8JR jaunt... camp antics

We had a great time on camp! While 6 of my kids were missing due to last minute colds, 2 sprained ankles etc etc... 24 of us bussed out on Tuesday morning for the four day stay at the school's beach camp site in Robe.


This was our daily playground. As much as I would like to claim it, the backside does in-fact belong to one of the year 11 peer support leaders who came along for the ride... well enough clad to add something to the pic, I thought! Despite the miserable forecasts, every day was a winner and warm enough for most of the group to spend a slab of time in the water.

For obvious reasons I can't post too many photo's of what we've been up to the last week but for a quick run down

• We started out at 7 for breakfast (at least the 2 or 3 that were up did - the rest followed on behind somewhere before 8.30
• By 10 we were all ready for our first trip the beach and a few relay's, boogie boarding or beach cricket.
• At 2pm it was back to camp for lunch (the bland teenage variety that varied strayed very little from bread and meat of some kind)
• The afternoon generally involved another outing either back to the beach for sandcastle competitions, a walk along the coast or to one of the Robe sites.
• After the evening meal and some 'silent' journal writing it was 'storm the lantern' in the sand dunes. I think we played at least 4 different versions depending on who was at the helm. It was a winner though. Despite the cooler temperatures most people weren't ready to leave after the final 11.30pm game.

Highlights

• Hearing the bells at night and wondering what I'd be in for when I got up - one of the girls was a sleep walker and the only way she was allowed on camp was if we promised to tie bells on her foot before bed to make sure she didn't get up to anything dangerous in the middle of the night
• Spray on sunscreen fights - lets just say that there are a few kids with white spray marks on their face where Scott (my co-teacher) sprayed
• Cooking pizzas for Thursday nights meal - it took at least 2 hours to prepare, cook and serve but the kids on kitchen duty were great and we shared some memorable camaraderie
• 'Slaps' & it's relevance to the male ego - Scott and one of the boys started playing a game where points are scored by demonstrating good reflexes in hand slapping. Depsite the fact that the assistant principal would hit the roof if she knew that kids were jumping up and down red handed, giving young men the opportunity to prove themselves amongst the pack is invaluable.... apparently.
• The smile on Hayden's face when he'd piggy backed Karla and her twisted ankle home from the sand-dunes - long and interesting story which may be worth telling on another occasion.

And here is the rest of it.

I love this shot