We have a tradition in FISD where all 5th grade students at every single elementary school get to go to camp during the school year & our turn was last week! Most of the schools go to Pine Cove, Sky Ranch or Camp Jolt but our school goes to:
We have never been here but it is about 2 hours east. Personally, I'm glad they didn't go to Sky Ranch since the girls already go there. It's always fun to try somewhere new!
We found out a few weeks ago who got to be chaperones & thankfully I made the cut. They asked for 20 moms & 20 dads so of course I jumped in to help out. We found out a week before which parents we were chaperoning with & what our color group was, but not who was in our group. Every group had 20 kids - 10 boys & 10 girls, with 3 boy dads & 3 girl moms chaperoning. We were assigned group orange & we were also given the sizes of the kids we had, so we went to work shopping for orange swag, including these custom sweatshirts I had made to surprise our girls:
I literally worked on this behind closed doors so Sadie didn't have a clue! We met at the school early Monday morning (the first day back after fall break) where they had a mini pep rally to find out what groups they were in, what friends they were with & which chaperones they had. Sadie was SO excited to be with some of her good friends, including her bestie Kenzie!
Unfortunately, they had a problem with one of the buses, so the kids had to hang out at the school for 2 hours until it got there. Meanwhile, the chaperones got to drive our own cars so we headed out early to beat them there but a sweet friend took this picture when they finally boarded the buses:
They finally got there after lunchtime! We met up with our kiddos & took a selfie before we kicked off camp with my 2 chaperone buddies & their children:
They fed the kids a quick lunch then we headed straight to our first class on orienteering:
Even though it was "camp", it was very educational. In fact, they actually called it outdoor learning & for the most part, the kids really liked all of the classes. Their first class they learned how to use compasses & find direction:
They even divided up into teams & played a game in the forest using their compasses to get from one clue to the next:
All of their classes were with their entire group, boys & girls:
They would have 2 classes in the morning, lunch, another class after lunch then rec time! They loved rec time because they could go anywhere at camp & do whatever they wanted as long as they were in groups of 3. The first afternoon, Sadie spent most of her time at the zip line:
The chaperones had to take turns volunteering around camp & I just happened to be running the ziplines that afternoon, so I got some beautiful pictures from the platform while I was up there:
Our first 2 days were absolutely beautiful & we had perfect weather! A little cool in the morning & the evenings where we needed a light jacket, but we took them off by lunchtime. And you can see the foliage - the trees were the prettiest colors!
After free time, we had a brief break where we set up our cabin & surprised the girls with their orange swag before heading to dinner:
Speaking of dinner, we were able to turn in our dietary preferences beforehand so they were fully prepared to meet our gluten free diet. Our first night we had pizza & it was a little disappointing:
Seriously?! It's like they forgot to put cheese on it & then randomly added whatever sliced cheese they had leftover. Besides this, our meals were pretty good & neither of us ever got sick. They even had these amazing cookies that they heated up for us that both of us really enjoyed!
The kids would sit in their group for their meal, then they were responsible for cleaning their table & then they would all meet up in the middle for a dance party:
After dinner the first night we took pictures of the girls in all of their swag so we could send it to their parents:
They had another class at night outside on the soccer field where they learned astronomy. It was so clear out there & such perfect weather that we saw so much! I probably learned more about constellations, planets, stars then I ever knew! I don't have any pictures of this because we had to keep it pitch dark out there but I wanted to write about it so I won't forget it because I really did enjoy it.
Probably their favorite part of the day is when we finally got back to the cabin. All these girls wanted to do is shower, get in the pj's & have a dance party!
Thank goodness I grabbed our bluetooth speaker before we left because the girls had music on the entire time! My friend brought her disco ball & that was a lot of fun also:
We stayed in the grand cabin which had 4 smaller cabins inside it & ours was on the top left. But they loved getting to run around the grand cabin & popping in to other cabins to see their friends or hanging out in the community rooms:
The next morning the kids were up bright & early for breakfast at 8:00 & they took a group picture with all of the students & their teachers:
It was foggy that morning but it wasn't that cold so the kids got to wear their matching camp shirts:
Their first class was learning how to paddle! They learned all about canoes, kayaks & the different paddles they have & how to use them:
But their favorite part was when they actually got in the water & got to paddle themselves:
It finally cleared up after lunch so they took another group photo in the sun:
Then we went to a few more classes that afternoon. Their favorite was the horse class! They learned all about horses & then they got to go on a horse ride:
We had free time during rec & we headed to the camp store first because the girls were excited to buy ice cream & snacks, including me!
I had the afternoon off from volunteering so I spent some time hanging out with other moms but I realized we couldn't find our girls anywhere....... apparently, they were back in the cabin having another dance party!
Even in the middle of the afternoon with the sun outside, they are inside partying! Ha! I guess we had the fun cabin :)
After dinner that night, they had a bonfire which was one of the highlights of the trip. Each color group created their own cheer/chant to perform for each other and then they had the bonfire with s'mores:
We had a hard time getting the girls back to the cabin this night but when we did, it was quick to shower & change so they could go back to their dance party:
We organized a onesie fashion show before we came so most of the girls brought a onesie & once everyone was ready, we turned off the lights, turned on the music & all of the moms videoed while the girls walked the catwalk:
It may have been a late night, but we were up even earlier the next morning because we had to be packed, moved out of the cabin & luggage on the buses by 7:30. Ouch! Breakfast was at 7:45 & it was outside which was even worse because a cold front blew in overnight & it was in the mid 30's when we woke up. They were getting ready for another school when we left so we weren't allowed in any of the buildings that morning. Let's be honest, I was having a blast at camp until this point. Sitting outside in 30 degree weather with kids who are just as miserable as me for 4 hours was torture:
Their first class was teambuilding & their 2nd class took them back in time. They learned how to saw, build a log cabin, they made candles with hot wax and churned butter that they actually ate on crackers!
Their last class ended up being my very favorite! The teacher was so good & really played his part well. Afterwards, he wanted a group photo with the kids:
And we also took a group photo with all of the chaperones:
Finally, we headed back to meet up with the rest of our school for the closing ceremony. All week, we have been collecting points for the groups. You could earn points for arriving on time to class, bringing your journal to all of the classes, picking up trash, etc. I was a little disappointed because they kept calling out all of these awards for all of the groups & our poor group won nothing. And then the big moment came - they announced the team who collected the most points for the entire time we were there & this team had collected over 1 million points...... the ORANGE team! I don't know who was more excited - the students or the chaperones?!
Can you see that trophy?! It was huge! I really was so proud of our kids, boys & girls. They really got along, were well behaved, participated in class & were really into picking up litter. Ha!
After the ceremony, the camp had packed up sack lunches for everyone & we all took them to go. The kids ate on the busses & all of the chaperones found our way back to our cars to make the drive home. On the way to camp, I drove & my 2 friends rode with me. The girls were super excited for the bus but on the way home, they decided it would be more fun to go with us:
I would say the majority of the chaperone's kids went home with their parents & most of them stopped at Bucee's on the way home because we saw them all there!
Coincidence?
If there is anyone still reading, I apologize. I know this was a long post for only 3 days at camp. I actually didn't take probably half of these pictures but so many people took pictures & shared them with me. Also, I just have a horrible memory so I really love documenting moments like this so I can reference it. I think it's an awesome tradition that FISD does 5th grade camp & I was so honored to be able to tag along. I am really excited about getting to do it with Sophie next time!
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