Happy 4th of July

Wednesday July 2nd

Dearest Camp Families,

I have just left the kids at the camp ground getting ready for bed so that I could write you a quick Blog. I am speeding back to sleep with them all but I wanted to be in touch before you came on Saturday.

What a fantastic time we have had with your Treasures. They are just so sweet and good and fun and dear and ready for anything and energetic and responsive and well behaved. It really has been a pleasure having them with us for two weeks. We surely are going to miss them….Thank you for sharing them with us for two weeks. We will be sad to see them go.

Yesterday finally dawned clear and bright so we did the Hunter Pace. This time the girls were leaping in their seats to sign up to do this. The kind of energy and excitement that we expect was surely present after they had one good trail ride under their belt. We did have a few kiddos who chose to have a lesson instead but the vast majority of the kids were eager to be in teams and to do the Hunter Pace.

With much advance directives and all the staff stationed around the 5 mile loop in cars with cell phones, off the teams went. We selected a Team Captain from the most advanced group and a Team Co-Captain from the second most advanced kids. Then, we had three other team members from the rest of the riding groups. All in all, each group had a diversity of riders so that the Captains and the team had to take care of the lesser experienced kids. They warmed up in the rings and set off. We had clocked the ideal time to do the track with a lot of walking and trotting with a few canters thrown in to create the ideal time. The kids knew not to go too fast or too slow…

With much good riding, good team work and collaboration, all the teams got home with glee and excitement. None of the horses were hot and all the kids were happy…just my kind of morning! The times were figured and the winners chosen for the optimum time and teamwork. Candy was the prize, of course!!! Everyone was delighted with the event and the weather even cooperated.

With a good rest hour under their belt and the Exhibition planned for you all, we then set off on our camping trips…back to back to accommodate all the kids who wanted to go…The first group which left yesterday afternoon (Tuesday) had the task of setting up the tents with the group that is there now (Wednesday) taking them down tomorrow morning. Each time we took five horses so that one staff and four kids could ride up to the site, do an evening ride, a morning ride and ride home…thus, each kiddo got to ride once. We chose the ponies and horses that would stand quietly all night tied to a tree and be safe for the kids to ride bareback. Thanks to great horses and dear staff, the bareback riding all worked out well.

During the camping trip, the kids get to swim in the mountain stream in a pool that we have dammed up over the years, explore up the creek bed, ride, tell stories by the fire, sing, help build the fire, cook their own dinner and eat eggs & sausage cooked over the fire for breakfast…S’mores are featured for dessert, of course! No ghost stories are told as we hate to scare kids as we send them off to bed!!! Everyone slumbers soundly during the night in tents and sleeping bags….In short, just the way kids should spend their summer!!!

Meanwhile, “back at the ranch”, the kids have had lessons, practiced their specialties for you and done lots of barn chores due to half the kids being gone. Last night they played Cascino Night….everything from Charades to Spoons to Killer to Spit…Tonight, they are playing Counselor Quest…As I write this, I am seeing the kids running all over the farm trying to find their counselors, each one of which is worth a certain point value …the more senior the staff member, the more points she is worth. The team that finds the most staff and gains the most points, wins….Silly sounding game but the kids LOVE it…

So, that is our story and we are ‘stickin’ to it’!!!! We have had such fun with your kids. I am excited to have you see them ride on Saturday. We think they have made great progress….Mostly though, they are fun and healthy, happy and lovely people. What more could a parent or a camp director wish for in a child! The world is going to be a better place because they are in it… You all have done a super job. Thank you again for sharing them with us.

I truly am sorry not to be here for the Closing Day. I will miss telling you individually how wonderful your child is….I do hope you understand why I am going to be with my own children for the first time in 37 years. It truly is a tribute to the fabulous staff that I am able to do this. Now that I am a grandmother, I truly realize the importance of family time….

So, let me thank you again and say how I hope we stay in touch. I cherish these times with your kids.

Most fondly,

Boo

PS…If this Blog is not grammatically correct, please forgive me…I am truly tired from three days in ‘the woods’….My bones are getting kinda old to ride bareback, sleep on the ground, climb the mountainside and explore the creek, love it as I might.