The Spring Break I Forgot To Tell You About

I had a fantastic spring break!....

...and then I forgot to blog about it, causing one of the largest post recessions in Claire's Creative Days history.


:' (

Oh well, let's not dwell on the past, shall we? Here is a quick (okay, maybe not) summary of each of my spring break adventures.....

Part I: Volunteering
This was probably one of the most memorable parts of Spring Break. At the camp we helped run, I met lots and lots of new friends, and their signatures are all on my picture frame I got at the retreat.  At first, arts and crafts seemed boring because our prep consisted of doing nothing but cutting yarn. And cutting some more. And then cutting some more. But it all paid off in the end, because now I can make a mean friendship bracelet! :) We also set up an egg hunt for the kids at the start of the week. I paired up with a new found buddy, and using the simple yet cunning strategy of "divide and conquer", I helped her win the hunt for her age group, $5, and a whole lot of candy!
It wasn't all work and no play for us, though, because we got plenty of free time in between camp. The house some of the kids were staying overnight at had this AMAZING basement! There was this beautiful mural on the wall of a city close by to where we were, and things only got more intriguing from there. The furniture ranged from movie theater seating to wraparound sofas to cozy couches which laid under a bit of wall that jutted out, making sitting seem like crawling into a totally different room. Furthermore, there were lots of secret corners and rooms nestled in between the space, so you could easily just hide somewhere for hours and listen to music. My favorite area was a study zone covered from head to toe in pillows and books. Nobody else noticed this place, so I got some much yearned-for alone time!
The backyard also provided plenty of activities. It had an open patch of grass perfect for games of jump rope, a basketball hoop, picnic benches, and a secret hideout behind a rusty shed. There was also a huge deck we all liked to hang out on (and eat snacks on!). The neighbors had a dog named Lucy, and we all liked to talk to her between the cracks of the fence-or when we were looking out over the fence when we were behind the shed.
One of my favorite memories was when we all started picking dandelions (the streets were covered with hundreds of them; I was sad there were so many weeds- but so pretty!) to make a long daisy chain for one of the younger kids in our group. (We ended up making rings, anklets, a wand with the "wishing ones" and a crown, too- then she became the Dandelion Queen!) It was then we got a genius idea. Looking around the yard, we saw that there were lots of dandelions (the yellow and "wishing" ones), along with other colorful varieties of weeds. There also were dozens of discarded water bottles under the porch. So, we thought, why not make bouquets? We started a "floral arrangement" station at the picnic table, and filled bottles up with dandelions, purple, blue, white, and green weeds, and little orange or white blossoms from a bush. Some of the best weeds were crawling up the shed, so that ended up being how we discovered the secret place. The bouquets were beautiful, and we displayed them proudly on the deck tables as centerpieces.
We also got to make several fun outings. First, we went to McDonalds and all bought McFlurrys. Later on in the week, we got to go to Chick-Fil-A for their awesome lemonade and milkshakes! That trip was followed by a drive to the park for a game of Ultimate Frisbee. (I am not the most athletic person in the world, so a friend and I walked down to "High School Hill", the steep incline the high school kids had their egg hunt on.) There was also lots of takeout pizza!
The week concluded with a cookout at the camp building, where we all had some great food- and saw some great jump roping!

*pants* Oops. I said that was going to be short, didn't I? Oh well....
Blog Ya Later!

Stay Tuned for Part II of CJ's Spring Break- In Maryland! Just Dance 2! Monster Hunting! Jumpy Places! (groan) Plants Vs. Zombies! Jellybeans! Trampolines! Egg Hunts! More Jellybeans....

A's New Blog

Does anybody remember A and S from the post Fun With Trains way back in 2009? Well, I have great news: A has a blog! It is called Life Before The Dinosaurs, and it is all about, well, life before the dinosaurs! It's a very cool blog, and I must say I learned a lot. Check it out today!