in the Summer time: Wasatch Kids Camps

Over the summer I got a job at a kids day camp as a camp counselor for the Explorer's group, that's ages 9-13. I'll admit I was nervous the first day but little did I know the job would change my life, teach me so much, and give me an amazing summer family. Here are some of the memories/moments I have that I want to remember.

-For my 21st birthday I worked, it was a monday. It was the best birthday I have ever had. In the morning we took the kids to the U of U football stadium and got a tour of it. We also got to actually go down onto the field and play with a football. The kids loved it and I thought it was pretty awesome. Oh that morning, all the kids sang happy birthday to me on the bus and it was so wonderful I wanted to cry. That afternoon, we took the kids to hollywood connection where we got to play mini golf, ride rides etc. That night I went out with krystal, charly and amanda. However, the next night after my birthday, my awesome co counselors Matt and Stephanie wanted to go out to celebrate my birthday too. We started out meeting at Macaroni Grill by the fashion place mall. I had never eaten there and it was delicious. Of course matt and steph told them it was my birthday, so this lady comes over to me and sings happy birthday to me in like italian or something, opera style, gave me a huge BEAUTIFUL flower, and a piece of delicious, super rich, chocolate cake that the three of us couldn't even finish. After that, we drove to Matt's house because, so sweet, he had made me a cake! (by him I mean his mother). While we were there I saw the awesome decorating job he did. Then they lit sparklers and candles on the cake and matt, steph, his sister maryann, his dad, his other sister my boss Laura and her kids all sang happy birthday to me and we all had cake. While it was awkward and I felt bad at first, I loved it. My family wasn't around to celebrate with me and it was beyond thoughtful of his mom to make a cake for a stranger, and for his family to willingly help me feel special for my birthday. I knew then, that I had picked a great place to work.

-There are so many stories I will try to keep it down to a few. Within my explorers group, I got to know and love every single child. They were all so individual, unique and excited to be there. They were friendly to each other and taught me to remember unconditional love, kindness, being a friend to everyone and just looking at the world with a positive outlook.

-There were in our group, some boys a group of 5-7 or so that I just clicked with. We got along so well and I loved being around them and hugging them, teasing them, talking to them about their lives. These boys would always sit by me at lunch, on the bus, want to be in my group when we split into groups etc. They, along with every other child I got to know, holds a special and most sacred place in my heart from now on. I will never forget the moments I had with each child, learning from them and being able to be a role model for them.

-Some of my favorite activities we got to do included: Boondoggling!!: the kids loved it, and I had never done it before but learned how to with the kids. After that, it became a boondoggle camp. The kids were constantly making boondoggles, working on them on the bus, at MV, etc.

-The day we went to the zoo was also so fun except the kids were extremely tired after only 2 hours there. Although I thoroughly enjoyed it with them

-Going to Dennys for breakfast was also wonderful. I loved getting to have breakfast and watching the people there serve up 60 jr. grand slams haha.

-All the swimming we did was INSANE!! I swam more over the summer than I have in my entire life. One week we went swimming like 4 times out of a 5 day week. I def. got better at swimming and even managed to go off a couple diving boards. We got to go to some awesome water parks, including Cowabunga Bay which I thought was really fun, Cherry Hills, and Raging Waters. At raging waters though Steph and I crashed on a tube and ended up injured. My head had a huge goose egg on it fora week!

-Taking the kids on hikes was always a really fun activity too. It gave us real one on one time with the kids as we walked up and down trails and got to explore the beautiful nature in the salt lake valley. While the kids struggled sometimes, I know they all had a blast too. It was peaceful and a great bonding experience.

-Going to skate parks was not my favorite because those days, I was constantly loading and unloading scooters, skate boards, roller blades and it was a pain in my butt! But I'd do anything for those kids so...

-The gymnastics days were some of the kids favorite days and mine as well. As counselors we get to participate in all the activities and jumping into a huge foam pit from a trampoline is awesome! We had a blast in the foam pits pushing each other and kids in.

-Movie days were some of the counselor's favorite days. Having the kids sit in one area was a nice, relaxing activity. I loved them because again, it was great one on one time with the kids, hearing them laugh and enjoy the movies always put a smile on my face.

-Some of my favorite times however, were simply when we were traveling on the bus to places. Our bus got crazy this summer, we were always dancing, laughing, singing, talking and having a great time but mostly making sure the kids were having such a good time they didn't pay attention to the bus ride! We had tickle fights, games, deep conversations with kids, and one of my favorite things to do was sit at the back, or front and just watch the kids as they interacted on the bus. Seeing them so happy made me happier than anything. I loved that while they had their own friends, they always sat by someone different on the bus, and didn't care.

-Lunchtimes were always great too. I always tried to sit by different kids, or sit with kids and just have my little shadows sit there too and meet new people. Lunch was another real bonding moment with the kids, I got to talk to them about their lives outside of camp, trade snacks, share, learn what they liked/disliked about camp.

-Sunnyside: Sunnyside was the park I was assigned to, where I went first thing in the morning and last place in the afternoon. I LOVED my sunnysiders. All the trailblazers were so stinkin cute, and the kids I had, while they fought, yelled, and fought more over the swings, have a place in my heart. They always brought me joy and it was the perfect way to start every day. Having Dewey, Ric and Janna there only made it that much more fun for us. Sunnyside-Blue power- was the best.

-Some of my favorite quotes: "I'm not a kid, I'm a preteen"

"My dentist is Asian, so he's gentle" "SQUIRREL"

"Hey June, July and August" "Are you speaking Hispanic to them"

Me- Your just, your just "A small town girl, livin in a lonely world" (a boy said this haha)

"I don't fart" Me- everyone farts "I only fart once a day...pause..and I already farted today!"

-One of my favorite stories that taught me to be clear with directions: We were at a park near a baseball field and all the kids were out getting ready to play kickball. I was by the bathrooms with a couple kids waiting for the bathrooms to be finished cleaning so we could use them. C, came over there and said he needed to go too. I said, "They're not cleaned yet, go over to the field" I meant for him to go get in line with the other kids and start playing. However, a second later I turn around and C is out in left field peeing on the grass!!! I laughed SOOO hard, he thought I was telling him to go out to the field to pee! HAHAHA

-Other little things: Silly bands were huge, so was bringing Ramen Noodles for lunch, TNIM's, the kids trying to complement us haha, the horn on the bus, dancing pizza man on the corner, California Girls, Party in the USA, Dynamite, Fireflies, Farmer's Daughter, Replay etc., DJ's on the bus, Spray bottles to cool down the kids on the bus

-One of the best camp memories I have is the camp out we took the kids on. We drove out past the East Canyon Reservoir, got soaked in the pouring rain for an hour or so, I set up 8 tents with Steph and was exhausted, wore N's hat the whole time, the kids LOVED playing in the water, we had a group of boys who just fished like the entire time, writing in the sand, jet ski's, cooking dinner, making smores with some chocolate that was disgusting, Matt trying to play a joke on the kids and actually made a couple cry which was so mean, telling scary stories and getting to snuggle up with our kiddies, walking to the bathroom countless times, Sand everywhere, being in our swimsuits all day for 2 days straight, sunscreen, sunscreen, and MORE sunscreen, kids who brought more than they needed too, cooking, snacks, keeping the fire going, Steph, Kensie and I sleeping on the huge Inner tube and freezing all night!!,Getting up at 7 am the next day after like 2 hours of sleep, LOTS of water, taking down and cleaning out all the tents with the kiddies, out bus getting stuck in the sand for like 1 hour while the poor kiddies got stuck out in the crazy hot sun. All in all-best camping trip we could have asked for, we bonded, got to know each other, helped each other, and made great memories!

-Now, my co counselors:

Ric: Ric was the Explorer's and Sunnyside bus driver. He is amazing. He's like 50 or so, and seriously knows something about everything!!! Anytime I had a question about anything, not even camp related I would ask him, he is extremely smart, a jewelry maker, and kept us laughing all summer. He drove a crazy bus, yet never lost his outgoing personality and kept us going on the longest days. He is my hero.

Janna: Janna was the trailblazers supervisor and worked at Sunnyside with me. Janna is also my hero. She and I complemented each other perfectly at sunnyside because she was very chill, relaxed and all about having fun while I was the more structured side of the park. Janna loved the kids and was always dancing, smiling and having a good time. We had some wonderful bonding moments, that's for sure, and I def. look up to her. She taught me a lot, gave me great advice about life and camp, and I was very blessed to get to have her at the site with me. She went through a lot, she had to take full responsibility after Anne died and did it gracefully and perfectly.

Matty: Matt was a great addition to camp. He kept the kids having fun, and acted just like a kid which helped him relate to them. As a supervisor he did keep things structured and always gave us a good laugh. He always played his country music and it was good having a strong guy on the team. He was always smiling and reminded me to have fun even though I was working.

Kensie: Kensie joined us halfway through the summer after Mike left. While she was new she added lots of humor to the group. Everything she said was just so funny and she provided great comic relief in tiring, stressful moments. We also had some 'special' bonding moments throughout camp and I def. do miss her.

Stephanie: Stephanie and I quickly became friends at camp, close friends. We started hanging out outside of camp and I realized how alike our lives were. Steph is an amazing girl, she is younger than me, yet often I felt as though I was talking to someone older than me. She is wise beyond her years, and helped me through many tough and stressful times, both camp and non camp related. We had a blast together at camp and I am so grateful I had the opportunity to meet her. She is one of my best friends and a truly wonderful, kind, compassionate, loving, forgiving person. We had our odds at times but def. had more good times than bad. We even had the kids convinced we were sisters. HAHA

Mike: Mike joined our group about a week into things. I was so glad he was there because Steph and Matt were the supervisors and I was just kinda there and it really helped to even things out. Mike was fun loving, kind, friendly, and loved the kids. He did struggle at first with relaxing and not yelling/disciplining the kids but the kids LOVED him. He was always up for playing any game with them and I was extremely sad to see him go. I still miss him even though I didn't know him long.

Anne: Anne was the first one at WKC that made me really feel welcome into the group and not so nervous. At our training days I sat by her and knew right away how smart she was and how much I could learn from her. I did learn a lot from her in training, and she was so friendly to me right away that I felt like part of the group shortly after meeting her. She gave great ideas about how to interact with kids and I know she loved the camp with all her heart. The kid's she had had last year loved her too and I know they learned a lot from her. About 3 weeks into camp, Anne was in Wyoming for a fundraiser she had helped plan when she got into a wreck on a motorcycle and passed away. When Becca called to tell me I was heartbroken. Anne was only 24 years old, not much older than me and had her whole life a head of her. I cried for hours. I know that I didn't know her nearly as well as many of my coworkers or camp kids did, but I def. had felt a kinship with Anne. I loved being around her, talking to her and she truly inspired me. I know everything happens for a reason though, and I will never forget the, sadly, few times I got to spend with Anne and her glowing, bright spirit.

Overall, WKC was the best time of my life. I know now that I was meant to get that job, to work there, to meet my co counselors and to meet each and every one of those children. It was where I was supposed to be over the summer and I cannot even begin to express how grateful I am for the opportunities that the job gave me. I am so blessed to have gotten to know and interact with each of those sweet children and I can't even believe how lucky I am sometimes that I got to do that. I know Heavenly Father allowed me to work with those kids and it was a big responsibility every day, keeping them safe, teaching them, etc., and I sure hope I did a good job. Leaving those kids the last day of camp was the hardest thing I have ever had to do in my life so far. It felt as though I was leaving my own children, and maybe getting so close to them wasn't the best thing but you can't help it. Being with them every day 8-5, that bonding just happens and I think it's meant to be that way so that we could inspire, learn from and change each other's lives. It was the best experience and I'll never forget any of those kids. Every time I am having a hard day or time all I have to do is remember their smiles, laughter, hugs and my day gets turned around. Following are some pics, I have to many to post them all so there are only a few here, I'll post more later.