Best place on earth, truly. I went to camp this year without expectation. I went without expectation because last year was so great that I did not think this year could measure up. Some of the key friends that were there last year were not coming this year so I had my doubts about the fun scale.
In previous years and vacations we would try to incorporate a God theme, moment, or lesson. It would be forced. Other vacations we the same. For me, we would go and come home with similar souvenirs, experiences, and memories. The money we would blow was extensive for food, fun and accomodations. I often came home exhausted, at wits end with children, and ready for C to go back to work. Truly, we had enough family time.
Do you know what it is like to be able to just cut the surface level crap with people and be real? There is an immediate sense of unity because every person there has set aside some of their time and treasure to be at Camp Spalding. Every person there loves Jesus. There are few times that I have felt like career, number of children, status, income, home, background didnt matter. This camp reiterates that" the ground is level at the foot of the cross."
We were skeptical when we heard that we would be in cabins lthis year. Skeptical because last year we stayed in the lodge (pictured above) which is a rustic hotel with great attention to detail in the rooms. Our room slept 6, had a balcony with an incredible view of Davis Lake. The cabin we stayed in this year could have slept 10 and often did during the summer camp. They bring in a king bed for mom and dad, three cush twins and any other bedding needed is on bunks that can fold out of the wall. The bonus to this room was that the bathroom was ginormous with two toilets, two showers and two sinks. Any mother with girls knows the importance of this. It was perfect for our family and we loved staying in the Ponderosa Cabins.
One of the great things about this camp is the staff. They all love the Lord and are truly serving Him in serving our family while there. A person that made a huge impression on us the first year was a college senior named Teagan. She introduced herself the first night and made sure that Charlee would be comfortable. She told us that she would be spending a lot of time with Charlee and she did. The staff to baby ratio was usually 1 adult per baby, sometimes two babies. When I say baby I mean 0-3years. During our first meeting by the fire that night she asked if she could take Charlee for us while we sang with the other girls. Huge blessing. Her love for Charlee meant so much to us and we were completely at ease with her caring for our baby.
The morning schedule looks something like this:
6:30 Mountain biking, running (for those who want)
7:45 Morning kayak, breakfast cruises (again if you sign up) Trading Post also open at this time where Starbucks coffee is served for a fee, or you can get coffee, cocoa, or apple cider upstairs anytime for free
8:30 Breakfast served for everyone. Here you recieve the schedule for the day.
9:20 Everyone meets fireside to send kids (4years-1st grade)(2-4th grade)(5th and 6th grade) (junior high) (high school) with approprite leaders for their activities. Some of these activities include rock climbing, boating, ropes course, crafts, mountain biking, sports, water games, reading the word, singing praise music. They have the kids until noon. The junior high and high school join the adults for worship first.
9:30 Worship music and message in Lakeside. A truly beautiful room highliting Gods creation with a view of the lake. Here we sing, partake in some guided prayer/scripture study, listen to an amazing speaker(s), speak as a large group and work in small groups.
12- we pick up kids from their various activities
12:30 Lunch which is always amazing food that I didnt have to make or clean up. This year our girls were constantly bringing friends to our table. We may have missed out sitting with other adults that are amazing, but we loved being the table that kids sat at!
1:30-5:30ish was free time. We had choices each day of what activities to do. Chris and I would switch off on who would sit with Charlee while sleeping and who would go with the bigs. The camp offered childcare if we both wanted to go with the bigs, someone would come and sit with Charlee while she napped, but we wanted to rest or read during that time so it was perfect for us to split. The girls and I spent tons of time at the lake. We went paddle boarding, kayaking, tons of swimming, jumping on the water trampoline, watching people do the "blob", had some staff make bracelets for us, and played in the sand. Fun fun fun. Did I mention it was all included in the price? Wowza. Incredible. Dani and I also did the high ropes course one day. She had done it before and totally impressed me. I was so shaky and nervous. As many friends know a local girl recently fell at a camp on a swing. Well, to get off of the high ropes you have to take the swing. I was scared to say the least. But the staff was thorough, patient and loving to me. The checked and rechecked my equipment and made sure I was comfortable before I dove off the platform. It was exhilrating. However I will say, a horrible shrieking noise came out of me during the pendulum of the swing. I couldnt control that noise. I later apologized for such and awful noise that I uncontrolably made. The staff said it was the sound of joy....ok. Pictured below is not me on the swing but an amazing staffer coined K Shay. Another great part of "free time" is that I could sit on the beach watching Charlee build/wreck a sand castle and be in deep conversation with another woman. I loved the richness and wisdom that these women offered. They had been there, done that and knew some of the aches of my heart. They promised to pray for me. It was a very rich time for me to glean from these women.
6:30 Rendezvous- we would all meet downstairs watch a staff themed skit. Last year the theme was "cops" which made it all the more funny for us. This year the theme was Critter Scouts. There were a couple of staff who would dress up, make a flashy entrance that thrilled the kids, and then take us all as families to play some games. We played with our kids. We played hard with our kids. Kids of all ages were included in the games and were loved by all. It amazed me. You might think that high school kids would think they were too cool to participate in some of these crazy games but they werent. We were divided by families up into four teams. We had a cheer, we participated in relay races, we laughed. Fun!
Last year we had a family Bingo night where the end product is for all the kids to end up with a prize. This year they had carnival games set up and the kids could choose the prize or choose to dunk their parents. Alli held out for a while clenching her tickets. After she realized that everyone would get a prize she quickly paid to get Chris dumped on with water. She was thrilled to see this happen. He was a good sport.
7:30ish we would all head to the fireside and sing fun camp worship songs complete with motions. The staff would sweep littles into the Rendezvous if you wanted to focus on the message the speaker was presenting. It was light, funny and usually involved family. The camp director is pictured below.
8:30ish we would head upstairs to the dining hall for a "snack". During this time we had a lot of fun connecting with other adults. Charlee could run freely usually finding a friend to play hide and seek and we would chat with adults. The middles were usually running around with friends, having a staff hosted dance party downstairs, watching a family movie (last night) or hanging with us. For those of you who know us, you know it is huge for us to let kids run around camp with friends. Yes, it is that safe. Yes it is that supervised. Immeasurable time and planning go into making this camp what it is. The older kids are eligible for "night games" usually involving a small amount of danger, glow sticks and lots of laughing. We played cards during this time, caught up with friends from last year and truly shared our hearts. The speakers,
Jerry and David Sittser engaged us, played hide and seek with Charlee and loved on our family. Jerry (who has been featured on family life radio, written several best sellers and is a professor at Whitworth) made a point to tell us that he had been watching our family and he thought that we were parenting well and that our children were secure. David his son played with Charlee and her friend Nora for what seemed like hours. Needless to say, our kids slept great and so did we.The final night of camp is a lot of fun. It starts off with the staff taking all the kids (0-12th grade) away, decorating the dining hall and giving the parents a date. Chris and I got to sit with three other couples and get to know them better over steak, rice, rolls, pasta, and chocolate gooeyness. Does it get any better than this?AFter this we have our final "fireside " time and get ready for the family talent show. Last year we were unaware that something like this would happen but you better believe the girls were prepared for this year. We were the first act to go and we did the "cups" song with glowing cups and matching shirts. Charlee even sat on stage with us and played with a cup. I had a friend on standby just in case she started stealing cups like she had in practice. It was so great and many people came up to us afterward and complimented our efforts. It was all the girls, they had to teach us. We would practice while Charlee slept and we did it over and over again. Dani had plans of singing the song but we were all on the tail end of a cold and her voice couldnt handle it so we just played the version with words.
I wish we would have taken video of the skits. Some staff men did a hilarious bit about guys with shirts on their heads. Other staffers did a wordless piano bit that my girls loved. One family ate peanut butter from one anothers arm pit......guess you had to be there.
We left camp wanting more time. Wishing that it was longer, but that is how it should be. It is just right. I am filled up physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. I thank God for provision in going to this camp as a family and for our girls individually. Our oldest two also went to week long camps here at different points in the summer and they too would tell you that it made a huge impact for their realtionship with Christ. It was safe there amongst other believers who helped me to recharge after a somewhat draining year. Thank you God for the attendees, staff and facilities of Camp Spalding. My family drove away blessed. If you are wanting more out of vacation look into this.
https://www.campspalding.org/
