Pine Cove 2010

Days after receiving news that our J-man might not being staying with us forever we got a call from Pine Cove Family Camp. You see we were on the wait list since the beginning of summer and to be honest really thought that we weren't going to be able to go to camp this year. We had a little over a week to get everything ready to go and were SO EXCITED.

We have never taken a vacation as just the McManus Family and were so looking forward to it. We pulled up to the gates of Pine Cove and immediately realized that this week was going to be no ordinary family camp. Counselors lined the road jumping, singing, and waving us in (it was over 100 degrees that day). As we pulled in, the director welcomed us and introduced us to a counselor who would escort us into camp. Meanwhile another counselor took our van and little did we know went and park it at our cabin and GET THIS unloaded the car and unpacked everything. When I first learned about this it freaked me out, but I got over it when I realized that I didn't have to do it! Wow it was such a blessing and YES at the end of camp they packed the van back up for us.

We were overwhelmed at first because every family at camp knew each other and was busy catching up and signing up for weekly activities. We later learned that we were the only "new" family at camp. We got our picture taken and had to introduce our family on video. The rest of the night was kind of a blur, but we knew that we were in for a fun week. Here's a rundown of the highlights.

CAMP FOOD: Every meal was absolutely delicious. I know camp food?? YES CAMP FOOD. I'm not a big meat person(Adam was lovin the meat; chicken, fish, steak, brisket, bacon, sausage, pork-something), but every meal a counselor made me an AWESOME salad and the bread!!! I still dream about camp bread. Every meal there was a different type; muffins, french toast, rolls, corn bread, homemade slice bread, bread sticks, scones, the list goes on! Oh yeah did I mention the HOMEMADE, ooey-gooey, melty, straight out of the oven cookies we got every night. They were to die for!! Camp was carb heaven!

FAMILY DEVOTION TIME: Every morning after breakfast we dropped the babies off at their class. And went to "our" hammock. We went through our devotion of the day together. It was a special time to talk to just the big kids.

COVE KIDS: The kids had scheduled "class time" most days from 10:00am-lunch and then 1:00-3:00pm. They got to play toys in an AC building, play outside, listen to bible stories, sing, do crafts, go swimming, ride horses, and had special days like meeting the bubble princess and going on a real pirate treasure hunt. Bryce even took a nap everyday, I'm telling you camp was magical. The boys LOVED their class and especially their counselors. You'll get sick of me bragging about the counselors, but they made the camp. The babies had a blast too. They got morning and afternoon naps, cuddles, playtime, special walks to the swing merry go round, and lots of attention.

ADULT FREE TIME: Ummm hello who doesn't think that that sounds ABSOLUTELY PERFECT? Adam and I got to go horse back riding, swim ALONE at the pool, swing in a hammock and take a nap, do the ropes course, and went on a real FREAKIN cattle drive.

ENTERTAINMENT: We were constantly being sung too, enjoyed skits, experienced great adult and family worship, and overall laughed a lot. My kids loved it and Adam and I genuinely thought that it was clever. That says a lot cause Adam and I have a "weird" sense of humor.

BIBLICAL TEACHING: Adam and I got to enjoy some teaching time every day while the kids were in the morning session of Cove Kids. Our speaker was great and imagine how thrilled we were when we learned that his wife and him had adopted twice. We also learned that 5 families at camp had adopted, it felt wonderful not being the "weird" family all week.

FAMILY FREE TIME: Ah everyone looked forward to this time everyday. Babies were usually still taking a nap during this time so we were free to go play with the older boys. We spent almost every family free time in the lagoon. It was a huge man-made lake that housed all the CRAZY stuff. They had a huge water slide called the "water rocket", a water trampoline, the iceberg (a 2-story floating inflatable rock wall), the blob, a zip line that sent you straight into the water, and a 3 story deck to leap off. Our boys were little extreme sport crazies and loved trying everything. Clarification Bryce did the trampoline and slide, but Connor literally did EVERY SINGLE THING. When babies woke up we went straight to the pool to play some more.

CAMPER CALL: Ok seriously I wish I had these in my every day life. Camper calls are simple you fill out a piece of paper with a time and place and 2 counselors meet you there and take care of your kids. We used them early in the mornings so we could go on 6 mile mountain bike ride 2 mornings and when we did some of our ropes course. The counselors met us at the cabin and waited until the kids got up, then they got them dressed and took them to breakfast for us. It was GLORIOUS!

DATE NIGHT: Adam and I got 2 date nights during the week at camp. The kiddos once again were taken care of perfectly and had a blast one night at a pool party and the other night enjoying a carnival. The first night Adam and I attended at banquet with all the other couples and the second night we got to go have a picnic dinner then went dancing.

Lot's of pics to enjoy!



It was a fantastic week! Wanna join us next year???