Camp Hope - Day 2

Tuesday (May 26th) began the second day of camp, which was the first full day of camp.

This was our daily schedule throughout the week:

       7:45 am   wake-up bell
       8:15 am   morning exercises
       8:30 am   breakfast
       9:00 am   cabin devotions
       9:15 am   cabin clean-up
       9:45 am   morning chapel
     10:45 am   games
     12:30 pm   lunch
       1:15 pm   cabin time
       1:45 pm   skills I
       2:20 pm   skills II
       2:50 pm   canteen
       3:15 pm   swim and free time
       6:00 pm   supper
       6:30 pm   games
       8:00 pm   evening chapel
       9:00 pm   get ready for bed
       9:45 pm   lights out

At 8:15 am every day, all of the campers met on the field by the flag pole for the raising of the flag, the pledge of allegiance, and morning exercises.  T was more of an observer than a participator of these activities.  :-/  However, if you look closely at the photograph below, you will notice that none of the counselors were exercising either!  ;-)

After breakfast each morning, T and I joined the teen boys in their cabin for devotions.  They kindly welcomed T and made him feel like a part of the group.  I wish I had taken a picture of them.  They were an amazing group of teens!

Here is Nate Thomas with another friend who joined him for morning chapel.  :)

T especially enjoyed the lunch menu for Tuesday:  hamburgers with all the trimmings, french fries, baked beans, and ice cream sandwiches!

After lunch, the campers watched another installment of the nuclear winter themed skit.

During the two skills times each day, the campers participated with their age group (in T's case, the older juniors) in various activities.  On Tuesday, T's group had arts and crafts for skills I.  The project was a tic-tac-toe game.

the teacher's example

The game board was a crosscut piece of a tree trunk which T painted blue (for water).

Then, he was given 10 small rocks to paint.  T painted half of them white and half of them green.

He didn't have time to add details to his rock animals...

or to paint lily pads on his "pond."

For skills II, T's group went for a hike...

around the lake...

and through the woods.

The other boys walked quite a bit faster than T; however, one of the counselors kept pace with us.

T spontaneously blew a kiss to me!  I guess he was happy.  :)

Mid-afternoon each day, the campers had the opportunity to purchase a snack at the canteen.  On most days, T drank a can of lemonade, and I drank a can of Coke.  Refreshing!

I can't remember what we did during swim and free time on Tuesday.  I know we definitely didn't go swimming!  The weather that day was cool and cloudy.

Actually, it rained after supper, so the games were played inside in the gym instead of outside on the field.  It was incredibly noisy in the gym.  My desire was for T to participate in as many things as possible throughout the week; however, I saw no benefit in having him sit and watch the games while he covered his ears the entire time because the noise was too much for him.  So, we left to find something else to do.  I noticed the camp director's wife in a nearby room with her two preschool-aged children.  They were playing with toys and reading books, so we joined them!  T had fun and was very good with the young children.  :)

During evening chapel, Mr. Nate's raccoon friend entertained the children...and read Scripture to them!

Once again, we slept so well!