The week after the olders returned from
Rainbow, July 5-9, 2016, our entire family went down to Centennial, Wyoming for
Table in the Wilderness' kids camp. This was a first for us, going there without any students, but they asked Terry to be their speaker and Noah and Evie could be campers so we went for it. I can't believe how many things we have partnered with them to do in the past, the last of which was the 2015
mission trip to Mexico and L.A., in addition to disConnect trips (which
started in 2007), plus
ski trips back in the day when we lived in Gburg.
I had SO much to get together with the house (because we rented it while we were gone and I had been working on
refinishing the table), but we finally hit the road on Tuesday.
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| I like how Ezra is reading Curious George upside down. |
While Terry was getting set up I took the littles for a walk around the property. Noah and Evie were getting settled in their cabins because they were campers for the week!
Getting eaten alive at the pond, the site of many previous jumping innings.
My cute baby...ahem, big boy.
The view from the second floor porch of the lodge, from which Terry gave his lessons.
HUMMINGBIRDS! I had never in my life seen them before and was mesmerized.
Evie's first night with her group.
Wyoming was much greener than South Dakota so I was surprised to hear that they were in a dry snap and really needed this rain on the first night.
Terry amused himself on the slackline while it rained.
Terry spoke in the morning and evenings and since sitting still really isn't the littles thing, they hung outside while I watched them from the porch.
That first day, Wednesday, we drove along with the group over the Snowy Range Mountains to Saratoga for rafting and a dip in the hot springs and pool. We didn't raft but played in the creek where the hot springs emptied into.
The littles looked so much alike.
Everyone played in the field south of the lodge for a bit before the evening session.
This belt of aspen trees is my favorite.
The boys discovered this large teeter totter that was meant for group of campers to balance each other on. The boys just used it for running and jumping and bouncing fun.
Running to the other side.
Beautiful sunset of our first full day.
Thursday morning the boys did their thing while Terry did his.
We wandered down to the trees again. I love them.
Thursday morning session.
Teacher Terry.
That morming the campers took turns either climbing and zip lining or shooting archery. Noah is mid way up the climbing wall.
Flying Noah!
Evie also had to do the more difficult side of the wall.
Weeee!
I tried so hard to get a decent picture of a hummingbird.
My best shot. The little buggers are crazy fast, of course.
The boys got bored and found sticks in the surprisingly accurate shape of guns and shot each other.
Thursday afternoon while the littles were sleeping Terry and I went mountain biking. I attempted and failed to overcome this difficult part of trail that has always intimidated me. I made it halfway down before I fell hard. Man it hurt.
I managed to smile later.
That evening Noah's group had to do a "dance" to win their cabin flag back. "Thunder!"
Friday morning we all went to a prairie lake to canoe. First we skipped rocks.
Evie and her best buddy Pearl.
It was very beautiful and surprisingly less hot than it looked.
Noah and his cabin leader Grant, who is the brother in law of our old student Kyle, now the camp director.
Evie was so brave and swam in the lake!
I had a nightmare that the littles would drown in the lake but of course that didn't happen.
Selfie! I was wearing glasses because my eyes were all gunky for some mysterious reason.
Lunch back at camp.
Friday afternoon we took the littles on a hike up the hill behind camp. This is at the top looking down on Centennial. And that mountain in the background (in a lot of my photos) is called Sheep Mountain.
Da boys.
Failed selfie attempt. What is Samuel doing? I don't know but it's funny enough to include.
Pretty!
Channeling Denise I yelled out, "It's so beautiful!"
"Terry take my picture to prove I was here too."
Gah. Beauty.
Gun battles with daddy.
Finally out of the thick forest but with many, many mosquito bites.
The final night, Friday, was skit night. Evie's group was at a family reunion where the chicken poisoned the sandwich with a fish.
They all ate the sandwich and then threw up. The end.
Noah's group were on a family road trip with Grandma and asked her all sorts of silly questions, Noah's being why she forgot her luggage...
The following morning, Saturday, was our last. Ezra was playing on the slackline when he fell off and thought he would fall to the ground below. I laughed, took his picture, and then "rescued" him.
This leader made me do a double take several times because he looked so much like my brother.
One last worship session.
One last roll in the field. So glad we brought Ezra's Strider bike...
Last teaching session.
Saying good bye - Evie's cabin.
Evie and Pearl. Evie cried much of the way home, she was so sad to say goodbye to her new friend. She did that after Rainbow as well with her cabin leader Sarah. Oh, and she cried again when she said goodbye to Mia the following week after staying at her house while Terry and I were gone. She sure gets attached to friends.
We asked Dan to take a family photo of us before we left.
Closer...
Terry and his old buddy and
student from Gburg, Kyle. I remember him as a little eighth grader (or so) carrying his whining sister around the disc golf course and now he has two kids of his own. He's so great.
The only thing different on our way home was Ezra's exhaustion. It was a good week!
