Life at the Lake!

It was another great week both at camp and after! We just finished week eight of the summer and we’re only three weeks out from coming home. Time really does fly when you’re having fun!

This week, I spent most of my time at camp with the older kids. I was supposed to be in “Slime Time” with the younger kids but got switched last minute into “Cakes Galore” with the older kids. We spent the whole week putting our baking skills to the test! Monday we made homemade sugar cookies with homemade frosting. Tuesday we went to the Acropark ropes course for our field trip. I was with the younger of the older kids (eight and nine year olds) and wasn’t able to go on the super high courses, due to age restrictions, but the center director took over mine and another counselor’s groups at the end and we were able to do the big zip-lining circle that went across the park (including over the lake!). It was one of the most fun field trips we went on! In baking on Wednesday the kids made four different types of cupcakes. As much as I love the kiddos, I definitely don’t trust them to make something completely edible so while they were baking (and in between helping them, of course) we made our own red velvet vanilla cupcakes. Since we have to share the oven with the kitchen staff and they were trying to prepare for lunch, we weren’t able to bake all of our cupcakes during camp time. This meant that our Thursday was spent frosting and decorating our cupcakes! We decided to frost our cupcakes with cream cheese icing and since there was so much left over, I had to bake something else delicious on Friday. We made banana cupcakes while the kids made a lemon lavender cake with blackberry lavender jam and buttercream frosting! I also went swimming with the older kids on Thursday and was supposed to go again with the younger kids on Friday but their pool time got rained out so they ended up staying at the center. Since the kids weren’t able to go to the pool, they got to watch a movie and eat popcorn and popsicles and I was able to frost my cupcakes! We had so many cupcakes and left over popcorn that while the kids were in snack, my director and I traveled to all the rooms in the CDC handing out goodies to brighten people’s Fridays! And like always, we ended the week with pie the counselor. It was such a fun week and I learned a lot about my making ability. I’m looking forward to coming home and trying out some new recipes!

Our evenings weren’t too busy this week. Tuesday night was another taco night but this time, with a special twist. One of the staff member’s grandmas sent us a care package filled with a whole bunch of goodies that we received Tuesday night! We also played soccer on Tuesday night. I’m definitely going to miss having a soccer field in my backyard! Wednesday night we went resumed our bowling tradition and I had one of my best bowls yet! Unfortunately, one of our coworkers took a bowl for me (intentionally) and rolled a gutter ball so I ended up losing to him by two points. He later on admitted that he cheated, and I still broke a hundred, but it could’ve been my best bowl ever. Thursday night we had another fun team bonding instead of our weekly meeting where we all participate in “Top Chef”. Each team had to create a pasta dish with a $15 limit, including one mystery ingredient and one sabotage assigned the night of. I had been chosen to be a judge so I had the luxury of just tasting the dishes!

Since we didn’t travel far this weekend, we stayed in Friday night. My roommate and I went shopping at the Px and then spent the night in watching a movie and doing our nails! We left around 8:00 on Saturday morning and headed for the train to Lake Garda. We were in the southern part of Garda where we visited the beach, went standup paddle boarding, and explored the little shops around town. We got back relatively early on Saturday which meant I had time to work on some of the homework I have to get done! We headed back to Garda today, this time to the northern part, with some of the MST staff with the hopes of hiking with alpacas. Unfortunately, most of Italy goes on holiday in August and they were closed when we got there. Since we couldn’t do what we had planned, we found a tasty spot for lunch and then wandered the little shops again. Both places we went to in Garda were so beautiful and if I had to stay in Italy (or if I ever moved back), I’d definitely want to stay there! The weekend wasn’t super busy but a whole lot of fun. I know I keep saying it but I’ve gotten so lucky to be placed with the amazing staff that are here with me. I couldn’t imagine driving two and half hours to not be able to do what we’d planned with anyone else!

It’s so crazy that our time here is almost done. We have 19 more days in Italy and only 15 more with the kids. I’m trying to hold on to every single moment and remember each day as best as possible. I’m ready to be home but not ready to leave these kids or these people. I can’t wait for another great week with more challenging, joyful, and life-changing experiences!