MDA Camp

I dropped Emma off yesterday at MDA camp.  It's already weird without her home.  We usually talk for a little while in her room before she goes to bed, and we didn't do that last night.  I miss her.

They do a really nice job of welcoming the kids and getting them registered.

Each of the counselors writes some kind of a welcome message to their camper on the sidewalk outside of the main building.  (Each camper gets their own personal counselor at MDA camp.  Lots of these kids have specialized equipment or need help with everyday things, so this way works best.  Some kids even have two counselors.)

Emma has a new counselor this year: Abbie.  Her favorite counselor (Kate) was unable to come again this year, but I have a good feeling about Abbie.  The thing is, she's only a year older than Emma!  This is Abbie's first year helping out, and they usually pair a new counselor with a veteran camper.  (Likewise, new campers get a veteran counselor.)  So that's why they're so close in age.  I'm praying that it won't be awkward, and that they'll just end up being good friends.  Emma doesn't need as much help as most of the other kids, so I think it'll work out that way.

Also, Emma's friend, Savannah,  pulled into the parking lot at the same time we did.  Savannah is in her cabin (yay!), and Abbie told me that she and Savannah's counselor are friends.  I'm imagining that the four of them will just buddy around all week long.  It should be a good time.

The cabin is shaped like a T, and Emma's bunk is in the vertical part of the T by the back door.  Abbie's bed is just across it--on Emma's right in this picture.  Dragonfly is one of the older cabins, but it's still pretty nice.  Besides Savannah and her counselor, there will be one other camper/counselor set in this cabin, but we didn't meet them.  (I meant to get a shot of Savannah & Emma, but Savannah was still busy getting settled.)

After leaving Emma & Abbie, the kids and I went back to the main building to write letters to Emma.  (That's new this year.  Great idea!)  You can choose which day you want for them to receive it.  She'll get it today.  Dave mailed her a letter on Saturday, and we'll mail another one today.

Anyway, while we were writing the letters, one of the staff guys was putting up this poster:

One thing the counselors need to watch for in their campers is constipation.  Fun, eh?  Since this can be embarrassing for the campers, the staff takes a light-hearted approach, as you can see.

Edited to add: 

They put up pictures every day on Facebook.  If you like "MDA Green Bay", then you can see what they're up to each day.

Like I said, they really do a good job.  = )