Friday, March 13, 2009

Winter Camping

Thanks Erin for letting me take your camera!

It was planned to be winter camping to give the kids a different experience, but with it being March, the thought had been more like an easing into spring trip. The teacher hadn't intended for the -25 we had the first night in cabins heated only with firewood. But it was great fun! 35 kids, 1 teacher and 3 parents were up for 3 days and we all stayed warm, very well fed, and had tonnes of fun! We were thankful for a warm lodge and a great cook! The boys I drove up had a little bit of fun in the van!


We got to try our hand at snow shoeing, and went on almost 2 hour trek around the lake. Some kids needed a lot more encouragement than others who finished 20 minutes ahead of the rest of the group. It is so amazing to be with kids with such different life experience than mine have.


The kids hanging out on the frozen lake- that was very solid- even though I was the only one who managed to find a soft spot and fall through up to the top of my boot/snow shoe. Glad it wasn't one of the kids!

The kids were divided into teams and had the task of building a shelter, making a fire with what was around (wet and cold twigs) and then boiling snow in a coffee can! Our team did awesome! And the kids were all rewarded with s'mores. Here's the site the boys picked out. We had a few Lego fanatical engineer types, you could feel the brain power at work!

Getting their teepee like structure going...

Success!

Jacob and his buddy taking charge of defending the fort.

With the outdoor activities, capture the flag, flashlight tag, campfires, skits, and sledding... it was a great few days. The only thing missing: some great singing around the fire and telling stories about Jesus, it seemed so obviously missing from this camp experience. It's just not the same. I did sing "Day is Done" to my little campers and they begged for it every night :) and it 'amazingly' settled them.


Day is done.
Gone the sun.
From the lake,
From the hills.
From the sky.
All is well, safely rest
GOD is nigh.

3 comments:

bigcanadiangirl said...

Looks like fun. Were you in a cabin with girls? Hopefully your next trip is a warm one - like maybe Laguna???

Linda said...

Yes girls- 14 of them :)

Randi~Dukes and Duchesses said...

Day is done brings back such great memories for me ... I love that you sang it to them. What a neat (and chilly) camping experience!