Family Camp

I woke up after 4 maybe 5 hours of sleep. I sprung from the bunk bed under my warm sleeping bag to the chilly cabin floor. It was the week of Family Church camp and I didn't need ANY sleep because I was so excited! I stopped to make sure my baby brothers were all covered up as I walked by my sleeping mother who had been up as late as I had been the night before. She liked reading the night away. She also liked to listened when I shared about the activities of the whole camp. I knew where my sister and brother were so she enjoyed being updated, then she went back to her reading happily. Mom never had rules for us kids once we arrived at camp. She didn't tell us when to shower or when to go to bed. She didn't make us sit with her during chapel, this made it possible for us to be with our friends and also approach her easily. If she said "Watch your brothers I am taking a shower." I never thought it was bossy or rude. NOT like when our father said it. Luckily Dad never came to church camp, only the few times he did pop in for a night or so...HE was like a roaring bear full of rules. We kids feared him greatly and hide when his rattling pick up pulled into camp by surprise. That first free morning of church camp is the BEST feeling because I knew I had 6 full days of fun and friends ahead of me! I was up on that gray cold August morning early. I had slept in my clothes (One of the things I loved about camping) My jeans and flannel shirt were wrinkled with my long blond hair sticking out everywhere, my mother had permed it so it was truly wild until I showered. In the Dinning Hall the smell of bacon cooked with the crackling pop of the wood stove, "You are up early!" The ladies from the kitchen waved at me as I was the very first person up to pour a half cup of coffee then 5 scoops of hot chocolate mix after I stirred it all together I added fresh milk so I could drink it by the heat of the burning stove. I liked being by myself at this time in the morning with the pink glow on the Forrest trees. Everyone would have told you that I was a "People person" but deep down I loved the time alone with nature the most. After my coffee crazy drink I would walk to the highway from camp drinking in all the fresh air and morning sounds. The creek ran right past me as I walked along waking up and thinking to myself "I do not want to rush through this week!" I loved camp more then any time in the whole summer! I liked having my beloved friend Tiffany offer to braid my hair, I loved singing songs and acting out skits. I pressed  fresh picked flowers through out the pages of my bible so I could remember camp all year long. The soccer games, the fire pit and volleyball court held so many friends to lean on or laugh with. I was very particular about my shower time, it was way to cold in the morning to shower and usually it was way to crowded with families lining up to use those showers. I would wait till almost lunch time or even later afternoon to shower when it was also warm outside to dry my long wet hair better. I also sang in the shower all the time so the less crowd the better. Once I was singing away when I was joined by other friends in the showers then we all four sang together as we shampooed. It's one of those memories I truly loved about camp. By the evening after dinner and chapel time I would find a place to capture the sunset with a friend then spend the night away playing card games in the dinning room. I always read to my little brothers before they went to bed, then as the shooting stars took place all of us teens would lay on our backs in the soccer field counting them! Tiffany would walk arm in arm with me saying "I don't think there is anyone who loves Church camp as much as YOU!" I titled my head against hers giggling because after she went to bed I took off up the mountain side to sit on a big rock facing the wide open starry night saying out loud that I refuse to go to sleep and loose a second more of this camp!