Camp in one sense if officially over, yet there is still one more session to go: Alumni.
Alumni is a session for campers who have aged out of regular camp but still have the opportunity to return for a more relaxed session. Alumni is for those aged 17-21, and is a much more 'chill' 5 days than what we've experienced up to this point. Jenny & I did Alumni in 2008, and we are really excited to be able to do another. A lot of staff had to leave already because of school starting or whatnot, so we are down on numbers a little bit, but it's all good.
I will be moving from the Beaver Cabin, to the Chipmunk Cabin, which will be my first time working in a female cabin! I'm pretty stoked. As a male counselor working with female campers I am not permitted to help out with personal care, so it will be an interesting experience for me. I am so looking forward to it though. My fellow cabin counselors are awesome and I can't wait to work with them.
On the 23rd, we board a bus heading north to Canada where we will start focusing on apartment hunting, and doing whatever we need for school.
A new season is fast approaching, and we are excited to embrace it wholeheartedly.

This summer is flying by and we’ve just two short sessions to go before it all comes to an end for another year. I have thoroughly enjoyed being a ‘Beaver’ (15-16yr old boys) all summer and would have no qualms doing it again. Sessions 1 & 2 were a challenge, but 3, 4, 5, & 6 have been some of the very best I have experienced here at HH. I have also had the privilege of working with a few counsellors whom I think very highly of and they have taught me a lot.
                Session 6 wrapped up Monday and from a professional stance, it has been my favourite of any I’ve been a part of. One of my all-time favourite campers was here this session in the Raccoon cabin (11-12yr old boys), and I was able to have a few random moments with him. We met a little girl who spoke Russian, and Jenny got to practice her Russian reading skills by reading her a bedtime story one evening to help her fall asleep. On Day 1 (aug3) Jenny wasn’t feeling well, so I got to take over her ‘small animals’ duty and dish out bunnies and guinea pigs to some Muskrats (6-8yr old boys). It was pretty sweet. And to top it off, our Beaver campers were an awesome bunch who had the most awesome time. Many tears they shed as they wrapped up their time here this summer.
                Indeed, the summer’s end is fast approaching, and if I said I wasn’t excited to get back and see our little Sonnen I would be lying, but, it has been a great summer and I have high expectations for our remaining two sessions.

We had an extra day off this inter-session break so a few of us had decided to cruise down to Boston for a 1day/1night trip. We left Luzernia at about 5:30am Saturday morning and landed in Boston about 4hrs later. After securing our room, we jumped on the train and headed downtown. Our first stop was Fenway Park; but we discovered that we couldn't actually get inside Fenway unless we took a tour (which, none of us wanted to do), so we took some pictures of it's outside, ate at an amazing Mexican place, and headed out.

                Next, we went up, up, up 50 floors of the Prudential Building and seen Boston from above. It was awesome. I just love to cruise up the high buildings in cities I visit, and this was no exception. Boston is a beautiful city.

                Next, we went to the Christian Science Center, where Lauren and Alex got to play in some water.

                After that we were feeling kinda bushed (as we had been on our feet for about 5hrs), so we went to Boston Common to rest a bit. Here we were, in a park, minding our own business, stretched out on a large plot of grass to call our own, when a complete wedding party invades us to take a photo shoot. They were standing over us, beside us, on top of us, all around us, literally. We asked them if they wanted us to move, but they were insistent that we not. After 10 minutes or so, we jumped up and cruised'er. We hung out with George Washington, then went and found bathrooms.

                We hit up an African cultural event, then caught a bit of Yoyoman's show, then got something to eat at the market.

                We were all pretty bushed after all that, so we went back home and winded down for the night.

                The next morning (Sun.July17) we headed down to the waterfront. Jenny & I were feeling left out, so we also bought some B O S T O N tshirts. After a brief stop at Urban Outfitters, we made our way back to the car, and out of Boston. After going the wrong way for a while, we got on the right track and made it back to HH with 30 minutes to spare before our staff prep meeting for today's start of Session 4.

                The trip really sparked an interest in me to just cruise to any given city at any given time, even if just for a day or two, and see it. I can’t wait for the next one, hopefully it’s Philly!

                For all our amazing Boston pictures click -->HERE<--

The highly anticipated cabin switch was yesterday. We remain in one cabin from sessions 1-3; then switch to another cabin for the remainder of the summer. A few days beforehand we receive forms that we fill out, putting in names of cabins we would prefer, but nothing is guaranteed. The staff meeting determining the new cabin teams always contains some surprises.
I am happy to say that I am remaining a Beaver for the rest of the summer, and I am so stoked for the rest of the Beaver team. We have an awesome group, and I can't wait to jump into Session 5 on Monday!

There are 7 sessions each summer at HH. Each session runs 5 full days, with the children returning home after breakfast on day 6. The staff is in one cabin for 3 sessions, then we switch to another cabin for the remaining 4. There are 10 cabins altogether and children are grouped by gender and age. The Beaver Cabin (where I am stationed) is filled with boys aged 15-16. It is the oldest male cabin at camp and is generally thought to 'rule the roost' if you will. It has been an unusually tough couple sessions with Beaver's this summer so far. Most of our kids have been extremely difficult to deal with, which is rare for this cabin.
We have a great bunch of counselors for our cabin though, and they have made the experience much more enjoyable than it might have been otherwise.
Anyways, the next session starts Saturday morning. We don't have much control over how the kids acts, but we have much control over how we act.

We just finished up an amazing week here at the Double H Ranch. It is called Camp Inspiration and it's a little more medically intensive than a normal summer session. Inspiration is for kids on ventilators. They cannot breathe on their own and are dependent on machines for this basic necessity. It is amazing in itself that HH can provide care for children such as this in this setting. We are based about an hour north of Albany, in the Adirondacks, in a converted dude ranch. There are a multitude of log cabins which provide housing for campers, counselors, housekeeping, maintenance, doctors, nurses, etc.
To hear of the children we had here, and how they spend the rest of their year, makes this week we just had all the more special. We have doctors who tear up as they relate to us the struggles these children endure day in and day out, but come to HH and fish at our waterfront, swim in our indoor pool, go down zip lines at our high ropes course, make slime at discovery, construct crafts at arts and crafts, pet bunnies and guinea pigs in our barn, make tshirts at outdoor extreme, and be social in ways that aren't permitted the rest of the year for them.
Surrounded by an awesome team of nurses, respiratory therapists, and doctors, we took the kids to all our program areas, not letting their disabilities get in the way, but giving them the opportunity to do regular "kid stuff". For these children, it is stuff they really only get to do at camp. We each had a role to play: the nurses, RTs, and doctors job was to keep the kids safe and healthy; the counselors jobs was to make sure the kids had fun.
"We do stuff here that isn't done anywhere else in the country" our nursing director related to us. And you could definitely see it in the children's faces.

We’ve made it back to the Ranch, safe and sound, and are expecting a powerful summer. I think Jenny & I have had experiences since the summer of 2009 that have really developed and matured us, and we are in a position where we really want to live out our belief in a way that transcends what we’ve done before. We want to devote our summer to service, to charity, to those God puts directly in front of us. Those are who we are called to, even if its just for a moment.

My employment technically doesn’t start until the 14th, while Jenny’s has already started. We have different roles here at the Ranch, and hers demanded an earlier start time. I have been filling in where needed. Today I organized 5 skids of Hasbro toys that were graciously donated by that company, then I helped out with some odd jobs down at the barn.

It’s interesting being back here. There is such a sense of anticipation. Whether its returning staff, or 1st timers, everyone has expectations of what this summer will hold. Some are nervous, while the majority are eager for the kids to get here.

Jenny and I are eager, for transformation, in our lives, and in the staff’s lives, and the counsellor’s lives, and the childrens lives. I think God is eager for it too.