Lad Camp

Last week Wesley went to church camp with Chris and his uncle Stephen and his cousins. This is the same camp that Chris went to every summer and worked at when he was in high school.

Chris said the meals were the same as he remembered. For lunch the first day they had chicken fried steak.

The dads had to pass a swim test before they could take out a canoe. Here is a picture of Stephen canoeing with some boys from church.

The boys, who were all rising second to fifth graders, got to go down the little water slide. There is also a bigger slide for older campers .  The lads did get to do the zip line into Lake Chilly Water.  Here's Wesley riding the zip line into the water and coming out of the little water slide.

They played kick ball.

Here are the boys listening to instructions for the sky glide zip line.

There goes cousin Daniel.

Wesley getting ready.

There he goes.  If the boys stick the landing they get a free snack and drink from the canteen.  Unfortunately Wesley almost made it, but fell down at the last second.  Chris said most of the boys came in oriented backwards and slid on their bottoms.

Here is a view of the lake from the chapel.  They had chapel services from 7:15 to 8:30 at night.  After chapel, the boys could buy a drink and a snack at the canteen.  Wesley only wanted a drink every night.  Gatorade is a real treat for him!

Wesley made some cool crafts.  Here he is staining a wallet.  Chris also built a ping pong ball cannon for Wesley.

Cabin 9 was Chris' cabin the summer he worked there.  It is the highest cabin on the mountain and furthest away from the dining hall and other main buildings at camp.

Wesley and Chris outside their cabin.  Wesley bought that headband at the camp store and wore it consistently from that point on.

Chris and his oldest brother, Stephen.

Chris said Wesley loved climbing up and down this bank outside of the dining hall.  Significant hand washing was required before he was able to eat.

Wesley said the creek walk was his favorite activity.  The senior staffer for their cabin made the new staffer sit down in the creek to show the boys how high they had to build a dam.

Little did the first year staffer know that he had to lay completely down in the water to make sure they dam was high enough.  Chris said the water was very cold.

Here is a video where the head staffer told a story about Chief Ugum Bugum. He told all the boys that they could hear the chief talking to his tribe if they listened really closely right above the water.

There are many reasons why only the dads go to this lad camp.  I had previously thought it was to allow the dads to have a great bonding experience with their sons but after hearing the stories and seeing the pictures I now know the real reason.  These activities are really geared for males and not females.  I love camping and being in the great outdoors but I wouldn't have enjoyed some of the activities like the Treasure Trail or the cold creek walk.

They go out seeking treasure at different spots in the camp.  They are equipped with "weapons" to defend against the imaginary attackers such as the ghost pirates.  Chris had to shoot his bow at the pink spotted hippo.  The boys also banged on a metal door where they found another surprise.

Another activity allowed the boys got to shoot BB guns at targets.

The boys rolled to their backs to cock the guns.

They laid on their tummies to shoot them.  Wesley did not wear his glasses at camp and he missed his target completely every time.  He told me the sites were too small but notice that he isn't in the right position to use them.

Here are the campers before chapel.  Stephen had told Chris that the only place that has cell phone reception is at the chapel because it is the highest point of the camp.  He said that before chapel services all the dads are usually checking their phones.  One night Chris texted me a picture of him and Wesley and sure enough all the dads in the background are on their phones.

On the second, and last morning, Wesley slept through everyone else packing up and getting ready to go. (Blogger re-oriented the picture the wrong way.)

Wesley with Zuko, one of the cabin staffers.

We might need a new little camera.  It isn't getting the pictures in focus a lot of times.  Half of this picture is in focus and the other part is blurry.  This is a picture of the group from cabin five.  This is the group from the church Chris grew up attending.

Wesley walked in the front door today and immediately said to me, "I don't want to be home. I want to be back at camp."