One of my tasks this year was the purchase all of the groceries for the Korean lunch as well as the mass quantity of Korean snacks that are sold throughout KAMP. Needless to say, between all of this (think 4 coolers, many grocery sacks and several large boxes of snacks), our stuff, three kids, two adults and a dog (to be dropped at ISU for medical boarding).....we took two vehicles! I got the kids and dog and Jason followed up with all of the STUFF! Here's my crew as we were leaving the driveway. There was a whole lot of excitement in this vehicle.
After dropping off Maya, we headed to Hidden Acres and arrived shortly after 2pm. We unloaded everything and got settled in our room. It was brutal to wait for some of our closest friends to arrive but we survived it! The boys were thrilled to be reunited as it had been far too long since we saw our friends the Smith family.
About half of the families chose to come on Thursday which makes it a pretty low key day while families arrive. The kids headed to the playground for a while and the boys played some carpet ball (a big dang deal at KAMP). We grabbed dinner in the dining hall and then it was time for the pool party. Hidden Acres has an indoor saltwater pool. Here's the whole kid crew (plus Abbie so that baby Noelle doesn't fall in the pool).
The perfect stance.....
A taste of the chaos.....
We didn't get a very good night of sleep on Thursday - it's hard to sleep all together in a room when the kids are used to their very own spaces. But we survived and were up and ready to officially kick off KAMP. Each group of KAMPers wears a different colored shirt but all have the same logo. This is the Year of the Monkey and one of our KAMPers designed the logo for the back of the shirt.
The matching logo shirts continues to the adults as well - the parents in green and the Board in blue. This was about as peppy as we felt all weekend....we were exhausted by the end. It takes a lot of energy to wrangle three kids (especially our spirited three year old) throughout the weekend with bedtimes that are far later than normal, far more sugar and juice and soda than normal, and lots of overstimulation.
The kids always have a shared loved of screen time - it is a nice balance to the outside activities.
Mom, this KAMP thing is pretty cool.....I can't wait for opening ceremonies to start!
Lillie loved to hang out in the lobby of the Inn and chat with whomever would talk to her. She was waiting patiently for opening ceremonies.
After opening ceremonies (which were really awesome but I didn't get any great pictures), the classes headed out to work on their class cheers and banners.
Peter and Lillie were in the preschool group while Paul was in a group with kids going into 1st through 3rd grade. The preschool group hangs out in their classroom and has scheduled activities. The rest of the KAMPer classes move around from class to class in different spots on the campgrounds. This year they had four different classes - Korean culture (led by Sam and Younghee), art (with the Hanji Crew), drum/dance (thanks Holly and Quinn) and Tae Kwon Do (with Master Scott). Of course Paul's very favorite is TKD and art. The weather was beautiful so TKD was outside under the shade of a cool tree. First, they had to warm up.
And then they worked on various kicks and punches.....
The Hanji Crew does such a great job with art classes every year. They come down from Minnesota and have such a great way with the kids. They have age specific art projects - Paul's class made Hanji paper covered picture frames as well as a cool paper fan.
After a busy morning, we all walked to the dining hall for lunch.
Here's the KAMPers and counselors.....such a great group!
The kids had their afternoon classes and then it was FREE TIME! The kids wanted to ride horses so we all headed out to the horse barn. This picture is classic.....I just can't even. I wish I could caption what each of them may be thinking. I know for a fact that Lillie was upset that I couldn't make the sun go away.
It was all smiles once we got to the horse barn. This was a highlight of last year's KAMP experience.....and it didn't disappoint this year. This was Peter's first time on a horse and he did great. All smiles and he held on tight!
We had fun playing at the playground by the horse barn....old school teeter totter!
The boys were loving the monkey bars.....
Such a pretty day to spend outside.....big wave from our big climber.
We headed back to the Inn to hang out and I took Peter outside to play on his own for a while. We got this cool new bubble maker.
Here it is in action.....
Friday night brought dinner and then the annual campfire....complete with s'mores.
Roasting his marshmallows while we sang campfire songs.
Someone spelled his name in rocks....pretty cool.
The obsession with carpet ball is REAL.
Sweet sleep after a LONG day.
Saturday always brings the making of a big Korean lunch....complete with six different dishes. While the KAMPers are in class, the adults spend the morning frantically preparing food. About mid-morning the high school class joins us to help and learn. This is what controlled chaos looks like! This year the meal prep went amazingly well and our volunteer meal prep leaders did a fantastic job!
The preschool group took a "fieldtrip" to see what the parents were doing to prepare the meal. Peter really liked spending time with Miss Beth.
The fruits of our labor!
He was pretty happy with his yummy lunch!
Lillie and Miss Rachel were all smiles after their yummy Korean lunch. Beautiful ladies!
I love the friendships that our kids have made.
After lunch clean-up, we headed over to the gym for the kids carnival. The counselors and high school students put on this carnival every year and it is so much fun. Peter had to miss out due to some tired and cranky behavior.....Paul and Lillie had a blast! Paul wanted some face paint and thanks to Miss Beth our preschool counselor, he scored an awesome Korean flag face tattoo.
A fun sack race with his counselor Chris aka Bambi.
Lillie playing plinko with one of the high school seniors Will.
No fun at all.....clearly......
The straw drop game is always fun and counselors Tess and Bri make it even more fun with their crazy antics. Paul was adding a straw to Tess's hair.
Here they are together - Tess worked with Bambi this year for Paul's KAMPer group. When she isn't away at college, we see her at our local grocery store because her parents live in the same town as we do!
She was happy with her balloon hat....and her front teeth are really growing in!
Lillie loved Miss Beth! This was Beth's first time back to KAMP after a few years so got to know her. She was great with the kids!
The afternoon free time started after the carnival and Paul really wanted to try the zipline and climbing wall this year. The minimum weight is 50 pounds so he was eligible....unfortunately Lillie was not and she was none too pleased about that. Paul rocked the zipline.....like 5 times.
Here he is in action......
And then it was rock wall climbing time.....this was a little tougher because the hand/feet holds are made more for bigger kids. He made it about halfway up the wall before coming back down. Still fun but maybe next year will be a little easier for him.
We hung out and had dinner before heading to the KAMP's Got Talent Show. This is baby Noelle and Peter was obsessed with her! He was very "helpful" in caring for her and wanted to touch or push her stroller when we walked anywhere.
Saturday night brought the KAMP's Got Talent Show....which kicked off with each KAMPer class showing off their banners and saying their cheer. Check out these cutie pie preschoolers.
And the energetic 1st to 3rd graders.....I think Bambi and Tess deserved hazard pay.
Here's our goofball enjoying the show.
Lillie was getting tired so she snuggled up with Daddy.
Peter really enjoyed the crowd participation for Sweet Caroline. He's got clapping moves.
Saturday night wrapped up with the kids movie night of Zootopia! Peter went to bed instead of the movie....Lillie got to stay until 9:15 and then Paul got to stay until 10:00. I felt bad making them leave the movie early but those are some pretty late bedtimes in our world. I snuck over the Mom's Night Out event for some girl talk - it was a nice break from kid related stuff. I only spent 45 minutes there (between Lillie's bedtime and Paul's) but it was nice to just chat with some of the other ladies.
Sunday morning came way too quickly....here are the kids after coming back from breakfast.
The kids went to class while the parents had our annual business meeting and then the unfortunate task of packing and loading the cars....in the pouring rain! We all had lunch and then it was off to closing ceremonies. Some kids wear their hanboks and all the kids participate in the parade. Here's Lillie and Kylie with Miss Rachel our KAMP director. I really enjoyed getting to know Rachel better this year through my coordination with her and the counselors. She's been coming to KAMP for a long time as a KAMPer then a counselor and now the director.
Here is Miss Beth walking with Peter and another preschooler named Mina.
Here's Paul walking in with his class - and their drums for their performance.
Lillie loves to wear her hanbok - can you tell?
Miss Rachel with some of the little ladies in the preschool group.
Striking yet another pose.
Here's Paul's class doing their drum dance....he is way in the back.....and I am glad he agreed to do the dance this year as he was a little skeptical.
Peter *may* have stolen one of the drums to entertain himself during the closing ceremonies.
After all of the dancing, KAMP 2016 was complete. We said our goodbyes, hit the restroom and loaded in the cars. The kids were all asleep within 15 minutes of departure so it was a quiet ride back to the house.
I will admit that this year was stressful for us and more so than prior years. Peter adds a bit of complexity to the whole situation given his exuberance and spirit. Plus just having an extra person to keep an eye on and coordinate. I am thankful for our KAMP family that helps us shuttle kids to where they need to be and helps them to stay safe. I truly think next year will be a little easier for us and I look forward to that. This program is such a blessing to our family and we have met some lovely people and made some great friendships. I am so glad that our kids have this opportunity to be around other kids that come from the same place and experience the same things. I can't wait to see what the future holds for all of the KAMP kids!
