Clear Creek is a fun place and I have sent multiple kids to enjoy time there. Some kids have had better experiences than others. (Poor June with her strep throat) A couple years ago I was even able to go as a parent volunteer with
Ivory. So when the time came for Daisy, I signed right up. I didn't realize it is kind of a lottery with the schools. They take turns choosing weeks to go up there. Well, our school was first on the list, but something got messed up and our turn was skipped, putting us last for options. So, we had the first week of December. Brrr.
Last time I went, it was mid October and the weather was wonderful. I realized this would be a very different experience, but I was up for it. And so was Daisy. We bought some long underwear, packed extra blankets and we were on our way.
The bus ride wasn't too bad. That always takes a bit. I was a little worried about how the bus would do in the weather, but it wasn't snowing and the roads were pretty clear. We took a picture while traveling, Daisy, me, and Kiana.
Arriving at Clear Creek, we always have to sit on the bus for a bit to get the basic rules and regulations. They are actually pretty lenient up there as long as you abide by the most important rules. They did mention to NOT touch the icicles. The caretaker up there has a nice scar on his forehead from a rogue icicle. He told the kids to steer clear. But they were sure fun to look at. Some of them were growing sideways. They were so interesting. Don't worry, we didn't touch.
The kids had a little time to play in the snow. That never seems like a fun idea to me, but some of the kids were gung ho.
The first day we had lunch first. I liked that the milk had jokes on it. Maybe I am getting used to Tyler's cheesy Dad jokes every day.
Daisy and I are enjoying lunch. That child doesn't eat very much, but she seems to keep herself alive on sweets and cheese.
On the lunch bag there were little games and puzzles. There was a section that had texting abbreviations. I didn't know a lot of them. I guess my texting lingo could use some brushing up. See if you can get them all...
Daisy brought my stretchy scarf. She usually wore it over her entire body. Combine that with her fuzzy ears, she looked like a furry bear. I told the girls to enjoy their tame pet bear.
Then Robyn got ahold of that picture and edited it. It makes me laugh every time I see it.
The afternoon consisted of rotations. We did skits first. Oddly, we ended up with the same book that Ivory did when we went to Clear Creek. The book is called,
That is NOT a Good Idea. It is cute and easy. On our way down to skits, we saw the camp dog. I can't remember his name, but he was a friendly chap.
After skits, we did Boondoggle. Some kids really take to it. Mine don't seem to love it. Both Ivory and Daisy were not that impressed. But I enjoyed doing one and then another for June to add to her Ironman keychain for the truck.
Our final rotation was maglev trains. It was really cool. The girls took magnets and put them on the bottom of their cards opposite from the magnets on the tracks, so they would glide. There was something wrong with the magnets on Daisy's track, so she got very frustrated by this activity. No matter what she did, she couldn't get her train to glide all the way down. It would always stick. Such is life.
Sadly, we did all indoor activities while we were there. No ropes course and no hike. I thought we might do some snow shoeing, but that wasn't on the list. We still did the journals. I liked how Daisy's turned out. The moms were busy doing boondoggle together. It was funny to see them all huddled together.
We did the necklaces and I wrote 'Pink Ninja' on mine since I had my pink jacket and pink ski mask. But Daisy kept stealing them.
The evening had dinner and then skits. The kids did a good job. There are always a couple snoozers, but I feel like most of them weren't too bad.
For the movie, they gave the kids options. That was nice since last time they made them watch
Princess Diaries. This time, they chose
Incredibles 2. It doesn't matter since I went into the kitchen and played games with the teachers again. That is my signature move.
The kids went to bed pretty well, or maybe I just slept through all the noise. I was the first adult up in the morning (thanks to my alarm) and all the girls who woke up earlier were very courteous and quiet. We got everything packed up fairly quickly.
Outside, the world was quiet and cold. We broke tradition and for the first time EVER, we were NOT in Potgut hut. All Cazier's have been in Potgut hut. But we actually were in a boy's cabin. It is the only one with a ramp.
We made it through the night and we weren't even that tired. It was back to the main lodge for some last day activities.
There was plenty more boondoggling. But then they got out the rocket stuff. It was really fun except slightly dangerous. It was paper, so it wasn't that bad, but no one was keeping the kids out of the way. The rockets would come blazing through and kids would try to catch them. No one was hurt and it all ended well, but it could have been bad.
There may have been a return of the pink ninja. But she is hard to catch on camera, because of her wicked awesome fast speedy skills.
I must give a shout out to my team mom. We were in charge of the yellow group. Emily was amazing. She speaks multiple languages and encouraged me a lot to use my Spanish. I was probably a little grumpy about it. I get so nervous because I can't understand anything. But we bounced around from English to Spanish to French. She was delightful. I hope we get together again sometime.
Spoiler Alert: We made it home safely and had a great time. I'm thinking that I will be up for doing this again with Pearl in a couple years.
