Riverbend

There is a town called Omer, not far from the base of the "thumb" of Michigan and only 2 1/2 hours from our house. In Omer is a campsite called Riverbend. Kai has gone there twice with her friend Olivia's family and has come home raving about how fun it is, especially the cliff jumping! My other kids, always up for an adventure, have wanted to try cliff jumping and see what Riverbend is like. Since we didn't do a big family trip this summer, we decided this would be the perfect time to go to Riverbend. 

I knew there was a possibility that Victoria would have to work since she was gone for most of July at EFY and Cougarette Camp, but luckily the drive was doable for her to meet us for the kayak trip and cliff jumping on Tuesday.

The rest of us went up Monday afternoon and discovered an almost empty campsite. Our site was at the very end and so we pretty much had a whole area to ourselves. Besides us and another family with a boy my kids played with at the playground, the other campers were full-time summer residents of Riverbend who we didn't even really see much of. It was so peaceful and relaxing! We were a stone's throw away from the river. One morning we even saw deer frolicking in the water! 

I'm standing right in front of our camper here.

The deer leaving

The playground was amazingly fun with the best twirly swing ever! The kids spent hours there. We also played games, star gazed, sang songs to Kai's guitar, played volleyball, explored the woods, and of course, for the main events, went down the river.

Round and round they went! It's amazing Erik didn't get sick from it!

There was a port-a-potty really close to our campsite, even though the bathroom wasn't far. I guess it's for the late-night potty-goers. I finally checked it out because Jason told me how clean it was. Yeah, it was the cleanest port-a-potty I have ever been in! That SUV to the right was the closest camper to ours at the end there. I never really saw the people at their site much.

Pretty flowers on our walk.

Wading in the river.

They have buses that take people up the river with kayaks, canoes, or inner tubes. Tuesday, we went later so that Victoria could meet us and we kayaked, so it would be a little faster. It took about 2- 2/12 hours to kayak back to our campsite and it was so fun! Toward the end of that run, just before arriving at Riverbend, is where the cliff jumping is. At first, the cliff didn't look very big or exciting, but it was a good first try for these kids and was still plenty high for them to have a ton of fun! They definitely got their thrills out of it. Even Jason jumped once! It's interesting because the river itself isn't very deep, but there are a few places along the river that have really deep pockets right off the side that allows for cliff jumping and a rope swing that Victoria and I discovered as we were catching up to the rest of the family after she arrived. 

Austin loved that flower was growing out of a log in the middle of the river!

Cliff jumping!

Victoria left later that evening after dinner. We got ice cream just before she left at a cute place called Sundaes Afternoon. The next morning, after I went for a speedy run with Austin, we took the bus to the starting point and floated on inner tubes down the river. The other kids had to stop at the rope swing since they missed it the day before. It was much easier to do the rope swing from the inner tubes than the kayaks since there's not really a place to leave the kayaks. I had to hold onto a root from the cliff to keep from floating down the river while Victoria swung from the rope. With the tubes, it was easier for the kids to keep their tubes in the brush. Though Jason and I still had to hold on to roots so we wouldn't float away while waiting for them. 

Victoria wore the life jacket for the first 5 minutes. After jumping off the rope with it on, she quickly shed it! I noticed the others had theirs off when we caught up with them as well.

I actually got good pics of the rope swing when I wasn't holding onto two paddles, a kayak, and a root!

The food raft!

They were on this cliff somewhere...

The tubes took about twice as long to float down the river as the kayaks. So yes, it did take about 4 1/2 hours. We did have our food on a little raft attached to mine and were able to take breaks for that, along with more exploration and play for the kids along the way, but we really didn't think it would take that long. The kids still had a blast and Jason and I enjoyed a lot of it, but we decided that was way too long. Jason even got motion sickness from being in the heat and sun and floating down a river that would sometimes turn you this way or that. While the kids jumped off the cliff, he rested in the shade. 

Once we made it back and Jason was somewhat recovered, we enjoyed the rest of the evening and the next morning at our site before heading back home. I felt so refreshed after a few days out in nature with hardly anyone around. We're so happy Kai introduced us to another favorite place here in Michigan!

Master chef!

Austin, eating handfuls of peas!

"Road Closed"

 Michigan is known for its potholes and lousy roads, which is ironic since Detroit is the Motor City. How can the state that houses so many auto companies also be notorious for such awful roads? 

Our Governor promised to fix the roads, and that's what they're doing- all of them at the same time!! When I say all of them,  I am exaggerating,  but not by much.  Two very prominent roads leading to the high school and exactly a block away from each other are under construction. We still go to the high school regularly for Kai's color guard practices.  Beck road is closed. Canton Center is blocks long of cones and has only two lanes.  It had been like that since the spring. 

The road by Jumparama, where Victoria worked for a bit, has been closed on one side since the end of November,  I kid you not. That's when my boys were taking tumbling classes. 

Multiple freeway off-ramps, and even some parts of major freeways, are closed. Last month I took Austin to another brain study and my GPS kept telling me to get off an exit, but each one was closed! I was stuck going around in loops between all the closed off-ramps, roads, and one-way roads. It was a mess!

I had the idea to have my kids, or me when not driving, take some pics of some of the construction in the area just to document this summer construction of all constructions. For your information, most of the pics are of different streets or parts of the freeway, and we didn't even get pics of all the roads we travel on that are under construction! Enjoy the mess!

These last three were all on the same road, but it's one that affects us a lot!

These last two are of our freeway entrance. These piles of dirt are here for the construction and have been for a few months now. 

The way to get to Jumparama, or used to be...

23 Years!

 23 years of marriage and still going strong! It's been nice having Jason still working from home. Ford just keeps allowing it because it's working for them. He's gotten into a groove with his improving-our-grass project in the evenings and other things around the house and with his calling in the bishopric. I'm spoiled in this way. 

Last month, we realized that we had a free night at a Marriott that was to expire by June 30, so a month early, we made an anniversary getaway to Ann Arbor for the night. We went to dinner at Los Tres Amigos, explored Ypsilanti Michigan, which we haven't seen much of, and relaxed at the pool at the hotel. It was a Saturday night and it was literally a last-minute plan. I think we booked the hotel only a few days before and it was the only night we could go before the deal expired, the very next day. We enjoyed an excellent quiet breakfast before going home to our still-sleeping-teens on that Sunday morning. Jason had some meetings to attend and I could still do my morning Sunday routine before dragging everyone out of bed to get ready for church. I think they really liked us being gone for the night!

Cute bridge in Ypsilanti.

I loved the garden area by this church, but forgot to take a picture of it while we were walking. I snapped this on the drive back.

The front of the church was cool too.

On our actual anniversary, last Sunday, we didn't do much more besides make shrimp fajitas and chocolate zucchini cake. The girls and I had just gotten back from camp Friday morning, and Victoria was in Utah for 3 weeks before that, so it was nice to have us all together. The day before our anniversary, on Saturday, we were able to do sealings in the Detroit temple, which was dedicated the very year we were married. There was a man from Chile in with us and we enjoyed talking with him and his wife at the end. We went to Karl's Cabin on the way home. I had a gift card from a student that we had to use. The restaurant is on the outskirts of Canton and Plymouth and uses all fresh, local ingredients. The food was amazing and so was the service! 

Before the temple with my flowers from Jason. 

Victoria was our photographer. 

This is the dress my brides maids wore at our wedding. I loved it so much, I had bought one of my own. They were $12, I believe. I have always loved a good deal!

My Arugula Pear Salad- delish!

Jason's buffalo burger. We shared a bit. Both were very tasty!

Enjoying time together alone, and with our kids, has been the best gift. We love planning future vacations together and working together in the yard. Yay for us!

Girl's Camp

 Once upon a time, I was called as the Stake YW Camp Director. I think it was in November. It seemed like forever ago. My co-director wasn't called until February. That was when we had to start finalizing where camp would be. This was to be the first Stake Girl's Camp in 3 years. Some wards held Girl's Camp last summer like ours did, but most of the 6 wards in our stake did not. 

At the end of February, the Stake YW Presidency and I decided that we would have camp at Walled Lake Outdoor Recreational Center. It's about a 35-minute drive from my house and from where most people live from the Canton and Plymouth Wards, which are the biggest ones in the stake (even though ours is shrinking each week with people moving...) 

I spent many many hours planning and preparing for this last week. My co-director, Camille was amazing! Her strengths were not mine, so we worked so well together and could fill in the gaps. She came up with the theme F.R.O.G. (Fully Rely On God) which goes nicely with the youth theme of the year for the whole church Trust in the Lord. It was so fun to have a Frog theme since I used to collect frogs (fake, cute ones, that is). 

I wanted the girls to have an experience that would not only draw them closer to the Lord, but to allow them to get to know each other and to participate in activities that maybe they don't have many opportunities to participate in. With the new camp program, we have a lot more flexibility with what we do at camp. There's no more camp book with things to pass off. It makes it a little harder to plan, but you can do so many different things! Two of the wards in our stake and one branch are from the Detriot/Dearborn area, so they are definitely not exposed to as many camp activities as the other three wards are.

On Tuesday, after checking in, decorating their journals, and eating their sack lunches, the girls went off into their 4 groups to play get-to-know-you games and trust games, in keeping with our theme. They also chose a frog to represent their groups and a sound to go with it. We had Bullfrogs, Spring Peepers, Coquis, and American Toads. The sounds they made were hilarious! There was some time for the 4 groups to then rotate among volleyball, human foosball, gaga ball, and kickball which were all available for us to use at the facility. They then split into 2 groups for two different alternating classes. A First Aid/Survival Skills class (which included making bags out of t-shirts) and a Scripture Jeopardy game. The facility we stayed at is actually part of the Walled Lake School District and has some classrooms in the main part of the building, where the cafeteria is. There were projectors in each room that were used for many of our classes. It came in very handy for these first two classes!

They had a little free time to settle into their bunk rooms some more before dinner, which was available through Walled Lake. We didn't have access to the kitchen, so we opted to pay for our dinners and then had a cook from the stake to provide breakfast, lunch, snacks, and dessert for the girls. It made it easier to provide those more simple meals since we couldn't use a stove or anything else. The fridge and freezer were out in the cafeteria and there was a small sink in a lounge off the cafeteria we could use, so that made it possible to do those other meals. It was a good thing we chose this option because the meals provided by Walled Lake were slightly on the skimpy side. They knew the age group of our girls, but usually serve older elementary-aged kids, so I don't know what they were expecting. The food was tasty, just not much of it. 

After our little tacos and a little cookie each, there was some time for clean-up before our flag lowering ceremony. One of the YCLs (Youth Camp Leader) shared a spiritual thought and Group 4 remembered how to lower the flag! Camille then gave a beautiful talk about frogs and how they go through a cycle and change to become stronger. How each frog is different and in a different stage and that God is aware of all His creatures. We went down to the fire pit, which was about 100 yards away on the property, to roast marshmallows and sing songs. I also shared a couple of stories of when I had to trust in the Lord in my life, one of which was when I was at Girl's Camp at age 13 and we hiked Half Dome in Yosemite and had some mishaps, making it so we had to hike down in the dark, unprepared. The other story was my experience on the river in Costa Rica and being helped along through the swirling waters by the guides there. As it started to get dark, another YCL led us in Sardines. 

That night, the YCLs gave the girls devotionals in their bunks. Groups 1 and 2 were on one side and 3 and 4 on the other. Victoria and I had put them into somewhat even groups, according to their age as close as possible. We didn't refer to them as "First Years" and so on as in the past because a lot of the girls had never been to camp and would all have been first or second years in camp. 

The next morning, after the flag raising and spiritual thought, at which time they also made their frog calls, we got to do High Fit with Camille and Laura, who is the Stake YW President. They both are High Fit instructors and are amazing at it! I don't know if the girls appreciated it as much as me, but they seemed to enjoy it. We had breakfast and time to clean up a bit before our Spiritual Feast. 

Our Spiritual Feast was one of the highlights for all of us, surprisingly. I know it was for the girls because a bunch of them said it was and because it was such a reverant 30 minutes. The leaders were all shocked! Camille had the idea to break down the Proverbs scripture into 3 different days. So the first day Victoria and I had a page and a half guide prepared with some words from President Nelson along with some scriptures about trust and questions for them to answer in their journals. We were outside, it was peaceful, calm, quiet, and reverant. So amazing!

The classes for that morning were a friendship bracelet making class taught by a young woman from each of the two groups they were divided into. The other class was about Divine Identity taught by the YW Stake Presidency. The friendship bracelets was a time for them to relax and visit, while making bracelets and the other class was an interactive class with wonderful messages and included candy! 

We had lunch then went on our kayak/swim adventure, which I was a little nervous about. About a 10 minute walk through the woods was a dam in the river. That's where the campers swim when they stay at Walled Lake. I rented about 10 tandem kayaks from Heavnar Canoe. The stronger kayakers, or anyone who felt brave to try, went on the shuttle for a 5 minute drive to Heavnar and kayaked the hour upstream to the dam. I was nervous because I didn't know how well the girls could actually do the hour kayaking upstream. It turned out to be my favorite part of the whole camp! I got to ride solo in a kayak from a family in the stake and I saw beautiful swans and a heron and others saw a turtle and frog. It was serene and peaceful and everyone made it!. The girls who swam first, go to kayak back, only 45 minutes because it was downstream. All the girls enjoyed the water at the dam and of course the kayaking. It was also the first time anyone from Walled Lake had done the kayaking and met up at the dam, so we paved a new way!

The stake YW presidency made snowcones when we returned. The girls also played with water balloons before they rinsed off for our next two classes which were a Study of Esther (Come Follow Me study worked in our favor for camp!) and a crochet class. A friend from my ward taught the Esther class and even brought treats to go with it! The class was so well-done and well-received. The crochet class was also taught by YW, one from each group. Again, they got to chat and create at the same time while crocheting. 

Dinner was similar with our miniature portions or hamburgers and fries, but our cook also had cake for a second dessert, after our 1 cookie each. Flag ceremony, spiritual thought, and then very hilarious skits that incorporated frogs and Disney, which the groups had some time to practice a bit before dinner. We went back into the cafeteria for a presentation from a member of the Stake Presidency about trust. Brother Bowie is probably one of my most favorite speakers of all time. He's always so captivating with his stories and ties everything together with the Gospel so well. More candy for the girls always tops the cake! 

The Faith Walk was the final event for the night. A leader from the Monroe Ward who just completed her first year at BYU was in charge. She had all the YCLs lead the girls of their groups blindfolded through some easy trail that led to a beautiful meadow. In the meadow, Kai was playing on her guitar. I Know that My Savior Loves Me, her favorite Primary song. The other leaders and I were singing as the girls walked towards us. They then got a chance to read a special love letter from home, with just barely enough light to see. It was perfect! We gathered around the fire for a few minutes afterward before playing a round of Ghost in the Graveyard. Then the YCLs gave their devotionals to the other groups. 

Day 3 had to be run somewhat differently than Day 2, though we really wanted a general schedule, it just wouldn't work. This was the day we had scheduled to do the High Ropes/Zip Lining and Climbing Tower that is a popular activity at Walled Lake. We had to combine our 4 groups into 3, which we had previously done in preparation for this day. After flag raising, etc, and breakfast, we had our second very successful Spiritual Feast that we In Everything Acknowlegd Him. It was a similar format as the first day. The girls were more spread out this time, but the same peaceful, reverant feeling pervaded the camp. 

At 9:30 we split into the 3 groups. The groups would do the next activities for two hours each. I went with Kai's group to do the Climbing Tower first. The other groups were the High Ropes/Zip Line and a painting class for an hour taught by a young woman who had no interest whatsoever in doing the high adventures and a mindfulness and meditation/ Yoga class taught by a friend of mine from the Canton Ward. In the middle of all that was a lunch break, but other than that, we were very busy with our adventures. There was a lot of encouragement, cheers, tears, and fears overcome. The mindfulness and mediation rotation was a welcome break from the intensity outside. The painting class was fabulous an the girls painted forest scenes. This day was a highlight for many of the girls. After all that, we gave them an hour and a half of free time to play the ball games at Walled Lake, play with green play doh, make frog origami, and make more bracelets. Some girls made some for their secret sisters, some even made some for the leaders. Dinner was parmesan chicken and was probably the most filling that night. The bishops from the wards came after dinner to watch us sing some camp songs, do our flag ceremony, and meet with us as individual wards to share messages. We then got ice cream sundaes with toppings provided by the bishops. 

We went down to the fire pit and sang the youth theme song of the year Peace in Christ. Afterwards, each ward recited a part of The Living Christ, an idea of Camille's that was so perfect and unifying. We had a testimony meeting afterwards and I have never been to one quite like this one before. There was no quiet space between any of the girls getting up (two girls got up twice just because there was about to be a quiet space and they had more to say!) and everyone was so loving and weren't afraid to speak up about that each time they could! Lots of hugs were given and a few girls who had never gotten up before, braved it for the first time! What warmed my mother heart was that 5 or 6 girls mentioned either Kai's guitar playing the night of the Faith Walk or mentioned her as their friend. I loved hearing that because she really did welcome in so many and felt loved herself, something she doesn't feel in these types of situations. Victoria had arrived that morning because she had just flown back from Utah and Cougarette camp and she was pleasantly surprised at how welcomed and included Kai was at camp. After over an hour, I had to wrap it up the testimony meeting, to some cries of dismay. I encouraged them to bear their testimonies in church next Sunday, if they didn't get to at camp. We let the Bishops go and then went back to the cafeteria to start our dance at 10:30 pm!

Oh my, I loved dances! I also loved watching all those girls let everything go and have the time of their lives dancing. One of our YCLs put together an awesome playlist, but we could only dance for 30 minutes. I knew some girls were getting tired, as well as us leaders! Knowing it would be a late night, we didn't have any devotionals planned for that night, though a lot of the girls still stay up way too late (last night, you know?) 

I let them sleep in 15 extra minutes Friday morning. We had our last flag ceremony and then 30 minutes of Zumba before breakfast. We watched a slide show of all the camp pics, filled in surveys, signed journals, and cleaned up. One mistake was that on the schedule the girls had, the last spiritual feast wasn't included, so I handed And He Shall Direct Thy Paths to them to do later on. It was a similar layout and I hoped some could find time to read through it. A lot mentioned in their testimonies how it was one of their favorite parts of camp. I really hope they can learn future scripture study skills from it.

Here's some pics, but not of everything (which is probably good, since there would be way too many). We had a photographer in charge of taking all the pics and doing the slide show. I haven't gotten the pics from her yet, but I don't want to wait, so here's just some random ones that I took when she was taking pics of another group. 

Secret Sister cubbies

Heron on my kayak adventure. 

Swans

Water balloon volleyball

Kai playing her guitar

Sample of Thursday's schedule

Kai getting ready to climb!

Kai climbing!

Painting class

Our awesome paint instructor

Kai climbing up for High Ropes

High ropes course

Our Bishop's activity

Walled Lake Mascot who always tried to get inside!