Fun at Camp Zarahemla

My friend, Vanessa, called me at the last minute, and mentioned that they were going up to a lodge at Camp Zarahemla, as a family, and with some mutual friends (Vanessa and Grant and family, Rachel and kids, and Debbie, Marsh, and Matt) and even some we were going to have the chance to get to know (Paul, Julie, Eric, and Colin), and that another friend had backed out and couldn't go.  About 2/3rds of the cost, had already been covered by that family... the cost of the lodging (which would leave us the cost of a meal for everyone and our portion of paper goods.)  Normally, we would've jumped at the chance, but we really hesitated... thought it might be too much to handle too soon.  We went back and forth, made sure that we were clear of all the details, made sure that everyone else was clear of our burdens that we were bringing with us, and then, with the encouragement of everyone going, we finally decided it was just too good of a deal to pass up.  However, we left ourselves the option of leaving early, if we needed to (for example, if the baby was crying too much each night.)  I was left with only two big stresses- the meal and the skit.  Well, we ended up going in on two meals with Rachel and she was so awesome and did all the shopping for me!  And then we decided to use our talent from the Ward Talent Show, that we already had prepared, since none of them had seen it yet. 

My Grant helped a lot with the packing... and then we were on our way.  It was a really nice, cozy lodge, much cozier than I was expecting, (as in clean and carpeted upstairs.)  Vanessa and her Grant helped us push three bunk beds together (one for Aurora- although she really just wanted to snuggle with 'Nessa and Grant) and hang sheets for privacy (since everyone sleeps together in the huge loft with tons of bunk beds.)  The girls, with help, pushed several bunk beds together, as a "castle" to sleep with all their friends (Riana and Sariah with Aimee and Tierra and Karina with Renee, Paige, and Hailey.)  Since her husband didn't come, Rachel (along with baby Chase) was, thankfully, brave enough to sleep over with all the giggly little girls. 

Our family was there from Thursday night until Saturday afternoon and the whole time, I had tons of help with all my kids.  Although, I was really surprised as to where a lot of the help came from... the boys!  The boys just couldn't get enough of holding the baby.  They all fought over her and even "told" on Brooke because she wasn't relishing the moment enough, while she was holding the baby, because she was playing on her Ipod.  How dare her!!  LOL!!  It was hilarious!

And if I knew how much entertainment Matt alone would provide, I wouldn't have bothered bringing any toys or games for the kids!  LOL!  They had a blast with Matt!  He is super great with kids- never would've known that!  They played a lot of tag and hide-and-go-seek and every time we all played a game, Matt would have a buddy or two "helping" him.  It was super cute!  Sadly, the poor guy had trouble just walking without a few children attached to him.  Silly kids!

The men even had some fun with the kids and babies.  Aurora just loves (Vanessa's) Grant- she had fun dancing with him, swinging on his leg, playing on his Ipod, and just snuggling with him.  And watching Marsh patiently feed Aurora, was the sweetest thing ever!!

Luckily, the women and girls were able to steal a turn with the babies and kids, here and there.  Oh and I had to steal her whenever I was feeling that she needed to be fed.  (Unfortunately, she is just too content to not eat, most of the time.) 

  

  

Other than eating lots of yummy foods, and holding babies and kids, we found entertainment in lots of other ways.  Surprisingly, with the all the record-breaking cold temperatures and record high snowfalls around the country, the snow there on White Pass was pretty sparse.  We weren't really able to do much in the way of "playing" in the snow.  The kids braved it a bit- a little time in their new snowshoes, a bit of sledding, etc.  (Our girls all ended up with giant bruises from that though.)  I was really happy that Tierra and Renee became great friends, while we were up there.  (Thanks for taking these adorable pictures of them and of Chase, Rach!  So cute!!) 

We also found tons of ways to entertain ourselves inside the lodge--

Playing such games as: Apples to Apples, Settlers, Hilarium, Murder/Detective, etc.

...Watching movies on the projector (and a sheet)...

...playing on the computer or watching funny videos on YouTube...

...getting shoulder/back massages from Caleb (mostly my Grant and Marsh- Marsh hurt his back really bad, right after he got to the lodge, while loading wood into the fire, and he and Debbie ended up in the ER, the whole first evening)...   ...and Brooke making the girls fancy with nail polish or straightening their hair (Riana looked so pretty with her straight hair.) 

 ...listening to music-- on the computer with speakers, Caleb on the guitar, several people on the piano (Matt, Hailey-who was really good!, etc.), and my Grant singing in the bathroom (we all surprised him by waiting outside and clapping when he finished, LOL!!  It was hilarious!  And he was very surprised!!)

The best entertainment of all came from the Skits!!  They were hilarious!!  Everyone really got into it!  (I am so glad that they moved up the skits, which apparently are always on Saturday night, so that my Grant and I could see them, because I was really sick by this point!)

It all started with a really fun surprise- a flash mob of lip-syching and dancing to "Don't Stop Believin" by Journey-- random individuals, one at a time.  It was awesome!!  Following this combined effort, we were treated with the hilarious, Marsh, performing "The Nerd!"  I was quite pleasantly surprised by the bravery/pure awesomeness of Marsh, Debbie, and Matt during all their skit performances!

Next, came Paul, Julie, Eric, and Colin, who performed a skit about a scary ride at the amusement park, not ending so good.  LOL!  And then Rachel, Renee, Paige, and Chase performed a medley of humorous songs about getting married, like "Loaded with Money."  My girls especially loved this skit!

 Our girls went next and performed the snowman medley again.  (I was so glad that I wasn't in the skit because I was pretty miserable with pain during it.)  About a third of the way in, Aurora tried to copy her sisters and jumped up and down (on her broken leg) and then collapsed in pain and began to cry!  It was SO sad to watch!!  :(  With her Daddy's help, she did get to do her little part at the end though. 

Next came the skits by Vanessa, Grant, Caleb, Brooke, Logan, Aimee, Hailey, and borrowed son, Austin.  (Riana took over the photographing, at this point.)  First, they all did the borrowed legs skit.  Pretty hilarious!  And then the boys did the upside down chin faces.  It was great!  Lastly, Caleb did his incredible impression of Tigger!  The little girls absolutely loved it!  He even taught them all how to bounce!  So cute! 

And last, but certainly not least, Marsh, Debbie, and Matt were back to create more great laughs for the rest of us.  A little "Snow White and the (Two) Dwarfs," starring Marsh as Snow White.  So funny!!

 Sadly, we (Grant, our 4 younger girls, and I) did have to leave early.  (I want to say how thankful I am to Rachel and my Grant for cooking both breakfast and lunch without me, as I was very sick.  And for anyone else who pitched in and helped them.)  My sickness progressed very rapidly from Friday morning to Saturday night.  I had a pretty tough time sleeping since I don't nap, or fall asleep, easily with any light or sound, and was waking up with the baby.  I think that probably didn't help.  Either way, I was really glad that we went home when we did, as I got really super sick on the drive home and was very relieved to get the drugs that I needed.  (See previous post for more details about my sickness.)

Thanks for Vanessa, Grant, and Rachel, Riana and Sariah were able to stay longer.  They had a really good time.  I was super proud of Riana, who on her own chose to fast, the next day, when several others had forgotten that it was fast Sunday.  It was pretty neat!  (Sariah chose, on her own, to fast the next Sunday.)  And they both told me all about the wonderful Testimony meeting and how they shared stories that helped build their testimonies, in their testimonies.  It was great to hear!  They had a really good time!

I'm glad that we were able to go and have such a good time, getting to know these friends even better, even though I did get sick.  Hopefully, we can go again sometime.