Joni and Friends: Family Retreat - Week Two
With the Joni and Friends Urban Family Retreat quickly approaching, life is getting busy once again! I never finished (or even really started) my week two recap, so I'm gonna call this a speed round and make this a post with less detail. Now that you know what a normal week of Family Retreat is like, you have a bit of a format.
On Monday, I once again donned the guise of the one and only Carmen San Diego to greet my family. Clapping and cheering, all the STMs and staff gave every family a signature JAF Family Retreat welcome. My family had two individuals with special needs, and each of them were assigned two STMs. So there was mom, dad, the two siblings, and their personal care assistant (or PCA).
Tuesday was a bit different, because my camper was part of the youthful adults group. The week before, I had been a part of the children's programming. I had been told by my roommate, that week two's youthful adult group had some really great people in it. She was 100% right. The group had very... charismatic individuals. They were all so wonderful. Later that evening the family and I attended family fun time. There was music in the gym where most of the activities were, so my camper and I dance nearly the whole time. She also enjoyed being in the bounce house.
I can't remember whether it was Tuesday or Wednesday, but we went down to the boats and went tubing! My camper really enjoyed going super fast over the water on the waves. After nearly getting thrown out a few times, we headed back to shore to give her brother a turn. We got in the boat and her brother, her dad, and one of her brother's STMs got in the tube. We also got into a pontoon boat and drove around the lake. We even saw a bald eagle pair. Both sibs were able to drive for a bit. They were so excited.
Wednesday was normal all the way through Adult Night. During the petting zoo, the sibs' PCA joined us and we all had fun together. This time, instead of going to watch the movie, I was able to go to the dance party. For maybe two hours we just danced. Jumping up and down and singing, we danced the night away. The STM debrief was postponed for a half-hour, so we could continue dancing. Then after the debrief, we went to bed, very exhausted.
Thursday, I felt the sadness of knowing that I would need to say good-bye the next day. At the end of programming, the youthful adult group gathered on the lawn for a group picture. We had lots of fun the rest of the day, and we went to karaoke. It was a very patriotic experience. God Bless America was a favorite for sure. I got on stage a bit, ate some ice cream, and chatted.
Friday morning, my roommate and I packed up the room and cleaned up a bit. I moped a bit and we headed to breakfast. During the closing ceremony, I came close multiple times to crying. I knew that the end of camp was coming close. After saying goodbye, we brought our stuff down from the room and put it in the lobby. Then my roommate and I went to the last STM debrief at Maranatha, for lunch and final instructions. After the debrief we helped out with the teardown of decorations. After the truck was loaded up, it was time to say goodbye to the last few people. With hugs, "See you at Urban"s and "see you soons", I loaded my belongings into the car, and my friend and I started back toward home. It was nice to be able to decompress on the ride back. I think the only reason I wasn't bawling was because Urban wasn't too far off.
Now I am doing a few last minute preparations because I leave early tomorrow morning to head to Indiana. Keep an eye out for updates! A super easy way to find out if I've published anything new, is to follow the blog! You'll get an email to notify you when I do. Thank you so much for reading, and have a great rest of your day!
On Monday, I once again donned the guise of the one and only Carmen San Diego to greet my family. Clapping and cheering, all the STMs and staff gave every family a signature JAF Family Retreat welcome. My family had two individuals with special needs, and each of them were assigned two STMs. So there was mom, dad, the two siblings, and their personal care assistant (or PCA).
Tuesday was a bit different, because my camper was part of the youthful adults group. The week before, I had been a part of the children's programming. I had been told by my roommate, that week two's youthful adult group had some really great people in it. She was 100% right. The group had very... charismatic individuals. They were all so wonderful. Later that evening the family and I attended family fun time. There was music in the gym where most of the activities were, so my camper and I dance nearly the whole time. She also enjoyed being in the bounce house.
I can't remember whether it was Tuesday or Wednesday, but we went down to the boats and went tubing! My camper really enjoyed going super fast over the water on the waves. After nearly getting thrown out a few times, we headed back to shore to give her brother a turn. We got in the boat and her brother, her dad, and one of her brother's STMs got in the tube. We also got into a pontoon boat and drove around the lake. We even saw a bald eagle pair. Both sibs were able to drive for a bit. They were so excited.
Wednesday was normal all the way through Adult Night. During the petting zoo, the sibs' PCA joined us and we all had fun together. This time, instead of going to watch the movie, I was able to go to the dance party. For maybe two hours we just danced. Jumping up and down and singing, we danced the night away. The STM debrief was postponed for a half-hour, so we could continue dancing. Then after the debrief, we went to bed, very exhausted.
Thursday, I felt the sadness of knowing that I would need to say good-bye the next day. At the end of programming, the youthful adult group gathered on the lawn for a group picture. We had lots of fun the rest of the day, and we went to karaoke. It was a very patriotic experience. God Bless America was a favorite for sure. I got on stage a bit, ate some ice cream, and chatted.
Friday morning, my roommate and I packed up the room and cleaned up a bit. I moped a bit and we headed to breakfast. During the closing ceremony, I came close multiple times to crying. I knew that the end of camp was coming close. After saying goodbye, we brought our stuff down from the room and put it in the lobby. Then my roommate and I went to the last STM debrief at Maranatha, for lunch and final instructions. After the debrief we helped out with the teardown of decorations. After the truck was loaded up, it was time to say goodbye to the last few people. With hugs, "See you at Urban"s and "see you soons", I loaded my belongings into the car, and my friend and I started back toward home. It was nice to be able to decompress on the ride back. I think the only reason I wasn't bawling was because Urban wasn't too far off.
Now I am doing a few last minute preparations because I leave early tomorrow morning to head to Indiana. Keep an eye out for updates! A super easy way to find out if I've published anything new, is to follow the blog! You'll get an email to notify you when I do. Thank you so much for reading, and have a great rest of your day!
Comments
Post a Comment