When their van pulled up Hunter was out the door before his Father could shut the engine off. He jumped out of the van and ran right over to me. He wanted to go hunting for frogs. I convinced him to let us get his stuff to the cabin before we chased frogs.

Hunter loves the arts and crafts room (“arts” to him). If there is markers, paint or stickers involved he is happy. I literally had to drag him out of the craft room at the end of each session. If I would have let him he would have stayed in there all day. The hard part of crafts is that paint brushes and hammers in Hunter's hands means he requires even more supervision then normal.

All morning Hunter would ask over and over about putting his bathing suit on and going swimming. We would change for swimming right before lunch then after lunch we went over to the lake. Each day he would get all excited and be the first one at the lake. He never got in. He would walk around the bank for 10-15 minutes then want to go back and take a shower (which was o.k. because the bank along the pond was pretty muddy and the water near the edge was a little slimy). I tried to convince him to go back to the stream (which he enjoyed last year) but his mind was made up.

One day while Hunter was distracted along the side of the pond, I managed to make sure Cate and I had our annual boat ride. Cate’s counselor made sure Hunter was safe. I took Cate, Peter and Marshall out on a row boat. I spent more time with Cate her first couple years when she needed me more. Now she is more comfortable at camp but I still manage our boat ride and every night I still visit her cabin. She is always sitting up waiting for me to put her in bed and tuck her in.

This year I had a nightly companion on my walk to Cate’s cabin. Chelsea, a friend of Cate’s from school, would walk along to say goodnight. When Chelsea first arrived she was very withdrawn and quiet. She would let you lead her somewhere but would not interact much. But as the days progressed (mostly due to the great work of Anissa, her counselor) she would open up more and more. On Sunday, when she first started talking, she would talk to and through Allison, her doll. It didn’t take long for her to start talking without the doll and as the days progressed we saw an amazing transformation. The girl that was now running down the road laughing and making jokes did not at all seem like the one that earlier appeared so withdrawn. When Chelsea was approached by someone she didn’t know she would sometimes close down again for a while. Luckily as the days rolled on we saw more and more of the happy Chelsea.

Naseem also came back. She would always tell Jay how mean he was and how he wishes he wasn’t there but then she would sit with him at every meal and follow him around. Naseem had come to the camp in June and was upset that Jay wasn't there so she convinced her mother to let her come to the July camp too.

Because a lot of our campers were getting older, the age ranges for the June and July camp were combined. Basically it meant that now campers could pick the June or July camp instead of being forced to one or the other. Because of that change Peter was back at camp with Jay and I for the first time in 7-8 years. You would think that it would take a while for us to get to know each other again. But after about 10 minutes it was like we still saw each other every Tuesday at cub scouts. It was great to have him around again.

Danielle was the counselor for J.J. He was my camper in 1990. We hadn't been at camp with him for 14 years. He was a little bigger then the boy I had way back then but not by much. When I was his counselor we collected things that caught his interest and he would ask for his "toys". This year he brought his own bag of "toys" along. J.J. is blind and liked to have things for his hands to do when he was waiting. When he wanted them he would ask for his "toys please". Another great thing about J.J. is that he would break out in song at any time. "Happy Birthday" was one of his favorites.

After three years together Hunter and I have gotten to know each other pretty well. I can usually anticipate when he may get mad or lash out and he has learned to tolerate my idiosyncrasies. The biggest difference between this year and last was that he was bigger, stronger, and faster and I was older, slower aand weaker. I guess I better start working out to keep up for next year!

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