England Day 18: Dino Park

Today went by really fast. I got to go on a field trip with the 5-6 year old. They were a little crazy but fun to take to Dino Park.

It was an hour and a half ride there and the kids were off the wall. EVERY little thing they saw they had to point out. "Look! A windmill." "Look! A mailbox." "Look! A cow." I was getting very tired of it after the first ten minutes. Had to turn around and talk to the kids behind me. I couldn't take it anymore. lol. I also had to tell them to stop kicking the chair and touching me and such. Little kids are so... wonderful. lol

We arrived at the park and went in and had lunch. After lunch, we started our walk around the park. While walking around the park, the kids got to get a book stamped of all the places in the park they went. I was designated as the stamp person so I stamped 20 books 8 times. That took forever. They kids had a lot of fun seeing all the dinosaurs. Some were scared at first until we showed them they weren't real. They didn't even move. Some made sounds but they were all statues.

The kids also got to see a farm and pet some animals. There were goats, rabbits, pigs, and sheep. It was fun to see all the animals and pet a few.

After that we went on our walk through the dino trail where there were more dinosaurs. While we were walking, we had to stop and wait to get our books stamped. While we were waiting next to a dinosaur that looked like an ostrich, it all of a sudden made a sound. I totally jumped. It scared me! lol. Brandy, our youth program director, just laughed at me. She thought it was so funny to see me jump. I was just startled because I didn't except it make a noise. lol.

After getting our books stamped, we moved on to the play area. The kids were definitely starting to get tired because they were getting cranky and whining at the littlest things. We finished up playing at the park and headed back to get snack at the picnic area before going back to the youth center.

When we got on the bus home, the kids were passed out. There were kids passed out before the bus started moving. It was definitely a quiet ride home. My eyes were having a hard time staying open as well but I was able to stay awake.

When we got back to the youth center, we gave the kids medals for getting their books stamped and then had our closing blitz. It took a lot for me to stay awake but I made it through.

When we got home, I made some dinner and worked on programming. I had a little left to do on programming but I was very tired. I stayed up until 10 working on it and then went straight to bed. Definitely needed to go to sleep. I was exhausted.

I hope the next two days go by fast. I'm ready for the weekend and our trip to Scotland! :)

Cheerio! :)

England Day 17: Super Diaper Baby

Today was a pretty good. Got up pretty easily and ready with some time to spare. Went to work and practiced our blitz songs for the morning. We had a few new songs so we wanted to make sure that we knew what we were doing. Sang our songs, read the expectations of the week, and got ready for clubs.

In patriotic club, the kids got to make quill pens out of straws. It was really interesting and lots of fun. The kids got to learn how it would have been to write with them and how long it would take. I got to write with them too. I'm glad we have regular pens now. It takes forever to write with a quill pen. Having to dip it in ink a bazillion times to write takes too much time.

After clubs we had RIBS for lunch. SO GOOD. Mr. Marlon is too good to the kids. And the kids don't even know how good they got it. Some kids passed up on the ribs. I was thinking, they are crazy! It was so delicious.

After lunch, we went on our lunch break to work. I started programming for the Harry Potter week with Maryanne. I'm definitely excited to be planning this week. It will be loads of fun. My group is a big bunch of Harry Potter nerds. We love all the movies and can't wait for the new one to come out. :)

After programming, we went into rotating activities. Shekka and I played a game with the kids called Black Magic. It is a game that the kids have to figure out the trick. I would leave the room and wait for the Shekka and the kids to pick a secret object. Then I would come back in and Shekka would ask me if I thought this was the object or that was the object. I would answer no to most of it until I heard her ask is this black object it. I would answer no but the question the object that follows is the correct object. The kids couldn't figure out the trick and we won't tell them until the end of summer unless the think they know it. So much fun. :)

After rotating activities, it was time for snack and free play. One of the kids in my class asked if I would read him a book. He wanted me to read "The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby." It's from the same author of Captain Underpants. It was s fun read. We sat and read the whole book! I used different voices for the characters and we just sat and laughed the whole way through the book. He is a funny kid. :) When the book was done, it had instruction pages on how to draw the characters so we sat at a table and drew them. I made all of them and gave it to the boy. he definitely liked it. After that I played Black magic with some of the kids and one of the teachers because the teacher wanted to try and figure it out. She still doesn't understand but she says she will try to get it.

After free time, we went into the gym and did closing blitz. The kids are definitely getting more involved and doing all the motions with us. It is starting to get better.We finished closing and then went to the commissary for groceries. I only got a few things because I had a lot still at the house and want to save my money for trips. We got back to the dorm and went straight to work on tomorrow's blitz songs. I don't need to know them for tomorrow because I'm going on a field trip. I get to go with some of the kids to a park of Dinosaurs. Sounds like fun. :) We also did more research on hostels for London since we thought they would fill up fast. We were right but we were able to find one.

I spent the rest of the night working on Harry Potter programming. Definitely a night well spent. Heading off to bed soon so I'm well rested for the field trip tomorrow.

Cheerio.

England Day 16: Another Monday, Another theme

Monday morning is definitely not my favorite moment. So hard to wake up and go back to working after a weekend of traveling and having a grand ol' time. But it was an ok morning. Finally getting my voice back. Definitely happy about that. I didn't sing during opening blitz because I didn't want it to get worse again but I did do all the motions. We performed a fun skit for the kids and then went into clubs.

This weeks theme is Star Spangled Spirit Spectacular since next week is the Fourth of July. We're getting the kids ready for the celebration and making lots of fun crafts and playing patriotic themed games. This week I'm running Patriotic Club with Alix. The kids made President Portraits with paper plates and cotton balls. The students then started making journals about things to do with America. The students were asked to write about their president and draw a picture of what America meant to them.

After clubs, the kids got to have lunch and we went on break. We worked on programming. I had a headache and was really tired and rested my eyes for the last ten minutes. I almost fell asleep. I definitely need to get to bed earlier.

After lunch break, we went into rotating activities. We played a fun game with the kids called Indian Chief. One students is the detective and one is the starter. The starter would make actions and everyone else in the group would follow them. The detective would have to figure out who the starter was. The kids had a fun time with that.

The rest of the day I was on playground duty so I got to sit outside on this hot and dry day. It was quite terrible. The sun was out and it was out with hardly any wind. Definitely was not my favorite. Even the classroom were super hot. The playground had a couple incidents. Kids getting pushed or hit in the head with a jump rope or kicked in the back. Definitely not a good day for the kids.

After free time, we went to the gym for closing before heading home. The kids had a fun time picking songs. We finished our day and then left for home. Got back and started looking up hostels for our next trips. We have learned that you have to book early. So I looked for a hostel to book and we got that taken care of. Then I made a train schedule for us of all the trains we would have to catch and the times. It's definitely a lot of fun planning trips. :)

After that, we had another Harry Potter night. We watched the second one. We definitely have to keep watching them so that we will have watched them all before the new one comes out. After the movie, it was time for me to head to bed. Wanted to get a good nights rest since I had a long weekend. Tuesday better be cooler. I'm sick of the heat. :)

Cheerio.

England Day 15: Stonehenge

Pictures for Bath and Stonehenge can be found here! :)

Today started off on a bad foot but it went well after our little hiccup. The night before we had talked to local on at the bus station to try and figure out the best way to get to Stonehenge. We had looked online and there were long public bus routes to get there from Bath and we were hoping for a shorter one. She told us to catch a train to a city and then a bus from there to Stonehenge. So we got on the train and went to the the city of Chippenham and got off to catch a bus, only the buses there don't got to Stonehenge, or anywhere near. So we had to get on the train and go back to Bath and do our original plan which was to go from Bath to Salisbury on train and then take a bus to Stonehenge. It was a good thing we had BriRails so we didn't waste money buying tickets. Two girls haven't gotten there's yet so they had to buy tickets but it was only a 10 pounds wasted.

When we got to Salisbury, they had a Stonehenge tour for 15 pounds, which included the admission and bus, and it would drop us off at the entrance and we wouldn't stand in lines. Definitely a better choice then the buses we found. We hopped on the double decker tour bus and headed to Stonehenge.

When we got to Stonehenge, we hopped off the bus and headed in with our auido tours. We got to listen to a lot of the history. We were unable to touch it of course but there was a group that was allowed to be in there for their religious ceremony. The summer solstice is happening or just happened and a group called the Patons I think goes to celebrate and give a sacrifice. A little weird but oh well. Stonehenge was amazing to see and definitely worth the trip just to say I had been there. :)

We got back on the bus to Salisbury and got on the train back to London Waterloo Station. We had been traveling all morning so we were starving so we grabbed a bite at Waterloo again and then headed to the tube. This time we knew where we were going and what lines we had to get one. Definitely felt like pros. :) When we got off the tube, we headed up to King's Cross Station. Did you know that's where Harry Potter's train left from?!?! SO EXCITING! We had to catch a train out of platform 10 so we were SO CLOSE to Platform 9 and 3/4 but we couldn't find the sign and didn't have enough time to look because our train had to leave. :( But we will be going to London to visit in a few weeks so we'll DEFINITELY make time to see it! :)

We got on our trains to Ely and then Brandon, where we would get off. My group was a little worried about getting off in Ely and not Cambridge because that is where we had stopped on the way to Bath but I said we had to get off at Ely because on the way here we had gone through Ely so if we would have gotten off in Cambridge, we would have had to find another train to Ely and Brandon. I knew we had to get off in Ely because we were headed north and we needed to get off there to catch a train going East to Brandon. They were glad I knew that because otherwise we'd be stuck. They keep saying they're glad I'm here and have a good sense of direction and can read maps and train timetables well, otherwise they'd be lost. lol. I'm glad I have acquired that skill. Definitely helpful when traveling to unknown places. My mom always said I could be dropped in the middle of nowhere and find my way around. England is proving that statement correct. :)

Had a great trip back to Brandon and caught a taxi back to our base. We spent the rest of the night going over programming for Monday and practicing Blitz songs. They sang I just did the motions since I didn't have a voice. lol. But definitely a great weekend. Can't wait for our next trip. We're thinking Scotland I think! :)

Cheerio!

England Day 14: Bath

Definitely should have gone to bed earlier. Got up at 5 and had to get in the taxi at 530 because we had a train to catch around 610. And I woke up with no voice at all, I could only whisper. And the rain was not helpful either. Just made me feel more miserable.

It was a long morning of transferring trains, trying to figure out the tube in London, and finally arriving in Bath. The trains went ok but the tubes were way confusing. It was a good thing we found some nice people that were going on the tubes to the same place we needed to go. After we rode it to the Waterloo station, we were able to see how it worked and knew we'd be able to figure it out next time. We got a map of the tube and we just have to follow the colored lines and get off and one where needed. Easier to do now.

When we got to Waterloo, we missed the first train out of the station to Salisbury but there was one 50 minutes later that we could catch. It gave us time to walk around the station and grab something to eat and for me to get some tea for my voice. WE also used the bathroom, which we had to PAY for. It was 30p to pee. Really? Kinda ridiculous. lol. We got on our train to Salisbury and would then head to Bath. Altogether, we traveled about 6 hours. Long trip but totally worth it.

Arrived in Bath around 1 or so and went to find our hostel. It was definitely a really cute hostel, perfect size for our group. There were 6 beds in our bedroom, all bunked. Just the right size. It was located about 5 minutes from the busy streets of Bath so it was quiet. It situated behind a pub where we checked in. You walked through the pub and out to a back garden and into another door where the dorms and rooms were.

After dropping of our stuff and locking the door, we headed out to Bath. The town is beautiful. The architecture is simply amazing. Definitely my favorite so far. lol. We walked around for a while and then headed to the Roman Baths. So much history and beautiful structures. Definitely an interesting place to visit. Lots of great picture spots. :)

We then went over to Bath Abbey and had a look around. It was a beautiful church. The window was made up of 56 different scenes from Christ's life. It was really cool and impressive.

After the abbey, we did a little shopping and I bought a scarf and some shoes. Very cute. :) We then went to find somewhere to eat. We ended up going to this place called Giraffe. Perfect place for me since I love giraffes. :) The food was amazing! I got Lime Mojito Chicken. It was so good! During dinner, Carlie was making fun of me because I couldn't order because I can only whisper. She said that they should of gotten me a braille menu. I made motions at my eyes and whispered, I can read, I'm not blind. It was the funniest thing ever. We all started laughing so hard. Why would a need braille if I had just lost my voice? Silly Carlie. lol. :)

After dinner we headed back to the hostel to change and relax a little before heading out again. When we were ready, we headed back into Bath to see Sally Lunn's, Royal Crescent, and the Circus Ring. We stopped at Sally Lunn's first. Our camp director Brandy told us we had to stop because Sally Lunn's has the best bunns. We had tried to go earlier but the lines were long so we just decided that to come late. We went downstairs to a tiny one room "museum" to see some of the former building. Sally Lunn's is the oldest house in Bath. The kitchen where Sally Lunn used to make her bunns is still intake and really interesting.

The lady at Sally Lunn's was really energetic and loved telling us stories. She told us that the reason for the saying upper crust was because the bottom of bread usually got burnt so it was cut off and given to the poor and the upper part was sold to the rich. so they were the upper crust. She also told us that on dresses, if the lace was diagonal and made diamonds on the front, it meant the girl was loose and wanted men to approach her. If the lacing was straight across, it meant back off, I don't want to be approached. That's how they got the saying to be straight laced.

After her stories, she asked us about why we were here and such. When we told her for a children's camp and that we sang songs and did fun activities, she asked us to sing. So we had to sing one of our Camp A songs in public. Definitely an interesting time. lol

After the bunns, we headed to the Royal Crescent. It was more beautiful architecture. A big hotel in the shape of a crescent with beautiful gardens around it.

We moved on to the Circus Ring, which was also beautiful architecture. Just a lovely ring of little apartments. :)

We then we to a little pub that a local told us to try and had a drink before calling it a night. As we were walking back to the hostel, we saw a lot of random groups of girls walking around in costumes. Maryanne asked them what it was about and apparently they have a time once a year for all the women getting married to have their bachelorette parties. They walk around to different pubs in costumes of the brides choice. Pretty neat.

We walked back to our hostel around 11 and went straight to bed. We were super tired from waking up so early and we had a train to catch in the morning. Definitely a successful and wonderful day in Bath. :)

Cheerio.

PICTURES

I will make sure to write all about my weekend in Bath and Stonehenge but I'm very tried and still have no voice so I'm going to bed. But enjoy the pictures here!

England Day 13: Camp-1 Colleen-0

Camp has kicked my butt this week. It was a really hectic week and I accumulated a ton of bruises, two cuts on my legs and no voice. I seriously can not even talk. I was able to talk a little during the day and by the end of the day I could not talk. It is quite terrible. And I sounded like a guy. lol.

We had a much better morning today. Got picked up on time and had time to practice our blitz for the morning. We had so much fun with our blitz. We then moved into classrooms for clubs. The painting club put their books together and then made a poster for next weeks Star Spangled Spirit Spectacular week. The poster looks great and they worked really hard to make it look special.

After clubs, we went back to our homerooms for lunch. I got to eat lunch and play games with some of the campers. It was a lot of fun. We then had our hour of programming and we used the time to hang up the kids "buckets" in their locker. We started this system where if we see kids doing good things, they get a slip in their bucket. It's based on the book "Have you filled someone's bucket today?" It talks about being a bucket filler and filling others buckets by helping, sharing, or complimenting. At the end of the week, the 6 kids with the most bucket fillers get to cream a counselor, which means to smash whipped cream in a counselor's face. So much fun! not. lol

After programming, we had rotating activities. I was stationed in the gym, which was a terrible idea. I had to talk over kids and with my voice fading, it was not so easy. I had another girl in there with me which was helpful but the gym definitely paid a toll on my voice. We had a lot of fun playing elbow tag with the kids. They really enjoyed the game.

We then had snack and free play. The kids got to choose where they wanted to play and what they wanted to do. I got to stay inside with a group of ten kids what was nice since I didn't have to try and yell over them. After free play we moved into the gym for Camp A presents. This is a little show for the parents and the camp to show off what they did in their clubs that week. The painting club brought up their books and we shared the poster that they made.

After that, we had the drama club and glee club perform. The drama club did a short skit about Alice in Wonderland. They were so cute, if a little unorganized. It just made it cuter. I really liked the glee club performance. They sang so well and were adorable. They then said a little something about each of their parents. It was so nice! :) One girl said something nice about her mom in the audience and then her dad, who works at the youth center, and was standing by the door, was like "Oh thanks. What about me? I'm not a cool dad. Whatever." It was hilarious! lol

We then had closing songs and stories from the kids. During God Bless the USA, a parent was singing in the crowd and we could see him tearing up. It definitely almost made me cry. The kids are getting into the closing songs and it's really amazing. By the end of the summer, the kids will know all the words and the sign language. It will be amazing.

After closing we headed home and had a community dinner of shepherds pie that one of the staff made for us. It was amazing! I also lost the rest of the my voice. My roommates keep making fun of me because I can't answer questions or when I try to I can't say it loud. I seriously can only whisper or just nod my head. I hope it's better by next Monday. lol.

We planned our trip for this weekend to Bath! We are leaving early tomorrow morning and found a hostel to stay in that seems really nice. We want to go to Stonehenge on Sunday as well. I can not wait!!! I will definitely be taking lots of pictures so make sure to check back by Sunday night. Not sure if I'll have a computer to update on Saturday night but I definitely will on Sunday when I get back. Hope the weekend goes well!

Cheerio!

England Day 12: Battle Wounds

I was so tired yesterday and feeling under the weather that I did not get a chance to write. And no Nana, the children did not lock me in a closet. :) I went to bed early to get some rest and feel better for Friday. But I'm much better now.

Thursday was a pretty rough day. Our van was late to pick us up so we were unable to practice blitz except for in the car ride there. Blitz was really rocky and we were off a lot or forgot what song was next. We'll definitely have to start practicing at night so we for sure are getting time to practice.

After the blitz, more misfortunes happened. We had painting club, which went pretty well. The kids got to make covers for their painting books. We decided they would make all their paintings into a book to share at Camp A presents on Friday. During painting club, I collected my battle wounds. I was putting paintings on the drying rack and I walked by the stage they have in their room. It's about a foot off the ground and made of metal. Well, I ran into it, and cut my left leg. It wasn't a bad cut but I had a huge cut on my leg and it had a little blood. THEN, about 10 minutes later, I walked by the stage, AGAIN, and cut my RIGHT leg. So I have TWO cuts, one on each leg. Because for some reason I didn't get it through my head the first time that running into the stage hurts. lol.

After painting club, we had lunch and then quiet activities. Then Camp A had their hour lunch break to work on programming and such. We mostly finished planning and I made posters for our clubs next week.

After lunch the kids were supposed to go to the movie theater on base but the theater never got back so we had to watch a movie at the youth center. The kids got to watch Gnomeo and Juliet and had popcorn. It was definitely a nice break from the chaos of the morning. I was so glad I got stationed in the room with the movie. :) During the movie we had the fire alarm go off because I think the popcorn was smoking. We came back and the kids got back to watching the movie.

When the movie was over, the kids moved into the gym for closing. It went much better than the last few days. We had a few kids come up and say a story of why they wanted to sing a song and then wee would sing the song they choose. The kids had some cute stories. :)

When closing was done, we headed home for a peaceful night. We did a little painting of our posters for next weeks Star Spangled Spirit Spectacular and holed punched the paintings for the painting club. I took some nasal decongestant because my nose was stuffed to the max. I also went to bed pretty early because I wasn't feeling very well. Pretty hectic day but almost Friday! :)

Cheerio!

England Day 11: Lots and lots of Rain

Today was a pretty good day. It rained a bunch! We were supposed to have a water day today but we couldn't have the kids play outside because of the storms. The kids we're definitely bummed but we had fun things for them to do.

Started off like any other day. Got picked up early and went to the youth center to get ready for camp. Got everything all set up and practiced our songs for the morning. I was a little crabby this morning. Definitely was not in the mood to sing, but got into when the kids arrived. I just want to make them smile so I get pepped up when they are there.

After that we went to clubs which went well. Had the kids make paintings of them doing different sports. They really like making paintings in our club. Hopefully we will make a book of all their paintings at the end of the week.During out club, we found out that one of the hamsters had gone missing. Someone had apparently left the cage open the night before and both hamsters got out. One was found on the floor next to the table where the cage was but the other is still MIA. Definitely a bit of a crazy morning. lol.

We then had lunch made by the wonderful Mr. Marlon again. He definitely makes amazing food. After we ate, I sat with four kids to play go fish. It was the cutest came of go fish ever. There were two girls and two boys. When they asked for a card, they would say, "My Dear, do you have a 6." "No my darling, go fish." "Thank you handsome prince." It was the cutest thing ever. We were acting all proper and asking very kindly for the cards. Those boys and girls were adorable! Made me smile and in a good mood.

After that, Camp A had an hour planning/lunch break. We took the time to finish programming for next week. Two other girls and I are working on Star Spangled Banner Week. We got a lot done during lunch and finished it later tonight.

After our break, we went into rotating activities. At Alix and my station we played a game called barnyard. Alix and I would whisper an animal in their ear and once everyone got one, they closed their eyes and had to make the sound of the animal they were given. They had to crawl on the floor and find the rest of the group. It was definitely very funny to watch the kids crawling around making animals sounds. They really enjoyed the game as well.

After rotating activities, I was stationed in the gym for the rest of the day. Definitely craziness in there. My mood got worse because a kid was picking up something that I was trying to pick up and he whipped his head back and nailed me in the forehead. I had a huge headache the rest of the day until I got back. Had to lie down when I got back and take some ibuprofen. I feel much better now but it definitely hurt.

I made dinner and finished programming with my group. We finished out week of programming so I will be able to relax for the next few days. After programming, I sat around and watched TV and relaxed from beginning on my feet and helping with kids all day. We're trying to plan our weekend. Thinking of going to Bath and Stonehenge. A good weekend trip. I'll make sure to post lot of pictures.

Cheerio.

England Day 10: Olympic Day

Today went much better. The schedule was a little clearer and everything ran a little smoother. Still some kinks to sort out but it's going better.

Started off the day with a blitz. We'll start our morning like this everyday. The kids were more into and started singing and dancing with us. We had a little problem getting kids from the gym to their rooms for clubs because we didn't have lists of their names so the hallway people didn't know where they were at. It was confusing but we will think of a better system for next time.

I was in painting club again and they made awards for their loved ones. They were really precious.

After clubs we lunch. Another great meal by Mr. Marlon. He makes amazing food. We also went on on hour break and walked to the BK to do a little shopping. I got some souvenirs for home and a few presents for people. We made the trek back to the youth center and got ready for Olympic Day.

For Olympic day, we walked the kids to the track and filed where they would participate in fun Olympic Games. The had Olympic Day because in 2012, the Olympics will be in London. I was in charge of walking on of the groups down. I had seven in my group and they were pretty good. One of the kids held my hand the whole way there which is good because they said he was known to run off. We got to the track the kids started the opening ceremony by running or walking around the track.

After that we split into our groups and had a few activities for the students to do. My group started with the long jump. We then went into relays and that didn't go well. One of the kids, that is known to run, got upset when he lost the race so we threw his shoes and than walked off. His original group leader saw him and walked after him and our project coordinator Brandy went after him as well. They talked to him and got him to calm down and come back to the group. We then went back to long jump because they wanted to beat their scores. We had another relay and the boy didn't run off but he pouted when he was losing again.

The kids got to play on the inflatable jumping thing before heading back to the youth center. The boy almost ran off on the way home but I was able to calm him down and get him back in the group. It was definitely pretty scary.

When we got back to the youth center, we were done for the day. We packed up the car and headed to the commissary to get groceries for the week.

After that, we went back to your dorms and made dinner. While we were sitting around, one of the girls, Alix, that was working out came running into the room and told us to get downstairs quick. Apparently after her run, she walked into the gym and a little boy was having a seizure. The mother was there and freaking out and Alix got her phone to call 911. We came downstairs as his seizure had ended but he was unconscious. We all were shocked and didn't known what to do. The boy eventually came around but he was crying and freaking out. The ambulance got there and we went back upstairs. It was definitely a scary experience.

After that, we started programming for next week before heading off to bed. A scary day for us. Hope the rest of the week is better.

Cheerio.

England Day 9: O.M.G.

That's all I can say. OMG.

We started camp today. First full day. I did not know how hectic my day could get until today. My head was in fifty places at once and I couldn't even focus on one thing at a time.

The day started out pretty good. We got in and had to set up our posters that we made last night and get ready for singing smiling. We performed our blitz, which is a bunch of songs that we sing at the beginning of everyday to get the kids pumped up. By the end of the summer, they will know all the songs and be singing them with us.

The rest of the day was pretty much a blur. They went into small group activities where we got to know the kids. I'm in the younger classroom so the kids have no attention span. lol. But they are definitely funny kids. After small groups we went into clubs. The kids get to choose which club they want to join. I am in charge of painting club this week. There is also workout club and glee club. In painting club this week, they are making signs for Olympic day, portraits of their families, and awards for family members. It will be a lot of fun.

After clubs they had to wash their hands and get ready for lunch. We eat with them everyday which is fine with me because they cook makes AMAZING food. He is from Jamaica and makes the best food! So many different flavors and spices. I love it. :)

After they kids had lunch they had free time and then the Camp A staff got an hour off for planning and working on different things. It was nice to have a break and figure out what went well and what didn't. And I nice chance to take a breather and clear my head a little.

When we came back, if was time for rotating activities. I worked in the gym with Alix and we played a fun games with each group that came in. The first group went really well and they listened well. The rest of the groups had younger kids so it was hard to keep them on track but it went well overall.

After rotating activities, the rest of the day was free play. The students get to choose where they want to go and what they want to play with. It's a bit crazy with all the different things going on but it made things a little easier for us. We were able to just play and not have to worry about what activities we had to do.

We had closing with four songs and it was a disaster. The kids didn't listen at all and it was hard to hear in the gym anyways because it echoes so bad. We have to change that somehow so it's not as hectic and full of chaos.

When the end of the day came, I was beat. I don't think I spoke the whole way home. I was so drained and tried. The kids definitely take a lot out of you. We got back and made dinner and sat around and relaxed our brains and bodies. We practiced a little for the blitz and then relaxed the rest of the night. We watched Hook and How to Train your Dragon. Both fun movies.

Well I'm definitely beat tonight so I know I will be going to bed early. Got another hectic day ahead of me.

Cheerio.

England Day 8: Relaxing, Programming, and Practicing

Today was definitely a nice, relaxing day today. I got to sleep in for the first time since I've been here and it was well needed. We then spent the day relaxing in the day room and watching movies on TV.

Later that night we had a meeting to go over the program for the week. It seems like a great schedule and I can wait to put it in action. We practiced the song we would be singing in the morning for camp. We practiced a few times and then went about relaxing again.

Around 8, we started our first of many Harry Potter nights. We want to watch all the movies before we see the premiere of the last movie. A few girls hadn't seen all the movies so we are watching them all before the premiere in three weeks.

After the movie we watched another movie before heading to bed for the day. I went and called my parents so I could wish my dad a happy father's day. It was so nice to talk to them. Definitely teared up a little bit. I miss them more than I thought. I guess having a relaxing day made me realize how much I miss my family. But I am enjoying the travel and making new friends. It's a great experience and I know I will learn a lot.

Definitely a good day. Relaxing and talking to my parents put me in a good mood. :)

Cheerio.

England Day 7: Bury St. Edmunds

Definitely couldn’t write yesterday because I was exhausted when I got back but I will write now.

Lots of photos here!!! :)

One of our project coordinators, Gary, told us that Bury St. Edmunds was having a market and street festival on Saturday and it was only 45 minutes from where we were staying so we decided to go. Our group leader Brittany was unable to make the trip because she felt she needed to stay back and work on our programming for the week so we went off without her.

We were picked up by taxi and went to the Brandon bus station to take a bus to Bury. When we arrived in Bury, the market had not opened yet so we grabbed a cup of coffee and waited for the outside mall to open, since it would be open an hour before the market. We walked around the mall and found that things were overpriced and were styles we could find in the US. A couple girls found some stuff on sale but mostly we just were there to kill time.

After the mall, we went over to the market area and spent most of our day there. It’s a lot like a market at home but had different venders. There was a tent that sold things that you would find at Home Depot for really cheap, another had kitchen supplies, and some had clothing like pajamas. It was definitely a little different but lots of fun and really good prices. I found a few things but didn’t want to spend too much money.

While we were walking around, we ran into Gary and his wife and her sister. We talked a little and they told us about a few places we needed to go see in Bury. They told us to check out the Nutshell, the brewery, and Abbey Gardens. They also told us to look for sausage stands set up and get one for lunch because they are the best sausages. So we said we’d check out those places and said goodbye.

We first went to the Nutshell since it was right by the Market. The Nutshell is the smallest pub in England. It has made the Guinness Book of World Records! It was so tiny! We took some pictures and were beckoned inside by some people in it and had to stand shoulder to shoulder with each other. The bartender told us that they had fit 104 people in the pub! We couldn’t believe it. We were feeling a little close and could not even imagine fitting about 90 more people in there. It was crazy.

The guys that had beckoned us in must have known we were from the US since we were standing outside taking pictures and told us that they were all from Texas. Small world, huh!? They were stationed on a military base in Mildenhall and were only going to be there for two weeks as volunteer firefighters. They were really nice guys and one even bought one of the girls a drink.

After the pub, we started making our way towards the brewery to have a guided tour. We stopped at a sausage stand along the way. They were right. The sausage was amazing!!! I put sweet chili sauce on it and it was so good. We walked the rest of the way toward the brewery and started our guided tour. It was very interesting to hear about how they brewed ale (aka beer) in England. The guide told us that England manufactures the most ale in the world. England must really like their ale. I definitely learned a lot about the process and the ingredients in ale. But learning all the interesting things about ale did not make me like it anymore. I still don’t like the taste or smell. But a few of the girls liked tasting the ale at the end of the tour. I sipped a few of their and some were not as bad but they were still bad. Lol.

After the brewery, we walked back toward the city centre of Bury to walk through the St. Edmundsbury Cathedral, Abbey Gardens, and Abbey Ruins. The church was stunning as well as the gardens. The ruins had a lot of history in them and were interesting to walk through.

We then walked through the ruins behind the cathedral. One of the ruins had a sign that said it was where the ratification of the Magna Charta happened. Amazing!

After that we started to make our way back to the bus station when we ran into one of the guys we had met in the Nutshell named Kenny. We chatted for a little while and a couple of us could tell that he was really into one of the girls. We knew all he wanted was her number and he just needed to spit it out. He finally asked her and she gave it to him and apparently we’ll all get together sometime with the rest of them before they go. Not sure when that will happen since all of us work but whatever. It was still funny.

When we were done talking, we made our way back to the bus station and waited around for the bus to come pick us up. We rode back to Brandon and were then picked up and taken to our base. It was definitely a long day so we decided to watch a few movies and relax the rest of the night.

It was getting a little late and half of the girls had gone to bed, but Maryanne, Brittany, and I were up watching the Tale of Despereaux. This movie is a kid’s movie about a little mouse that isn’t afraid of anything. He loves to read and wants to be like the prince’s in his book that are noble and kind. He wants to save a princess one day. Well, while we were watching the movie, my friend Maryanne yells that she just saw something scuttle across the floor and she jumps on her chair. Apparently a mouse decided he wanted to watch the movie with us. Ironic huh?! Brittany then jumps on her chair and they are both freaking out. I am way in the back in a corner just laughing at both of them. I’m sure if I would have seen the mouse I would have freaked out too but I just couldn’t help laughing at them standing up there and freaking out every time it ran. Definitely the highlight of the day.

Altogether a great day. Hope to have more adventures like this next weekend.

Cheerio.

England Day 6: Cambridge (aka Bridges over the River of Cam)

I took lots of pictures today!! Check them out here. :)

Today started off really early with a taxi and two buses to Cambridge. It took us a long time to figure out how to read the bus schedules but someone finally helped us and we were fine after that.

When we got to Cambridge, we just started walking around using a map in one of our travels books. I pretty much ran the map since I'm pretty good with directions. The first street we walked down we found a telephone booth so of course we had to get our picture with it. :)

After that we just walked around the beautiful city and took in all the architecture and our surroundings. We stopped at a coffee shop and got mochas and chocolate croissants. Our walking continued until we came across a few of the 38 colleges in Cambridge. Every college is beautiful and majestic. I would love to go to one of the schools. They remind me of Hogwarts from Harry Potter. Everything in England is made of brick which makes the cities look so sophisticated and historical.

During our walk we ran into someone giving punting tours. Punting is a little boat that is moved with a long stick being pushed into the water by someone. We had heard that punting was the best way to see the town so we decided to go. We were a little hesitant at first because they were on the street but we ended up paying student price and got a whole one hour guided tour. It was truly amazing. We were able to see the front of the colleges while walking and got to see the backs and all the grounds while punting. I have a lot of pictures from our tour. :)

We learned a lot about the history of the colleges and all the beautiful bridges that are over the river of cam. The Math Bridge for example is said to get stronger with the more weight that is on it. We also heard that one of the colleges, Kings Cross (below) was featured in the newspaper a few decades ago. It said that a boy that was going to the college had received low scores during his time there and didn't think it was accurate. When he confronted the dean, he wasn't going to do anything about it so the boy decided to play a prank. He climbed to the top of one of the turrets and placed a waste bin way at the top. The dean had to hire someone to get it down and it took three days to put up the scaffolding to climb up there. On the night before they were going to climb to get it, the boy climbed up and moved the waste bin to the other turret. The dean did not commend the student but instead congratulated him for his bravery. Quite a funny story. :)

We also saw the place where the filmed Harry Potter when he first learned how to ride a broom in the first movie. It was awesome to see it!!! :)

After the punting tour, we went to a little market in the city center and shopped around a bit before going to lunch. We went to a pub called The Eagle. It was built back in the 1500s and has a lot of history in it. There is a ceiling, that I couldn't get a good picture of, that has signatures from US Air Force men from World War 2. It also was the place that DNA was first discovery and announced. Quite interesting, and delicious food.

After lunch we finished walking around the center and head back to the bus. Since we had gotten up at 6 and into town around 10, we were ready to head back home. We took our 2 buses and taxi back to the base, On our second bus, a man keep telling us that we needed to get a taxi back to base since there were no buses running. Alix told him at least three times that we had already called and made taxi arrangements. He didn't seem to understand or hear us. lol. When we got back, we made a community dinner and watch a movie before heading off to bed.

We have another early day tomorrow as we head to Bury St. Edmund's to go to a street fair. We were told by our program director that is was a lot of fun and the town was also beautiful. So off to bed I go for yet another wonderful travel day.

Cheerio! :)

England Day 5: Meeting the Children

Lovely morning yet again but sadly, it did rain later. Didn't last that long which was nice.

Went to work and worked on more posters for next weeks theme. They are definitely really sweet sports themed posters. Got to meet the commander of the base today. Such a nice guy and really excited that we're there. He gave us each a coupon for a free meal at one of the restaurants on base. We went to lunch and used our coupons at a grilled sub place. Then we shopped a little and I got some postcards. Hope to send some off next week. We also got pounds for our trips this weekend. We're all getting super pumped! As we walked back from lunch, it started to sprinkle but we made it back before it started really raining.

During the afternoon, we got to meet the children. They are truly amazing! 144 of them split into 3 rooms ranging ages 5-12. It is so much fun. We did a lot of observing today to see how the program runs and see how the teachers work. I sat in the younger classroom first and LOVED them! My group leader said I would probably be placed there which is exciting. When I walked in the door, the kids were so excited. They had remembered Camp A from last year. They were talking to us and making us pictures during the first 5 minutes. It was really reassuring and helped us feel like we would belong.

We then went to a ceremony with the kids for their Shining Stars program, which is where the kids get awards for good behavior. We then switched rooms and I got to see some of the older kids. One boy was so cute! He wanted me to play a game with him so he made up a game with the Connect Four pieces where we had to be the first to hit the other persons piece. We played this for a good 20 minutes. He never got bored! We just kept laughing the whole time. He was hilarious. Then I went with him to the gym and he wanted to kick a soccer ball around. It was lovely fun. :)

After the gym I walked back and forth between rooms to meet other kids. One had me sit at the "salon" and get my hair cut and curled. It was quite fun. I also got to dress up as a police women and patrol the room with a little boy to make sure everything was safe. How could I not smile and have fun at this place?! It's extraordinary!

In another classroom, I was forced to make lots of fireworks on a piece of paper for a little girl. I had started coloring and she wanted my picture so I said I'd give it to her when I was done. Well she wanted me to keep adding more and more so the whole page was full. And if I started talking to another counselor or kid, she would say, "Pay attention! Stay on task." Cute, but a little pushy. But she liked the picture which is all that matters. :)

The counselors and I had finished our observing hours and had an hour or so left so we started putting up a bulletin board before we left. It's gonna have our bios on it and information for parents about our program. After that we left and drove back to the dorms. We decided to make a community dinner and had spaghetti. It was really good and we felt like a little family at the table. We talked and hung out for while. It was nice to get to know each other a little more. We then had a Skype meeting with our Program Director which was pretty short and then started planning our trip to Cambridge tomorrow. It was definitely difficult. Couldn't figure out bus schedules and pick up places. We eventually had to call the bus station which helped a lot.

After all that was figured out, we put in Peter Pan and relaxed before bed. Now heading off to bed since we have an early morning tomorrow. Hopefully I'll be able to take some pictures, if I don't forget my camera this time. :)

Cheerio! :)