Camp Aries, above Kamas.
I actually really loved the set-up of this camp. In general, our girls prefer ward camp to stake camp because they don't feel like they have enough free time. This camp hit a perfect balance of gathering activities, on-going activities if you were bored, and in general letting wards or individual girls do what they wanted.
Fun memories:
1. Mountain yoga and star gazing
2. Singing...the silly gathering songs and the beautiful nature songs (my favorite part)
3. Crafternoons at the stake bowery. They had a few different crafts everyday between certain hours...as well as a human rubber band, volleyball, a "beach" (bunch of kiddy pools) and a slack line set up.
4. The Hike...so fun and beautiful. Wish we had done more than one!
5. Winning the braiding competition by braiding STEADFAST, 4 exclamation points, 2 hearts and a smiley face into the hair of girls of our ward. Our girls drill walked into the front and had a whole routine of turning around and yelling their letter. Pretty hilarious.
6. Our ward camp directors. Our main director got her college age daughter, and another girl in college from our ward to be in charge of all the spiritual and the fun around camp. These 2 girls were fantastic to get games going, did fun crafts, and shared great experiences about making education and future choices.
7. Interesting devotional: a bishop from our stake is from Bulgaria and lived under Communist rule until he was a young adult. His life was hard, and scary. When he finally got out, trying to find a job and live in a neighboring country was so hard he came close to surviving using illegal means. Really made me think of the refugee crisis. His history/geography/personal story was so interesting, impactful, and hilarious!
8. Talks, sweets, and games around the campfire, especially fun game of cups and volleyball
9. Being with Miriam
10. Our weather!! It rained before we got there, and then we had perfect temps the rest of the week!
What I did not enjoy about camp:
1. staying up so late every night.
2. My body would not nap...at all!!
3. 3:00-6:00 pm when everyone is tired and dragging.
Thats when feelings are too sensitive, and people are more thoughtless. It's like dinnertime/campfire revive spirits, but so hard for me to stay chipper during those times. See #2.
4. Smelling like campfire, feeling like there was dirt up my nose and under my fingernails all day long.
5. The trek to the bathroom + worry of bears + nighttime
6. As a leader, the constant worry...is everyone happy? Is everyone being kind? does everyone feel included?
Miriam's first rite of passage completed!!
