Family Camp 2009

We've just returned from annual family camp at Redwood Glen near Pescadero CA and we all had a wonderful time. There was again a huge amount of activities to choose from including doing nothing and laying in the sun. We stayed pretty busy and even got a family oriented hike in.

This year was different because we gave Julia and to a lesser extent Lea some free reign around the camp. We let them go and get hot cocoa themselves, go down to events by themselves and even hit the playground without super vision. Julia ranged around the camp looking for puzzle pieces (part of a camp activity). Next year we will get some walkie talkie's for sure so that we can reach them wherever they are. The good news is that there are literally hundreds of adults who will help them and many older children who a) set great examples for them and b) would help them if they needed it. That is one of the reasons we like this camp so much because it is less like camping with strangers and more like camping with an extended family.

Another funny thing this year was Nicolas and his posse of pre-teen girls. He literally had 3-4 girls helping him our / holding him / carrying him and even helping him crowd surf during the events at the amphitheater. We hardly saw him once an event started. Here is a photo of him with one of the girls.

I am not sure he got how cute he was or why he liked the attention so much but suffice to say in a few years he will.

Once again the highlight was the talent show and for yet another year the Kreisa kids did great. There were some very amazing acts, everything from funny, to gross, to humbling talent in singing and musical instruments.

Everyone was all settled in when Lea and Nicolas opened up the 43 acts and nearly 3 hour competition (used in the loosest sense, burping the alphabet counts as talent here) with a skit that nearly brought the house down. Keep in mind that they did this in front of 420+ people who were attending the camp from our church.

Here is the video: (make sure your volume is all the way up and you might want to watch in full screen mode, little window on the video)

Julia impressed the crowd with her sensitivity by reading a touching passage from Louisa May Alcott.

Here is the video:

The audio is a little hard to hear so Melissa has transcribed the passage here (with editorial comments):

A few weeks ago, Julia was in the back of the car reading from the autobiography of Louisa May Alcott. She said, "Mommy, listen to this, it is from Louisa May Alcott's journal. It really inspires me". She read the piece below. I was so choked up -- amazed at how wise and wonderful Julia can be... So she read this at church camp this weekend -- on stage, at dusk in front of 425+ people:

"I had an early run in the woods before the dew was off the grass. The moss was like velvet, and as I ran under the arches of yellow and red leaves I sang for joy, my heart was so bright and the world so beautiful. I stopped at the end of the walk and saw the sunshine out over he Virginia meadows.

It seemed like going through a dark life or a grave into heaven beyond. A very strange and solemn feeling came over me and I stood there with no sound but the rustle of the pines, no one near me, and the sun so glorious, as for me alone. It seemed as if I felt God as I never did before, and I prayed in my heart that I might keep the happy sense of nearness in my life."

Family camp will no doubt be a long family tradition and we can think of no better way to reconnect as a family, a couple and as a community before we head into the hectic fall seasons. I always come back energized, humbled and refreshed.