Girls Went to Camp!

A lot of first experiences with going to church camp this year!!  Our girls have never been away from home before! It was a big deal for them to go! Camp was in Fortville, IN, which was 4 hours away. It was pretty stressful!! There was a ton of stuff to pack for two girls! There was a lot of trial and error! I will know what to better expect next year!! Next year all 4 of my kiddos will go!! So I just wanted to write it all out to help me remember everything! I believe I am actually going to do a youtube video on it! Yes, I'm venturing out to youtube. :)

What to pack!?

Clothes:
play clothes-at least 5 each....I know I had extra.
nice church clothes -x5-this is for evening service.
underwear (panties, socks, under shirts, bras)-7+ each-
casual church clothes-5x-morning service
pajamas: 2 nightgowns each
they came home with extra clothes and that was my intention.
They also get a camp tshirt!!

Sleep:
lysol wipes to wipe down mattress
mattress cover
sheet
pillow and case
blanket (it's hot in there, don't bring a comforter like I did!!! LOL I figured I'd rather them be too hot, then too cold!!)

Shower:
shower caddy (Maddy ended up losing hers....still not sure how that happened??)
shower pouf
shower gel
shampoo and conditioner
brush
detangler
hair ties, elastics, bows (one got lost)
hair spray
mousse
2 towels each

Shoes:
flip flops for showers
play shoes
church shoes

Extras:
hamper
trash bags for wet clothes
they each had a purse that had: lil notebook, pen, chap stick, cards w/ their name and number to pass out to new friends, I think Addy ended up taking a couple of little toys,
itch cream!!! I did leave a tube with them because I knew better! I of course, told them not to share.
Lavender cream stuff to help them settle/sleep...

I packed all underwear and snacks in a plastic 3 drawer caddy on wheels. It was heavy, but very helpful!! A lot of the girls had the bigger ones too!!

Snacks:
Mega packs pringles (all gone), several fruit bars (had a few left), gummies/fruit by the foot (believe those were all gone), 10 capri suns (all gone--needed more--water bottles!),

Meds:
I packed all their meds and took it to the nurse and she wrote down everything.

There is a tiny rod to hang clothes and small shelf to place things on. You have underneath the bed for storage...and our suit case didn't fit! Their drawers fit at the end of the bunk beds, aside the hamper. I hung all their church clothes and then all of their casual church clothes, which they ended up playing in were in the suit case and they were just able to pick out what they wanted. I did have it all nice and organized and folded per outfits. They pretty much just did whatever they wanted and that was fine. I also ended up just throwing all kinds of random pieces of clothing in a bag for extras. I put it under the bed. There are no towel hooks, so they are supposed to hang their towels over their beds.There are several counselors in the dorm with them. There are lots of bunk bed sets in the dorm! There are two exits and I only seen one a/c unit. There was one fan in there, no ceiling fans. It was hot in there when I got them all set up!

Our girls raised money, $210, to go to camp. We had a couple of dinners and then mostly earned money by selling cookies and brownies after services at church. It was a huge help to raise that money from a church! What a blessing!! Thank you, New Life!! They needed some cash for extra food and ice cream at camp. I sent $25 each. I put $5 bills in individual envelopes w/ day of the week written on it and gave to their counselor.


When we first got there they had to get their head lice check, stamp for passing. I had already registered online, which was a bit comprehensive, but pretty easy! I had to have our pastor sign and uploaded back up for quick access. Then we had to go get in line to pick a bed in the dorm! There were several girls w/ their Mama's in line in front of us. Thankfully, though, our girls were able to share a bunk! Honestly, though, I think next time they should just get to bottom bunks and then they can see each other, but it's up to them really!

Next time: pack better flip flops (Addy's broke!), a couple of rugs, light blanket, sunscreen (they were a little burnt. The girls said they didn't have any on. ???), pack lunch or stop to eat right before dropping them off because we left them at 1:45 and dinner that night wasn't until like 4-4:30. We had actually meant to stop and eat lunch on the way up there and ran into construction and was running a little late, so they ended up snacking on some of their snacks when we got there. I wish I would have packed nicer church clothes. Some of the girls were so decked out for evening services. I will probably get the bigger 3 drawer plastic cabinet to use next year!

Concerns: the head lice check--I wish it were more discrete. What happens if someone does have lice? How humiliating it would be for everyone to know? :( most of their money went toward ice cream. So $50 to ice cream!! :/ I understand it's camp, but shwoo!! lol That is a lot of money and sugar!! It was 4 hours away! The hardest thing was that they could not call home. Really only Maddy wanted to call home and apparently asked several times and kept getting told maybe and was never allowed to. She missed me so bad. I understand they can't let 30 girls per dorm call home, but I do think an exception should/could be made. Addy did fine and didn't want to call home. I see it both ways, but I just know I could have relieved her to talk to her for just a couple of mins. Thankfully, I was able to message a couple times to a Sister who's daughter was in my girls' dorm. I missed them so much too and was relieved to be able to ask her briefly if they were ok. It was also nice to occasionally see some pics and videos on the facebook page. I do wish I would have just stayed up there, but we all made it through! It was a bit hectic setting up two girls! Construction, traffic, head lice check, registration, then getting in line, it was hot! lol I was really thankful that the counselors helped the girls with their hair! I was so worried about that! They still need quite a bit of help from me on that part. I seen a lot of pic with their hair done so cute!!! The night I got them we washed their hair and really wasn't that bad, so I was relieved!!

The girls came running when they seen us pull in! They were very excited to see us!! I was so proud of them! They are getting so big!

So camp was a success and they will be going back! I am so thankful for the people who take their time to help with all the duties for camp! I know it was a lot of work!!! I heard stories about camp for 2 weeks! :) There was so much for them to do! I really don't think they had much time to bored...at all!!
Next year it will be chaos getting all 4 set up!! :) :) :) I'm gonna need help I'm suspecting! Actually, the boys will go one week and then the girls the following week! AAAHHHHH!!