things get hectic

so its been a while, but things get hectic after the kids are here and we actually get to know them. it was awesome though! loved them! they were adorable and nice and friendly and chubby and adorable. i miss them already!

we saw a wolf spider one day at the archery range. good thing it was boys and not girls, i can just imagine all the shrieking. we only know its a wolf spider because it was carrying all its baby's on its back and theyre the only spiders to do that? so that was an interesting experience. it was huge! very creepy! but exciting at the same time.

we ended the week with a celebration in athens. a few of the vita counselors came up with us since most of them were in the pharmacy school at uga. that was fun.

time for a new adventure and trying so glutan free foods. supposedly people are starting this as a diet too, so maybe it will be a good thing. or maybe i'll just be hungry the entire time...we'll see! bed time. loves you all!!

WIPEOUT!!!

so today we started off with a bike ride for the little girl's cabin. two of them had never ridden a bike before, so they just learned the whole time, and they got so close by the time the session was over! it was sooo cute! everyone else went on a ride around camp. theres this one downhill thats on gravel and some slate pieces, well, one of the girls, maddy, i guess didn't know how to use the hand brakes and went sliding off into the cars. flipped her bike, scratched up one of the counselors cars and hit the dirt. surprisingly the car had more bumps and scratches than she did. she was such a trooper, she got right back up and rode the rest of the way just being a little more cautious. we showed her how to use the hand brakes and she was great! i probably would have called it quits and walked my bike the rest of the way. loved it!!!

after biking i headed to the rockwall and then to lunch. after lunch we hit the pool for a little free swim. those boys love their footballs and water guns. spent the last ten minutes flirting with collin, the cutest boy who loves camp to death!, and shooting other kids with water guns. too bad he hates me because i go to georgia and thinks i'm a creeper because i smelled him because he smelled good...story of my life! but he is adorable, and i will keep trying to be his friend! :)

now its time for cabin choice and then dinner. yum yum. (i'm really liking the fact that were having healthy food, but i'm really craving a big mac...terrible influence for these kids!)

ViTA without the rents :)

these kids are fab!!!!
so today they got organized in their cabins after their parents and siblings and such left. (only 18 kids. the adults here definitely outnumber them, and i havent decided if thats a good thing or a bad thing yet...we'll see when oo-u-la comes and it the other way around) already we could tell there was a difference in the way the kids acted without their parents looming over them or their skinny brothers and sisters showing them up in everything they try. i feel like thats what life is like for them, so its nice to have all that gone and to just be with kids that are just like them now.

so while the kids were getting settled, we took some newbies and the waterfront crew up on the tech course. its a group roes course about 40 ft in the air (i don't actually know how high it is, but that was a nice even number :)) i stayed on the ground with michael in case anyone freaked out, which quite a few of them did. can't wait to see kids up there! (although it won't happen this week, because most of these kids arent' old enough. you have to be 13, and this vita ranges from 3rd-8th grade) it was a lot of fun though and just more good experience which is what these first weeks are all about!


after lunch we had free swim, then we met our cabin buddies (BLUE LAGOON=older girls) went to dinner, and then went to the field to play some group games. afterward we hit up the amphitheater for opening ceremonies where we rocked it with our epic stomp. i'll have to post a video sometime!!!


it was a good day. tomorrow will be great. but as for now, its 10:00 which equals bed time and i still need to shower, so peace out homes!

more to come

WACKY-O

today we had our first week long camp start! well technically it started on friday, but we didn't come until today to get started with them. we met them at breakfast. then they had their family time and while they talked, the outdoor adventure (oa) staff went to the rock wall and trained some more. afterward it was time for lunch and then the activities began! i was at archery all afternoon, which i LOVE!! very chill, and rewarding when the kids hit the target considering i still have a hard time doing that. then we had a dinner break and wacky-o came next! (wacky olympics for those of you who were wondering) basically we get the kids out on a large field and they play games. dirty and wet games usually. the best kind! we had relay races, shaving cream faces, noodle soccer, slip and slide, sprinkler limbo, and other great games :) i just showered and got the facepaint and baby shampoo off of me! ready for bed and its only 10! loves it!

SO right now the kids are here with their parents and some of them with siblings. basically its a support system before the kids are left to face camp by themselves. this camp is vita, which is for overweight or obese children, so most of them do not want to be here. think gerry garner in heavyweights when he first hears hes going to a fat camp! so tomorrow the parents leave around lunch time and its just us and the kids and their counselors for the rest of the week. i can't wait! i think the parents just put added pressure on their children.
ex. at archery today, there was a little boy who was struggling a bit, not uncommon, but his dad was all up in his face telling him how to do it and how he was doing it all wrong and just driving the kids nuts and frustrating him.
can't wait for that to be gone. they just get to be kids. running around!
we have a healthy menu this week, which means that i am not really a fan. i'm a fatty, so the worse the food is for you, the better it probably tastes. can't wait for chicken fingers to be back on the menu! but other than that, it has been a great start to our first week camp! yay!!!!!

another noche hermoso

yall are going to get tired of these real quick, but its not really up to you :)

tonight we had a talent show. most of the staff was in it, and it was hilarious, mostly awkward and random, which equals hilarious (in case you didn't know!) good stuff good stuff. seeing two straight men baton twirling to celine dion music, so harry potter musicals, dancing food, peeing centipedes, and so on makes for a great little evening of entertainment. i thoroughly enjoyed all of it!
tomorrow the other group is leaving. and we get the night off. super stoked about that. and then we get to come back to our first full camp!!!!!!!! thats really really exciting!
but first another attempt at a morning bike ride. see i failed to actually get out of bed this morning for the group one i was going to attend. this time i actually have to go though. considering my riding buddy is in a different cabin and would be all alone if i did not show up. looking forward to it. ill let you know how 6:30 am me does on two wheels!

thought of the evening, never go to bed angry. it will be the worst sleep you have ever gotten. glad we cleared that up :)loves you all!!

actual kids!!!

today the lionheart school came. its a school for autistic children. IT WAS FABULOUS!!! they were only here for the afternoon, kind of like a little teaser. just so we know what it will be like when there are human beings' lives in our hands. started out with some games, then went to paddle boats, the rock wall and archery. paddle boats went well, they loved splashing each other and being out there on the lake without actually having to get in the cold water. most of them loved the rock wall even if they couldnt get up very high. just because they felt on top of the world if they were just a little bit taller than their teachers. there was only one girl who had a problem with it, but even she made it further than she said she would attempt, so that was successful too. archery was good too, but after going about three times the kids got tired. then it was lunch time and afterward, free swim. seeing them in the water was incredible. they were all over everyone, and really are just regular kids when you allow them to be. they were splashing, there were boys hanging on girls, games of volleyball with beach balls, tons of kids in line for the slide, and just everyday pool activity. definitely a good start and makes me way less nervous about the first full day i have to run when a big camp comes. so excited! vita is coming on friday. its a camp for obese children, so they will be adorable! we get thursday night off until saturday morning, so it will be nice to refresh before having to go full force. i'll keep you updated!

starry night

so you never realize how beautiful the sky is in the city. or eve in the suburbs where i call home. but tonight i went out on this amazing gorgeous fishing dock we have. it looks over the lake and has no lights around. the view of the night sky from that dock is indescribable. it literally BLEW MY MIND :) things like that just make me appreciate the world so much more. like really. makes you wonder why HE even bothered with things like that. why did we need all of this beauty, its not necessary. but i guess its things like that that make people realize how little we are. how much we dont know.

short one tonight. still no campers. just more training and learning how to play with children. my favorite activity :) (wow that sounds creepy....don't mean it that way obviously!)

tomorrow morning were going on a bike ride. that is if i can get my lazy butt out of bed at 6:30!!!!!! were meeting at 6:50. i need something to keep me semi healthy after all this food i'm eating! i'm pretty excited about it. i'm pretty sure the last time i rode a bike was in amsterdam the summer before my freshman year of college. this will be a little different...but just as great i'm sure!

CAMP

ok, so i'm not one for blogging. never have before..well unless you count the awesome days of middle school thinking zanga was the greatest thing in the world...zanga? was that what it was called? i don't even remember. but i did use something like that to tell the world about my endless trials and tribulations of being a squat little kid haha. but this just felt like the perfect time to start one! :)

this summer i'm working my first job...yes i am 20 years old and will be 21 this year, but hey, you gotta start somewhere. but i'm pretty sure i have the best job ever! im working at camp twin lakes...the will a way location in winder, ga. the basis of the camp is that its for kids and teens with disabilities. whether it be mental, physical, or something of the sort. i got into this through my sorority. our philanthropy in service for sight which benefits the blind and dyslexic. so we would volunteer one weekend to work with cvi (center for the visually impaired in atlanta) they came to a camp every year for a weekend at camp twinlakes in rutledge, ga. i fell in love with these kids. this year was my second year with them, and it was great going back and seeing the familiar faces. a place like this where kids fit in with everyone else and theyre no longer the odd one out is so powerful, you can just see it on their faces, that theyre not afraid of anything. everything is possible, and they succeed at whatever they try in one way or another. so i decided to apply for a job. AND I GOT IT (obviously...) so here i am.
we arrived (well some of us) on may 9th for a staff dinner. got to know some people. then the rest of the oa staff showed up and we began training on the ropes course. i won't go into too much trouble because this is the boring part. they awesome part will be when the kids come (at least thats what i'm hoping for!) so were still going through training and kids come soon. our first camp in camp vita, its for obese teens, and i'm super pumped about it! i'll let you know more as i go! enjoy :)

guess i should also mention why my blog has such an odd name...well it comes from the cvi retreat. theres this boy named deangelo and i seriously want to adopt him, he is the greatest thing alive, and while we were in groups playing name games, we each had to "bring" something to a picnic that started with the first letter of our name. so "I'm Caitlyn and I'm bringing chocolate." well for some reason he thought this was hilarious and the rest of the time he would just yell out chocolate...usually at the most inappropriate times. and if i did not turn around he would alternate between CAITY and CHOCOLATE in loud obnoxious voices until i acknowledged him. LOVE :). so that's it...good story i know haha