Kamp was SO FUN for the boys!!! They went Term 1, Crosby for one week at K-Kountry, Rhett for two weeks at K-West. We loved seeing pictures on the
Kanakuk website during their time there. They posted new pictures each day, and I couldn't wait to see if I could find photos of them looking happy and healthy! :)
CROSBY at K-KOUNTRY
Crosby did great! I'm so proud of him for being brave enough to go to a week-long overnight camp at age 7! He knew four other boys in his cabin, all friends from his school, so that helped a lot! (That's a picture of them on the top bunk on check-in day.) He said that night time was hard because he had trouble falling asleep, but he loved every other part of his camp experience. They stayed busy with so many fun activities...basketball, flag football, swimming, archery, water slides, theme parties (Star Wars, Red/White/Blue, Neon Glow and Beauties & Beasts), etc.
I LOVED OUR LETTER FROM HIM! I'll treasure it always!
He lost a tooth while he was there! We noticed him wiggling it in several pictures (standing in line for sports below), then there was a picture of him pointing to the empty space! He kept it in a little box that the nurse gave him and brought it home. :)
The Star Wars party was a fun night for them.
His flag-football team made it to the finals!! (We're still not sure if they won or not!? but they made it, and C loved it!) The boys were both assigned to the Cherokee tribes at their camps, which we first realized when we saw Crosby wearing the red jersey in the championship game!
These pictures of their team were so fun to see!
The counselors there are all AWESOME. So encouraging, fun and kind!
Missed this sweet face so much while he was gone!
Great buddies!
Rhett sent Crosby a letter from his camp, which I thought was so nice! At night they did K-Life devotions/lessons, which seemed to really make an impression on Crosby. He talked a lot about them when he got home.
Alexee and I went to pick him up and attended closing ceremonies on Friday evening, June 10th. We were excited to see him, hug him, and hear about his week!! REUNITED!
They had a BBQ picnic that evening, cabin awards time then a final camp-wide assembly.
The cabin (barn) awards are so nice. I love how they recognize character traits in all the kids and encourage them. His counselors, Drew and Ryan, were great!
He got the
Heart Award again this year! :) And his character qualities noted throughout the week were compassion and gentleness.
BARN 2!!!!!!
Crosby was also honored to receive the Unsung Hero award at the campus-wide closing ceremony. This is the group of boys that received that special honor. They each got a coin bracelet and a card that said, "You displayed an act of courage, unwavering character, or caring for others without seeking attention or recognition just as the widow did in Luke 21." (Luke 21:1-4)
It was an amazing week, and I'm so glad he went!
*****
RHETT at K-WEST
Now for Rhett's pictures! He knew six of the boys in his cabin, plus a few more from school that were in a different cabin. He didn't seem nervous at all and assured me he'd be fine for two weeks! I wasn't sure I would be...I'd never been away from any of the kids for more than four nights in a row. But I was so glad he wanted to go, and so thankful that he had such a great group of friends to go with. I knew they'd have a blast! They did all kinds of fun activities too. Kayaking and the ropes course were two of his favorites.
They also played a lot of basketball and had devotion times, too. We sure missed this guy while he was gone.
There was also a lot of swimming.
Their theme parties were Race to Rio, Red/White/Blue, Jerseys and Jorts and Star Wars. This picture below is from the night they did the Race to Rio relays. They were assigned Japan as their country to represent in the races. They had a boy in their cabin that came all the way from Japan for Kamp! He's from a military family, and they are stationed in Japan. He and his mom had a 40 hour flight to get to Kanakuk! We loved getting R's letter, too. We thought it was funny how much he talked about the coffee cake! It must have been really good. It is printed in the devotion book that he got at the end of the term, so I guess we will need to try to make it at home now. :)
So week 1 was amazing for him! Then week 2 didn't go quite as planned, but it all worked out fine. I got a call from the nurse on Sunday, mid-way through the term, saying that Rhett had come in Saturday evening with a headache. They thought he might just be dehydrated, but as it turned out, he was running a fever and started coughing. They kept him overnight in the nurse's cabin because he couldn't return to activities until he'd been fever free for 24 hours. I hated to hear that, but I assumed it was just a little virus and he'd probably be fine the next day. Well, he still had fever on Monday...and Tuesday. :( He spent a total of three nights in the nurse's cabin, and I talked to her frequently to see how he was doing. He didn't really feel bad at all, she said, but he was coughing and wasn't allowed back out because his fever wouldn't stay below 100.5. I got to talk to him on Monday, and he was upbeat and didn't at all indicate that he wanted to come home. He wanted to keep waiting it out in hopes that he could return to the activities. They let him watch movies (no electronic allowed at camp, except in the nurse's station), played cards with him and took him on a behind the scenes go-cart tour of the adjoining camps. He was in good hands, and everyone was wonderful and helpful. But by Tuesday when his fever still hadn't broken he was getting bored. The nurse let me talk to him again and said I could give him the choice about staying or coming home. He was really torn in his decision, but then we found out that he would be allowed to return to camp for the last two days if his fever did go down at home. Once he heard that he decided he'd like to come home and rest and see if he could improve here. It's only a 45 minute drive so I hurried right out to get him and he got to rest in his own bed Tuesday and Wednesday night. He was right below 100.5 on Wednesday evening, so we decided not to chance it by taking him back that evening, but we left early Thursday morning, and he was back to camp by breakfast time. He had all day Thursday there, the Star Wars party Thursday night and activities and closing ceremonies on Friday. I'm so thankful he was able to go back and finish up the term with his friends. He definitely loved it and is already planning to go back next year! This is him with his counselors Thursday morning when I dropped him back off there. They were so nice to meet him at the office and take him to breakfast to surprise his cabin mates .
Pics from Thursday when he returned.
I went back there for closing ceremonies Friday at 11:00. (Lane had to work, and Crosby and Alexee were invited to hang out with friends in the air conditioning, which they were excited about. June was unusually hot here. Everyone was surprised at how hot it was for Term 1...they said that's usually a great time to go because it's still cool in the evenings, but it was HOT this year!) Like K-Kountry, they had a meal (lunch this time), cabin awards then a campus-wide closing assembly.
CABIN 2!!!!
Great group!
(A couple of boys had already had to leave by the time we took this picture.)
Rhett also received the Heart Award, and his characteristics noted were joyfulness and sincerity. And, he also received the honor of the Unsung Hero award and was given a coin like Crosby's. Only four boys received this award!
This was when the names were called for the Unsung Hero award and the kids were asked to stand.
It was a wonderful time for both boys. Definitely a super fun summer experience and a great opportunity.
*****
One more camp note...Alexee made the local newspaper in an article about Kanakuk Kampout. (Photo from last summer when the kids all went to the day camp!)
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