A Visit to Camp Don Lee

Adam and I were invited to a Gideons International Pastors' Appreciation Picnic today. The Gideons in our county do such a sweet job of making all the local pastors feel loved. The picnic was held at Camp Don Lee. Our county has quite a few excellent summer camps. Don Lee is affiliated with the United Methodist Church.

Like most camps, it has a fun swimming pool. This one is probably full of salt water, however.

And cabins. Old-style cabins. I loved strolling around Don Lee because it reminds me of an old-fashioned kids' camp, the kind I attended each summer as a child.

And since it's the South ... a camp is full of pine trees and the heady piney scent rising from the ground when the the southern sun bakes the pine needles, day after day.

But this is a summer camp with this:

A fine, long pier and a collection of sunfishes:

A pretty boathouse:

A sailing buddy-board, just before you get on your sunfish!

This interesting building is near the water.

Sailing. Various cabins. RV hook-ups. What a nice spot!

These cabins are much newer.

Standing on the grass gazing at the river is a fine pass-time.

How'd you like to have your cabin meeting or your group devotions in this spot?

Our lunch was in the gym, a building replete with kid fun from decades of of summer antics. See the spinnaker? And the walls are covered with crazy-imaginative boards designed by campers to leave a little stamp of their camp joys. Some date to 1979.

After lunch a group of men sang for us.

Some of the campers' boards:

They're very fun, very creative, a remnant of kids' happiest days from the past 35 years.

If you look up the river, you'll see the next long pier belonging to the next camp up the river, Camp Seagull. It's a boys' camp run by the YMCA. It's a fancy camp, expensive, wonderful, very nice. But not an old-fashioned camp, I think. If you look carefully at the far pier, you can just see the Minnesott Ferry, heading to Cherry Point.

No Time to Chat

We're insanely busy, so I'm gonna give you a nice pile of pictures from the past five days, with captions.

Two little nieces reading on the stairs

Grace

Liberty

All little cousins like to sit on their grandparents' steps. It's a family trait.

Julia was at camp all last week.

She slept in a tent.

She made a friend ...

... or two.

After camp we all went to church together on Sunday. The flowers were pretty.

Teenaged cousins eat, A LOT.

My niece Kyrie and her hubby of one year, Jonathan

When I tried to take a photo of cute cousins, Katie bolted from the chair.

But I got a cute pic of her anyway :)

Ben is a great boy, and he likes his dear sister, Hannah. Do we have some good looks in this family, or what?

The eating was fairly constant.

The Iowa cousins arrived -- Kesse and Hannah.

Julia

Kyrie, Julia, Kayren, Kesse, Hannah, Patience, Aleya, Katie -- holding Nathan and Ben

Cousins give the best back rubs.

Julia, Kayren and I bought new rings at Linda's Rock Shop!

Then we went to Quotations Coffee Shop and Alynn got me a chai latte.

We also dashed to Pisgah Forest. Some friends had a birthday party there. Julia and Aleya took a turn in the tubes.

Kyrie and Jonathan are expecting their first bambino.

On the way home yesterday we stopped in Statesville and Mooresville, and dropped in at Birkdale Village.

I love the Fragrance Shop. If you have a smell you love, they have it.

Hundreds of apothecary jars

We had some time to visit with Kara and Peter! They look great.

I had to share this innovative planter idea.

Back in Oriental, the kids went sunfish sailing today.

Aleya and Kesse did a fine job of it.

Julia, Kesse, and Aleya took to the oars.

Then Jonathan and Kayren jumped on the sunfish. He was a natural.

The sunfish must have worn Kayren out because she fell asleep with her crochet hook in hand.