Can't keep me off camp property!

Actually... you probably could.  But they haven't tried too hard yet.  I spent the weekend up there getting recertified in lifeguarding.  This is 10 years since I was certified at Michigan Tech and it has changed my life.  It let to my Summer jobs, which led to my Full Time Jobs, which led to camp, which led to Denso now.  

Our LG review class all loved their manikins.

They did not love the super cold water.  I was backboarded twice and a shivering mess both times.

We had some spectators.  Nice of them to stop by and show us what it looked like to be warm.

Our class joined the Beach/Walmart trip.  This is what happens when you harass people carrying swim noodles.

Nice pic of chapel.  Paul wasn't quite capturing the under 6 crowd.

But the box hockey did.  I joined them for a bit during the end of chapel.

This was my drive home.  The camera makes it look better than real life.  Hard to see through the rain.

Even at home I got to see Mike Baker and Randy Harris on the down swing of their bus trip.  Watched a Bombers game with them after my softball game.  I'm hitting like I should again, so that was fun.  Always better when I get to run the bases a little.

Camp is starting and I'm sure a lot of people will be surprised by how it actually work.  I sure am praying for the Summer Staff to learn fast, and play hard.

Summer Schedules

This week I didn't get much for pictures because I was too busy actually doing stuff.  I don't like taking a break to snag pictures in many cases.  Plus it can be sorta awkward. 

On Thursday I went to Holland and had dinner with Adela and some of her family.  She made some burgers and we played a game of Scum afterwards.  A lot of driving but definitely worth it. 

This weekend was the first I spent here in Battle Creek.  I had some plans to go out and about to the East side of the state but then I had ended up with a bunch of Battle Creek events to work on.  Friday evening I rode my bike to Kelsey Snowball's open house before watching a bit of baseball at Wattles Park and then finishing off with watching Star Trek (2009) with Ethan and Liz.  I really put off the long bike ride, but 11:30PM seemed like it was late enough.

All told it was a good start to the Summer biking season with about 20 miles logged in.  I don't really like riding for the fun of it, but when I have a destination I like it a lot better.  Hopefully this is the start of the good habit. 

I started Saturday with a look at a house.  I have some friends flipping it and while some of the details were enticing, I probably want to save up more of a proper down payment for a while.  Also, coming off a missionary stint I'm not a big fan of locking down on a house.  That payment can cripple a run at raising funds as a missionary.

As the day went on I had a bit of an impromptu softball practice.  I spent the afternoon with Josh Nye and Matt Garrett.  We just horsed around outside and played some softball.  Brian Murphy joined us for some basketball and playing some Zombies on the Xbox.  Next thing I know I'm going to bed at 2am!

As for the Summer Schedule, it looks like I'm locked in, or close to it.  Here it is:

Monday- Softball with Battle Creek Bible.  It gets my competitive fi in for the year since Garrison Hills only plays in a slow paced, low skill level league.

Tuesday- I do like the slow paced league sometimes.  It's usually great outfield practice and I like the fellowship with folks from my church.

Wednesday- Pick up volleyball.  I've got a small group of folks that are planning to play throughout the Summer.  Looking forward to seeing how this comes together. 

Thursday- Pick up Ultimate Frisbee and Youth Group.  Youth Group is different every week obviously.  Ultimate Frisbee is just up the street and it's great to be close and give me the option to do either. 

Friday/Saturday- Weekends are saved up for trips to camp, Ultimate Frisbee tournaments, and the other things that come up throughout the Summer. 

Sunday- Obviously I'm here for church most weekends, but sometimes the events of the weekend spill over into Sunday.  Today I played Tennis and other weekends there will be other one day sports. 

It's a good start to Sumer athletics!  I played Frisbee, basketball, softball and tennis.  I like being tired and soon I'll be back in mid-Summer shape.

Any time of season is a good for laying in the sink.

Family Camp



This was a holiday weekend, explaining this super late post.  So here's the recap, mostly in pictures.

 

We watched a movie for Youth Group.  Most folks played board games, play-doh, and Just Dance.

 

I played some softball.  Basically my first practice of the year.

Isaac Haines had a rough weekend.  Looked like he'd been boxing.  I'm sure this net helps though.

 

Copy cat.



Fisherman's Chapel on Monday.

This tree was teasing us, just asking us to try and pull it out.

This is Brad trying to get his rage out.  Just kidding, it's really "throw random stuff into the river".  It was fun until my Frisbee ended up in the river and we had to go chasing after it.  We got it though!

On the way back I worked on my balloons.  This tail extended past the back of the Jeep at one point.



It's normal at camp to make plato sculptures to describe yourself.  This is where my mind will be during the Summer staff workshop.  Camp Barakel... apparently on a lily pad...?

Trippin

You can usually see a nice sunset at the airport in Battle Creek.  As long as you don't mind the fence.

This was my busiest week this year.  every day was bang bang.  Work, soccer, sports, youth group, Red Wings.  Blah blah blah.

For Youth Group we went to Bailey Park.  I wasn't sure how crowded it would be, but it had plenty of room.  We let everyone split up and do whatever they wanted.  Playing catch, throwing stones in the river (sometimes at the ducks), horsing around on the playground, and my group wandered over to some youth baseball games.

Throwing rocks into the river fascinated many of the kids for a while.

Some of them were trying to learn to skip rocks, even though most were not really good for skipping.

The mosquitoes came out right when we tried to eat.  So some ran to the cars, some walked around a lot, and some just sat there and ignored them.  It turned out to be a really enjoyable night out and about.  On a side note I'm happy we had that oil spill cause the river doesn't stink anymore. 

These girls loaded up this tire swing.

After Youth Group I didn't even have time to do anything before going to bed super late.  And after that I also had to go to work at 6:30am to track with a project we had going.  So that early day was followed up by a couple meetings in the late afternoon.  I hustled from there to Holland to pick up Adela before a weekend of dishes at camp.  

That's Miss Sassy on the phone.

They just finished zipline training and so I figured I'd go up and see how they were doing.  It's really weird to see how other people run it and the things they say.  Fun to take some pictures and ride the zipline though.  I even got to run it for a bit in the afternoon.

Jeremy Rook doing his thing.

Adela got to zip with one of her campers.  That would be great!

That's what I look like apparently.  When I zip, you zip, we zip.

So that's pretty much it.  I love camp so much.  I am going to miss it even more as Summer staff start to arrive for training.  It's a good, busy time of year.  Basketball and Hockey Playoffs, Tigers are playing, sports are happening, weather is opening up finally.

Here we go!

New Camera... lots of pictures!!

I'll let the camera do most of the talking here. I will try to chip in here and there so you'll at least know where I'm at.  We're starting with Youth Group at the lake.  The weather didn't cooperate, but that didn't slow us down very much.  Like they say at camp:

"Whether the weather be good, or whether the weather be bad, whatever the weather we'll weather the weather whatever the weather be."





Our best volleyball player of the night with a great dig.

Noah Wygant took care of the grill.

Even with no swimming the lake is still relaxing to visit.

I usually help with Youth Group and it's been a lot of fun to have more of the responsibilities.  BUT... I'm still looking forward to Tim returning. 

On Friday I had one of those ridiculous days I tend to find myself in.  I woke up at 5:30am to snag some donuts for work, then I worked til 7:30am.  I ran straight from there to the Battle Creek Children's Water Festival (12th straight year!!).  Without Mrs. Lindow there it was a lot different, but everything still went smoothly after all.  From there I caught up at work for a couple of meetings from 2:00pm to 4:30pm. 

After that I busted a run to Grand Blanc for a 7:45pm viewing of Iron Man 3 with Brad, Emily, Hannah, Xavier and Silas.  That's a bunch of names I guess.  I thought the movie was great and probably the funniest of the three, although they definitely pushed the limits a bit further. 

Some Frisbee before the movie.  I don't know if he's scared or angry or what.

The blur in the picture is Emily.  She's super fast!

After the movie I hustled up to camp for the labor weekend.  I didn't really plan to help much, but I sort of treated it like a retreat and another chance to catch up with everyone.  I spent the morning wandering and taking pictures of the workers, then I helped Randy in the afternoon.

I love the camp paths on sunny days.



Working on the docks.  But the union's not on strike, they're not down on there luck and it's not so tough.

The dining hall looks great.  You can't see the sound absorbing layer in the carpeting.

The siding I stained a couple weekends ago will land on this part of the Chapel.

Helping Randy load up and pull this work van in from the shop.

The end game with the docks.  Taking them out in chunks and sawing them up from there.



The East Side Dish Room.  Looking forward to trying out the new setup.

Before dinner we played a game of Sorry! which is probably my favorite game.  I wrapped up the evening watching a promotional video for camp that was produced in the 70's and included Randy and Connie as singles.  Watched the Tigers and some Nascar before heading to bed.


Karen and Aaron.  Also known as Ka'aron.  Aaron is still sad about a 3rd place finish at Sorry!

Then it was the typical rush back home in time for teaching Sunday School.  We discussed Tithing and what it's all about.  Many of the kids in our Youth Group don't know anything about it so I thought we'd see what the Bible says and discuss what people thought of tithing and giving in general.

New Stuff

Canon Powershot.  Bit of an experiment.

 

Microsoft Surace RT.  Perfect Dell Mini Replacement.

Those are the new toys.  Not just toys, but also tools for some of the things I love.  I'm typing this up on my new Microsoft Surface RT.  And several of the pictures were taken on my new Canon Powershot (SX260 HS if that means anything to you).  I plan to use both to help me stay mobile and still document some of the fun I get into. 

My last camera was falling apart and dying, so it's nice to have reliable replacement. 

My old computer was getting slower and slower, but I still hope to use it.  I just have to avoid touching the screen on accident.  I'm already pretty well acquainted with the Surface.  I could use a name for him/her still though.  This computer should help me keep track of budgeting, resumes and powerpoints.  Helps me stay more professional outside of work.

In other news, Adela came over for the weekend to join in on some Mission Trip activities.  We had a dinner/auction to raise money for adoptions from CRAN.  I enjoyed holding the microphone and announcing for most of it.  Felt like mealtime at camp.

Then Saturday morning our mission trip group met for the first time.  We had 10 of the 12 people in one room and it was fun to get to know everyone.  We tried some balloon animals and discussed the many different activities we plan to organize and participate in.

Saturday afternoon was gorgeous and we had a Gender Reveal party for some of my dear friends.  Adela and I decided to bike and longboard to the party.  It's a little under 4 miles there and then 4 miles back.  We didn't think we could do it but I figured out that I can pull her along at a pretty steady pace.  So we did it.  It was great.  We were honked at and waved at but mostly people just stared. 

Famous bike boarding.

Many of you have probably seen the effect of the ride back.  There was a sharp downhill and uphill that we switched spots for on the way to the party.  On the way back she decided she wanted to try it.  So I got to watch as the board started wobbling and down she went.  She gave a valiant effort!  She jumped up, tried to run, but I'd guess she was up near the 10mph mark and it's stinking hard to stay on your feet at that speed. 

For the record it was NOT MY FAULT.  I could have forced her to switch but she'd have been super mad then. And in all honesty I thought she could probably pull it off.  And now she's learned some valuable lessons and she also has a nice new pair of super cool jeans with a hole in the knee. 

My new friend, Skipper.

So now I'm out of order, but that's ok.  Saturday morning we stopped at the Math and Science Center to check out the moving sale they were having.  Lots of cool toys and educational equipment.  We snagged 3 slinky's, a gyroscope top, and Skipper.  He's my first desk toy for work.  I hope to someday have a permanent desk to keep him at.  



The cloudy, fiery sunset.

And finally the sunset.  We have had all kinds of trouble with Holland sunsets.  The clouds fight with us, and the rain and the ice.  This week was no exception.  We cut it close on time but caught this fiery sunset. 

 

It's a fun time right now.  I'm happy to be working and right now my department is in the process of posting a Packaging Engineer position.  It's something that is kind of meant for me, but it's possible someone will come along that gets the job because of some legitimate or illegitimate reason.  I'm hoping and praying to get it though.  That would lock me in at a stable company with stable pay in a community I have a heart for. 

 

Have a great start to Summer!  Get outside!





Back At It

Well I missed a week for the first time in a long time last week.  I often get really busy on Sunday, then Monday, Tuesday I was feeling sick and also super busy.  So I figured I'd wait for this week to update the whole deal. 

Had to replace some laces on my Keen's.  Took about 3 days before my Mom snagged the directions and fixed them up.

Last weekend I had an Ultimate Frisbee tournament in Holland right on Hope's campus.  I wasn't sure how I'd play but it worked out pretty well.  Definitely not in top shape, but I'm still moving well and throwing to the corners.  Unfortunately it was snowing and cold, but having played in Northern Wisconsin... it could definitely be worse.

Volleyball is going well.  Hard to get a team of 6 people together with busy schedules, but we have played 2 weeks now and it's gone well.  The team has seen 8 different players in 2 weeks and I think we'll have more as people need subs.  The more I play the better I feel.  I'm getting my feel for the court back, and I'm pounding the ball well again.  I'm looking forward to the next 4 weeks of playing.

As for this weekend I headed up to camp.  I took Hannah Ford along so we could hang out and she could see her family.  I wanted to be up there to catch up with some folks and get in on the Saturday work day. 

I was greeted by Huddy, Josiah and Sammy when I went to join the kickball game.

Some of them were trying to be sneaky to get away from my camera.

Friday night I joined them for the Proper's going away meal.  Then Saturday I helped Mike pour some special concrete mix for a transition piece between the East Side Dining Hall cooler and the hallway tile.  We spent much of the day working on painting some siding that will be used on the East Side Dining Hall.

Reunited and it feels so good!  I put the wood box away after lunch.

I felt like a spy snagging pics of what could be the new Camp sign.

After work I spent the whole night with the Baker kids while Mike and Lydia went to dinner with the Trustees.   We played some Wii, ate some chicken sandwiches, played on the trampoline, walked to Black Bear Swamp and played on the slide in the RV Park.  Emma told me she wanted to "go back home tomorrow" cause she was enjoying her sliding time.

I was happy to have Brad with me as we went for quite a long walk.

It was a fun night that tuckered me out.  The kids pretty much took care of themselves and only really needed some help with decision making and a couple small disputes.  It was really good to catch up with Mike and Lydia and I"m happy the Proper dinner was Friday because I was able to see pretty much every family that was on the property.

Sports really seem to be picking up and even the rainy days are feeling warm.

Pot hole outside of the church parking lot.  I could lay down in it.  No joke.

Oh yeah!  I also drove back home today from camp.  I left at 5:30am so that I could get back in time to teach Sunday School.  We spent most of the time talking about "Time and Proximity" and how texting leads to marriage.  I really enjoy chatting with everyone.  They're a smart group that pretty much knows what they're doing and can make good decisions without my help.  I'm looking forward to the final 2, 3, or 4 weeks before Tim returns.  At the same time I'm missing Tim!  So I hope he comes back soon.