MUUSA 2022

After 2 years of being cancelled due to COVID, we went back to the Midwest Unitarian Universalist Summer Association camp this year!

The theme speaker was Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout, who I knew (of) because we'd sung along with him for a year of online church.

 

I think we were both remarkably terrible at getting photos this year - me especially. I lifted these 4 from the end-of-camp slide show.

I took a workshop on fabric dying & did this piece with ice dye & borrowed  an apron from one of my classmates. There was a whole long list of suggested supplies, which James went shopping for with me at the Dollar Tree, and then I lugged over to the Arts & Crafts building and have yet to unpack now that we’re back home 🤣 

Sam did a cajon solo at the coffee house. Leah and James were WIDE AWAKE at 9pm when it started (they were acting out plays, mostly about sword fighting, for me in the room) so we walked down to see him perform. Leah promptly fell asleep prior to Sam's turn, though - in all fairness, it was dark & the woman before him was singing folk songs/lullabies. She did wake up to clap! And then I carried her the whole way back up to the lounge. (I think she weighs 47 pounds.)

Leah eating in the cafeteria. She is a BIG FAN of root beer.

And Leah in the nursery with the baby (who was also our next door neighbor & who had a sister Leah's age). When I'd key back into our room, Leah would ask me, "Can I go look at my friend's door?" And then she'd run a little ways down the hall and look at their door number.

Walking to the Arts & Crafts building to pick up their ceramics projects and the last of my fabric that was drying on the line.

Realizing how very few photos of me that there were, I asked James to take one of us waiting on to check out on the last day. I tried to get him to take a more flattering/in focus one, but nope! He did one and was done! 

A view of the dining room - one nice thing about our room location was that we could easily go see if the dining room was crowded.

James and Leah climbing a little rock wall in the gym next to Arts & Crafts.

I liked this photo because it showed Leah deciding to jump off once she'd touched the top.

James painting his ceramic fish - so serious.

And Sam & Leah working on their ceramics projects.

One morning, Sam & I snuck out of morning celebration to do the zip line. We were the only 2 who signed up (probably because it was in the middle of morning celebration) & we had 3 college-aged YMCA workers helping us. Sam took pictures of me doing it, but I didn't reciprocate! Up so high! This is me doing the last safety check. (I would have gone back down except I knew it would be much harder to climb the pole backwards than it would be to just zip.)

 

Wheeeee!

Sam & James went out on a boat float - which is where you have root beer floats on a boat. 

No more photos!

Leah found a toad & Sam took its picture. Sam and I saw a deer out on a hike. I also found approximately 25 spiders face-first on the hike.

Sam took out a kayak one morning, since he didn’t sign up for any workshops:

He also took a sunrise photo of the lake:

And a camp selfie from our balcony, complete with multicolored yarn name tag string:

Since she's going into 7th grade, Amelie's now over on the other side of camp with the Jr High kids. We spent some time with her on the first day & then she was largely off with her group. We did get to eat a few meals together & it was like spotting a local celebrity! And then on the last day, we picked her back up & spent some time together at the end.

She chose the quiet dorm (not a big surprise there!) though she did stay up late on the last night talking Wings of Fire. 

Here's the schedule of activities for the stuff James's class did - he climbed partway up the zip tower & then climbed back down, but he said it was fun anyway. He was most assuredly NOT a fan of the mud cave, and his favorite thing was the banana boat (not to be confused with the boat float).

 

And then here are photos of Amelie's group playing in Oobleck. James was in the lake when they raced across & washed off & he was not too impressed with them. 

Our regular dog/house sitters checked in on Spark for us, and sent several updates (& a cute video which I can’t figure out on how to put here.)

Here’s the link to last time: MUUSA 2019

And here is a list of all the things we lost/left behind

Me: travel coffee mug, despite writing my name on the bottom and retracing my steps and checking in with lost and found twice

Amelie: 2 whole beach towels left on the line on the last day

James: his swim test bracelet (fell off more than lost), his name tag (later found), his room key (more than once, always later found), multiple ponytail holders, a t-shirt and a pair of socks (which I picked up at lost and found on our way out), a pair of swim trunks (which flew off their drying place on our balcony to a balcony below - I retrieved them)