Wonderland Camp, June 2013

Last week, I went to Wonderland Camp and it was such fun. I saw my old friends: Faith, Dustin, Alena, Angie, Michelle, Justin, Austin, Chris, JJ, Kortney, and Jason. I met new friends too: Brandi, Chelsea, Taylor, Josh, Brad,  and Megan.  My friend Scott also came to visit me for a day on Sunday and I was very excited. It was so, so, so nice to see him again!! He gave me a cool looking hat that had my name on it, which I wore the rest of the week. On Sunday, we had a pool party but it felt like swimming in ice water so I hung out at the campfire. First days at camp always make me so happy. It’s like a welcoming party at my second home.

On Monday, after a long and winding walk to the water front, we rode the boat. At first, Kortney and I were giggling and joking. Then, because the waves were so relaxing, we fell asleep on each other’s shoulders. Later, in Music, we played musical squares (like musical chairs) and we pretended that we were in the jungle. Then, Crafts, we tie-dyed our shirts. My shirt was blue and red, attempting to make purple (the attempt failed but the shirt was still cool).

 After dinner, that evening, we had karaoke night. While Chelsea held the microphone, I sang Madonna’s “Like a Prayer”. It was great! I also danced and hung out with friends. As a joke, Brad took my hat and Kortney, JJ, Josh, and I chased him around. It was so funny.

On Tuesday morning, we had pool time. Kortney and I went to the splash pad, Wonderland’s mini water park. There were all kinds of sprinklers of all sizes everywhere. Someone would run with us through the water and we loved it! After hours of complete fun, it was rest time. I sat outside with Faith, talked, wrote in my journal, and watched people. I love watching the activity around camp at quiet time; watching people play basketball, laugh and walk around, or go in and out of their cabins. It makes me smile for some odd reason.

 Later, in Crafts, we made paper monkeys. The monkeys supposed to hang on doorknobs and they were sort of cute.  In Rec, we played an ice-breaker game. We got in a circle and threw a ball to each other. If the ball came to you, you had to say your name and something that you like. I said: “My name is Lena and I like Peter Pan.” (That’s all that I could think of at the time).  After dinner, it was the carnival. There were games, prizes, face painting, and snow cones. Even though it was extremely hot outside, I had a blast!

On Wednesday, in Music, we had talent show practice. I could already tell that the talent show would be fun later. For Nature, we had a scavenger hunt. We ran all over camp looking for things, which was amusing. We also got to pet a turtle at the field and it was adorable. Later, we had pool time. I went to the splash pad for a while and then hung out with Faith at the cabin.

After dinner, the talent show began. For our group talent, we did the “Cha Cha Slide”, which was hilarious. For my individual talent, I sang Britney Spears’ “Oops, I Did It Again.” All of the talents were entertaining. Every time that a good song came on, everyone in audience would get up, dance, and sing along. It felt more like an actual concert than a camp talent show. It was wonderful.

Before bed, Kortney, Faith, and I laid back and looked up at the magnificent stars. It was such a pretty night. The three of us just relaxed, talked, and made wishes on the stars. It was a good ending to the day.

On Thursday, Faith and I hung out in the game room for most of the day. We were playing our favorite songs and playing video games but it wasn’t until that afternoon that I got the most awesome surprise ever this summer!! Everyone was waking up from their rest. I was debating whether I wanted to go to Beauty Shop or not, since Faith did my hair and nails during rest time, when Angie burst in the door, saying, “Can I borrow Lena?” Then, she drove me outside without another word. I barely had time to put on shoes (I think that Chelsea only got to put one shoe on me). A group of my friends were outside, including Mary, Morgan, and Lois. They all had goofy smiles on their faces. Having no clue what was going on, I just said hi. I saw someone crouching behind Lois but I couldn’t see who it was at first.  Then, that someone stood up and walked towards me with a grin. It was Joe!!! I let out the loudest, happy squeal that I’m pretty sure that the whole camp could hear. I hadn’t seen him in two years so I was beyond ecstatic.  Being unable to say anything besides hi at that moment, I just hugged him. It was awesome seeing him. He then told me that he was staying for the dance, which made JJ and me delighted. Joe came with us to Beauty Shop and I asked him to drive me (like old times). Even though I went to Beauty Shop, I really just talked to Joe (I was planning to put on my make-up after dinner anyway). We talked about random stuff and he had me laughing as always. He also knew the words to “Lucky”, my favorite Britney Spears song, which I thought was so sweet. He then went to his car for a minute to get something and when he came back, he had something silver in his hand. It was his chain necklace. It had a cross and a tag that had a beautiful Bible verse on it. He wore it at boot camp and now he was giving it to me. It felt so cool that I was the one that he was giving his necklace to.

Later on, the dance began. I wore a lacy, blue shirt, my favorite pair of skinny jeans, my black shoes, black nail polish, blue eye shadow, and black mascara and eyeliner. My hair was also very spiked. I truly felt like a rock star! I danced with Joe and other friends. I got out of my chair more than once. I was having a blast, dancing and acting silly. All I could see were spinning lights and smiles. It was impossible not to feel jovial.  I was even more on cloud nine when Joe told me that he might volunteer in August. Everything was perfect.  After the dance, he drove my chair on high speed to my cabin. We beat Kortney. It was an hour before JJ and me went in our cabins. I don’t know how many times I hugged him bye. I just was so happy that he came and I’ll admit it, I was very hyper from the dance too. We finally said bye to Joe and went to bed. I’ll never forget that day; best time ever!!!!!!!

On Friday, the bittersweet day, everyone was packed and wearing their camp shirts. People were signing each other’s shirts and hugging. I got the Bundle O’ Fun Award for always being happy. Last week was so special to me. I saw old friends and met some great new ones. The whole week was one, big, fun adventure where anything could happen. I can’t wait to go back to my secondary home.