4-H Camp Weekend! (Lots of pics & video for daddy!)

We are finally back from camp and exhausted from the drive (me) and camp (them)! I was hoping to veg out on the couch with a new magazine issue that arrived, but not before I get the photos and video up - I know Daddy is waiting! I just feel so guilty if I don't do it right away!

I arrived at camp a little early and was able to "spy" on them from across the lake, it was fun hearing the singing going on over there!

Just wandered around for a bit taking pictures...

Not sure what plant this is, but I liked it!

This whole area is part of the Great Dismal Swamp and there are tons of beautiful Bald Cypress and wildlife to watch.

Dinnertime Bell

Kids receiving their certificates, they look exhausted - also need to mention that temps are still triple digits around here and humid!

Group photo, 4-H campers & counselors (in green)

The boys' counselor's name was Bubba, and yes, that's his real name! I think it really does the boys some good getting to hang with college guys for the weekend, they are old enough that the kids listen to them, but young and "cool" enough that they make great role models and they still have limitless energy for the kids!

kids showing off their council ring where they have the nightly bonfires

I have the same pic from last year too, I hope to be able to make a collage someday showing how much they have grown!

Loch & Finn

Sometimes blogs just write themselves, see the backpacks below? Read on...

Finn was happy to inherit the orange "big boy" backpack from his brother, and Loch got a new backpack this year. We are standing around waiting to check out of camp and I casually ask the kids "how did the new backpacks work out?", and Loch says "we like them but kids made fun of us". So naturally I ask "why?"... they tell me that every other kid in their cabin (that would be 6 other kids) has a rolling suitcase! I almost spit the water I was drinking out through my nose. I told them, "you are exaggerating, there's no way all those kids brought rolling suitcases to a weekend camp". Fast forward to 20 minutes later, we are walking the gravel/dirt trail that will lead back to the parking lot to the car, we are walking just enjoying nature and see a cloud of dust in front of us... we catch up and sure enough.... a whole line of kids ROLLING SUITCASES through the dirt, LOL! Bouncing, tipping sideways, being dragged, mud, just every ridiculous thing you can imagine! And don't forget these monstrosities are being dragged by little kids! It's hours later, and I still can't get over this. Now I can see that some of these kids are bussed in from the city and really have no clue, and "good job" to their parents on finding a way to get their kids into nature, but making fun of my kids because they came in with a backpack and a sleeping bag? It's camp! I kind of wanted to look around and find the Saturday Night Live guys doing a skit or something! Funny stuff... and no, you guys aren't getting suitcases with wheels next year...

After we left we stopped at a local diner for lunch, that's getting to be tradition now - Guy Fieri from the Food Network's "Diners, Drive In's and Dives" did a show on the VA Diner in this little town and the kids think the picture of him on the wall is cool, LOL

What's cool to me is a kid's meal for under 3 bucks that serves real fried chicken, fruit, and real baked mac & cheese! (It is the south, nobody said it would be healthy!) Finn had a choice of vegetable and he asked the waitress what collards and okra were, that made me smile... she talked him into apple slices instead!

Besides being the Peanut Capital of the World, this area is well known for their ham. This picture is mostly to drive hubby crazy, he loves these - plain ol' plate of country ham & biscuits, no garnish or side dishes needed... only 5 bucks, love it!

After lunch, we hit the road for the remaining 75 miles... Finn didn't even last 10!

random video taken today...

You all are going to love this... Loch told me one of the sheep is named "Clarice".... does someone have a sense of humor?!! Now all I can think of is quotes from Silence of the Lambs! "It rubs the lotion on its skin, or else it gets the hose again"...

I would love to meet whoever named her LOL

Lucky for me, it has started to rain, so I have an excuse not to mow the lawn and relax with my magazine now!