On Wednesday August 30th, the entire 6th grade went to Camp Kirkwood with a hurricane coming up the coast. The teachers and staff helped load up the three buses and as we waited we played a game of “Lovett Says” and I tragically lost. Along with everyone in my advisory, I was assigned to bus three. During the bus ride, my friend Chinwe and I played a card game called BS. After about an hour on the bus, Chinwe allowed me to read one of the comic books she had brought and that lasted me a while. When we finally arrived at Camp Kirkwood; it was pouring. We loaded everything under the pavilion and waited to be assigned to our cabin. I along with 10 other girls and Señora Salas went to cabin one where we discussed sleeping arrangements for that night. For lunch we had ham and cheese sandwiches and after that I got dressed for the pool. At the pool, you had to take a swimming test where you had to freestyle from one side of the pool to the other and then get out. If you passed, you got a blue band and if you didn’t, you got a green band and you had to wear a floaty. That night, Thia and I did shadow puppets under the shaky bunks while the rain poured outside. Soon enough, our cabin was filled with the cries and laughter of Jordan, the clicking of Chinwe’s camera, and the snapping of the jaws from Emma’s Crocodile Dentist game.
Sadly, I do not remember for the life of me what order the activities were in. One of the activities was Forest Ecology where I learned that we only use the part of the tree called the heartwood to make things, toothpaste is made from trees, and Mr. Lantzy doesn’t like magnolias. One of my favorite activities was the Kanga Jump. It was like a trampoline and there was a lot of sand around it which made for tons of sandy socks and shoes. We played a game where if a certain color was shouted out, we would have to run to that color on the trampolineish thing as quickly as we could and the last person to touch it was out. However, if someone said “That green!”, “That blue!”, or “That orange!” and pointed to a section in that color everyone had to run to that section that was pointed out and not any other. You can also trick people by saying a color and pointing to it without saying “that” and people sometimes run to that certain section even though they don’t have to.
The activity that stood out to me the most was the V swing. When you climbed up the ladder there was a V shaped rope mechanism that would be attached to your harness using a large carabiner. Then everyone would grab the end of the rope and hoist you up. Once you were at the height you wanted to be at, you pull a small green rope which collapses the large rope your classmates used to pull you up and it sends you soaring through the air. I went to the highest point and needless to say, I was terrified. My stomach dropped a few times but after a while I got used to it and started to enjoy it. For me, the most entertaining was the zip line because it went over the lake and I got to see the people who were boating. I also got to see Mr. Robbins, Ms. Richardson, Mr. Lovett, and Señora Salas all go down the zip line. My favorite part of the entire camping trip was s’mores. The only problem was I ate my marshmallow before I knew we could make s’mores, welp.
The other activities I haven’t mentioned include Orienteering, Battle Ball, Boating, Soccer, a lot of team building exercises, and getting to know Bubbles. If you are wondering, which you probably are, Bubbles is their pig! She is very sweet, under one years old, and has a fondness for Mr. Robbins. Battle Ball, took place during the night. Battle Ball is like DodgeBall, except there is an additional pink ball. If the you make a half court shot with the pink ball, you’re entire team wins. And if you want to free your teammates who got out, you have to hit the backboard of the basketball hoop with any Battle Ball. Some people decided to watch a movie instead of Battle Ball though. The only problem was it was raining and we were under the pavilion so when one of the balls was thrown outside of the pavilion, you would get soaked if you tried to get it. Sadly, I got out more than 12 times. At one point we saw lightning and had to go inside but was still really fun while it happened. In boating, you get in a canoe with three other people and paddle around the lake. We even raced Mr. Robbins who was on a paddle board and I bet you can guess how that went. Yep, we lost. But it was still really fun. As the trip was coming to an end, we all packed up the last of our things and put it under the pavilion. Again, I was assigned to bus three. Surprisingly, this bus was a lot nicer than the one we were in before and had very comfortable seats with a TV in front of you that you could pull down. The people who didn’t have a TV had charging ports. Like WOW. I have never been in a bus this nice or this clean.
All in all, I had an amazing time thanks to Liz, Matt, and all the other faculty members. During the entire trip, I have made so many great memories like when we were in the pool, trying to fit four people in one floaty and then trying to move, or when Mr. Robbins almost bounced everyone off the Kanga Jump, or when Jordan taught me how to dive in the deep end, or even talking to my bunk mates late at night. Though the food wasn’t the best and there were a lot of bugs, I still really enjoyed this trip.
I like the photo you used of our cabin because it was a fun photo and I like the way you wrote the story. The way you wrote it with, like, some fun way. For example, the “Yep we lost but it was fun,” was interesting.
I loved your Camp Kirkwood post because it was so funny and energetic and reflected your personality. I especially loved the part where you said “ was filled with the cries and laughter of Jordan, the clicking of Chinwe’s camera, and the snapping of the jaws from Emma’s Crocodile Dentist game. ” It really made it easy for me to picture exactly where you were. See ya! Anya
What was your favorite activity?