"My Mount Hermon Home"

This year when the CA 17 freeway towards Santa Cruz started getting woodsy and curvy and we knew we were just minutes away from the start of our favorite week of the year, we put on Jack's "Goin' Back to My Mount Hermon Home" song and sang the lyrics about the "sweetest fellowship I've ever known" and "the little piece of heaven" and "our hearts always staying in the redwoods" at the top of our lungs.  This small musical moment on the ascent to our 6th week at Family Camp reminded me that Mount Hermon, in many ways, is like our second home.  We stay in the exact same cabin each year.  We share it with the same friends.  The schedule of daily activities doesn't change much.  We know exactly what to expect and make plans for what we'll participate in.  We can even predict what dinner we'll have based on what we haven't yet seen served in the dining hall.  Mount Hermon is so comfortable, it just feels like home.  And what a cool thing it is when the place that feels so much like home is also so much like heaven.

So, though the pictures are familiar and similar to those taken last year and the one before, here are a few peeks at what our Mount Hermon Home looked like in 2013.

 This year the facial artwork was of a super-hero nature at the opening night's carnival and picnic.

 One new thing for us was a hike down to the sling shot and archery range.  The girls seemed to enjoy learning about shooting, though mine were the only arrows to actually hit any targets.

 The dining hall silliness with good buddies was the same as always.

 We got to spend a nice day visiting Daddy's high school camp, meeting his new friends and watching their crazy slip 'n slide.

One night we had an all-camp dance party on the big lawn, led by a Zumba instructor.  Guess where Ella and Delia spent this whole night?  Yep, up on the stage.

 We survived the big hike up to Pancake Ridge once again and were rewarded with humongous steaming hot pancakes straight off the fire, Jack's fiddle playing and pancake flipping contests. See Ella's in the air?

 Being a 1st grader now, one huge change was Delia's move up to big kid Day Camp this year.  This means the counselors were wackier, the Bible studies a little more in depth and the activities more fun.  Delia had a lot of classmates from school with her Day Camp. (All boys, she loves those boys!)  She really enjoyed her slip 'n slide day.  Especially when a counselor would slide behind her and give her a boost!

 Dave came down to spend a day with us too.  This year we took him to the game room for some fuse ball, air hockey and table shuffle board.  He was also able to watch the girls do some more adventurous things on rock walls and ropes courses that I'll post about later.

Those incredible redwoods.  They've been around for thousands of years, so the 6 that we've enjoyed them are nothing.  But these old giants that the camp is built among are probably my favorite part of our second home-- a sentiment I'm sure countless others through the centuries have shared!  

Delia gives a little wave before her group performs their goofy "Tarzan" lawn chant at the final night's program.  And after their performance, these girls, like little groupies, enjoyed singing along to one from Jack on the Commons.  

And a final group shot of the kids.  As some of our kids get old enough to start going to the Hi-Camp Dave helps lead, and others were unable to attend this year for various family reasons, this year was actually our most different.  Our group all fit in one pew and around one meal table.  We seemed just a little bit quieter.  We missed passing some beloved faces in the daily to-do.  Despite these changes, our week at Mount Hermon was another blessed one.  We worshiped, we learned, we were challenged, we fellowshipped, we read, we wore ourselves out with fun, we laughed, we celebrated growth, we rested and recharged in God's great creation.  We were home.