Yesterday I shared with you my fears and misgivings about attending GA Mother-Daughter Mission Adventure camp, today I wanted to share what our first night was like; Friday Night. Serenaded by the “Bazooka Bubble Gum” song and after stopping for some ice cream (and onion rings), our church van rolled into CC camp late Friday afternoon. Assigned to cabin 10, five moms and five beautiful little girls made the arduous journey up Mt. Killamommy, our arms laden with luggage and our backs laden with “glisten” (cause you know Southern women do not sweat). Minutes after arrival in the warm cabin (not to worry I promptly turned the AC up) the girls were begging their already exhausted mama’s for some pool time. Now this mama didn’t bring a bathing suit thinking she wouldn’t really want to swim anyway (even though I ALWAYS want to swim), but thankfully all the other mamas decided to sit this pool session out and we let the kiddos play in the shallows while we gabbed.
After pool time, we headed to dinner at the dining hall and then to chapel for worship. Always a favorite of the girls, the young women who lead the camp never cease to amaze me and bring joy to the masses of squealing girls. These amazing young women sang, danced (honestly, my least favorite part of camp…the hand motions), did skits, and put on puppet shows for the audience of captivated girls and contented mamas. The camp had a welcome party that night complete with limbo (I have rug burn), games, and message in a bottle making. At one point the adorable Recreations Leader asked what the girls would write on a message in a bottle to tell someone about Jesus. KG instantly throws her hand (and I’m expecting something profound because this is KG) and says, “I’d tell them He’s our Savior and God created us, NOT monkeys. I laughed until I cried.
That night KG met an incredibly inspriational missionary named Gaby, who had served in Bolivia and South Africa and was kind enough to share her story with us. KG was fascinated by her and wanted to know more about where Gaby was from (Ecuador) and the adventures she had had.
Craft time reared it’s ugly head after the party and if it sounds like I don’t enjoy craft time that’s because I don’t. I do not have a single crafty bone in my body. I am the antithesis of the crafty mom. Seriously, craft supplies run screaming from me. And to make it even better? We were decorating sailor hats. Yep. Sailor hats. My face is not one that looks good—or even cute—in a hat. Least of all in a sailor hat. Thankfully one of the moms with us is quite the Crafty Caroline and willingly took pity on the rest of us by writing our names with an anchor on our hats. All I had to do was stamp a shell on the hat…guess what…I managed to do it without messing up! Yay me!
Finally at 10pm (!!) we all dropped, exhausted, into our sleeping bags and onto bunks.