Camp Sonshine

The pool. Each camper undergoes a test on the first day to determine if they can swim at the end. Kathleen and Kylie both passed, but Kade didn't. This turned out to be fine with him because he fell in love with fishing.

Here's little Kylie in line for the diving board.

I didn't quite catch all of her in the jump, but you can tell how athletic she is! She told me, "Mom, I'm too scared to dive in. I just jump off." Little does she know that I'm the biggest wimp ever when it comes to swimming -- I've never been off of a diving board at all.

The little fish comes up for air.

Kathleen

Kathleen was happy to find her goggles right in time for camp. She likes going off the diving board feet first, too. This time, though, she was involved in a giant whirlpool down at the smaller pool.

Here's Kade with some of his fishing buddies. Konner and Daddy are to the right. With the lake level down low, the fish were easier to catch.

Look at him just dangling off the rock without a care in the world.

A view of the lake. It was such a pretty day, but really humid. Sweat was just dripping off the ends of my hair.

The kids' counselors and staff. They were great! On the first night, Kade's counselor asked him what he liked most about the day. Kade proceeded to tell him every single thing he'd done, then he turned over and went to sleep!

Oh, the fun of hooking squiggly worms.

Konner and Daddy try their hand at fishing.

Nineteen years . . . where has the time gone?

The new chapel with AIR CONDITIONING! Yay!

Campers were awarded various clothespin awards throughout the week. Kathleen won The Stephen Spielberg Award.

Kylie won The Cold Shower Award, A Team Player Award and Pick on Your Counselor Award.

Kade won Mud Man Award and The Go to Sleep Award.

The boys watch Keith skip a rock across the lake. They told him the record was 32 skips. Hmmm.

When we found Kathleen, she kind of looked at us in a I-don't-know-you kind of way. Her favorite part of camp is the pranking. The boys and the girls, supposedly under careful supervision, play pranks on each other. The girls had the best prank this year, though. They wrote a love letter to themselves "signed" by the boys, put it in their mail, and when the "received" it, called across the cafeteria, "Thank you, boys for the love letter!"

Kathleen with some of the 19 girls in her 5th grade group.

Kade in the cafeteria.

Kade back near the lake that he loves.

Relaxing at the lake.

Lunch time! We had taco salad and beans.

Kade made a great friend with a kid who's father is camp director.

The kids got their mail and special treats delivered in these cups. Keith and I wrote letters to each of the kids so that they'd each get one every day at camp. Camp mail is so fun. When we came to visit them on Thursday, however, Kylie said that she didn't have time to read her letters and Kade (who doesn't read yet) didn't have time for a counselor to read them to him! Good grief! So much for mail!

Kylie at her bunk bed.

Kylie's cabin, believe it or not, was pristine compared to the boys' cabin.

Towels and bathing suits rarely got dry between the humidity and the constant use. Sunscreen and bug spray were imperative!