Trees Camp

Once upon a time, last winter, Catherine's awesome Primary Activity leader sent out a message to all the girls about an opportunity for a summer camp. It was a week-long, outdoor camp focusing on the art and science of trees. I saw it and immediately knew it was a perfect fit for Catherine. I immediately got online and signed her up, snagging the very last spot! 

She was nervous. She knew absolutely no one, plus being outside all day in the middle of hot and humid July seemed like zero fun. But she was willing to do it for the trees. And after day 1, she was hooked!

They spent the entire week in the woods, learning about trees in general and the specific trees native to our area. Mornings were for science, then afternoons for art. The kids ranged from 10-18, so Catherine was one of the youngest. But everyone was really kind and she made several friends. 

At the end of the week they invited the families to come to a presentation. We got to enjoy seeing all of their nature sketchbooks:

Catherine's tree art:

Creating her artwork:

Some cute pictures they had of the group:

Catherine is the one scowling and dangling over the railing on the right.

Climbing down an obstacle at camp.

Catherine the tree queen

Balancing the giant balance board off on of the trails

Then it was time for the program to begin! The entire thing was created by the kids, with help from some of their teachers. They opened with a song they wrote about trees, which Catherine (and apparently the rest of the kids) was extremely embarrassed about. But I got the whole thing on video so we can enjoy it for generations to come. 

Singing about trees, trees, trees, trees. 

Each participant also got to plan their own skit. Catherine did one with her camp friend, Claire:

It was kinda hard to hear anything, but I think they were 'painting' and comparing their works.

Catherine was most proud of the 'advertising breaks', where small groups would come up a sing a little jingle from a commercial while doing some kind of coordinated actions. Her favorite one was "Safelight repair, Safelight replace." It had some complicated arm movements that she was quite proud of mastering. 

This was the highlight of Catherine's summer. I literally could not have designed a camp more perfect for Catherine. She hung her certificate from camp in a place of honor on her bedroom wall and is already begging to go back again next year. I'm grateful they were able to make this work despite Covid and all the complications it presents!