Fun. Blessing. Family. Fun.
This last project was a bit different from some of our recent projects. First of all, there were only three couples (the last two had 7 and 8 ) and we knew both of the other couples before coming to Camp Good News. So it made for an easy, relaxed month. In a sense, we were already family – no learning curve needed! That made it sweet to start with. Each day was a new adventure, to see how we could help in “waking up the camp” and getting it ready for Spring Break Camp.
Often we ladies do a lot of painting. Walls, floors, trim. That kind of painting. Well, this month we did a lot of painting too. Only we were painting snakes and lizards and cacti and signs. Quite a different kind of painting. 🙂
With the help of the group before (who were instrumental at gathering ideas, cutting out the shapes, and painting the majority of the critters) we were able to take the Reptile Round-up from this-

to this –


(I’m happy to report that there were no actual reptiles in those containers during our stay there. I don’t know where they were, I was only happy they were not there.)
Marg rehabbed one of the camp signs that had been graffitied

and made it as good as new!

We painted signs for all the buildings and play areas –

And we took the beginnings of the “Cactus Canteen”

and with the help of an overhead projector, ideas from that extremely clever previous group, and some fancy computer work, turned it to a fun spot for the kids this summer!

We thought it was also a fun spot for our group picture!
I can’t begin to list all the stuff the guys got done. My goodness, they fixed playgrounds,

invented playgrounds, hung giant swings

made a birdhouse garden (birdhouses already constructed!)

and spent days cleaning up the grounds, burning pile after pile of downed tree branches and spanish moss.

They even had a helper every now and again…

🙂
Truly, one of the blessings of working at this camp was the wonderful family of the current camp manager. Although the “big kids” were generally at homeschool, we often were delighted to see little Chloe and Theo trailing after dad as he worked with the guys on different projects!

We had campfires, enjoyed bird watching –

played lots of cards and ate too much ice cream. Ah, the delight of it all!
Here we are, all together with the whole family –

Quite the gang, eh? We loved it!
We’ve pulled out of Camp Good News, and have made our way to Bryson City, NC,
where we have tucked Lizzie into her parking spot.

Tomorrow we head to Gatlinburg, and by the end of the day all my little chicks and chicklets will be under one roof!

You might not be hearing too much from me for the next week or so. There will be hugs and kisses to give, games to play, walks to take, and stories to read. Oh, and we might even have a conversation or two with the grown-ups! 🙂

But before I sign off for a bit –
Ever seen one of these guys?


I’m not a huge caterpillar fan (by a loooonnnng shot), but this guy was really small (he’s on Gary’s finger) and quite striking. I did a little research, and for those of you who want to know – that is the Vapourer Moth Caterpillar -aka Rusty Tussock Moth. Seems that he’ll be getting a fair bit bigger, and will probably (along with his siblings and cousins) move into the pest catagory pretty quickly. But for today, I thought he was pretty cool looking!
And for those of you who are totally creeped out by that little guy, sorry. Sometimes this inquiring mind just needs to know.

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