Family Camp, 2010

As has become our family tradition, we went to Family Camp on Catalina Island this summer. This year, because school districts seemed to all run a little bit longer than before, we couldn't go during week 1. Then week 2 was out, because Abigail was a flower girl in Amy's wedding. Finally, we arrived at Campus By The Sea on July 4th. Southern California's "June gloom" stretched into July, so most of the week was overcast and cool. Frances decided to take the swim test on Monday, so that if the weather improved, she could go into the water without a life jacket. You can see in the photos that the kids all look apprehensive and chilly!


But Frances braved the icy waters, and swam out to the dive float, was able to tread water and "take the oath," and then returned to the beach where I was waiting to wrap her up in a towel! She and her buddies did, in fact, spend more time in the water during the week. They swam, played with innertubes, and even went kayaking. When Frances was younger, I used to make her go out in a kayak with me. Now that Abigail has come along, many afternoons I was trapped in our cabin with the napping princess. Frances is now old enough to kayak solo, and she loves it.

Frances, James, and Colby (and sometimes their younger siblings) played "rock bombs," an activity that involves picking up the largest rock you can carry and heaving it off the left side of the pier (where rock-throwing is permitted) to see how big the splash will be! I was so grateful for the Lindfors and Waite families, because they took Frances along with them on hikes and kayak trips while Abigail napped. It's good to have such accommodating friends! And the Lindfors family took care of Abby for a while each evening, while I met with the small group leaders and camp directors. I was surprised to have been chosen as a small group leader this year, but it was a lot of fun, and our little group of women (single, widowed, divorced, and husband-stayed-home-because-son-had-summer-school) learned so much from one another.

Abigail did not hike or swim, but she sure loved the play yard! That's where her class began and ended each day, and where she wanted to be every waking moment. This year she liked the swings, and she also learned to climb up a rope net to the top of the climber.

On Wednesday, we opted to go into the small city of Avalon. Camp packed sack lunches for us, and we ate them in a park that had a cool playground. We also played miniature golf with the Lindfors family. Frances and James were much more interested that Emily and Abigail, but all enjoyed it. Big Olaf's was a great place to stop for ice cream, and the flavors of ice cream that they offered were astounding! It was really hard to decide on just one (or two...). We took "Christmas pictures" at the waterfront, and Frances did handstands, while the little girls had heaps of fun sitting together and giggling.



I think that Abigail's favorite part of camp was the music. This year, she was able to understand the songs and do the hand movements. She sings with gusto (often using creative lyrics) and this year, she became the queen of the "sprinkler." There was one song (based upon Luke 9:23) that incorporates the sprinkler movement during the last line. Abigail was like an automatic sprinkler system gone awry! She sprinklered her way through all of the rest of the worship songs one morning! It fills my heart with joy to see my little girl, born in a country where mentioning God's name can get you jailed (or worse), singing and dancing for the Lord! Who said that motherhood isn't a mission field?



Because of the weather, we actually came home with lots of clean shorts, a few clean t-shirts, and some really dirty blue jeans and jackets! We were in a cabin adjacent to the Waites, and Carrie shared with us her solar-powered star-shaped lights, as a night light for our dark cabin. We had to borrow extra blankets from camp to keep us warm at night in our open-air cabin! Frances was very independent this year; half the time I had no idea where she was...but I knew that she would show up when she heard the bell for mealtimes! She even went fishing on the pier, with the help of some of the dads, and caught a 13-inch bass (or perch?). Frances tried out a new nickname this year: Frankie. I had told her that our friend Kathleen's mom was named Frances, and everyone called her Frankie. My Fran decided to try it out at camp. I think she is considering it, because of her tomboy image.
Once again, we had a great time at camp. Our memory verse (I don't know which translation, sorry) is Lamentations 3: 22-23. "Because of the Lord's great love, we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness."