games.  I kept telling Alison that daddy used to do this stuff all the time and it was so cool for her to get a glimpse of our life before she was in this world.  There was a lesson and songs and then we were off to put 30 girls to bed...ha!  Sleep was not a theme of the weekend.

The next morning, it was snowing!  And very, very cold.  Pretty much everyone was in the same boat, as we were all from southern California or Arizona and not the most prepared for cold wet weather.  We tried to enjoy it as much as we could and savor a rare occasion to be in snow.

I think my favorite part of the trip was seeing these two Alison's reconnect.  You may remember Alison from my Alison's birthday party in Yuma several years ago.

We had some free time Saturday afternoon, so we took some snow pictures.

There wasn't a whole lot the kids could do during free time, so we pretty much spent it cozied up in the cabin, playing games.  I'm not sure I've ever been so cold as this day.  Laurel and I rocked counselor life as we didn't leave this spot for a couple of hours.  I think we only got up to make more hot tea...yes, I was the cool mom that brought my own electric kettle to camp.

 

The girls didn't seem to mind.  We just kept throwing snacks at them and would occasional shout out a word for their madlibs. 

 One thing they did have to do, was to make up a skit.  All of the campers were divided into groups with a counselor and each group had to preform a skit.  This was a highlight for Alison and her group won!

Laurel and I spent a lot of time saying, "Wouldn't it be nice if they lit that fireplace!".  It was so cruel to make us just stare at a beautiful, unlit, fireplace, as we all froze.

Overall, the weekend was great.  We had lots of time to catch up with friends, make some new ones, play games, learn and see snow.  They had a church service Sunday morning and then it was time to head back down the mountain.

One perk of it just being me and Alison, we weren't tied down to a group and went into town before leaving.  We went into some shops and bought the boys some souvenirs.