Summer of HOPE w/ Juliet & Jaymark:
First, the KEY:
Jlt = Juliet
Jmk = Jaymark
JJ is both of them
Jny = Johnny
and
I'm deb
Jny is to follow us up to Canyon Ferry where we will camp with the Blockey's on the edge of the lake in our huge tent. He is supposed to be a few hours behind us. Saturday we arrived about 4/4:30, but not until we drove to dam near Kim's Marina, then drove back to the sign we had seen at milepost #5, only to see the sign said, in very small red letters at the bottom, "2 miles past the damn" so we went back AGAIN ! Also, the first time we arrived at the sign, I remembered only to turn at the second flashing light. I couldn't remember the name of the marina we were going where we would meet up with other families that were joining us for the weekend, families that were hosting, or had in the past, and families that were looking to meet the children we were hosting that might want to consider adopting them. I needed to call Johnny to get better directions, but we were out of cell range, so we kept going up a hill until we got where we could catch a cell. We called Johnny for better directions and he couldn't remember any more than I did, and that it was called "Kim Marina" and we found out he was leaving pretty soon, which he didn't, really, but anyway, if we couldn't find it, he still might beat us !
Then we turned around to go back down to read the sign the said "Kim's Marina", or to turn to the marina by the sign. But there was no lake around, the road too small and the roads looked more like someone's driveway so we went back on the road and as far as the damn. That didn't look right, and it looked like the end of the lake, so Chris and I agreed to go back to the sign, it had to be one of those roads. So we went back to the sign and went farther down those roads, but they did end up being posted as private lands. So we went back to the sign, and this third time we saw the red letters at the bottom of the sign, finally knew to go past the damn 2 miles. This is when I finally found the directions in my box in the Honda, where I keep suntan lotion & stuff. I had put it in a few days before and it slid down to where I couldn't see it, and then I forgot I had planned ahead ! Oh, brother.
I will always wonder what the kids thought with us turning around 5 (or 7) times and finally going past where we had been several times ("hmmm, this place looks familier !") before finally driving on. I call Jny with the directions we had and where he was to go, but he didn't answer, so I guessed (wrongly) that he was on his way already. AND he turned at the first blinking light and then came around the Lake the opposite way we had come ! Never heeded or needed my directions ! Somewhere in the middle of this kaos, my friends Kathy called and she was up near here, too, yet our activities wouldn't allow us to meet up with them.
We drove around "all the other loops" at the Marina before we found the one Blockey's had parked at. As soon as we arrived at the campsite, the kids were so glad to see familiar faces of their new friends, and were out of the car and guided to where they could change and put on their lifejackets & into the water where went to play in only a few minutes. I have a favorite video from this water play. I took many shots trying to get a good video, but as usual, the first one was still the best... They had quite a variety blow up spiders, whales or sharks and other wild floating animals to play with. Jny finally arrived about an hour later than I thought he would @ 7:30 p.m.
Then I called them in for a few minutes to eat a bit, because we hadn't had lunch and I figured we'd have dinner soon, so we had some Peanut Butter on pita bread---that was their big thing this weekend; they are good eaters, but have their preferred choices at lunch.
When we all gathered together for dinner @ 7:30 pm, they went for the hot dogs, ketchup, and chips as if they had been american all their life ! Then quickly, they went back to swimming and later, we went canoeing. As we were going around the point of land that protects the bay from the bigger portion of the lake, boats that were coming & going made the canoe rock. The kids didn't like that and all told me to turn around, "go back, go back" they said. Thank you to Jess for telling me what the kids were yelling about !! SO I told her to tell them it wasn't safe, that we had to go somewhere where it was safer to turn around which we did. It wasn't safe to do so right there, I had to keep going until I came to a quiet bay to we wouldn't risk tipping if we turned sideways into a wave. Then we went back, and got another batch of kids to take out for a ride. Johnny was taking Jmk out in his solo canoe. Looks like he enjoyed that.
What I found out was that the Philippine kids had a strange habit of (1) never taking off their underware,and (2) changing into dry clothes as soon as they got out of the water. Then they would change and get back into the water again. About 6 times that night. It was very warm out (too hot for me !) but they did get cold easily, so I kept moving their chairs into the sun light. Jlt didn't like swimsuits & the lifejacket at all, and yet, loved the water. But I really had to stress the safety first, because with so much going on and so many kids and so many people to visit with, I couldn't be watching her every moment. This is the first instance of her becoming like a donkey, and getting stubborn. What she didn't like to do, she didn't do, though sometimes she told us, "no like" so we at least knew why she was not doing it. So I told her that if she didn't want to wear the lifejacket, she needed to stay by the side of the water, on the beach. She pushed the limits and would go way down the beach and get out in the water deeper & deeper. Until she saw me looking at her. Because they were playing with their friends so much, she didn't seem to want me to bother her, otherwise I would have gone to play with them.
The scariest part of all this was her disappearing without telling me where she was going to. At first, I presumed she was hanging with girls in the big camper Blockey's had come in. But later that evening, the girls all went to the shower house for a shower, and she went along. The next morning when I couldn't find her, I would find out that is where she went, but again, without telling me, she would go over there several times to change, dress, comb her hair, or shower. I had no idea where it was, and couldn't go looking for her.
Next time I would vote for a smaller campground. But, the kids loved it here & played hard.
What was so Sad is that Sunday was so windy, that we didn't get to go out in the canoes much because it was so windy & waters were rough. I lolligagged (rested) in the morning and visited, then after lunch wanted to go when it was warmer. Jessica & the girls were like "when are we going canoeing?" and then when it got so windy after lunch, I wished I had taken them out ! I will always feel bad for being so tired I didn't what to move, because when afternoon came, and I wanted to go, I ended up taking another nap in the very hot tent because it just wasn't safe to go out on the lake in a canoe.
But for the kids, playing was alot of fun. Juliet spent some time in a chair combing the hair of the dolls she brought along --- a favorite pastime of hers. Breakfast was fun---Julie B. made pancakes in the motorhome which were very popular and I made scrambled eggs out in the sun on our table and everyone just shared whatever they had. Everyone else ate whatever they wanted. This is when I found out J & J liked pancakes, and so I would make that for them for breakfast a few times. Jmk had a sweet tooth for these. After so me more playtime, and some good visiting with other host families, it was time for lunch, other families showed up. I didn't know where they all came from. It was a busy day, I couldn't believe when it was time to go home. The day went so fast.
