Travel Tuesday: California 2008

Alternative Spring Break Trip: YMCA Camp Campbell, Boulder Creek, California - 2008

We took this trip to northern California (outside of San Jose) in 2008 and our purpose was to be camp counselors to a group of 5th graders for 1 week.  In California, the fifth graders are required to have some sort of "in the field" science credit or something, so they come to science camp for a week. My girls were a handful but they were good for most of the time and so sweet (I am now friends with some of them on FB and they're going into 11th grade, WHAT?) and I had a great time. 

We also had a free evening because we got there Saturday afternoon, had training Sat night and Sunday then camp was from Monday afternoon to Friday morning and we didn't have a flight til Saturday.  So, we went into San Jose to eat and check out the Winchester Mystery House, which I will do a separate post on tomorrow :)

We worked here at Camp Campbell which is located in Boulder Creek, California.  It is in the Redwoods and an absolutely beautiful campground.   The staff was excellent and I really enjoyed working there for the week!

We left Maryland on Saturday and flew in to LAX for a layover then to San Jose.

We got to camp two days before the kids.  We met up with a group from the University of Wisconsin and spent some time getting to know them and spent some time learning what we needed to do when the kids got there.  We played games, did ropes courses, learned camp rules and other fun things.

These three actually worked at Camp Campbell

Once the kids got there, it was non stop!  We played a game with all of the kids first then went and got split up by cabin/cabin leader.   We also had to pick goofey camp nicknames and mine was Eeyore (I was wearing eeyore clothing half of the time).   It was interesting because the kids came from two different schools with very different socioeconomic status's, but for the most part, everyone got along.

My group of girls were great.  They were a handful at times but for the most part, I really loved spending the week with them.

We also got split into "science groups".  When the kids were at their science lessons, they were paired up with another group, one group of girls and one group of guys.

We had a bunch of silly songs that we would sing with the campers and one of them was about Banana Slugs which were definitely plentiful at Camp Campbell!

Redwoods are definitely huge!

The second to last night we had a super fun game night.  The kids had a blast and this completely wore them out!  Us leaders also had a great time!! It was probably my favorite part of the trip.

Kristen, my science group buddy

Our last night there was campfire night.  We had a great time singing songs and performing skits.  Each cabin had to perform a random silly skit.

The next day we had our last science lesson and packed up to go home.  After getting everyone packed and ready to go, the kids all got to choose fun activities to do such as the big slide, flag football, ect.  I would be lying if I said that I didn't cry when saying goodbye to the kids :(

 

This trip was such a great experience and I would do it again in a heartbeat!  I wish I could just copy my journal into a few blog posts just so I can share the entire experience!  I love Alternative Break Trips and hope to do another one in the near future!

Vacation 2013: Yorktown and Williamsburg

Last Vacation Post, Promise
 
After spending the day at Busch Gardens Josh and I decided to do dinner in Yorktown which is right outside of Williamsburg.  We did a little exploring then went down by the water to eat.

Our first little pit stop was to the Moore House.   This is where the negotiations for the surrender of the British Army happened on October 17, 1781.

Our second stop was to the Yorktown Victory Monument. I really loved this monument and it is huge!   You can read more about the monument here.

We then headed to dinner at the Riverwalk Restaurant.   The food tasted great, I got a seafood platter with about 6 different seafood items.  However, when we got home our stomachs were not too happy. 

The restaurant was beautiful and right on the water and the service was great.  My only complaint is my upset stomach about 30 minutes after eating.

We didn't get to spend much time in Yorktown but it was great to drive around and see a little bit of this town that is so important to the history of the USA.

The next morning was spent wondering around Colonial Williamsburg.  I wish we had, had more time to explore and that we weren't so tired.  Williamsburg was actually a really cute and neat town and next time we will definitely buy the package to go into all of the historical sites.   We decided not to this time because we knew we didn't have time as we had to get to Josh's Uncles house in Colonial Beach, VA for a birthday party.

Governor's Palace - Official Residence of the Governor of VA from 1699 to 1780.

The Courthouse - This is where Benjamin Waller read the Declaration of Independence out loud in 1776 after it arrived from Philadelphia.

The Magazine

The Guardhouse

Historic Williamsburg inn

The Capitol  Building - Used from 1705-1779.  It is two buildings connected by the archway and housed the VA legislature, the Council and the House of Burgesses.

R. Charlton's Coffeehouse

Streets of Williamsburg

Revolutionary Skit - Storming the Governor's  Palace

Horse and Buggy

Book Club Friday: Harry Potter Companion Books

I thought I would be done with Khalid Hosseini's new book by now but I have been getting more shifts at work and had a few other things going on so I haven't gotten as far as I thought.  So, today I will be reviewing some books by my other favorite author!

Quidditch Through the Ages

By: J.K. Rowling

Read: June 29, 2012

Pages: 56

"Did you know that: there are 700 ways of committing a foul in Quidditch? The game first began to evolve on Queerditch Marsh - What Bumphing is? That Puddlemere United is oldest team in the Britain and Ireland league (founded 1163). All this information and much more could be yours once you have read this book: this is all you could ever need to know about the history, the rules - and the breaking of the rules - of the noble wizarding sport of Quidditch."

{GoodReads}

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

By: J.K. Rowling

Read: June 30, 2012

Pages: 42

 

"A copy of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them resides on almost every wizarding household in the country. Now, for a limited period only, Muggles too have the chance to discover where the Quintaped lives, what the Puffskein eats, and why it is best not to leave milk out for a Knarl.

Proceeds from the sale of this book will go to improving and saving the lives of children around the world, which means that the dollars and Galleons you exchange for it will do magic beyond the powers of any wizard. If you feel that this is insufficient reason to part with your money, I can only hope most sincerely that passing wizards feel more charitable if they ever see you being attacked by a Manticore."

 {GoodReads}

These two Harry Potter companion books were a lot of fun to read!  J.K. Rowling's ability to create a whole world absolutely amazes me!  Obviously, I loved these books and they were a quick hour read at most.   I definitely enjoyed learning about all of the different Quidditch rules and magical creatures.  Reading these books sometimes makes it hard to forget that Harry Potter is a made up character and this world really doesn't exist (though, I wish it did).  I would recommend that anyone who is a HP fan read these books, just for fun!

I gave both of these a 5/5 on my Goodreads.

Vacation 2013: Busch Gardens

During our first full day in Williamsburg, we made our way to Busch Gardens!  It was the one thing  I was looking forward to most on this trip.  Unfortunately it did rain for a bit, but we were able to entertain ourselves. 

Busch Gardens was voted The World's Most Beautiful Theme Park for the past 22 years, and I can see why.  The scenery is amazing and I love the European theme!  There were only a few rollercoasters but we loved each one and rode them all at least twice.  The lines were very short, I don't think we ever waited more than 15 minutes later in the day!    We also went on quite a few different rides that we had never tried before, especially when it was raining.

We enjoyed a German show with our lunch and then later while it was raining we checked out an Irish show which included singing and Irish step dancing, so I was definitely having a blast!  They did one of my favorite Irish songs which is called "The Voice".   That was one of the things I loved about Busch Gardens, there was more to do than just ride rides! 

These pictures were all taken before the rides opened.  I only took pictures on my phone and I was having too much fun to worry about taking pictures!

I highly recommend a trip to Busch Gardens to anyone who likes theme parks and rides!  There was so much more to do than just rides!