Camp's done...packing's started

We have officially completed our jobs at camp this summer. We both left camp with a real feeling that we've done good jobs and had a lot of fun. Jason discovered new skills in the area of administrative and office work. He was incredibly creative and organized this summer. I discovered that I can in fact work with youth. I have an amazing group of 16 CITs to work with. They were motivated to learn, to grow and to get to know eachother and their campers. Basically, they made my job easy. I will miss them as we all move on to other areas. It's an odd job in the way that you work incredibly hard to get to know each other and to mentor them, then after 8 weeks of intense community life, you simply disappear from each others lives. Camp is headed in a great direction, we look forward to hearing how next summer goes.

We've got 2 weeks now of packing and goodbyes. Unfortunetly I severely sprained my ankle the second last day of camp, so I'm moving slightly slower then I had hoped to this week. This weekend is my parents 25th anniversary and our commissing from our church here in Calgary. We're spending a week in Saskatchewan with Jason's family and the rest here in Calgary. We'll be flying out at 12:30 AM on August 31 from Calgary. Continue to keep us in your prayers and we make the transition.

Summer half over

It's crazy to think that our summer is already half over. The past two weeks have gone by quickly. Two weeks ago we had a crowd of rambunctious 8-10 year olds come through camp and drain the energy of our staff. This last week, however, we had a bunch of veteran 10-12 year olds that helped the week run smoothly. Last weekend we went to two weddings, one in Rosthern and one in Tofield. We were fortunate enough to spend some time at my parents house and overall it was a wonderful weekend.

First Camp Week

The last week was our first full week of camp this summer. It was a smaller camp which makes for better bonding opportunities and smoother transitions all week. Our Nature Leader stepped up as our chaplain which was terrific and the campers and staff had a great time. Our staff is doing a wonderful job and it is a real pleasure to work at camp again this summer.

Even though I was fairly busy I did manage to get in some fluke birding as I was trying to find one of our overnighter spots off property. As I was on my way I was suddenly surrounded by at least three Great Grey Owls. They seemed agitated so I did not stay longer than 5 minutes, but it did not take long for me to realize that this was the family of Owls that nested at camp Valaqua. I saw at least two of the Great Greys and heard at least one more adolescence. The Mother had her defined features; the larger build and clearly lined face. The "babies" were now about as tall as the mother and had a similar wingspan, but were fluffier and skinnier and of course with less defined facial lines.

Another highlight for me personally was of course our hike. I was no doubt one of the people in charge but given the group this really wasn't a stress for me, but more of a break. Grotto Canyon was scenic and it had a variety of relaxing hang-out spots. We saw ancient hieroglyphs and unique watter lapped rocks.

Niki's is enjoying her job and doing very well at it. She just finished two busy weeks and is looking forward to a more relaxed schedule. I have heard very positive feedback from the CIT's.