Like a Sunflower: March 2012

WARNING -- This is a long post! Here's a short version: Rippin Good cookie factory, dinner with a friend from college, Camp Grow for work weekend. Two nights in the lodge, Caleb got lost with two other kids, Tim dug slip n' slide/water slide, I painted signs with my sister. Goose Blind. Euchre and Spoons. Church at Trinity. Lunch at my parents' house. The end. :-) ****

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This weekend brought back so many wonderful memories. Our family went to Camp Grow for work weekend. I had worked on the kitchen staff there back in 2005 and have kept in touch with some of the '05 team and the director. It had been 7 years since I've seen some of those people.... well maybe 6 1/2 years. Still, that's a long time.

So we left on Friday afternoon and stopped in Ripon for an hour or so. Of all the years Tim was on the Ripon campus, he never visited the Rippin Good cookie factory. They have an outlet store where they sell cookies in bulk and at discount prices. It was close to closing time, but we had 5 minutes to browse. I think Caleb thought it was pretty cool that he got to taste test some of the cookies. I ended up buying some windmill cookies -- the ones my grandma always had in her house when I was growing up. Since we still had a bit of time to kill before going to dinner to meet a friend, we drove over to K-mart so we could use the restrooms. I found a really cute top for $3.

Once we were all checked out, we headed over to the old Red Apple restaurant and chatted with our college friend, Alayne. It had been a while since we have seen her so it was nice to catch up and joke around. It's moments like those that I wish we all lived closer so we could see each other more often.

After dinner, we followed the fog over to Camp Grow -- it's along the south side of Green Lake (the actual lake, not the town). We were the first ones there. Well, some people had arrived earlier and went out to eat so they didn't get back until later. So we had some time for me to show Tim and the kids around Brim Grow Lodge where we'd be staying. They still had carpet ball upstairs and must've acquired a pool table since I'd been there last. Otherwise everything was pretty much the same. Oh yeah... there were baby chicks in the basement. They were getting them ready for campers, but were waiting to bring them outside until the weather warmed up. Caleb absolutely LOVED the chicks.

Before the kids went to bed, Kelly and Ben Arnold (Benarnold) showed up. Ben was on staff the year I was in the kitchen and Kelly was a high school camper and also did the LDC program if my memory serves correct. We attempted to put the kids down around 8-ish like normal, but they didn't want to settle down. They're so used to falling asleep in their own rooms. Sonya kept talking and was keeping Caleb awake so finally I took her out and tried to wait for Caleb to fall asleep before bringing her back in again. Well, Caleb wasn't falling asleep on his own either. Tim was pretty tired out from having traveled to MN for work during the week so he decided to just go to bed too and stay in our room. I stayed up since fellow camp people started trickling in and I wanted to spend some time with them. It was around 11:00pm when we were just going to play some cards with Mandy, Megan, and John and then Tim called me from our room and hung up right away so I went to go check in on my family. Sonya was coughing and burning up, and just wanted her mommy. My poor baby! Luckily, we were at camp because Mandy found us some cough medicine in the first aid kit and I was able to get Sonya asleep. I didn't even bother getting my pj's on because my little girl fell asleep right in my arms and didn't want me to put her down even for a second. We played a little bed tag throughout the night so I didn't get the best of sleep and was pretty tired by morning.

I never drink coffee.... but when morning rolled around, I had half a cup with half a cup of milk. It definitely helped. All of the work crew rounded up for breakfast -- Tim helped make the loaded eggs. They were actually pretty darn good. Just as we were learning what our tasks would be for the day, my sister, Jenny, showed up at camp. She had come to help out with the kids in case Tim and I were too busy to watch them. But, there were other kids around for ours to play with -- a 9-yr old boy named Caleb and 3 1/2-yr old girl named Carissa.

So we all got started on our chores for the day. My sister and I chose to paint signs for camp while Tim was out with the guys digging in the dirt. Caleb and Carissa's mom, Angi, stayed in the lodge to help paint signs too. The kids were all playing nice in the lodge until the three older ones decided they'd rather play outside. Since the older Caleb had been to camp before and knew his way around, I said it was ok for ourCaleb to go along with them. I wasn't too worried at all.

A little bit later, Angi had gone outside to find Carissa because she wasn't wearing a jacket. She didn't come back for a while, but I figured she just ended up watching the kids or went out by her husband who was helping too. When I heard on the walkie talkies that Caleb and Carissa were missing, I didn't think too much of that partially because I didn't realize that my Caleb was also gone, but partially because the older Caleb was familiar with camp. Anyway, I guess the kids went out looking for Tom, Caleb and Carissa's dad, and thought he was by the lake and they didn't see him so they kept on walking outside of the camp perimeter. Then they came to a fence where they saw a road on the other side, but they didn't know how to get over. It was an 8-ft fence and I guess my Caleb climbed it to hopefully go find some help while the other Caleb was taking care of his sister and trying to figure another way to get to the other side. Meanwhile, a couple with their grandkids stopped to try and help them. They found a hole under the fence where they could climb under. Tim found the kids at this point and called to let me know that they were safe. For some reason, my Caleb was trying to carry a muddy rock so his jacket and face was all dirty and his pants and shoes were went. haha... I can only laugh now. Angi, the other kids' mom was right behind Tim so she was able to help bring them back to the lodge too. Mandy met up with them and brought them all back in the golf cart.

(Last night, I asked Caleb what his favorite part of camp was and he replied: "Getting lost." My response was: "Why?" He said, "because I got to walk in the woods and see camp and then I got to ride in the golf cart." I told him that next time we go to camp, we can go exploring, but not get lost. He thought that was a good idea.)

After that little escapade, the kids decided not to leave the lodge. I think they were maybe shook up for a little bit especially since they were missing for almost an hour. We searched everywhere in the lodge and all of the cabins thinking they were hiding out somewhere. We started getting worried and thought maybe something happened to them by the lake. Thank goodness for the power of prayer though and praise God they were found and not hurt at all.

So the kids were inside running up and down the stairs and playing with the chicks. My Caleb was so excited when he finally caught one all by himself. :-) Jenny and I finished painting and then it was time to help in the kitchen to get lunch ready for the crew. We had fettuccini alfredo with garlic bread. Yum! I was surprised how well I knew my way around the kitchen (this was just the lodge kitchen, not the one we used to serve campers in). Anyway, it felt like those 6 1/2 years just disappeared and it was like old times again. Laughter in the lodge kitchen -- oh how I've missed being at camp. All the memories. :-)

After lunch, there was more cleaning and doing a second coat of paint on some of the signs. The boys were out digging in the dirt still. Sonya went down for a nap and then I showed Jenny around camp a little bit and visited the site where the slip n' slide was being reconstructed. Then Jenny had to go back home to Oshkosh. Sonya didn't nap very long and was up pretty soon after we returned to the lodge. Some of the boys wanted to go back to Paul and Pam's house (Paul is the camp director and has a house right on the edge of the camp grounds). So we walked over there and I chatted with Angi and Pam for a bit. It was nice to have some time with other women since we were the only ones there that were married with kids. Sonya was warming up to almost everyone while we were at camp. I'm so glad she's a content little girl.

Mandy and Sonya

Once all the afternoon work was done, we all started getting freshened up for dinner. It took us a bit before we finally decided to go to the Goose Blind in Green Lake. I had been there a few times during college, but not since then. They were very accommodating for our last minute large group. We started out in the enclosed patio, but it was still a bit chilly out there so once tables were free inside, we were able to go in and sit down before our meals came. One of my friends, Mike, convinced both of the Calebs to eat kale since it's so healthy. (Side note: That night, my Caleb said he didn't need to brush his teeth because he said that he ate kale so he didn't need to. haha) Sonya seemed to like Mike and Phil. She kept making her cute little faces at them and was able to master their names pretty quickly. On the way back from the restaurant, Sonya kept saying "Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike" in the car. It was so funny! Then she'd stop for a few minutes and then start back up again. I couldn't stop laughing. What a goofy girl.

We got back to the lodge before everyone else since we wanted to get the kids to bed. We didn't realize some of them were going to Culver's for ice cream afterwards, but that's ok. We had some nice quiet time before the group got back. This time, we put Sonya to bed first. The cough medicine knocked her out pretty quick so that was good. We let Caleb stay up a bit before sending him to bed. It was so nice to not need a babysitter and be able to hang out. Mandy really wanted to play Euchre so Jim, Benarnold, and I started a game. Team Shellman and Mandy won both games. Megan was learning the game too so she took over Jim's spot during the second game while he coached her. Then we played a few rounds of Spoons. Tim even played that one -- the first few rounds, we used our tongues instead of spoons. It was to hopefully be a bit more discreet when you got four of a kind. Then we brought out the spoons. Benarnold had left for a few minutes so us girls stacked the deck a little bit. haha...

It got late pretty quick. I'm definitely not as young as I used to be! We all headed to bed so we could make it to church in the morning. Most of us went to Trinity in Ripon so that's where we said our good-byes. It was kind of emotional for me just because a lot of these people are like family to me. Even though we're not always the best at staying in touch and we haven't seen each other in years, we just have a bond that no one could ever break -- a bond of camp and being a family for the summer.

Sonya with Carissa

After we left camp, we stopped by my parents for lunch before heading home. The kids fell asleep in the car so I stayed outside and took a nap in the car too when we got home. It was kind of nice. I figured Sonya definitely needed the sleep and knew she'd wake up if I tried to bring her inside.

So yeah -- that was our weekend. How many of you made it through this whole post? :-)

One of the places in Ozaukee County that we like to visit is the old Squire's Golf Course. They're doing a restoration project right now so it's pretty cool to see how the golf course is slowly transforming back into a natural habitat for birds, frogs, deer, and other animals. It looks like they've planted some trees and dug out a few ponds. Right now, they're in the middle of doing something with the dam. We'll have to check it all out again later in the spring/early summer when everything starts blooming. I definitely saw some type of cone flower seeds out in the field. We found lots of needs things -- and not just golf balls! :-)

Exploring

:-)

My Caleb :-)

Sonya

A tree that tells stories

Deer Tracks

... and more deer tracks

Walking along the trail

Sonya is falling behind

Gotta play with the grass

Burdock -- sticky yet so beautiful

God definitely made this world

Hiding in the evergreens

Found a golf ball!

Looking for a good piece of grass to pick

Can't recall what weed this is

Caleb said this cloud looked like a dragon!

Tim and Caleb

Michelle and the kids

Another one....

Michelle, Tim, and Sonya
(Caleb is a pretty good photographer!)

Empty Milkweed Pods

Milkweed Seeds

More milkweed

One of the ponds

A miniature look out tower

Farmland -- photo taken from the tower

The contrast of the red bushes and the brown looked so much cooler in person
-- I promise!

A birdhouse along the trail
(There was a bluebird on it, but the kids scared it away before I snapped a photo)

If you have a weak stomach, you may want to skip the next few photos. We found the bone remains of a dead fawn. At first I was grossed out, but then thought it was kind of cool since you don't just see that every day. So of course I took some pictures!