Mid-Camp Crisis

This post was written a few days ago...

I'll continue from where I left you...
The New England Patriots' "Gillette" stadium is HUGE, the attendance was around 60 thousand and the upper tiers weren't even used.
The match was awesome, we were about 30 rows back from field level, so the view was great and having the kids there made it such a funny experience. It quickly turned in to a good old international rivalry between the American kids and the English counsellors. Manchester United toyed with New England Revolution and dominated the match. The score however ties knots in my stomach, it's the classic moment when you wish you had put money on the game after predicting a 4-1 Man U win.

This week has probably been one of the most full on weeks I've ever had. One that's full of accomplishments, lessons and non-stop activity.

Of the things I'm writing about the most ironic goes to 'me becoming the resident tug boat man at Mah-Kee-Nac'!
Irony because part of the family business is marine towage, however I do not and never have worked for said company and generally my step-bro's and step-dad get called the tug boat men. However at the end of each session, if needed, I'll race across the lake picking up stranded yachts and their crew, broken down ski-boats, wayward windsurfers and on occasion the odd crew member that's fallen out of the dinghy and the 10 year old crew sail off into the distance, clueless as how to rescue their friend.

In the last couple days us ski drivers have had a few opportunities to take the boats out and go nuts. I don't know how else to explain but I did a front flip while on waterskis, the skis removed themselves from my feet and the flip completed with a feet first entry in to the water, haha. We've also started experimenting with 'bare footing' and, kid you not, it's so much fun and highly recommended, just be prepared, somehow, for the destruction of your nuts if you try to go on your knees...veteran of such pain is writing this blog.

So I have this ethos of life whereby I try to learn something new every day. This week has been no exception except the things I've learnt/am learning are fulfilling long time aspirations of mine. I've been playing with a rubics cube and am 1 stage away from being able to complete it.
The second thing is for years I've wanted to know how to make a monkey's fist and in the space of 20 minutes the art of monkey fist tying was mastered.
The third and most grandeur ambition that I've fulfilled/am endeavouring to fulfil...before this week I'd never sailed...this week I sailed, I had charge of the sail, and next week I'll be sailing across the lake solo. Loving it!

Thursday was my day off, another day of maximum relaxing. Spoke to the family as it was mum and my step-brother's birthdays, it was great to hear some familiar voices from home. Pretty much just chilled on the beach at Burbank, opposite Winadu (Our brother camp) with good company, worked on sorting out this life jacket tan, got pizza at Arizona and a couple more absolute steals in dick's sporting goods.

The work side of the last few days has seen the 3 week kids leave camp and the second session kids arrive. We have 2 new kids in our house, and the atmosphere had seemed to have calmed down...that was until the night before parents visiting day and arguably the most bucket-head kid on camp gets a nose bleed, rubs the blood all over his arms, face and t-shirt and runs in to the other houses screaming "I've been shot!!!
He's a handful, as are all of our kids, but I genuinely find myself SO entertained, even though I know it's wrong; I laugh...A LOT.

Parents visiting day was a hit. Nice to see where the kids come from, get told tricks of the trade to controlling them, I still let them cause havoc, but now they listen when I say stop.
One kid in my house said I'm the coolest counsellor ever, suppose that's something!