The Dearingers were holding a family reunion in Utah the same week as day camp. Dode helped me set up Saturday night and flew to Utah very early Sunday morning. We're too cheap to pay for roaming charges so we didn't get to talk from Saturday night when we went to bed until Wednesday morning in the few minutes we had before he went to work. I felt bad for Dode, like he missed out on a lot of camp. I'm not sure he feels the same way! Dode being out of town left me doing the day camp thing as a single mom, easy peasy right? Adding to the degree of difficulty, I had extra children to get to camp each day, Gabriel and Big Isaac.
An example of our chaos. Monday night someone was getting something out of our useless room (large room that serves as a pantry and the location of every one's clothing). They knocked a bottle of oil off the shelf and it broke. They didn't notice (the official story, but no one is fessing up to anything else!). Tuesday morning, we all went in and out of the useless room several times to get our clothes and get things we needed. I tried to wipe up some of the oil with a wet towel someone had thoughtfully left bunched up on the floor. By the time we left for camp, oily foot prints went from the useless room all down the hall, into the kitchen, into the bathroom, everywhere! I didn't have time to clean it up until Wednesday. I posted a sign on the useless room door, "Beware! Slippery floor!" and we managed to not have any wipe outs. We had some shiny floors by the time I got to it.
I'd gone a bit overboard on the decorations this year, snatching up lots of luau stuff at Dollar Tree over the course of the last year. (I even bought luau stuff in Cody, Wyoming when we were on vacation last year because I knew the jungle theme was coming up.) I purchased some plywood and had other pieces donated for making cut outs of animals to scatter around camp. A friend painted some and I spent a Saturday painting the rest.
We used these cut outs for our 4th of July parade float. (details here)
We like to have a narrow entrance to control the comings and goings of people at camp. Until last year we used a wooden bridge for the cubs to walk over to enter camp. For nine years, Dode hated packing the bridge out to camp and back, as well as storing it all year. Last year after camp, I thought up a PVC pipe entrance that would collapse down to make it easy to haul and store.
set up at home, ready to go
close up of the roof
I used netting from Dollar Tree and all the greenery I could find at garage sales, 2nd hand stores, and anywhere else. I was having a hard time coming up with any but a few weeks before camp, we happened upon the leftovers of a garage sale where everything was free. I found two big bags of flowers and greenery to decorate my entrance.
Our camp headquarters. It looks pretty chaotic in this photo! The purple, black, and green flag in the photo is our joke flag. When it's flying, it's OK to come up to headquarters and tell a joke. 
The ability to tell jokes for laffy taffy was as popular as always. Elizabeth was a pretty tough jester! I'll laugh at anything but if it wasn't funny to her, she'd say so!
I was lucky to be able to use Elizabeth's safari outfit she made for Halloween. The parrot on my shoulder has been to camp a few times and is looking a bit worn. The cubs loved it! I "earned" my shirt by teaching at national camp school. I don't remember where I put my jungle apron so I wore my patriotic one this year. Oh well, I'm sure it will turn up before the next time I hold a jungle theme!
Our theme song this year was "Bananas of the Republic". We sung it three times a day at ceremonies. It takes a lot of bravery for me to sing into a microphone in front of a large group. I don't have a great voice, just some courage! I hope I can get it out of my head sometime in the next few weeks!
The jungle theme gave me the excuse to get Dode to build me the do-nothing-box. I've been wanting him to build for a few years. It gave the youth and adults quite a few chuckles to turn it on and watch the gorilla finger come out to turn it off.
We borrowed a gorilla costume from a friend. The camp director was a good sport and wore it around camp several times a day. He'd come back absolutely covered in sweat but the boys sure loved it!
All the dens are assigned a color. We ask the boys and leaders to wear the colored scarves we provide in a prominent location. It helps us know where the boys belong.
They also decorate a den flag we provide them and proudly carry it around camp all week.
We use PVC pipes as flag poles and attach the flags with zip ties.
You'd be amazed by how much of camp is created by PVC pipe, rebar and zip ties. Every year I have to buy more pipe and rebar as we get more extravagant with our decorations.
The boys earn beads for showing scout spirit. Once they have enough, they can come to headquarters and turn them in for a prize. The green grid has prizes hanging from it. I collect things all year long and we also get things donated from families in the program. The left over prizes get stored for the next year. I have no way of keeping track of when something was donated. I might have things in my prize box from 10 years ago that no one ever wants! Maybe when enough years go by they will be cool again.
I've known him since I started doing camp ten years ago so I wasn't intimidated, but I think my first year camp director was a bit concerned. He stayed a while, walking around the camp to check out all our classes. I always schedule a fire drill for the end of the 1st class on the 1st day but since we had a VIP around, I decided to wait until he left. Fire drills can look quite chaotic and I didn't want to leave that impression with him when he left. Once he signed out and got in his car, I called for the fire drill. I didn't wait long enough! He heard the siren and got out to watch the drill. So much for not leaving him with a chaotic view of camp! Apparently he was suitable impressed because one of the secretaries in the office, my camp director for the past five years, overhead him talking about our camp and had to drive out to camp to see for herself!
Our camp got several VIP visitors this year. The scout executive lives just down the road from camp. He came to camp on Tuesday with the Council President (the chief volunteer of the council). We also got a visit from the inspection team (we passed!). While they were there, the inspection team mentioned that if there's a problem with my camp, there's a problem with national since I teach at national camp school. I don't really consider myself that influential or important in the grand scheme of things. It feels odd that others might. I'm glad we had so many visitors to our camp. I think it was a great one!
A few years ago, we started using audio equipment to help people hear during ceremonies. I've come to believe that if you're questioning, "Can people hear me?" the answer is "Use a mike!" It really helps people pay attention when they can hear what is going on. There is just no way to speak to a large group, inside or outside, without amplifying your voice. This is my 3rd year having it and we've refined it each year. We don't have electricity at camp. Everything runs off a portable generator. One thing I didn't like about my system was the ugly equipment front and center behind me during our ceremonies. This year, I asked a friend who is an artist to paint a mural on a piece of plywood for me. She did an amazing job and it completely hid the mess of my equipment. We also upgraded to cordless mikes for the cubs to hold. The wired mike we used last year was a trip hazard. The system is still not perfect. The new mikes cut in and out. There's also some feedback in the speakers. But it sure beats the old way of just trying to talk loud!
opening flag ceremony
One thing I struggle with planning is lunch time entertainment. Monday we skip the entertainment because lunch is shorter due to our fire drill and longer beginning class. Tuesday was a magician that we had liked so much last year that we invited him back for this year. Last year we had rain every day. We don't have a covered area big enough for everyone to get under so the magic show I'd scheduled didn't work out. He had to walk from group to group huddled under small canopies where he would do a few tricks before moving to the next group. This year the weather was much better and he was great. He really worked the crowd, making the kids think they were figuring out his trick and then doing something to cause that "Whoa! How did he do that?!" moment.
Thursday was the always popular visit by the fire department. They called me Thursday morning to tell me if they were going to come out, we had to visit the trucks in an orderly manner. They've been coming to camp every year I've been there. Every year it gets chaotic with me asking the dens to please wait their turn and den leaders deciding to just go up whenever. The fire department said that last year they felt overrun with children who were clambering all over the truck. This year I told the group in the morning and reminded them at lunch that everyone had to wait until it was their turn. The camp director stood by the fire men with a megaphone and sent anyone back who wasn't supposed to be there. After 10 years, I think we've finally got it down!
One thing I hate about camp is having to run to the store in the evenings after camp when my brain and body are totally fried. When I get home from camp, I'd love to just relax and put my feet up. That never happens. This year was more painful than most. Dode wasn't home to help out, everything was on me.
Monday after camp I had to go to Costco. My mom was in camp that day so she followed me to Costco, planning to watch the kids eat Costco hot dogs and pizza dinner while I did my shopping. I got all the way there and realized the bin with my wallet in it was back at camp. I was so sad, hot and tired, I could have just sat down and cried! I had to take the kids home, then get in the car and head back to camp so I could get my wallet and go back to Costco. Driving back to camp, I was worried the whole time. Camp is behind a gated fence and I was hoping the gate was still open. It wasn't until I actually turned in to the driveway that I knew I'd be able to get in and get my wallet. Then, when I got to Costco, I realized my shopping list was in the other vehicle. I went by memory and of course I forgot something, crickets for our insect study. So Tuesday, once I made dinner for everyone, I got to go back over to Petco (right next to Costco) to get crickets. I spent an hour of my night to spend $5!
This year at camp we didn't have rain, but we did have heat. There were times when I could feel sweat trickling down my sides and legs. Yuck! We'd get home from camp and the kids would all head to the pool to cool off. I'd head inside where I'd sit down at the computer to get ready for tomorrow, I'd make dinner, I'd get organized, and before I knew it, it would be time to go to bed. No pool for me but it felt so good to get into a shower and wash all the sweat off.
Elizabeth really enjoyed running the store.
Trying to decide what to buy at the store. I go to Cash and Carry where I buy unique candy they can't find at a typical grocery store: cow tails, moon pies, apple heads, airheads, etc. We sell it all for 25 cents to $1.00.
King Louie waiting to give out smarties to boys who solve the daily riddle.
Here's one of the riddles....
You are lost in the jungle. You have a only a coconut to eat but you drop it and it rolls into a very deep hole. There is a sharp bend in the middle of the hole and your arm will not reach around it. The ground is clay hard soil and you have no way to dig into it. What can you use to get the coconut out of the hole?
Practicing for a closing flag ceremony.
Cub scout with his den flag.
Isaac and Miriam watching the reptile show together.
One of the hardest things of running a camp is the criticism that some people feel they need to share. I start planning next year's camp while we're doing the current year. I go to trainings, wasting Saturday family time. I spent hundreds of hours on the computer and shopping to get everything. I'm the first one to camp every day, the last one to leave, and when I get home it's just more day camp until I fall in bed exhausted and try to get to sleep while thinking of everything that needs to happen the next day. Then, when it's all over Thursday night, everyone goes home and relaxes. We stay until everything is packed up. I have to go home and unload and put everything away. Then, I have to meet with the council for an audit of my finances. So, I feel like I'm pretty invested in camp. We get volunteers every year who don't come to a training, don't help us set up on Saturday morning, come only 1-2 days, but have no problem writing an evaluation letting me know all the ways I failed them and let them down. When I get discouraged by things like that, I remind myself that I don't do it for the grown ups, I do it for the cubs. And, the cubs had a great time. I had one dad who said in the evenings, camp was all his son could talk about and they'd heard a bit too much about cub camp! That's what makes it worthwhile.
As we were driving home one night, the kids were talking about how day camp gets better every year. They speculated how long I'd keep doing it and how amazing it would become. They decided I'd be doing day camp until I die. I can't quite picture myself 80 years old running a camp but we'll see. Then, they started feeling bad for whoever comes after me. Isaac said, "You're going to be a tough act to follow. The last year you do day camp, you should do a really bad job. Then, it won't be so bad for whoever has to follow you!" It's nice to know that my kids think I do an outstanding job since my camp is the only one they've ever known and they have nothing to compare it to!
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