Pioneer Camp

Carly and I have been looking forward to Pioneer Camp all year and Wednesday, June 4th was the long awaited day.  I was able to chaperone when Abigail attended two years ago and was excited for Carly to enjoy this experience.  Our school is the only school that does the Pioneer Camp overnighter – it’s a HUGE undertaking but teachers, parents, and students feel it is one of the highlights of the year.  So grateful they put forth the effort to make it possible year after year.

Anyhow, we left the school at noon on Wednesday and drove the 10 minutes (via our “wagon train”) to Camp River Ranch.  I had a partner chaperone over four girls (including each of our daughters).  We had an awesome group of girls and the other mother and I clicked immediately and had a great time together. 

I decided not to take my camera with me, which left me relying on my cruddy phone camera and a really old point-and-shoot we took a couple pictures on.  There were too many girls in Carly’s class to sleep in the covered wagons so we were in the cabins instead.

Our cabin was just to the right of us

Our cabin girls

I choose to man the lanyard station again – which translates into spending five hours sitting in a teepee teaching kids how to make lanyards (five groups of kids for an hour each).  My partner was an English Islamic man – awesome accent, super polite manners, but terrible lanyard making skills.  It worked out ok, but required some patience for the kids and me since I had to start all but two lanyards (starting is the toughest part). 

The camp couldn’t take place without an amazing woman who has volunteered her time for 10+ years to be over the food.  The students help a lot, but it’s a lot of work and she does a wonderful job – yum!  She also leads the campfire songs at night.

Chef and Campfire Extraordinaire

After a great breakfast we had our pioneer walk to “Oregon City.”  The kids stop along the way and learn about the different areas the real pioneers traveled though.  Our final destination “Oregon City” was so beautiful.  I remember how surprised I was when I came with Abigail to find a beautiful lake tucked back in the woods outside Carnation.

Before heading back to school we ate lunch and played pioneer games. 

Carly doing the three legged race with her friend Chloe & the teepees I called home for five hours on day one

Two pioneer trips down and hopefully three kiddos still to go!