I woke up way too early this morning thanks to one of the boys in our cabin who was telling the others that they needed to get up and shower. He finally said to one of them "Dude, it's 7:30. We have to shower!" I looked at the time on my phone and yelled back "Dude! It's 5:40! Go to bed!" It didn't help much, as I drifted in and out of sleep until my alarm went off. I showered and headed outside, where I met up with my six girls. I had to take a moment to give Samantha a Happy Birthday greeting before she headed off to play soccer. She seemed to appreciate it, but I think she thought it was much cooler when the entire fifth grade started singing "Happy Birthday" to her. It petered out towards then end, but I have to give a special shout out to Kyle T. for being the only one who finished it for her. Thanks for making her day, Kyle!

    Once the singing was over, it was time to head for breakfast. It wasn't much to shout about this morning, as we were treated with cold, hard french-toast sticks. There were other options available, like cereal and hard boiled eggs. They also had water, orange juice, and milk available to drink.

Breakfast At The Dining Hall
	Breakfast today consisted of rock hard, cold french-toast sticks. I added two hard boiled eggs (but didn't eat much of them - they were too hard, if that's possible) and an orange juice. Another classic meal...

    The first scheduled activity today was canoeing. Although it was a little early in my mind to be on the water, the weather was beautiful at this time of day. It wasn't too hot yet, and the lake was nice and smooth. For some reason the kids had to go three in a boat this year (Tyler's group only had two per boat, even though there were more kids in his group), so Samantha ended up partnering up with her friends Lexie and Mariah. They didn't seem to have too much trouble maneuvering the boat on the water, although poor Lexie didn't have much to do beyond ride along. Some of the other groups really could never seem to figure out what they were doing, which made for some good laughs for those of us standing on the dock.

Canoeing
	A look across the lake first thing in the morning.
	Samantha, Lexie, and Mariah getting ready to head out in their canoe.
	The three girls were the first ones to make it out beyond the beach area.
	Mariah, Lexie, and Sam cruising along.
	The girls thought it was pretty funny when the boys collided with them... unintentionally, of course!

    The morning was split into two different activities, and after canoeing came Living Science at the Environmental Education Building. This building was located just a short distance from the canoeing area (we had past it on our way there this morning). While we were in the Living Science classroom, the kids were able to pet or hold a rabbit, a pigeon, a salamander, a tortoise, and two snakes. The large snake that Tyler's class got to touch was about to shed, so the teacher didn't want to bring it out. She did also show them a tarantula, but she didn't take it out of the box for the kids to hold.

Living Science
	Samantha getting her turn to pet the cute little bunny rabbit.
	Sam touching the feathers of the pigeon (which appears to be the same one Tyler had a chance to pet).
	Sammie holding the salamander.
	Although it looks like Sam is about to eat, the kids were actually taught to hold the tortoise like a hamburger.
	Sam wouldn't touch the first snake, but she was brave enough to try the second one.

    Once the animals were all put away at the Living Science exhibit, it was off to the dining hall for lunch. I had gotten the heads up on today's meals already, and I knew what was coming. Today we were blessed with tacos, just like we had when I camped with Tyler. Sam wasn't too thrilled with this meal, although she thought the rice at least bordered on acceptable. I added some tomatoes and hot sauce and downed my taco, but it tasted pretty much the same as I remembered (which is to say not very good). The meat was a different consistency when compared to last time, but it didn't seem to improve the taste at all. One of the chaperones asked for peanut butter for one of their kids, but were handed a jar of soy nut butter instead. Sam tried it, but decided it wasn't exactly her cup of tea either. I assume this is a direct result of the peanut allergy police having a say...

Lunch At The Dining Hall
	Lunch - a cold taco shell and meat, with a side of rice and corn. The tomatoes and hot sauce were added at the table, and lettuce was an option. The salad and fruit bars remained open.

    Our entire afternoon was spent in the bright sun at the Rock Climbing walls. While most of the boys talked big about climbing the two hardest walls, when it came time to start most of them headed to the easy ones first. There are six climbing sections representing six increasing degrees of difficulty. Samantha started off at level four and had absolutely no trouble making it to the top (in fact, nobody really did). This wall angled out slightly, but had plenty of hand-holds to grab onto.

Rock Climbing
	Samantha approaching the wall so that she may ask permission to climb.
	Sam taking her first steps onto the wall.
	Sam making her way up the wall.
	Another shot of Sam climbing upward.
	Sam making her way through the middle section.
	Sammie nearing the top.
	At the top!
	Sam being lowered down the wall.
Please click here for page two of the photos