Songs

One of my favorite parts of camp was all the singing.

We all ate in the dining hall for lunch and dinner and before every meal we sang a song together (lyrics in songbooks kept on table) and sang a grace. My favorite grace was Johnny Appleseed:

Oh, the Lord is good to me
And so I thank the Lord
For giving me the things I need
The sun, the rain and the apple seed
The Lord is good to me
Amen, Amen
Amen, Amen, Amen
AAAAAAA- men!

Always sung loud, fast and with spirit.

We also sang classics like Waltzing Matilda, If I had a Hammer, Inch by Inch, Edelweiss, Old Mountain Dew, and Johnny Rebeck's Machine. The last two were new to me but very fun and somewhat weird, just like the Titanic. (Otto about died and went to heaven when the Titanic was the song before dinner!)

We also had campfire song night when the couselors sat around the campfire with guitars and fiddle after s'mores and we requested any song we wanted from the songbook. A favorite there was "Throw it out the window" - you'll have to ask about that if you want to know.

Oh, it was sad!

This is a photo of campfire song night when Otto fell in love with the song The Titanic. I'll type up the lyrics here - we found a version on iTunes by Pete Seeger but it doesn't have nearly the vigor that the camp song does:

Oh, they built the ship Titanic
To sail the ocean blue
And they thought they had a ship
Which the water wouldn't go through
But the good Lord raised his hand
Said, "This ship will never land!"
Oh, it was sad when the great ship went down

Chorus:
Oh, it was sad (So sad)
Oh, it was sad (Too bad)
It was sad when the great ship went down.
Husbands and wives, little children lost their lives.
It was sad when the great ship went down.

Oh, they were not far from England
And they were not far from shore
When the rich refused to associate with the poor.
So they stuck them down below
Where they'd be the first to go.
Oh, it was sad when the great ship went down.

Chorus

Oh, they shoved the lifeboats over
In that rough and raging sea
And the band struck up with
"Nearer My God to Thee."
Little children wept and cried
As the wave rolled over the side.
It was sad when the great ship went down.

Chorus

Soooooo, we have disected every line of this song, borrowed books from the library, examined photos on the internet, learned about icebergs, learned about the different levels of the ship, talked about how it broke, etc, etc since having learned this song. Otto is officially obsessed with the Titanic. Did I mention that we sing the song (especially the chorus) over and over?

There is counselor Kylie again roasting marshmallows with Otto. The rule was you have to give your s'more to someone else before you eat one. Otto doesn't like them anyhow so when Georgia-Rae gave him one he turned around and gave it to James!

Age Group = Free time!

While Otto was at age group I learned how to Inkle weave. Here is me at work and Tim sewing my creation onto Otto later.





We also hiked Ol' Baldy - a tree is blocking the view of Burntside Lake where camp was located:



We also did activities such as canoe, kayak, play cards, and on the one rainy day SIT ON THE DECK AND READ! Verrrry relaxing.

Schedule

Here was our camp schedule:

8 - 8:45 breakfast in dining hall. We only made it the first day - it made life too hectic so we ate granola bars at the campsite instead.

9:15 - 9:45 Jr. Naturalists. Led by counselors, assisted by mom or dad. We earned our badges!

10 - 12 Age group. Otto hung out and played with other 3 and 4 year olds and had a blast. They had four counselors while mommies and daddies went off to have their own fun (more on that later). Otto LOVED Kylie and James especially.





The final day of age group was pirate day:



and if that wasn't exciting enough, they also finally found Mrs. Troll who answered after three knocks and handed out her favorite food, Skittles!



More to come...

du Nord

Okay! Time to play catch up! If I can get a few of these posted I'll go back to a great visit by cousins Z and N!

We just got back from YMCA family Camp du Nord. It was a fantastic trip - I'll start with pics of our cabin tent site called Deer. Inside were two sets of bunk beds and a double bed for Tim and I.