One of the nice things about coming to camp early (we got here yesterday) is that we're all unpacked and settled in when everyone else is arriving, so we can just relax and greet people as they arrive instead of wanting to be up in our room unpacking everything to get ready for camp. So,  as campers trickled in by the carful today, we got to see everyone as the arrived and chat for a while until they wanted to go unpack... at which point we could simply sit around and wait for the next arrivals. It was pretty nice.

   Because of the rainiest July ever, the Saco River is extremely high again (like last year), so we have no beach and the water is flowing way to fast for swimming (like last year). So (like last year) we're going to have to drive to one of the many nearby lakes every day to go swimming. It's too bad, because the river is such a big part of camp for so many people. But we managed to have a good time last year without a river, so I imagine we'll do so again this year. There are a few of the hopeless optimists in the crowd who are "pretty sure" it will "probably" go down this week and we'll be able to swim in the clear cool waters of the Saco River the second week of camp... but I doubt it. 

   There are no Sparks (kids ages 4-12) here yet so there were no Spark Games tonight, and so I (the camp's Activities Director) got to just sit around and play Quiddler  (a great card game) in the Dole Wing (the adult lounge) with a group of family and friends for most of the evening. I don't think that's every happened before!

 

 

 

   It's been a long standing tradition with Nancy & I that after church the first Sunday of camp, we go to the Fryeburg flea market and then go pick flowers at Sherman's Farm in East Conway NH for all the tables in the dining hall. Well, I got some good stuff at the flea market; but when we went to Sherman's, they wouldn't let us pick flowers because the fields were just plain too wet. So the dining hall was a little less festive than usual today. The guy at Sherman's said maybe later this afternoon, but I'll just call them tomorrow.

   There's now five(5) Sparks here, --- all of whom have been here before, so we did indeed have Sparks Games tonight on the front lawn here at the good old FNCA. Because the mosquitos have been just horrendous, we played continuous running games from the first moment until the bell for chapes. We played Tag (our standard warm-up game), Cross Tag, Buddy Tag, Fruits and Vegetables Tag, Color Tag, Dessert Tag, and our traditional closer: Flash Flood. I think I actually tired a few of them out!

 

 

FNCA Day 3

   The morning is mostly blocked in every day.  This afternoon most of the camp went to Kezar Lake. And this evening most of the Flames (teens) and Bonfires (adults) went bowling. So it was a relatively quiet beginning of the week.

   For Sparks Games tonight, we played Tag, Lemonade, Doctor Tag -->,  Triangle Tag, Smaug's Jewels, Musical Red Light Green Light, Color Chair, and Flash Flood.

 

 

   Tuesdays at the good old FNCA is Work Day. After lunch and rest hour are over, everyone in the entire camp gathers in the front porch where someone from the Buildings & Grounds Committee has a list of task that need to be taken care of, things that need to be fixed, and cleaning chores that need attention: everything from vacuuming the Dole Wing to sweeping pine needles off of cabin roofs. The Sparks often collect kindling; the Embers often do the light cleaning chores; the Flames and young Bonfires often do the things that require muscle power and/or agility; the rest of the Bonfires attend to what's left on the list.
   Nancy & I spent the first little while assessing the tent sites' numbering system because since she's the camp registrar she's getting tired of having to explain to tenters exactly where their assigned site is. So we'll be re-numbering the sites on the Adrienne Frank Hall Rd soon. Then I spent the rest of the time building some new shelves into Room 3 (see photo above) in the Main Building and lugging a mini fridge up there and installing it in the back corner under the counter that goes along the side wall.

   This evening, there were both Sparks Games and Flame Games. For Sparks Games, we played Tag, Gat (that's "Tag" spelled backwards because the game of Gat is Tag backwards: everyone chases the person who's It, and if you get them then you're It and everyone chases you!), Fishy Fishy, Hop Tag, Backwards Running Tag, Stuck in the Mud, Snake in the Grass, and (of course) Flash Flood.

   For Flame Games, we played Fishy Fishy, Lemonade, Rock/Paper/Scissors Tag (pictured at right), Elves Giants & Wizards (pictured below), Elbow Tag, and Smaug's Jewels.  

 

 

   "Outing Day"   

FNCA Day 5 

   Wednesday at the good old FNCA is Outing Day. After breakfast, everyone packs a bag lunch and leaves camp on a day-long outing. This week, pretty much everyone in camp (all except 4 people!) went to the ocean at Scarborough Beach State Park.

   It really cool that just about everybody went on the same outing together. I mean, sure, the Flames set up their own little location on the beach, but it was right next to all the rest of us. So we talked together, swam together, strolled the beach together, ate together, sunburned together, and had a terrific outing together.

   And we all got home in time for supper together, too.

   At the beach, everyone got a real kick out of my big red & yellow ribbon dancers, as you can see in the pictures at the right.  --------->

   Scarborough Beach is quite long. The park's entrance to the beach is pretty much right in the middle. It took me most of 45 minutes to walk most of the way to one end and back, and another 45 to do the other end. What a great beach! 

   On Outing Day, the traditional Sparks Games activity is the Spark Hunt / Flame Hunt. It Hide & Seek... Sparks vs Flames! First the Flames hide and the Sparks seek; then the Sparks hide and the Flames seek. Both groups seem to like it, and it helps them get to know each other, too. 

 

 

 

FNCA Day 6

   Today was a regular day at camp: Polar Bear Swim before breakfast, 2 morning lectures for the adults, classes for the Flames & Sparks, lunch, swimming and/or relaxing all afternoon, dinner, Sparks Games, Flames, Games... but between those last two, we had an hour-long meeting of the camp's Summer Session Committee, which is the camp director, the religious education director, the activities director (that's me), the Flames representative, and the camp registrar. We had a bunch of stuff to talk about. There will be more meetings later on in the week.

   Thursday is also the traditional Banana Hunt for dessert after supper. At the beginning of the meal, everyone writes their name on a banana, a crew of fast eaters hides them all towards the end of the meal, and then when everyone's done eating the Banana Hunt begins! When you've found yours, you bring it back to the dining hall where there's all the fixings to put together your very own custom-made banana split. Yum.

   For Sparks Games tonight, we played Tag, Everybody's It, Dho-Dho-Dho, Circle Tag, Squirrel in a Tree, and (of course) Flash Flood!

   For Flames Games, we played Dho-Dho-Dho, Circle Tag, Bodyguard 1 & 2, Buddy Tag, and Blob. 

 

 

 

   "More People, Less Water"  
FNCA Day 7

     All of a sudden, it seems, there's a bunch more people here. Normally, the most people arrive on Saturdays because that's when our official camp weeks begin. But between last night and this afternoon, nearly a dozen more people showed up... and that's a significant increase when there's only 50-60 people here.

   Since before camp started, the Saco River has been extremely high --- no afternoon time in the river here! But in the last couple days the water level has gone down enough that we actually were able to put our raft and the ramps to get to it into the water today! Yay! 

    For Spark Games tonight, we played Tag, Bodyguard 1 & 2,  Everybody's It, Buddy Tag, Assassin, and Crows & Cranes.

 

 

 

   It was No Rest For The Weary Day for me today: It was pretty much non-stop from the rising bell until nearly 4:00am. Here's the quick play by play: 7:00 Polar Bear Swim at the rising bell, 7:30 breakfast,  8:45 chapel, 9:00-11:00 1st & 2nd lectures, 11:00 Board of Directors meeting, 12:30 lunch, 1:30 annual meeting, 4:30 Board meeting II, 6:00 dinner, 6:45 fundraising meeting, 7:00 Sparks Games, 8:00 meeting with junior and senior Flames, 9:00 Flame Games, 10:20-3:45am drive to Manchester NH and back to pick up my brother Ian at the airport. 3:55am fast asleep. Total free time all day: 40 minutes. 

   For Sparks Games, we played Tag (our traditional opener), Red Light Green Light, and Capture the Flag --- which was pretty funny because there were a few Sparks ages 2-almost4 who just plain didn't get it and therefore became Free Agents... most of the rules just plain simply didn't apply to them! And we closed with our traditional closer: Flash Flood! 

  For Flames Games, we played Swat, Toe Fencing, Tunnel Tag (a.k.a. Stuck in the Mud), and the Flames all-time favorite game: GO! -- which is basically a series of uncontrolled 10-second 1-on-1 wrestling matches!

   A SPECIAL NOTE TO MY FAITHFUL READERS: I added some of Nancy's beach photos to last Wednesday's "Outing Day" entry today.

 

    My lovely wife was feeling completely exhausted this morning, so I took her home directly from church before communion so she could take a long nap before lunch.

  Then I drove back to church and caught the tail end of communion. After church, I went to the Fryeburg flea market (I got 2 purple bandanas for $1 each!), and then over to Sherman's Farm to pick flowers for the dining tables at camp.

   Since my lovely wife wasn't with me (and I didn't have my watch on), I spent way to long at the flea market. And then, once again because my wife wasn't with me, I took way too long picking flowers. So I didn't get back to camp until lunch had already started... so the flower arranging crew wasn't able to have the flowers on the table for our big Sunday dinner. Oh well. Note to self: bring your watch next time you have to do this alone.

   Remember my day yesterday?: non-stop from 7:00am until 3:45 am? just shy of a 21-hour day? Well, after lunch I lay down and fell asleep and didn't wake up until about 5:00 when my wife came and told me that she'd arranged for a girl party in our room in a soon. I guess I was tired. 

   Our traditional Sunday Sparks Games activity is Parachute Games. And one of the really nice things about it is that (with the Sparks' permission) we always invite anyone and everyone to join us. Often, a lot of Flames participate, but today several older adults were quite anxious to participate! It was awesome!

    

 

 

   It's not church day, or work day, or outing day today... just a regular day at camp.

   This evening during Sparks Games, after we had played Tag, Robots, Black Hole, and something else I don't remember, the three older boys left to go to the drive-in with their dads. When the older ones left, the younger kids just walked away and didn't come back. It was kinda weird. Never happened before. Needless to say, I took the rest of the time off.

 

 

 

   This afternoon for Work Day, I built a fold up shelf (that's sorta like the hinged part of a counter in a diner or bar) into the Mouse Closet doorway so my lovely wife the Camp Registrar & Keeper of the Linens would have a place to pile things when she's rearranging the sheets and blankets, as well as a secret method (shhhh! don't tell anyone!) to keep everyone out of there while she's got the door open. It's not pretty, but Nancy likes it.

   For Sparks Games, we played Tag, Hop Tag, Jump Tag, Backwards Running Tag, Lemonade, Movie Directors, Animal Tag, Flower Tag, and Flash Flood.

   For Flames Games, we decided to play indoors. In a circle of chairs in the dining hall, we played Ghost Chair, I Love Ya Honey But I Just Can't Make You Smile, King Chair, and Pile Up --- teen favorites all!

   

 

   For Outing Day today, Nancy & I drove pretty much all the way across the State of New Hampshire to Forest Lake State Park in the little town of Dalton NH where we met up with Nancy's brother Pete and his 6-year old daughter Ivy (who we haven't seen for over a year!), Pete's girlfriend Sarah and her two young son Mason and Owen, and Nancy's sister Wendy and her husband Jon and their 3-year-old daughter Chloe. They were all coming from the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont, and this park is near the half way point between there and camp.  

   The drive took us about an hour and a half, as expected, but when we got to the park gate was shut and there was a big sign that said CLOSED. Luckily for us, it also said "Pedestrian traffic only". There was another car there already (so we knew it was okay), so we lugged our stuff in. Again, luckily it was a very short walk to the beach. By lunch time there were nearly 40 people there.

   So the 10 of us spent a delightful day together at the beach. The water was terrific. The company was joyful. And the food was pretty good, too. My accordion was a big hit. A couple of complete strangers even took my picture playing it! My Hoop Catch game also proved to be popular. 

   When we got back to camp, my parents were there! They are both in their 80's and pretty much stopped coming to camp when they "retired" to Maine about 5 years ago. But my brother Ian somehow managed to got them over for a day visit last year; and they had a such a terrific time that they were still talking about a month later. (See my August 13, 2008 entry.) 

   This year, we're trying to get them to stay for the rest of camp --- which is until Sunday morning. We'll see if it works. 

   But at any rate, it's wonderful to see them. It's terrific to see them here. And everyone here who knows them is extremely glad that they're here!

 

   So, we siblings that are here have been taking turns taking care of the parents since they arrived at camp. One of us is always with them 24/7. So my shift today was from after lunch until about mid-afternoon.

   After lunch is Rest Hour at camp, so when she was done eating Mom just got up and carefully made her way down to the cabin. When Pop was done, I opened up his wheelchair and together we also cruised on down to their cabin (it has their name on it)... (really). Pop immediately stretched out on the couch for a nap (it was Rest Hour after all!) In less than 15 minutes, Mom was on the bed and out like a light, too. I sacked out in a comfy chair facing the view. And together we slept off and on for over 2 hours until it was time for the baptism of their latest great-grandchild.

   My nephew Mike and his wife Beth came over from Mike's other grandparents' place on Squam Lake (which is about an hour from here) to have their new baby baptized. It was a very nice service; well attended by family  from both sides; and little Reilley Kenneth was calm and cheerful throughout, except for a brief moment in the hands of the minister. That's him in the second lap from the left in the picture above.

   In the picture below, that's my brothers Lee(l) and Ian(c), and me(r). 

   And then this evening for Sparks Games, we played Tag, Snake in the Grass, Flower Tag, Video Game Tag, Things Made to be Sat On Tag, Triangle Tag, and Flash Flood.

   For Flames Games, we only played two games: Dho-Dho-Dho and Capture the Flag. 

 

 

   After a bit of back and forth among some of my sibs, we decided to bow to the wishes of our parents and have Ian take them home after lunch today. We figured that a 3-day visit with 2 overnights was a pretty good second step after last year's 1 afternoon visit. Besides, they kept saying that it was wonderful to be here, and now they wanted to go home. 

   Before they left, our clan gathered on the front porch for a group photo. (pictured right)

   It was fabulous having them here again. They got to reconnect with a lot of old friends and re-establish ties with this place that they so obviously love!

 

   And then, this evening, their grand-daughter Heidi gave a slide presentation of her recent 3-week study program in Jordan that she did for her Psychology class as Bridgewater State College. Her pictures were gorgeous! It is just so starkly beautiful there.

   And what she was doing there was pretty amazing, too: a professional study of male and female body image in a Muslim country done by 5 western women. Simply amazing.

   For Sparks Games tonight, we played Tag, Fishy Fishy, Islands, Smaug's Jewels, Elbow Tag, and Flash Flood!

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