Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Camp Attitude

I have waited to write this post because there is just way to much to say (and show) and I just know I won't do it justice. But I will try to put into words this amazing place full of love and grace.

Camp Attitude is a camp for kids of all different types of special needs and their families. We heard about it last summer, but really knew little to nothing. I checked out the website and we signed up many months in advance. We had some friends who went a few weeks before us and had nothing but beautiful words to say about it, so we were getting pretty excited. The week finally arrived and we were off. Thankfully for us it was just a short  1 1/2 hour drive away. Lots of people traveled many more miles then we did...even from different states. Upon arrival we were warmly welcomed by many "red shirted" happy faces, many of whom already knew our names! We were shown to the yurt we were staying in and a flood of "yellow shirts" followed us and unloaded our whole car, helped us get set up, unpacked and all settled. It was awesome! The rest of the day was spent wandering around the camp getting to know where everything was, along with meeting new people and making friends.

The following day each of our children were assigned a "Buddy" also known as "Yellow Shirt". They all wore a yellow shirt that said "Buddy - A friend who sticks closer than a brother" on the back. The job of the buddy is to love on our children and be with them doing whatever they wanted from breakfast until bedtime! We had some time to talk with the buddies and go over special needs and such. Then off they went...without us...it was crazy! But wonderful at the same time. Each of my children got specialized one on one attention from an amazing teen who was there just to love on my kiddos! They all had so much fun and my kids sure wore their buddies out!

Jon and I enjoyed lots of time to ourselves. Some of which we had no idea what to do! LOL! We took walks, rode bikes, fished, read books, spent time with other parents, and truly enjoyed our alone time. Throughout the day we would meet up with our kiddos and they were always enjoying themselves.

There were also "red shirts" or servants. They were adults and/or families who came to serve as well. They would clean bathrooms, wash dishes, take out the trash and every other type of "household" job. They were wonderful people with beautiful spirits that were as bright as the sun. Both the red and yellow shirt people are all there as volunteers...no one gets paid. Yet we campers get to go for FREE! Crazy isn't it!

All of our meals were prepared my a culinary trained chefs...and everything was homemade! It was SO yummy...especially for camp food!!!

Every day was filled with tons of activities. All which were adaptable for any special need. It was amazing how they thought of EVERYTHING! The kids did so many things, but just to name a few...horseback riding, jet skiing, tubing, talent show, playing in the river, fishing, wagon rides, lots of lake time, petting zoo, laser tag, crafts, hot air balloon rides and SO much more! There was never a dull moment around there!

We were there a total of 6 days and we were pretty sure we could just move there! The place if full of more love then you could ever imagine. Here is the link to Camp Attitude if you want to check it! If you have a kiddo with a special need of any kind...you need to go! You will never be the same!

Here are a "few" of the pictures from the week. It was so hard to pick which ones to share since there were photographers on site taking pictures of our kids all the time, then composing a CD at the end of the week with them all on it for FREE! But here are the ones I picked.
They took this picture of our family upon arrival.

Izzy LOVED the horse rides!


 Jaxon and his buddy Chase

 Rachel pretty much lived at the barn with the animals


 The who group of week 5


Izzy got two buddies! Charlene and Alex 

 Rachel and her Buddy Cassie

Laser Tag!

 Jon enjoyed playing too!

Getting a ride from Dad 

Jon, Izzy & Me with "Uncle Mike" on the SeaDo 

Our family on the tube ride!

Monday, September 19, 2011

End of Summer Recap

Summer is always a busy time for us and this year was no different. In fact it was even more busy than normal! We packed it full of activities and trips and loved every minute of it! We created so many wonderful memories that we will forever cherish. I left off blogging with a little teaser from Camp Attitude and thought it was only fair if I finish that story, as well as tell you about the rest of our summer and the beginning of Fall. So stay tuned over the next few weeks for blogs about
Camp Attitude
Camping
Canyonview
Clamming
The State Fair
Back to School
and an iPad2!