Easter Seals Camp - Day 5 - The Fun Isn't Stopping!

Today is our last day of camp activities, tomorrow we leave in the morning after breakfast...

So all of those activities that sounded like fun to do later we had to decide what to do today

Katheryn spent the morning making a hemp necklace.

While Nick went back for a nap. The days have been so full of stuff he wants to do, that it is just go-go-go and his routine has been broken up that he is having a hard time to adjust on some days.
But a nap was quick to revive him

Because it was sledge hockey time again!

Nick was excited to try out the sledges again.

The fun of being in the sledge quickly wore off of Katheryn (especially when she wiped out)

 But we quickly got a family game going!
Mommy going for the assist!
Nick is getting a shot off!

 

After lunch we decided to off and make our own activity

 

there was a trail and I wanted to see if it lead down to the river

It didn't...
But we could see the river from where we were

And there were lots of acorns to collect.

Then it was time for lunch!

Where Nick had little finger-men walking all over the table

And someone got a Golden Ticket for dinner tonight

Right after lunch Katheryn and I hurried off while grandma and Nick went to make some soap.
Katheryn and I were going up high in the air!

Katheryn has been a little unsure about the ropes course. When she couldn't go last time she said "I wasn't aww when they said I couldn't go right now. But if they say I can't go tomorrow, then I will be aww."

But when we actually got there she didn't want to do it.

I didn't actually have to force her to go. But we had lots of talks before she agreed to go up

 

Once she agreed to go, she was all hooked up and on her way up...

 

and up.....

And then it was my turn to climb up (see the ladder that doesn't reach top) and join her
She was still nervous that she was up so high

But was still ready to go
(This is Collie, he is one of our counsellors)

Mommy got to follow, all by herself, no holding hands for me...
Still a little nervous

Katheryn had her choice between 2 bridges.
The stable bridge and this bouncy bridge.

I wasn't sure if it would make her more nervous if I was on it too. So I let them cross first
They took a rest

Then it was time to head back
Katheryn still wasn't won over by the experience

This is our scary face

And our smiley face (do you see a smile in there?)

There it is!
Because she is heading back down

Down, down, down....

Now that we are on the ground, Katheryn said she had fun. But next time she goes up she'll do the whole course (except the tires).
And she says that she was glad that she went, and that it was fun!

I just realized that I should have taken pictures from the top of the course! Oh well, next time.

We were up and down before Nick and grandma got to join us.
It was hot up there! No clouds in the sky and just a bit of wind.
Time to hit the pool!



 

Katheryn was just swimming, swimming, swimming away!

She didn't want anyone helping her, kept putting her face in the water and blowing bubbles.

We had some swimming races (with mommy only using her arms) 

 

 

And Nick was having fun swimming on his belly - and we were working on getting him to kick his legs behind him.

 

 

We spent as much time as we could in the water before it was time to get out, rest for a bit and get ready for the big night!

 

 

On our what-to-bring list including the suggestion for a dress-up outfit for the last night. So I made sure that I had something cute

 

So much cuteness!
And the yellow flower was a favorite

We had an opportunity to get family photos done.
I was going to take Nick out of his chair for the pictures. And then my Marie wisely commented that the chair is part of who he is. So he stayed in his chair

Katheryn wanted to ride it too

Then it was time for family photos.
We were all colour coordinated with each other!

 

Katheryn quickly tired of smiling for a bunch of photos

 

We got a picture of all cabin counsellors!

Nick, Heather, Parker, Collie and Tara! They were FANTASTIC!!

And the kids loved them!

 

This our cabin family.

OK Pictures are done, now it's time for the food!
Everyone grab your golden ticket!

 

So how was the food Nick?

Yummy turkey dinner!

 

Grandma won this in the silent auction

Now it's time to dance the night away!

Nick was definitely a dancing hit!

 

He even showed off his cool cane moves!

 

They had the swing open for the adults.
We went to watch for a bit. There is not anything that will make me go up and do that (they pull you about 70 feet in the air, you pull the rope and drop.... and swing...
Marie thought about going, but there were a bunch of people in front of her.

Our last night of games night.
Go Fish!

We didn't pack anything tonight. Just leave it all for tomorrow morning.
We've had a great camp!

Easter Seals Camp - Day 4 - Filling it with Fun!

Rise and shine!

 

We have a full day ahead!

The kids program for the day was a little bit lopsided. All of the kids at the camp wanted to do the same thing (tie-die t-shirts). So there was a mix-up of activities so everyone was happy.

These are the tie-dye the kids did

They were so excited! (At the end of the day you could see them all out drying)
Looks like a fun activity to do in the future

Everyone also got to play dress-up!

And then basketball!

 

For parent program I went off on my own and found a nice and secluded spot where there wasn't anyone around and I could put my feet up and read my book for an hour.

 

 

I was actually surprised that I wasn't joined by any other parents.
But it was very peaceful.

Then it was back to the fun!

Nick and I went to play some archery

And do some painting
The balloons are filled with paint, so when they pop the paint will go on the canvases below.

I was a little concerned about the balloons at first. But the balloons are filled (so those nasty latex particles wouldn't be airborne) and we were still a fair distance away

Nick got to go first (and wanted to go first - a first)
This picture might look a bit scary at first glance...

But I guess they know what they are doing

A hit!

There was even some time left over for mommy to try!
And once I figured out how to actually keep the arrow on the box the right way it was fun!
(And when my arrow kept falling off, it was funny - so either way it was a winner)

 

This was the masterpiece that we picked out

 

 

 

Katheryn was busy painting her pottery, making a masterpiece of her own. Rainbow colours of course, it will be glazed and ready for us before we leave.

 

 

 The group activity today was painting.

One of Katheryn's favorite things to do!

 

They were supposed to paint What camp means to you

So they were both painting Easter Eggs

Easter eggs and hand prints, more Easter Eggs

All of the paint started mixing up
So I pulled the plug on the painting.
All of our hand prints are under there somewhere

 

 

 For third period today there were a couple of choices. Nick needed a nap (whether he admitted it or not) so that was what we did. And he was quite adamant that he did NOT need a nap - all the way back to our cabin

But Katheryn wanted to do sword fighting, or was it wheelchair basketball, or where there still costumes laying around...

  

 

A little nap regenerated Nick and it was time for more pool time!

 

 

The constant days in the pool have made both kids more comfortable in the pool. But Katheryn has just become a little fish!

 



 

All those years of fighting during swimming lessons, and 1 week in a pool and she is off and swimming by herself! Doing laps up and down the pool, swimming by herself with just the life jacket!

 

 



Nick was also getting independent and wanting to climb up and down the ramp by himself.

 

It has been a fight every time when it is time to get the kids out of the pool.

But pretty soon it was time to get out, get dried and ready for Sell the Sizzle!

This is when the staff get together to 'sell' the program for tomorrow.

 

 

Then it's time to go back in for dinner

 

 
Dinner was a success tonight.
Meatballs for Nick and peanut butter (or WOW butter... shh don't tell Katheryn) for Katheryn

 

 

And then it was time for more playing outside.

Nick playing with the girls

 

And Katheryn being 'queen of the castle'

 

After dinner was the Talent show!

This pretty much sums it up. Katheryn was more interested in playing in the corner of the outdoor theatre.

 

She was ore excited when she got a more comfortable seat!

And Nick would be interested, then distracted, then interested...

They had a sign up sheet for kid and parent talents. The kids one filled in pretty quickly, and the parent one only had 1 entry.
The kids wanted to go up after seeing everyone else on stage.
Next time we go, I'd definitely want to come up with something

 This is a quick clip of what the staff did.

And then there was the one where they asked for parent volunteers...
And both kids say "Mommy, can you go up on stage?"

Then it was back to the cabins!