Growing Up

Here is one last post before I finally get back to our vacation story.

This past Sunday, Jeff left for Thailand, and Charlotte left for camp.  After church, we finished her packing and made the 80-minute drive down to Little Galilee Christian Camp, our third trip in two weeks.  Charlotte was beyond excited.  She was quite jealous that Elijah got to stay the last time we made the trip and has been counting down the days until it was her turn.

This year, camp for Charlotte is a very different animal.  She decided that she wanted to try Wilderness Camp.  So, instead of staying in an air-conditioned, en suite cabin for the week, she is staying in a hogan that has no electricity and two port-a-potties out the back door.  Instead of windows, the hogan has screens and roll-down flaps.  Instead of sinks and showers, there is a hose.  Instead of eating in a dining hall, she will eat her meals in a covered picnic pavilion.  Instead of 70 other kids in all the activities, only eight other girls and 12 boys will participate.

Here are her quarters until Friday.

She is over the moon.

Once again, her friend Anna is joining her, so she won’t be alone in all of these new experiences.  I’ll tell you, though, the whole thing was a bit more primitive than I was expecting!  Outside the front door of the hogan is a huge propane tank with a lamp on top of it.  That will be the only light out there, besides flashlights, after dark.  Wow.

Here are the girls out the back door of the hogan.

However, the campers will have access to showers and sinks in the pool house, so they are not completely roughing it.  I think that Charlotte will have a great time; she likes smaller groups anyway, and the kids participating in Wilderness Camp will have a chance to get to know each other a little better than they might in a bigger group.  Also, the weather up here broke on Monday, so the lack of air conditioning shouldn’t be a big issue anymore.

The boys and I will pick her up on Friday evening.  I can’t wait to hear about her week!