What I DO at Aspen Grove.... (a post with pictures)

So far I've written a little about my experiences here at Aspen Grove, but today I'll give you a few more details and a couple of pictures.

Most days consist of me doing something like this: 

Multi-tasking: guarding the door, entertaining the kids, finishing a craft,
and smiling for the camera. Not as easy as I make it look!

We sit in a small room and entertain 12-14 kids all day long. Their parents drop them off at 9:30 and we watch them until 4:30, with a lunch break from 12-1:30. Wednesday (hike day) is the worst because there is no lunch break. We feed 12-14 picky children PB&J's and reason with them till they eat half a sandwich. It is always very, very draining, which is annoying because Wednesday night is the only night I don't work and I usually end up sleeping the whole night.

On Tuesday - Thursday I spend at least one hour poolside:

It may not seem like it, but this picture was taken on my worst pool experience yet.
You can't tell from the picture but both those children were crying on my lap and I had another right next to me.
Curses to separation anxiety. Its so hard to listen to "I want my mommy" for an hour straight.

The pool is the most chaotic and crazy thing I've ever done. Some weeks are better than others. The week above was one of the worst. It takes 15-20 minutes to get this kids changed and sun-blocked. We then swim for an hour, most of the hour I spend trying not to get splashed, sifting bugs from the water, consoling crying kids, encouraging the sharing of toys, of course having tons of fun, and most importantly working on my budding tan! After we get them all out it takes 30-40 minutes to dress everyone. So far in the locker room we have lost one pair of underwear, one pair of shoes, and a few socks. Its so crazy in there, and every single child needs help dressing because they are incapable of moving when they are cold. 

Tuesday Night at Aspen Grove is Frontier Night.

For most of the month my station at our Frontier Fair has been roping. Maybe its my cowhand roots (joke), but I'm actually getting pretty good at the roping (seriously). This is a small miracle, because they put me in charge of it randomly and didn't teach me anything about roping. I was so blessed because a couple of retired cowboy, rodeo types came through camp, and from their instruction I was finally able to rope BOTH horns from far away. I actually miss it now that I make snow cones instead, so if you ever need instruction let me know!

And that reading audience is what I hope is a better picture into the bubble I currently call home.

The Joys of Children (that aren't even mine.)

This week the camp is at full capacity for the first time, and there were an abundance of three year-olds, so the entire age-group idea got thrown off. This week I have mostly three-year-olds, and I can already tell this is going to much different. For example....

Yesterday.... My little girls were coloring quietly on the floor, when one of them says ... "It smells stinky in here" ... I thought nothing of it because our room always always always smells bad. But then my fill-in-co-counsler came back from the bathroom and was like, yeah "there's something potent in here." We narrowed it down to one of a few little boys. Then one started sort of holding on down in the back if you know what I mean... I knew we had our culprit.

I took him to the bathroom and told him to go to the bathroom... he pulled down his pants and there was stuff EVERYWHERE. I tried to go in the stall to help him, and I gagged. I pulled myself together and went back. I gagged, and gagged, and gagged. I gagged so much my eyes were watering. I went back to the Tromper Room to tell Sarah I just couldn't do it.

I realized though as headed back to the room that no one else was going to be able to do it, so  I must do. I made a plan of attack. I found a pair of gloves. I found some baby wipes. I found a garbage bag, and went back!

I went back into the bathroom, and the little one would not let me back into the stall. The conversation went something like this:

"I locked you out."

"I know you did now let me in."

"You can't come in."

"Okay ..... let me in now."

"You can't come in. You're scared."

"What am I scared off?"

"You can't come in because you're scared of dragons." (yes he said dragons...)

etc. etc.

After some coaxing, he EVENTUALLY let me in, so I took him to the handicap stall and got to work. His pants were still down, but there was, for lack of a better word, poo (you all know I despise the words poo and pee... but since all of the children use it these days .. I've had to resort to such crude terms) all up and down his legs. It got in his shirt and on his pants. I made him strip out of his pants and underwear then quickly bagged the offending smell and under-roos up and threw them in the corner. I started wiping him down. My baby wipes were all dried out, so I had to wet them down first, so I had to keep making trips to the sink. I got him resonably cleaned up, and left with no other options... I put him underwearless back in his pants. We then put on his shoes and socks and he went back to playing in the room.. No big deal.

 What a day eh?

I never thought I'd say it, but I miss my four-year-olds! (Just to clarify -- I do love my job. I don't know why, but I do! ... At the time this event was rather traumatic, but now just a great story!)

Chaos Is...

This week has been extremely busy and crazy, but also very fun and exciting! I can't even remember everything we did! -- pictures will be throughout the post, but they aren't always related to the words!

The thing I did the most this week: Cleaning
We had to clean the cabins three times this week, because we had some many groups shuffling out and in. The cleaning part isn't so fun, especially when I find out that I am the SLOWEST vacuumer in the whole world. I found out later in the week the reason why is because I was taking time to move the chairs and fold out table. Everyone else was just going around the furniture in the room. It was so demoralizing to be a floor behind the rest of my cleaning team.  I never felt like being a slow vacuumer would be the straw that broke my self-esteem, but for some reason (--most likely the exhaustion) it was really hard for me to have that realization.  Don't worry though -- I was "right back at it by the end of the night"! (can you name that song?)

Julia and I looking official!

On Wednesday I got my first set of kids. They were so cute. Their voices are so high and squeaky, and they are so small and tiny.  Four-year-olds are also not into organized group activities and very tiring, but all and all their a good group.  I had this set of triplets-- two looked just alike but the third was totally her own person. Whenever they saw me around camp -- I would hear whispers of "There's our teacher. There's our teacher." I would look around till I saw them and then they'd wave and say "Hi teacher!!" It's pretty cute.

This week my co-counselor was sick, so I had a variety of substitute co-counselors. I felt like I should be in charge since they were in my group, but it was kind of difficult because when Holly and I wrote the schedule we just had vague ideas of what'd we'd be doing. -- It turns out I don't remember that much from childhood, but usually the kids are pretty good about coming up with their own things to do. When they turn to me for a game it's usually tag and duck duck goose. So I'm currently scouring the internet for fun four-old games for 10-16 kids. (This week I had SIXTEEN kids, but my next group should only have eleven.)

Here you see what I like to call "Camp Counselor Kelli"
That back-pack is filled with important camp counselor things!

Speaking of sixteen children -- have you ever tried to take more than one child to the pool? How about sixteen of them? How about sixteen of them, and one child who you suspect has autism who is constantly getting lost? I believe that is the closest to chaos I have ever been. Some children are having fun.. some children are too cold.. Some children are splashing... Other children are crying... Also sharing is still a foreign concept to these kids... and that's after I get them all dressed in their swimsuits -- after swimming is even more chaotic because the dressed children want to go outside. . . . It's something I'm going to work on to say the least.

A holiday I celebrated: KELLI'S DAY (June 1, 2011!)

My roommates and I getting ice cream! - not pictured
is Miss Nico -- she was watching a stand-up comedian!

I actually forgot about Kelli's Day until the night before when a friend texted me and asked me if I was excited... Then I got sort of upset that I forgot my OWN HOLIDAY. How does that happen? When I get busy with a real job and may be one day a family will I suddenly forget all the little fun things I do?! Will I be too exhausted to do them?! This is just a small melodramatic rant, but it was a concern at the time. Kelli's Day turned out to be fun despite the cleaning (this was my demoralizing slow vacuuming day). For those of you who don't know it's a Kelli's Day tradition to have spaghetti and meatballs, and a lady-bug cake. The lady-bug cake didn't pan out, but I did get to have my spaghetti and meatballs - and I sang the song to people enough that although no one else sang it all the way through my roommates did have it stuck in their heads! Instead of my lady-bug cake we got creamery ice-cream from the store which was almost as good! I hope someday soon I can make a lady-bug cake to share with all my friends! So it wasn't a perfect Kelli's Day, but it was still a fun one!

Kelli's Day Dinner!

Today I taught CTR 5, but some how I got three-year-olds and four-year-olds and five-year-old -- in a room full of toys -- for an entire hour -- and my teaching partner didn't show up so I had yet another sub. The lesson did not take that long. I don't know how anyone has any sort of organization with 11 children. It was hard, and I've got a bunch of boy cousins in the group (including one explorer who always runs away.) They wouldn't sing in singing time and weren't always paying attention during sharing time so by the time my lesson rolled around with all those tempting toys.... Attention spans were shot plain and simple. I figure there is a learning curve to this job, so I hope I get better and more patient as the summer goes on!

Lessons learned: Preparation is the key to these kids. If you've got energy, a plan a, a plan b, a plan c, and a plan d then you can handle any group of kids.

Quotable quote: during a prayer today little Griffin said: "please help them not to switch places" [during the prayer] -- so cute! Got to love them kids!!!

Blessed

As you know we had our first guests on Friday night, but I didn't get to see the kids until Saturday morning. My partner (Miss Holly Woods -- no joke) and I set up our flag at around 9:30 and waited for children to file towards us. I for some reason didn't expect it, but most of the children had a huge problem with separation anxiety. There was one particular little boy named Ben, his mother was the one of the first to drop him off, but one of the lasts to leave. He didn't want anything to do with me, and would sort of moan anytime I got closer than 6 feet. I was a little worried, but I figured I would give him some space. So I left him with his mother and went back to the other kids.  Five minutes later we're getting ready to depart and I look around -- I had completely forgotten Ben-- but there he was sitting on a bench by himself 20-30 feet away. Seeing him was blessing number one!

I went over there with him and sat on the other end of the bench. I tried to engage him by asking him all about his favorite things. In response I was given soft moans from little Ben. Like my very presence was torturing. I said a quick prayer in my head, asking Heavenly Father to help me. It wasn't even a minute later that a small moth flew down in from of Ben and landed on the bench between us. Finally his eyes lit up, and he started to stare at the moth instead of just ahead. I asked him if he was scared of the moth -- I got a head nod. I don't know what else I was able to say, but because of that little moth I was able to engage Ben in conversation and eventually to willingly come with us over to the room. I considered this experience a direct answer to my prayer and I'm so glad I was able to see it for what it was!

Today we had a wonderful day at Church and I was humbled by the testimonies of the guests. This weekend was unique at Aspen Grove, because it was a weekend dedicated to single parent families that have been invited by their bishops to attend AG at a reduced rate. They are usually chosen because the last year has been especially difficult. I was so impressed with the way the mothers were able to stand today and sincerely be grateful for their trials. I do not understand how they came to that point in their lives, but I do know I was blessed to hear the things they said! The main message of the meeting was that God knows us and watches over us all. It was great! I hope everyone else had equally amazing days!

p.s. I got my Church assignment (we are a group so no callings are given -- just assignment) -- I'm teaching CTR 5 -- so I spend all week with four-year-olds, and Sunday with the 5 year olds. I'm not sure how I feel about this yet, but I am grateful that I don't have to teach Sunday School to the Apostles... Can you even imagine?

Aspen Grove: Week One!

I'm sure everyone has been anxiously awaiting this post, (joke.) and I'm happy to report:

SO FAR SO GOOD!

I live in a trailer -- like a construction trailer, except with two bunk-beds, a wood chair, a comfy chair, two sets of drawers, and three closets.  My roommates, who so far I adore, affectionately call our home "The Shack." Our home(l)y little place, is pretty small, but big enough to do Jillian Michael's workout videos and have morning jams so we are pretty content. And we have a pet bunny -- his name is Shaq. 

Shaq -- behind him you can see the lodge where the showers are!

The only super terrible part about this set up is that the  (3)sinks, (4)toilets, and (3)showers which I share with the (40+) other girls are in a building 30 feet away -- and through a lounge -- where many girls AND GUYS hang out. So every time I leave the shower, or wash my face, or brush my teeth.... I'm walking through them. Its a little awkward, and its probably my least favorite thing about this place. 

The thing I love the most -- all the people! Everyone is so nice, and I haven't decided yet if it won't always be this way or Aspen Grove just attracts nice fun, outgoing, and cool people. I'm excited to get to know everyone better, and get to know my "new family" (Aspen Grove management statement -- not my own.)

We've been training all week, but I already feel like I love it here! Today the guests arrive and the real Aspen Grove begins! I'll try to keep you updated as everything gets crazy!! (and more pictures will be included!)

Goodbye everything that I've ever known!

Hello Aspen Grove! 

I just moved into Aspen Grove. I met my roommate Jeremy. She's nice. She's from Henderson, Nevada.

I left my sister and her baby in the hotel room as my mother drove me here, my sister's words of encouragement (among other much much better advice): "Are you going to be okay up there?" My mother is a little nervous for me.

To tell the truth I'm a little nervous for me too, but for the most part I just wanted to get started. I want to see what this summer is going to entail, and so I can't wait to go to bed tonight and wake up tomorrow morning to start CPR, and then the next day organize my structured plan for four-year-olds (anyone with any advice about four-year-olds -- fill free to share!) I can't say that I'm excited quite yet, but I'm sure I will get there soon, and you can bet I'll blog about to keep you all updated!

Just for kicks and giggles, I thought I'd post these pictures here -- last week I drove home (BY MYSELF), and I was able to spend one afternoon with these lovely ladies. They are some of my best friends, and I'm excited to see them again sometime because we've all got exciting plans for the summer. It's our very first summer all separated, (Alexa in Powell, Darcee in Fiji, Chelsea in Provo) so I'm excited to see how everything turns out for us all! 

Some of my besties!

Who looks like they just got their wisdom teeth out?
(Two in the above picture did -- and I'm not one of them!)

WISH ME LUCK! 

The Aspen Grove Saga

Most of you know..

Aspen Grove decided to hire me after all,

 so I'm headed there for the summer.

Hopefully I love it, or don't hate it terribly.

Its funny, because I gave a talk on faith in Church on Sunday and a large portion of it was on my summer plans and Aspen and getting the job. A girl came up to me afterwards, she was just visiting the ward that Sunday, but she told it was her roommate that dropped out of Aspen Grove at the last minute. For a month, she just felt like it was the wrong thing to do, but she didn't want to back out of her commitment. She decided she needed to though and quit this week. So when Aspen called me, (for many of the same reasons as that I girl) I intially said no. My mother and sister and roommates, and their mothers and my brother and the mayor, and my brother in laws ex-girlfriend's mother thought that it was stupid that I said no. I really did want to work at Aspen instead of the school, so I called them back and asked if I could take the job! They had already offered it to someone else, but if that girl said no I got to have it! So I waited for an entire day, and got the job! I do believe it was meant to be!

Also, I really do believe this is what I'm supposed to do, but  I'm just real nervous about how all of it is going to go down. I'm also a little sad I don't get to stay with my parents, brother, sister and brother in law, niece, and grandparents. I also am going to miss out on a family reunion of epic proportions on the Lewis side. On the positive, I get to be nearer to my other brother, and sister and brother in law, and some of my other best friends.

So there are mixed feelings, but I thought I should update all of you (Russian) faithful followers, even if its sort of a ramble!