.: Camp Week

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Camp Week

This week Hayden went on his first BIG school camp! There was a lot of build up to it which made it a very exciting week.

The camp was at Hunua Falls and was for the Year 5 and 6's (9 & 10 year olds).

I'm really disappointed I have no photos at all. I really wanted a photo of all the kids leaving on the bus Monday morning, and a photo of how grubby Hayden came home on Friday afternoon, but for some reason I was really slack this week at remembering to get the camera out.

It was very strange not having Hayden around for a week. It just didn't feel the same without him and I definitely missed him. I missed his help too as he is always so good at helping me with Juliet. I must say, however, there was a lot less teasing in our house with Hayden away, and therefore, it was definitely more peaceful! No big brother constantly saying to his little brothers, "Last one to get there is a looser!!!"

I asked Hayden what the highlights were of his first camp experience and this is what he said:
-The kayaking (especially the game called 'Musical Kayaking' where they had to jump from one kayak to another). Hayden tells me that they played this game in the middle of a rapid, but I'm not too sure about that one!
-The dinners and the dessert. He liked the chicken and vegetables and the chocolate fudge with ice-cream.
-Playing on the top field everyday, throwing balls around and playing soccer and cricket.
-The flying kiwi. Hayden explained this to me...there's a rope tied to a tree and then the same rope is tied to a person. Some kids pull you backwards on the rope and then you fly forward.
Here is a picture Hayden drew of the flying kiwi:

Hayden was in Cabin 3 with his good friend Alec, and 4 other boys; Sam, Adam, Finn & Joseph. According to Hayden he was the best behaved! He says Alec got into trouble for sneaking some chocolate into camp which attracted a rat. Sam, Finn and Joseph also got into trouble for laughing late at night and not going to sleep. Alec kept laughing one night at bedtime, when the lights were out, so he was told to stand outside in the dark in his underwear. Hayden definitely wants to remember that!

Here are some entries of Hayden's camp journal. Every evening they had to write for 15 minutes about what they did during the day;

Hayden mentioned feeling a little homesick in Day 1. His teacher said he cried the first two nights when it was time to go to sleep, but the other kids were really good at helping him feel better. He was fine the rest of the week. He definitely wasn't the only child to get a little homesick. For most of the kids it was a pretty big deal spending a whole week away from home.

Hayden is adamant that they were all made to take a shower twice a day, however, Tony and I aren't entirely sure if this is true. When Hayden returned home from camp he looked like he hadn't showered in a week! He actually smelled fine, but his clothes were really dirty, as was his hair, which was so overdue for a cut. It didn't help matters that he also had a huge rip in his long pants. Not that any of this mattered, it just made me smile to see my boy looking like such a BOY.

On Friday afternoon when the buses arrived back at school and Hayden got off the bus, he immediately found me waiting amongst a large group of eager parents and gave me a big hug. Talk about putting a smile on a mum's face! Not all of the boys did this much to their mother's disappointment. Juliet even gave Hayden a kiss which really pleased Hayden (Juliet can't really give kisses yet, but she opens her mouth wide and puts it next to yours so we think that's what she's trying to do).

When I unpacked Hayden's suitcase I discovered he had worn the same pair of socks all week! I thought this was really funny, yet pretty gross. We packed his suitcase together (in fact he did nearly all of it on his own, I just made sure he had everything on his checklist) and he put a total of 6 pairs of socks into his suitcase. All of them were still folded and rolled neatly exactly where we had placed them before leaving. What was really bad was that his shoes had holes in them so the socks he had worn were literally black from dirt. His socks and pants went straight into the rubbish bin! Not even 'Napi San' would have been capable of cleaning those socks! And one more funny thing not to be forgotten; as soon as Hayden got home I told him to take a shower. When he was done he came downstairs wearing the same filthy, grubby pants he had been wearing at camp! They had so much dirt and grass stains on them that I couldn't believe Hayden wanted to wear them again after a shower.

One last thing I forgot to add is that all the parents were invited to camp on the Wednesday night for a picnic. We were all excited about going to see Hayden and checking out the camp, but none of us were too pleased it took us over two hours to get there. It was our fault though as we left way too late and during rush hour. Because we were so late arriving we only got to visit with Hayden for about 40 minutes. The picnic was nearly over so we quickly ate in the dining room. Just before it got dark all the teachers and camp leaders sent the parents on their way so they could continue on with their activities. The camp ground was way out in the 'whop whops' in the beautiful countryside. No pictures of that either since we were so rushed and were there for so little time.

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Funny Comments

Ashton walking into the supermarket quietly whispers to himself: "Please can I have macaroni and cheese, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen."

Ashton: "I want to live with Jesus." Mummy: "Why?" Ashton: "Because he be nice to me and he gives me bread and water!"

Mummy, examining Ashton's legs, and thinking: My goodness, what hairy legs. Ashton, unimpressed with Mummy's examination, pulls away: "Don't touch them. I'm growing Daddy legs!"

Hayden gets upset at Ashton: "Right Ashton, that's it! I'm telling Jesus on you!"

Ashton with a cold: "I'm snotty as a piggy."

Hayden: "The sun is burning my eyeballs."

Hayden: "Mummy, how come your penis is missing?"

Hayden: "I get the bigger piece of cake because my skeleton is bigger."

Hayden (3yrs old) sees me get dressed in the morning and stares at my breasts with a confused look..."What thooooose be for???"

Hayden: "I don't want to finish my pizza, it's got blood all over it."

Hayden: "Ashton hit me in the heart."

Hayden learns the planets at Preschool: Mercury, Earth, Mars, Jupiter and Penus!

Hayden (shopping with me and whining): "My brain hurts forever because you haven't buyed me anything."

QUOTES

Like the changing leaves of fall...My little boy is now a man.
--Author Unknown

Boys are God's way of telling you that your house is too neat!
--Author Unknown

There never has been, nor will there ever be, anything quite so special as the love between a mother and a son.
--Author Unknown

Boys are found everywhere - on top of, underneath, inside of, climbing on, swinging from, running around or jumping to. Mothers love them, little girls hate them, older sisters and brothers tolerate them, adults ignore them and Heaven protects them. A boy is Truth with dirt on its face, Beauty with a cut on its finger, Wisdom with bubble gum in its hair and the Hope of the future with a frog in its pocket.
--Alan Marshall Beck

Something For A Giggle....

I Owe My Mother ....

My mother taught me TO APPRECIATE A JOB WELL DONE. "If you're going to kill each other, do it outside. I just finished cleaning."

My mother taught me RELIGION. "You better pray that will come out of the carpet."

My mother taught me about TIME TRAVEL. "If you don't straighten up, I'm going to knock you into the middle of next week!"

My mother taught me LOGIC. " Because I said so, that's why."

My mother taught me MORE LOGIC. "If you fall out of that swing and break your neck, you're not going to the store with me."

My mother taught me FORESIGHT. "Make sure you wear clean underwear, in case you're in an accident."

My mother taught me IRONY. "Keep crying, and I'll give you something to cry about."

My mother taught me about the science of OSMOSIS. "Shut your mouth and eat your supper."

My mother taught me about CONTORTIONISM. "Will you look at that dirt on the back of your neck!"

My mother taught me about STAMINA. "You'll sit there until all that spinach is gone."

My mother taught me about WEATHER. "This room of yours looks as if a tornado went through it."

My mother taught me about HYPOCRISY. "If I told you once, I've told you a million times. Don't exaggerate!"

My mother taught me the CIRCLE OF LIFE. "I brought you into this world, and I can take you out."

My mother taught me about BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION. "Stop acting like your father!"

My mother taught me about ENVY. "There are millions of less fortunate children in this world who don't have wonderful parents like you do."

My mother taught me about ANTICIPATION. "Just wait until we get home."

My mother taught me about RECEIVING. "You are going to get it when you get home!"

My mother taught me MEDICAL SCIENCE. "If you don't stop crossing your eyes, they are going to get stuck that way."

My mother taught me ESP. "Put your sweater on; don't you think I know when you are cold?"

My mother taught me HUMOR. "When that lawn mower cuts off your toes, don't come running to me."

My mother taught me HOW TO BECOME AN ADULT. "If you don't eat your vegetables, you'll never grow up."

My mother taught me GENETICS. "You're just like your father."

My mother taught me about my ROOTS. "Shut that door behind you. Do you think you were born in a barn?"

My mother taught me WISDOM. "When you get to be my age, you'll understand."

My mother taught me about JUSTICE. "One day you'll have kids, and I hope they turn out just like you!