Tuesdays at Camp in Marathon are spent in Key Largo at the Jacobs Aquatic Center aka "The Pool" as the kids call it. Because it has been so hot the last week and a half we've been here, we were all really looking forward to this trip. Once all of the kids had their sunscreen and bathing suits on, we boarded the bus and got on our way. I spent half of the ride writing post cards to all of you wonderful people and the rest of the way making sure my kids were sitting in their seats, not eating, and being nice to one another. After we arrived, we sat and watched a little league baseball team practice while scarfing down our lunches. In between making sure the kids were not wandering off or yelling profanity at the little league players, I finished my lunch and got ready to head over to the pool. The Aquatic Center was super cool! It had four different sections: a watery pirate ship, lap lanes, 2 diving boards, and a shallow water pool. The kids pretty much ran wild for an hour while the four of us counselors watched them closely and rotated to the different areas every fifteen minutes. Then, we gathered all of the kids and had them put on sunscreen. HOLY CRAP THAT WAS THE FUNNIEST THING EVER. Some of the kids are too little to know how much to put on, so they covered themselves. The dark kids looked white because of how thick they put it on while the lighter kids looked ghostly because of the extreme amount of sunscreen they put on. They looked so silly! We were cracking up. Once they were sunscreened up again, they played in the water some more until it was time for final snack and boarding the bus. On the way back to Marathon I sat with my older kids and I think we had our first bonding moment when I let them take a picture with my phone (the littlest things sometimes win them over). After getting back to the park, the kids were signed out and we headed home. Tuesday night was pretty low key. We stayed in and got ready for Wednesday's Ocean Olympics. Nikki and I decided to start blowing up water balloons at about 8 o'clock when the bugs are at their worst and we got bit everywhere. So we called it a night.
Wednesday was our craziest day at camp so far. It was Ocean Olympics day in the afternoon, so at the start of camp, my kids helped Robyn blow up a majority of the water balloons. Camp ran pretty smoothly up until about 10, then it got a little hairy. We all looked at our program and realized we accidentally scheduled snack transition from 10:25-11:00, so we had a solid 35 minutes to hang out before going onto the next activity. With 45 kids....this is impossible to do. So we improved, figured it out, and played games and talked with the kids to fill time. Once we were done with clubs we headed to lunch and all of the kids were changing into their swim suits. We gathered at the baseball field after lunch and Mr. Jimmy turned on the sprinklers....Then....All hell broke lose. The kids went CRAZY! They were throwing mud, dumping water buckets on the counselors, spraying the sprinklers on their friends, and breaking all the rules. But...they were having fun and being safe and that's what Camp is all about. So we did our water olympics and had a little balloon fight at the end (where one of the kids pegged me in the back with a balloon while another got me in the stomach). All around it was a fun day at camp and very refreshing with the sprinklers. That night, we made hamburger helper and had a small meeting before Robyn and I went on a bike ride to KMart for some stuff. Then we wanted ice cream so we went to McDonalds; then we wanted some fire fighters, so we rode to the fire station. Unfortunately, despite my whistling, they didn't come out to see us. We rode back home and called it a night.
Thursday was field trip day. Today we went to the Key West Aquarium in downtown Key West. Again, it was a very hectic day. All of the kids have to have yellow or blue Camp A shirts on so we had to distribute those this morning, and then board the bus. On the way down to Key West, I finished up some post cards and watched out the window as we drove over the ocean. When we got to the aquarium, we got to hang out at the touch tank which was really neat because all of the kids could pick up the creatures. I held a Sea Cucumber, a Conch, and a Horseshoe Crab. We also got to go around to the other tanks and see the stuff. I saw a crocodile, a python, jellyfish, and a giant turtle. It was really neat, but very very hot. I probably lost 3 pounds just in sweat alone. Once we finished at the aquarium, we went to a outdoor rink to play tag and have snack. Afterwards, we headed back home to finish up the day of Camp. On the bus, I sat with Leo, Logan and Kylan and we played "I Spy". (I would post pictures, but I just can't) :( We also Skyped with Julena and played with some Koosh Balls. After Camp was over, we came home, showered, got all dolled up, and went to The Hurricane for 25cent Wing Night. The service was absolutely terrible, but the food was good and we actually saw people our age, so now we don't have to stalk the fire house...just the Hurricane. :) Afterwards, we headed home. Robyn just finished baking a cake for Mr. Jimmy, and the other girls are relaxing. As I write this, my eyes are slowly closing, so I think I should go to bed. Its Friday tomorrow and we have lots to do this weekend!
Talk to everyone soon and I wish you a pleasant tomorrow!
-Live. Love. Laugh. Janise
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