Another Encounter with Wildlife

At 10:30 last night I was conned into going to Wendys with a bunch of my close friends. I wasn't planning on going, but it ended up being really fun. We were told to watch for deer going down and back up the canyon because it was dark and there are always deer running around. We were returning from our little food run..in the middle of a populated city (not even to the canyon yet) when a deer runs across the road. Janell (the driver) semi swerved to avoid the deer but we didnt' see it in time so the front of the car crashed into it. Then the deer quickly got up and ran away so uhhh..hopefully it is fine! And oddly enough there wasn't a dent on the car. We were so blessed! The only thing that moved were my spicy chicken tenders which at some point flew up into the front seat. But what the heck...we don't run into a deer in the canyon but we do in the middle of Provo. Anyways. I went on our hike with the group on Wednesday. Everything went well and we were on our way back..passing quite a few hikers on our way. When suddenly one of the kids (Ben) realizes he forgot his hat. So of course I got to go back with him to find it. He had already taken off looking for the hat so I had to run after him. The hikers were probably wondering what I was doing. We finally found his hat and I got to redo a 1/3 of the hike. And then he started booking it back up all the hills because he is twelve and full of energy and goes on crazy boy scout hikes. I barely kept up. But it was definitely a work out!! One great thing (there are many others) about this week was that I was able to have my family come up to Aspen Grove!! That was so much fun. I love having them see where I work and what I do. Lets see..the no sugar bet is still going strong. Oh! One day this week I was having a really bad day and I went to take a shower. When I came back I had the cutest card on my bed from my friends. The people up here are the greatest!! And that's all :)

Mafia and a Moose

Today I had the funniest experience. There was a moose wandering around camp, and the managers try to keep it from being noticed so that it won't charge people that come to look at it. We were playing werewolf outside (a more intense version of mafia) and the kids all had their heads down on the table while we gave them their jobs for the game. As they had their heads down, the moose comes walking by and it was about five feet away from them. And they didn't even notice. They had no idea that a moose was RIGHT THERE. One of the counselors goes "oh shoot!!!!" and starts walking after it. And then one of the managers starts walking after the moose. It walked away after a minute or two, and then we had the kids "wake up" and lift their heads. They were completely oblivious and it was hilarious. I also find it funny that my family was in Yellowstone looking for a moose the whole trip, and then I'm twenty feet away from one at camp a few days later. But anyways, life is good. I get 200$ if I don't eat sweets till the end of the summer. So far I've been able to make it...it has been two days ha ha. But I do miss sugar. We'll see if I last.

State of Confusion

Yesterday was a very..very..very eventful day. Lets just say I was leading my little campers on a hike and I uhh got lost. I was running after this boy who was leading the group and had disappeared ahead so I had to catch up with them. And at some point while I was running after him I missed where the trail split and took the wrong trail. I didn't notice for a while and then the trail looked unfamiliar and I asked anyone if it looked familiar and I got a resounding no. Luckily we came to the road five minutes later and were close to Aspen. I was so grateful that we were safe and found the way back! I had a heart attack moment. It was funny after it happened. Then we went to play dodge ball after lunch. Oooh boy. One girl had a really bad sunburn and got hit in the head with a ball and it took off a layer of skin. And then another girl hit her hand against the wall and had to wrap her thumb. We thought it was broken but luckily it was just jammed. That was an eventful game. But for some reason it was still a good day? I'm still trying to figure that one out. Well that's it for now. I just had to blog about that before I forgot. The kids leave tomorrow morning. It's always bitter sweet. This group ended up being awesome as usual.

vida

This weekend I had my first "full" day off. I was able to go spend the night at one of my old roommates houses in American Fork and we had a little roommate reunion. It was so great to see everyone!! I got to try Coldstone's new ice cream which is this oreo filling flavor. It probably sounds gross but it is sooooooo good. I have discovered that up here at Apsen Grove I have been doing a lot of things that I never would have voluntarily done on my own. My 12 year olds have this high ropes course that they climb on Tuesdays. And they would always ask me if it was scary and everything and I would always encourage them to do it. But...I had never done it and was basically terrified to try it. I didn't think I would have to until this past week when all of the kids got done on the course really quickly and wanted to see me do it. I couldn't just back out so I braved it. You have to climb up this tall swinging log, and then transfer over to this rock wall by walking on a wood beam that is probably 3 inches wide. Then you have to climb up the rock wall and reach the platform at the top. THEN you have to take your clips and hook them on to a wire. You have to walk on a wire while holding onto the top wire. When you come to trees you have to unhook yourself and put the hooks on the other side of the tree. THEN... you come back to the platform and have to repel down. It is quite the high ropes course. I'm probably making this sound more dramatic then it is but it was a huge step for me. All of the kids were cheering for me and then some of them thought it would be funny to throw pine cones at me while I was on the wires. That was interesting. Another experience I had was playing the piano in church. I actually volunteered and when I went up to play I wasn't even nervous which is huge. It was actually pretty enjoyable. And then next week in church I have to teach a lesson to a bunch of people that are older than me. I'm really nervous but also excited because I'm learning a lot by preparing. I've had more responsibility this summer then I've ever had before. I think it is good for me though. It's given me a lot of life experience that will be really helpful in the future. And that's all fer now :)

Life

Schedule Yesterday:
-Morning hike from 9:30-12:00. It was a three mile hike round trip to a waterfall. It was beautiful. But definitely a work out.
-Lunch with the kids. Wednesdays we get the kids for the whole day. The boys at our table started having a burping contest with the boys from another table in a different group. That was cute.
-Marshmallow wars in cowboy village.
-Arts and Crafts I got to make boondoggle!! I've never made it before..don't know how I missed that during childhood.
-Swimming: I again ended up carrying seven children around the pool. Then they started tickling me and that started to be life threatening because I couldn't breathe. Apparently the counselors are the best toys in the pool.
-Dinner
-FHE: We learned some dances to preform for the families at the dance tonight..including the Hoedown Throwdown
-Night Games: I didn't have to go to this but I just felt like it. And because I went my twelve year olds were able to go.
-Bed
The work days are crazy and wear me out sooooo much but it's a good tired feeling. Like I've really accomplished something with my day and had fun doing it.

Bugs

Attempting to sleep at Snowshoe Lodge is an interesting experience to say the least. You can hear everything...and things don't quiet down till 11:30 or 12:00 every night. Which is usually fine since I can't sleep till then anyway. But bugs are NOT fine. Last night I was ready for a relaxing night, and there was a BIG HUGE FAT SPIDER right above where I sleep. Not ok. So I called for someone to come and they came and killed it :) So I thought everything would be fine and dandy. I was ready for bed and relaxing when I turned to the side of my bed where I was facing the wall. There are two black spots that look like bugs, and so I glanced quickly at them and figured everything was fine. But then there was another spot. And it was moving. It was a BIG FAT HUGE ANT. I swear it was at least an inch and a half long. It was 12:15 AM...but luckily people were up talking and they came in and smacked it with a shoe. So I'm grateful for the people that stay up till 12 talking :) It has its benefits. So anyway my group this week is still amazing. Except for when 6 of the girls were chasing me and draggged me around the pool. They are so strong for 12 year olds....it's scary. I got to help kids shoot of rockets today for family games. That's about it. Life is good...the food is amazing......and yeah life is good.

Bring in the new

This might possibly have been one of the craziest weeks of my life. My group of kids just left that were here for the mini camp....and they were SUCH a handful. Holy cow. We had 25 twelve year olds. And there were three boys that wouldn't listen to anything. They were chucking rocks at people and things and I told them to stop..so they started throwing pinecones. Then when I vetoed that..they started chucking moss from the pond. Then they bribed one of the boys to jump in the pond for money, which I again vetoed, but then he dissappeared and came back dripping wet so I have no question that he did. And then I had a girl who kept crying whenever she lost at a game. It was really hard to keep comforting her and stay patient. But then at the end of the week she gave me the cutest note. It said "thanks for being the greatest counselor and staying with me through everything". It was so cute, and made everything totally worth it. There was another boy who was a little autistic and ADD, so I kept trying to include him in everything. And at the dance I got him to come and dance with us. His mom was so nice and thanked me and the parents asked me to take pictures with their kids. This is where the job is worth it, and it pays off...because the actual pay we get for the job does not cover all the work we do. But the thanks definitely do. I was talking to someone the other day and I discovered that even though the kids were driving me nuts, I still wanted the best for them and really care about what happens to them. It's really interesting how that works. And I love it. I worked at the store today again for my stand by. I got to make soft serve ice cream for people and scoop the other ice cream. The soft serve ice cream I made definitely likes the floor. We got our next group of kids today for our first full week. They are seriously a bunch of SAINTS compared to our last group. I was so happy!! I can tell this will be a better week. They actually listen to what we say. Oh...I can't forget to give a shout out to Will...so here you go. All I'm going to say is: Hawaii, Barney, and 25 cents. That's all :) Anyway..life is stressful but good. I'm definitely learning a lot of patience, and skills that will be so useful for the rest of my life.

earning my money

My schedule today:

1. Woke up at 7:30
2. Breakfast at 8:00...then cleaned from 8:30 to 12:30. Made beds, vacuumed..I never want to see another vacuum again, etc.
3. Lunch
4. Entertained crazy 12 year olds...I have 25 kids in my group this time.
5. Worked Aspen Follies. This is where each staff member picks a game and each family rotates to each game, and they get points for each game and try to get first place. My game was called the Plunger Race. Enough said.
6. Went swimming
7. Ate dinner
8. Opening show
9. Stand by at the store from 8:30 -10:30. I organized stuffed animals and shirts most of the time. Really helped me increase my tendancy for ocd. When you stare at shirts for an hour..you notice everything.
10. bed hopefully

The end.