Lots and Lots of Camp!

I had two extremely different weeks the past two weeks. The first week of July was very slow for me. I was in the office most of the week just working on planning future programs. I worked on some 4H day camp activities, a LEAP lesson I am doing, and any other random things someone needed me to do in the office. On Thursday, Devin and I went to do our normal program at Farley Elementary School and there were no kids there! Apparently they had taken the kids to a water park and forgot to let us know. It was a little frustrating to drive all the way out there for nothing, but we had time to plan some of our future lessons together, and had one ready for the next week.

Friday was 4th of July so the office was closed, but Saturday we worked a farmers market. We made 3 different Plate It Up recipes to show people ways they could use the fresh produce sold at the farmers market. We served Zippy Corn Chowder, Cucumber, Corn and Bean Salsa, and Herb Pasta with Roasted Cherry Tomatoes. All of our samples were gone in no time, and people loved the recipes. It made for a fun morning.

This past week I have been at American Girl Doll Camp all week. This was a day camp put on by the Children's Art Center here in our county. My agent serves on the Art's Commission, so they asked her to do the snacks for the camp. There were two different camps, one was the morning session and one was the afternoon session. Each day had a doll that was the theme, and the kids got to do a craft, here a lesson, play a game, and eat a snack that related to the time period from that doll. Then they had time to play. They lady who put on the camp has every doll and all her accessories, so all those little girls were in heaven!

In addition to the snacks, one day we did an etiquette lesson. The doll was from the War of 1812, so we did manners because her story talked a lot about etiquette. I was in charge of this class. We decorated tables with white table clothes and served them on fancy dishes. The little girls all LOVED it. They came in dresses and most of them matched there dolls. It was so cute.

The last day of camp, the woman who put on the camp hosted a pool party at her house. We made fruit kabobs for them to eat, and the morning class all wore their tie dyed shirts they had mad. The week was a blast and probably one of my favorite things I have got to do.

Emily Northcutt, Marshall County FCS