A visit and back home

Sunday 5th: We headed off with Asher to give her some time outside before the Sunday morning service started. We were glad the balls had been left on the court.
Her bike and scooter have been well used by many children this weekend. It was nice for her to get a few laps around the court this morning. She normally does laps around our deck, so it was nice and therapeutic for her to do something similar to her home routines.
She does love these flowers and as they are weeds, she can often find them. She loves pulling them apart, each little flower at a time.


After the service and lunch we headed off to spend the afternoon with Daniel's family. They stay just 20 minutes from the camp site. So it was a perfect opportunity to meet them.

Rachel had brought a couple of games to camp specifically for this afternoon, but they got left at camp. So the Sampsons introduced her to one of theirs.

Unfortunately I didn't get photos of the first few minutes when we arrived. Hezekiah was immediately off in a go-cart and they were checking out the "hobbit hole" that Daniel is making out of an old water tank. So here is a photo I took of Daniel's fb page to show you what he is busy with. (Lovely photo Daniel, I hope you don't mind me using it.)

Hezekiah had so much fun. There was a room almost fully dedicated to lego, with many space ships already created. He was so pleased to have some Star Wars fans to play with. They had loads of lightsabers too, so he was very pleased.

I had Asher's bag of toys with. She mostly stuck to her familiar things, but did venture to play with some puzzles and toys that were around.

Hannah was also thrilled to have a fellow Star Wars fan to play with. They had a great time and we hardly saw Hannah the whole time we were there. Other than afternoon tea that is, where we all tried to convince her to try some raw zucchini. She loves raw carrots and celery, so I'm sure she would like it. She wasn't willing to give it a try though. There were plenty of other lovely fresh options though.
Thanks so much Katrina for the lovely dairy and gluten free snack. :-)
Oh - and your strawberries were wonderfully sweet. I can't believe I didn't get to have a look at your vegetable garden. It must be amazing.

The afternoon was too short, but we had to get back to camp for dinner. Now to figure out how to get the families again together to finish some of the conversations that got started. :-)
I had to quickly get my camera out when the children all headed to the gate for our departure. I believe this is a bit of a family tradition - so we enjoyed getting to be a part of it.

Thanks to you all for a great afternoon.
We had to smile when just a couple of minutes after we got back to camp, Daniel arrived. Hezekiah had forgotten his shoes. They had tried to call us, but we didn't have signal. So he brought them. There was plenty of dinner, so he was invited to stay for dinner and the Q&A session that evening.

Monday 6th: After the morning session we did some serious packing. We didn't worry about trying to borrow a van with a trailer this year, and just came in two cars. The van's back seat and boot worked as a trailer. It was well loaded up.

Some last games before lunch.

With the rooms all getting cleaned and the tents all getting packed up, it felt like there were far more children around. It was nice for them to get some last bit of fun together.
Thank you so much to the churches that run this camp for letting us tag along for all these years. It's such a special time for the children to catch up with friends. It's the one time in the year that we put an effort in to get away - and so it's really special. (Getting away has been that much harder over the last 3 years - so it's meant so much more).

I was dreading the trip home without Asher's maracas. Ruth had the idea previously of putting Asher's albums onto a play list. So I set that up on the iPod but realised it doesn't keep the songs in their albums, but creates a new big album with all the songs. This ended up being a perfect solution though. I just put it on shuffle, and it switched between albums and she really enjoyed it. Sometimes she would ask "music please" if she didn't want the current song, and then I would just skip it to the next. We didn't include the album that needs the maracas, and thankfully she didn't even ask for it.

Brendon headed off to karate this evening, so I enjoyed some time playing with Asher while she had a bath. I encouraged her to pour the water over her head and she had a ball.

A fun filled day at camp

Not even 8am and Asher is up the hill already. I decided to take a photo from the top to give you a better picture of some of the camp site.

We convinced Asher to go for a walk (to give our legs a break from the hill) and so we headed off down the huge field. I had to run rather fast to get in front of her for this picture. There was a field of sheep need the end of the field, so she enjoyed that.

Then we headed back up to the park area. I was pleased to have gotten this photo of Hannah showing off on the flying fox. :-) I'm impressed Hannah.
And then just after this Asher had a 1 minute Tonic Clonic. I still had my camera out but quickly ran over to her and Brendon. I think my camera cable must have bounced out of my bag at this time, as when we got home it was missing.
I went to our room with Asher so that she could have a sleep and Brendon headed out with the camera.

First was to get a photo of the practice session that was happening for the camp concert tonight. Daniel arrived early this morning to spend the day at camp. These three have been practising this song over the last couple of weeks in two different locations, so it was nice to get them together for a practice today.
Hezekiah having fun.

After lunch Asher was asking to go on the tramp again. We had said no to her yesterday, but thought that perhaps because she had already had a seizure this morning, she would be ok. She had so much fun with Dad. I managed to get the next two photos and then was called over as Asher was having another seizure. Another Tonic Clonic but this time lasting 1 1/2 minutes. I'm thankful they were both short today.
Water slide fun.

I was again with Asher sleeping in our room and Brendon headed out with the camera. It was lovely for me to hear that Hezekiah had been included in one of these games. He was really interested and I am so pleased they allowed him to join in.
I love this photo Brendon got of them all looking while the other team has their go.







Hezekiah was not just a spectator. Such a great in action shot.
Hannah and her friend Ruth. They played so wonderfully together last year and just picked it up again this year. They were almost always together. Hannah had such a great time.
Ruth didn't have many friends her age at camp. She had wanted to help in the kitchen though (as she did last year) but had more courage to get involved this year (and go and ask what she could do). So that was great to see. She was again included in many games with older children, so she also had a good time. The thing I wish I had gotten a photo of was her playing table tennis. I heard that she has really improved amazingly since last year. There was an older boy who played with her and he commented on how well she was playing. Brendon was also really impressed when he got to play with her. Nice job Ruth.

Hezekiah had so much fun with M (I have no idea how to spell his name). The funny thing was that yesterday Hezekiah said to me "Mum - this is my new friend" and I told him that he had actually played with M last year at camp. When I spoke to M's mother, she said M hadn't remembered coming to camp last year. They have both turned 5 now though, and I am sure they won't forget each other now. They had such a great time together.

Daniel had brought some pool noodles with as "swords" so they had some fun with those this afternoon. It was so funny watching Hezekiah because for the first few minutes he was just walking towards Daneil swinging madly. Eventually he got the hang of standing more still and blocking too. :-)
Ruth tried one out as an instrument. It reminded her of the Didgeridoo we have.

She did get some fighting in with Rachel too.

And then it was the Talent Concert in the evening. I didn't think ahead before starting the video - sorry. Half way I realise I will see better on the steps, so I hope you don't get sea sick as I walk over. I didn't want to stop recording. They sang really well and I was so pleased to be able to hear Ruth. She harmonises so beautifully and I wasn't sure if we would be able to hear her in such a big hall. After this Brendon joined in for a bit of fun and laughs with a verse in a bit of an opera style. :-)

And then it was Daniel, Rachel and Ruth. I was surprised to see Ruth on the drum That was a clever last minute addition.
Everyone was very excited when James came up. We all enjoyed his ventriloquist puppet last year. It was a bit confusing when he got the children to draw this face. Hezekiah added the nose, and then Hannah added some ears (which got a laugh as they looked like Shrek ears - nice touch Hannah).
The first surprise was when the eyes started moving.
And then it started talking. So much fun.



We were all pleased when he brought Danny out again this year.

And then we had a good laugh. If any of you have seen one of these before you will know how funny it can be. Jonathan was such a good sport.

Braces, Tabloid and camp begins

Rachel and I had a really early start this morning, leaving just after 6 for her orthodontist appointment at 8. We had no idea what the traffic would be like, so we planned to arrive a bit early rather than hitting peak traffic. Rachel's teeth are always really sensitive when she has anything done on them, so it was rather uncomfortable having the braces taken off. She was thrilled when it was done though. So a great time for a selfie. Then we had some girl time and got some shopping done before heading home.

Brendon headed up to the school with Asher to get some photos of the Tabloid sports. Asher didn't want to stay very long though, so he got a few photos and then had to head back home with her.













It was nice that the children were all in the same group - so he could get photos of all of them in the same area.

When we got home I headed up to the school to fetch the children's uniforms so that I could get them washed before school was finished. They want us to head off to camp as soon as we can once they are home.
I then got as much packing done at home as I could but still wanted to get back to the school to get some more photos. I eventually arrived just as it finished and got this photo. I should have brought some extra clothes for them though, as they were so wet. They had a fun time though and were really excited about us heading off for the combined church camp.
We left a little later than anticipated, but arrived with enough time to get unpacked. Thankfully the girls had help with putting up the tent we borrowed again for them.
Asher enjoying the hill already.
We borrowed a different stretcher for Ruth this time and she was so impressed with it. Unfortunately the valve for the blow up mattress for Rachel was not in the box. Thankfully there was an extra mattress in one of the rooms that we could borrow for her.
Asher struggled a lot to get to sleep tonight, even though she went to bed later than normal. It was all just so new for her. Eventually I had to go in to give Hezekiah some water, and she showed me her Barnie blanket, the Dora on her pillow, her dog teddy and her cuddly blanket. So she was finally focusing on all the things that we had brought with to help it feel a bit more like home, and she was asleep not long after that.

Church Camp 2016 - part 2

I remembered to take a photo of Shadow in the dinning room. This was at breakfast on Sunday morning, so it wasn't too busy. Our kids are up early, so we are some of the early ones to arrive for breakfast. The other meals start at set times, so it was a very busy room. Shadow was then right under the table and many people (who were even sitting at the same table) didn't even know she was there.

Below: Not long after breakfast Brendon, Asher, Shadow and I headed out for a walk. It was a bit misty out, but we were hopeful that it wouldn't rain. The other kids were all happily playing with their different friends. It was a nice change for us with Asher, at least we could keep our shoes dry on the road (rather than walking on the wet grass).

I keep a little bag of food in the pram for Shadow, so can let her off lead. As soon as I call her food name (Sha-dow - splitting the two syllables) she will run over to us.

There were a few families who came our for the day. So Hezekiah had a new friend for the day. They spent almost the entire day together and had so much fun.

His friend didn't know how to throw a Frisbee, so while Asher was sleeping I gave him a few tips. There were a few of these material Frisbees around to play with, so they had a great time. I got to play with Hannah later in the day and they are really nice to catch (they don't hurt your hand like the old fashion plastic ones we had as children).

After her nap Asher headed out for more walking. The bigger boys often play some touch rugby or Frisbee soccer on the field and she wanted to join in again today.
The guys are really patient with her and even let her have a couple of throws.
This boy with the broken arm was especially good with the little children. I often saw him with Hezekiah too, letting him sit on his lap or playing together.

Hezekiah, Hannah and a few of their friends on the merry go around.

Asher enjoyed picking dandelion flowers as she walked this afternoon.

So sweet to have Shadow running along with her. Eventually Brendon had to sprint to catch up to her as she just kept going.
I'm glad I could get a photo of Ruth on the flying fox today.

And then Brendon suggested I give Asher a turn too.

Hezekiah and some of the boys enjoying the trampoline later in the afternoon.

Monday 8th and last teaching session for camp. Shadow sitting patiently by while Asher plays.

I was so thankful to a friend who helped the girls pack the tent up. Brendon was watching Asher and I was packing and cleaning our room, so we really did appreciate the help.

We always love going over the rivers on our way to and from camp. The water is such an amazing colour.
The trip home went really well. Ruth sat in the front with Brendon and I so that I could read to her (we have been enjoying a great series and are onto the 4th and final book now). I put Hannah and Hezekiah in the far back, with just Rachel watching Asher in the middle section. The plan worked and the quieter environment meant that Asher did have a nap on the way home. So I was really thankful for this.

We had a bit of a delay on the way home as a procession of horse drawn carriages was just in front of us. They were only on the main road for a few hundred meters, so it wasn't too long a delay. It was nice to watch them.
Church Camp is always such a highlight for the children every year. I will be honest and say that it was a lot more work with our FAILSAFE diet and Asher's extra care needs, but it was worth it. It was great to get away and enjoy a change. It's always a blessing to meet up with old friends and make some new ones, as well as being encouraged spiritually - from the teachings and the fellowship.