Family Reunion Highlights?
Every two years we have a family reunion that includes my Mother,
all of my siblings, and all of our families.
We have been having it at a church camp in my area for the past several years.
This year we decided to try a different camp, also close by.
My mother has 7 children, and all but 1 of us was able to be there this year.
Our reunions are always such fun – we have planned activities but also leave time for
socializing, playing games, an auction, talent show, and of course – eating.
I live in an area surrounded by lakes, and the camp is located on one of them.
The kids had tons of fun playing in the water – at least for the little time they had!
I won’t tell you the name of the camp, but I will tell you we were dissapointed
with it in some ways. One of the camps stipulations was that no one could go into the water
without their lifeguard on duty. This is completely understandable, and we really appreciate
their concern for safety. However, we were there friday night, saturday, and sunday till noon.
And the only time they provided the life guard was saturday from 2 to 5 pm.
Even that would have been ok, if they hadn’t given us the Nazi Life-guard from Hell……
He had a whistle that he loved to blow for any infraction.. big or small…
They had a roped off area that was around 3 feet deep that we had to stay within.
Even in the paddle boats we weren’t to go outside of this area.
Everyone, adults included, was required to wear a life jacket..
Now before you start coming down on me -
I agree that safety is important, and I realize that
they probably have a fear of liability issues..
But at 3 pm on Saturday, when we were one hour in on
our only scheduled swim time,
the lifeguard came into the water and pulled out the slides that were
attached to the blow up structures you see in the pictures above.
When questioned about this, he replied in an epic Lord of the Rings voice.
“It is the end of summer…”
Wow….. what power that pudgy, bald, whistle blowing lifeguard had…
On Saturday, August 13th, at 3pm pacific standard time… Summer ended…..
Ok, so I exaggerated about the LOTR voice, but the rest was just the facts- I swear!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We had a similar situation when it came to the meals..
The manager and his little team of young-ens would get all the food ready
and set up along two tables. Then he would come and announce to us that we could begin.
At that point all the pre-teen boys with high metabolisms in the family
leapt to the front of the line,
leaving the rest of us trying to act casual as we stood
in line behind them..anticipating the coming battle..
The camp staff was a group of what had to be former prison guard’s,
and they refused to let us dish up our own plates..
They also had a strange interpretation of what constitutes a ‘serving’.
You have not experienced pure anguish until you have watched a 40 year
old man plead like Oliver Twist for just a few more frito morsels for his taco salad…
But the staff remained resolute.. 8 fritos per plate should be a-plenty…
And the very second that last person went through the line, the staff jumped in and ate
like a swarm of locust devouring a field. Not a crumb was left behind.
Friday nights meal was $10 per person.. my family arrived late.
My $10 plate consisted of a cold shriveled hot dog with no bun, twelve bbq beans,
a teaspoon of potato salad, and a dry brownie… oh, and some water..
But that was a feast compared to the gluten free menu.
Yep, that’s it. I mean the whole menu… for 4 people..
Ok – I need to let you know that we did not rag and complain the whole
weekend.. we had a wonderful time and thoroughly loved most aspects
of the camp. But the things that were bad, were very, very bad…
I read the book ‘The Help’ during my time there, and I considered
leaving them one of Minnie’s Famous Chocolate Pies….. but I thought better of that..
Maybe I will just mail them one..to celebrate the end of summer and all…..
Carol-Anne (Use The Good Dishes!)
275 days ago
I appreciate that you didn’t name the place…but I hope you WILL send them a copy of this post! They obviously need to know and to know that they’ve lost any possibility of your business in the future!
[Reply]
Sharyl@Thelittlebrownhouse Reply:
August 16th, 2011 at 8:28 am
Oh believe me – they will get a few comment cards!
[Reply]
Janice
275 days ago
Please. Do you want this same thing to happen to some other unsuspecting person. Name names. What good is a blog if you can’t eradicate evil. Just saying.
[Reply]
Sharyl@Thelittlebrownhouse Reply:
August 16th, 2011 at 8:29 am
Wow! Eradicating evil! I like that…
[Reply]
The Lumberjack's Wife
275 days ago
Wow! They sound intense!
Did you like The Help? I did. I went and saw the movie last night. It was good!
[Reply]
PatriciaD.
275 days ago
Yes, they definitely deserve the pie…
[Reply]
Paula Jo @ Home and Garden Decor
275 days ago
I’m so glad that you had a good time with the family even though the camp was a big disappointment. I for sure wouldn’t go there again. You were calmer than I would have been, that’s for sure.
[Reply]
Jan
274 days ago
Well, you outlined it pretty well – I mean, the troops were heading for a full-on revolt but then the reunion was over and so were the messages from “sarge” and his crew……whew, it’s a good thing we are a pretty good-natured group of people! Just don’t ever take away our toys or our food dangit!
[Reply]
Debbie
274 days ago
Sharyl, I love how you can still find humor in a bad situation. Sounds like you have a great family. Come visit me at thehappynana.wordpress.com. We grandmas and nanas need to stick together.
[Reply]
Amanda M.
274 days ago
I adore your humor! And I like that you all still have a fun time!
I’ll be ready to start reading “The Help” soon, and can’t wait!
The place def. deserves to know how you feel.
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Dicie
272 days ago
I thought rules were for other people…plus I can row a kayak faster than a lifeguard can swim after me;0)
[Reply]
Reanna
271 days ago
You know, I might just have to ‘borrow’ that phrase myself: ‘Gonna have to serve up some pie…’ Sorry y’all didn’t have as great a time as before, but I agree with other posters, that the camp should know about their service.
[Reply]
Kimbosue
268 days ago
What a horrible “end of summer” experience! GAH! Can you report them to the BBB or something?
And I totally would have left them one of Minnie’s pies. Just watched the movie last night and adored the book!
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