What an adventure Nicole had while she was at the Friendly Pines Camp for her 5th Grade Outdoor Ed trip. Talk about coming out of her comfort zone and pushing the limits. I am soooo very proud of her. I also realize that it was for the best that I didn't get picked as a chaperone. Since I am not a dare devil and absolutely hate heights, she may have been more hesitant had I been there.
Wed - I dropped her off at school at 7:30 a.m. The buses were scheduled to leave at 9:00 a.m. and were late. They departed at 9:40 a.m. The kids were starving and finally had a chance to eat their lunch upon arrival at the camp. Rules and procedures were given as well as their room assignments. Nicole's room included two Mom chaperones: Brenda Reed (Izzy's Mom) and Mrs. Kavanaugh (Skyleigh's Mom) as well as Nicole, Izzy, Emily, Gabriella, Skyleigh, Giselle, MacKenzie, Summer and Taylor.
All the activities were designed to mentally and physically challenge the kids. Nicole's first event was a zipline. She climbed up a pole that had "U" shaped brackets bolted in and got to a platform. A guide clipped her into zipcord. She already had a harness on. They she sat on the platform and scooted off and zipppppeeed. The zip line has a slight downward arch to it, so after Nicole went forward, she scooted back a little. Then someone comes up with a ladder to get her down.
Next up was this giant swing/bungee cord. Again, she has a harness on. There is a line to her left and one to her right. Her "Green" teammates pull her back until Nicole decided that was as high as she wanted to go. Nicole then releases a rope and she drops from the bungee. Once the bungee tightens up, she ends up swinging. I hope someone took videos of her (Brenda?) For both events, she said she was a little scared but was thrilled afterwards.
The third event was with her climbing up a large tree again with a harness and getting as high as she could. Then she sorted of dangles sideways coming down. Imagine her laying on her back in mid-air.
Nicole liked all the food at camp. Dinner the first night was pasta with your choice of butter, meatless, or meat sauce, bread, green beans, salad, and brownie. Later at night they had a campfire, sang songs, and roasted marshmallows.
Thursday - Breakfast was choice of cereal, eggs, hashbrowns. Nicole went fishing, learned how to use a compass and diasected owl pellets. "What are owl pellets?" you ask. It is owl puke. Apparently, when an owl eats a rodent, he is unable to digets the bones and hair and it comes out in a pouch. So when the kids take apart the pellet, they were able to piece a skeleton together. I know "too much information".
Nicole didn't catch any fish. Mackenzie and Gabby caught "like 5". When Skyleigh and Nicole went to get another worm, Jake who was also on the green team, decided to name his worm "Timmy".
The second day was filled with crafts. They painted a ceramic bowl which will be fired later. They made lanterns from soda cans, and they tie dyed t-shirts.
Lunch was pizza, watermelon and a rice krispie treat. Snacks later was trail mix that the teachers made when all of us parents donated the ingredients. Nicole even attended a self defense class hosted by a police officer. The officer grabbed Nicole's wrists and she broke free from him in 20 seconds. Dinner was chicken (on the bone), mashed potatoes, and ice cream.
Each team had to learn a skit and perform it in front of everyone. And yes, Nicole did it (she is on the far right in picture)! Apparently, her team's was really cute. Imagine Nicole on all 4s with her hands inside a pair of short and shoes so it looks like a really short body. Another girl was behind her covered with a blanket and only her arms were exposed. Again, I hope someone (Brenda?) took a video. Later they went back to the campfire.
Friday - Breakfast was pancakes, bacon, melons.....The kids packed up their stuff and learned some chanting poems. Sack lunches were packed for them and they returned to school around 2:00 p.m.
1 comment:
Sounds like a blast! -Michelle
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