Overnight and LAST DAY :(

After camp on Thursday, about a third of the campers went home, although they attended an alternate overnight later that evening. The kids that stayed at the Land Lab got straight to work setting up tents by the pond for their overnight adventure. They set up what the kids lovingly called "tent city" in the clearing by the pond, where they stayed the night. While they set up the tents they all divided up into groups and into different tents. Then it was dinner time, and the kids started a fire and cooked their own dinner over it using S'mores sticks that they collected themselves. They cooked potatoes, corn and hot dogs and enjoyed a hearty dinner. As the rain came and went, the group alternated taking shelter in the big tent by the pond and at the barn. Although the rain was a bit of a downer, we still managed to have a great time at the barn, even having a dance party on the porch.

Later that night, we got the fire going again and made more S'mores. As it got towards 10:00 or 11:00 the kids either went to bed if they were getting tired, or went on a night walk to the field with Judy and me, where there were thousands of fireflies doing a dance across the field. Once we had seen the fireflies, we again got the option to go back and get ready for bed, or go on through the forest on a dark night walk. Once we all got back, the kids either went to bed, or sang songs that they knew from the Peace Festival around the bonfire, then went to bed. By midnight, all the kids had gone to bed, and the rain was coming back, so we all tucked our boots under our tents to keep them dry, and called it a night.

Friday was a slightly shorter day than usual, but we had plenty of fun anyway. We started with a great breakfast of bacon, eggs and bagels, all cooked over the open fire, alongside bananas, clementines, and apples (oddly also roasted over the fire if the kids wanted). We mostly played capture the flag during the morning, but rather than in the field, we played on the paths all around the pond; a course that Colin had set up with some of the kids the day before. Tent city came down, the fire dwindled down, and around noon the parents showed up for a picnic with the kids and counselors. It was a great picnic, with hot dogs, cake, watermelon and the works. The kids got to show their parents around the Land Lab. Almost all of them took their parents to go see their shelter and the pond. All in all it was a great day.

Thank you everyone for a great two week camp experience! We had lots of fun, built some great things, did some fun art projects, and got to enjoy the great outdoors at the Land Lab. I hope you have a great summer. See you next year!

Alex