We left home early, before the sun was even all the way up.
We needed to be at the camp by 8:30am. So we left our house before 7am. Yawn.
After we arrived, we had about 45 minutes to get checked in, find our cabin to unpack and then high tail it down to the field for warm ups. Kelley had been sick with a 102+ fever for most of the week and was still not feeling well, so she sat on the sidelines and played with her camera. Kids were past the adults. Look close and you will see a Bean jumping in the middle.
Look at how high he can kick!
Grand Master Lee arrived and everyone was bowing to him. He was a very young 70-something!
There was a little pond for canoeing.
The adults were asked to take a break from exercising and practicing Tae Kwon Do to row the Tiny Tigers (the littlest kids all under 5 years old) around the pond. Shoes and socks had to be removed before getting in the canoe. Todd said the water was freezing!
Owen got to go to the riflery range with his squad and got two or three turns firing a rifle at little spinning targets.
He was really happy that Paula was in his squad and that they got to sit next to each other during many activities.
How grown up does he look wearing the ear muff protectors and laying on his belly holding a rifle. He also had protective eye glasses. The camp counselors spent a lot of time talking to the kids about using proper gun safety and kept a close eye on everyone while they were firing at the targets.
Grand Master Lee walked up while the adults were at the shotgun range and got a quick lesson on how to fire. He did not hit the skeet targets as they went flying and joked with the others that it was not easy and to not feel bad they couldn't hit the flying targets since he missed.
Never thought I would see my honeys holding and firing a gun. Never. He did great on his first shot and hit the target. Then a camp counselor came over to instruct him on how he was standing incorrectly and how he should be holding the shotgun differently. Todd didn't hit the next skeet targets that went flying. They should have left him alone to do his thing! ;)
Chloe was so excited to stand in line at the canteen to get a snack in the afternoon.
Parents handed over money at the start for kids to use at the canteen. It appeared to be a free-for-all with many kids walking away with multiple cans of soda and candy/chips/junk in their arms.
Before dinner time, there was a team building exercise to use just masking tape and drinking straws to construct an egg catcher.
The eggs were dropped off a second story balcony and most fell through the catchers to splat on the ground.
After dinner, there was more practice and exercising going on back out on the field.
They practiced until the sun was almost gone.
Saturday night brought a big bonfire, as well as stories from Grand Master Lee about his journey to the U.S. and how he became so good at Tae Kwon Do, as well as a proposal from one of the karate instructors to his girlfriend who was in attendance at the camp.
Sunday came and Kelley was very worn out and spent much of the day sleeping in the cabin. From the porch of our cabin, we could see Chloe canoeing with Ms. Kandrick and another child in her squad.
Chloe thought it was pretty cool to sit in the front of the canoe AND paddle to help steer and move around the pond.
Owen really liked the breaks between activities when he could kick a soccer ball around.
And Chloe would find the nearest teenager to latch onto and carry her around.
Late Sunday, adults practiced a skit they created that they would perform on Monday afternoon at the closing ceremony.
Some long-necked creatures flew over us before we headed up to the dining hall for dinner. There were tears after dinner when we went back to the cabin and told the kids we would not be going to the movie (Kung Fu Panda) because we thought they needed sleep. It was already after 9pm and they were so tired from being up late (way past 10pm!) the night before with the bonfire.
Kelley found a family care physician in Helen on Saturday morning who said she had the flu and prescribed antibiotics and steroids. She missed all of the fun morning activities, including Sock Wars.
There were close to 200 students (adults and kids) who attended the karate camp and were there to line up for pictures during the closing ceremony with the Grand Master. The largest attendance ever!
Each squad performed a little skit that related to their particular focus word.
Our girl child was so sleepy. Her eyes were red and she could barely keep them open.
Owen's squad was up next. His had a few more kids.
Before this weekend, Todd had decided he was not going to attend Tae Kwon Do classes anymore. His back was in constant pain and it just wasn't worth it. After the weekend, Todd was filled with new excitement about participating in this sport and was happy his back didn't hurt at all. Started wondering if sit ups during the lessons were the cause of his hurt back. The kids were thrilled Todd decided to continue with lessons. Go Todd, you can do this!
