Friday, November 21, 2008

Ishikawa 5th grade outdoor school

Just got back from being the nurse at the Ishikawa 5th grade outdoor school. It was an awesome, tiring, nervewracking, funny experience. My sanity has been left in Payson, Arizona which is 70 miles north of Mesa, Arizona. I am hoping it returns to me this weekend:)

Again, the Arizona weather was being wacky!!! It was 70 during the day (Payson is at a higher elevation) and then 30 degrees at night. So we were either hot or so cold that we could not stand it. The food was great!! It was all homemade and lots of it. It was nice not to have to cook. The kids were so excited the first day and just could not settle down. The second day they were kept busy from sunup to sundown. They had to do skits and cheers-the boys beat the girls for originality and being funny! They actually sang, acted and just did the funniest things. The girls were too busy giggling.

The first night one of the boys woke up throwing up at 2 am with a high fever. I did not get any sleep as I sat by the boy and just kept rubbing his back and taking him to the toilet. It is so hard to be away from home and sick. I wanted him to feel like his mom and dad were with him. I finally called his parents at 5 am. It is hard to find the camp and I did not want the parents trying to find it in the dark. He had the most joyful expression when his dad walked into the nurses cabin and picked him up!

5 girls somehow rattled a beehive and had bees up their pants, in their shirts, etc. I was going to go on the night hike but something told me (the Holy Ghost I am sure) to go back to the nurses cabin. Thank goodness I did as 10 minutes later 5 hysterical girls were screaming in my cabin. I had them stripped to their underwear and their leader and I were frantically stomping all the bees that came out out of their pants. Soon we had them all settled down, covered with Calmaseptine lotion, Benadyl and Motrin. Thank goodness none of them were allergic to bees! They also got chocolate from my secret stash-I told them chocolate makes everything better. Those girls then did a parody of me in their skit the next night and ratted my chocolate stash out!!

My legs ache from all the hills, my eyes want to shut right now and I have a stack of laundry to do. I will post all the pictures and more fun stuff Darin got to do after I have a good nights rest.
Thank goodness Dylan is not in 5th grade for 2 more years. By then, I will have forgotten how tired I am and will happily volunteer to be the camp nurse again. Until then, if anyone finds my sanity, please send it back to me:)

4 comments:

Mom of Esquared November 21, 2008 at 6:43 PM  

It's not here. I guess you now know that it was like for the Girls camp nurse every summer. If I find your sanity I might just keep it for a while I might like it better than mine.

Mary November 22, 2008 at 6:13 AM  

Holy cow, Steph.

Sounds like some funny memories you'll always have to look back on. I bet it feels good to be home!

rich and steph November 22, 2008 at 8:24 AM  

It feels great to be home;) Kassandra, if you find it you cannot have it!!!!!

Michelle Devine November 23, 2008 at 9:18 AM  

Wow! What a three days! Paul said you were awesome. He really had a fun time. But now you really need a vacation and SLEEP! And Im sorry you missed twilight. Heather and I are going to go again with anyone who wants to go. Do you want to? Ill let you know when. And if you want a necklace or bracelet it all yours. Just give me the word. I still have your shirt folded nicely here too. :)