Kitchen Crew Candids

Shadow Valley Camp runs smoothly, in large part because the campers are well-fed. A record of this year's wouldn't be complete without a record of the kitchen crew at work. So here's a look at the cooks...

 Pam,

 Mary...

 ...and her assistant Meredith,

 Mary and Megan trying to cut through ice cream

for the Buster Bar dessert,

 Nadya and Pam working on Grandma Annie cookies,

 June doing the meat thing,

 Kris making I'm not sure what,

 Beth...

 ...and Kathy...

...with their assistant, Alaisyah.

But the food wouldn't get to the hungry hordes

without servers like

 

Mary

and Vasya.

Now, to give your salivary glands a work out, take a look at some of this year's food.

Pam's delicious berry and fruit salad,

 Sunday brunch orange rolls,

 and caramel rolls,

and pies in the making.

Are you hungry yet?

News Flash: Card Shark in the Making!

 Thanks to Aunt Beth's fine tutelage,

 Shadow Valley Camp has a new card shark in the making,

as these photos show. 

Pay special attention to....

 

 ....the position of the cards in this series of photos,

 and be sure to note the expressions on Daniel's face

 as he gets the hang of things.

Watch out next summer, Shadow Valley Crazy Eights players.

Auntie Beth taught Daniel very well!

Building the Machine Shed

The machine shed work crew accomplished a lot this summer. These pictures show how much progress was made.

 The shed looked like this when camp week began.

 The arrival of the cement truck to pour the footings created quite a bit of excitement,

 and quite a bit of work for the cement crew which consisted of Chris,

Steve, Tim, Chris (again), Jay,

 and Nate.

 Misha, Joel,

 Tommy, and Kristina,

served in a supervisory position.

 

After the cement truck left, the footings looked good.

 

 Tommy,

 Joel,

 and several other "kids" left their mark in the cement.

 The next day Saul, Chris,

 Vasya, Steve, and Steve worked on the girders,

having great fun with power tools.

 Then Dave did some dirt work

 with large machinery

 and the rest of the crew followed up with hand tools.

 Then they went back to the girders, building them higher,

 and higher,

 all the while having way too much fun with those power tools.

Much work remains to be done on the machine shed, 

but thanks to this hearty crew,

things are looking up!

How to Build a Playhouse with Life-Sized Lincoln Logs

photo source 

Lincoln logs have been a source of frustration for me ever since the sibs and I received a small canister for Christmas in the early 1960s. It was the size of the one above–big enough to make a pint-sized ranch style house–much smaller than what was pictured on the container. Between that frustration and my constant lusting for hair as curly and blond as the child model's, I never master Lincoln Log construction.

Fast forward to Family Camp 2013, where one of the projects was the renovation of the old log cabin playhouse. The dismantling and rebuilding of the structure was an educational experience with life-sized Lincoln Logs, one that demanded to be recorded in photographs.

First, Mary tries to take down the structure with karate kicks.

When that doesn't work, Mike uses a crowbar,

 while Mary and Kaitlyn climb onto the roof with hammers in hand,

and pull off the roof.

Kinda weird, huh?

Meanwhile, far-seeing Myleah color codes and numbers the logs for future reference.

Once the logs are all numbered and the demolition is complete, the playhouse looks like this. The pile of wood in the top right corner is material that needs to be replaced: the roof, the floor, 7 wall logs, and other items.

They really do look like life-sized Lincoln Logs!

Replacing the bad logs is easy. Just go to the nearby woods, cut down trees of the correct size, and add them to the pile. Then get Karen and Kaitlyn to peel the logs.

Next, put Dave behind the wheel of heavy machinery to level the dirt in the new, shady location not far from the old spot,

lay the foundation blocks,

and talk Mike and Misha into hauling one log,

and another...you get the idea.

Of course, the new logs need to be notched. But that's easy when Dave wields his chain saw.

Add the floor joists and another layer of logs, including the door threshold log, to hold the joists in place.

Things slow down a bit when it's time to lay the floor, which is made of deck planks left from another camp project. Karen is a whiz with power tools.

Unfortunately, the day of my departure arrived before the floor was completed and more logs went up. So there are no more pictures this year. But just wait until next year when the playhouse will be up and running for Family Camp 2014!

PS: Thanks to Pam Walker who sent this picture of the playhouse at the end of Family Camp, 2013. With the roof on, she says, the structure should be able to make it through the winter.

Kinda makes you want to be a kid again, doesn't it?