Moving to Teacher's Quorum

It's July 11, and it's my birthday! Since I'm 14 now, I've moved up to Teacher's Quorum. Because of this, the blog will run a little differently, you'll either be hearing about Deacon's Quorum events, and Teacher's Quorum events!

Camp Oljato 2010: Day 8

Then along came Saturday, the day we went home. We all got up, packed our sleeping bags and sleeping pads, and headed out of camp.

We hauled our stuff to the dock, and then went over to the Dining Hall to have a quick breakfast of cinnamon rolls and leftover cereal.

After breakfast, we went back to the dock and hauled our stuff onto the boat. Then we hopped onto the boat, and said goodbye to Camp Oljato.

It took a little while to get back across Huntington Lake (but I'm sure it was quicker than the Mile Swim!).

At long last, we got back to the dock in Lakeshore. We hauled all our stuff out. We then took a quick group picture...

...and then since it was the last time we'd see Brandon for a while, we had a big group hug.

Then we threw our stuff into the back of Brother Jackson's truck, and picked which cars we'd ride in. Brother Kukuk, Rick, Dallin, Jaren, and I were in Brother Jackson's truck.

On the way down, Dallin realized he had no seat belt, so he tried to make one himself.

Attempt #1:

Attempt #2:

We drove down the mountains and through the Central Valley. We stopped at an In-N-Out in Tracy for lunch.

After several moments of everyone constantly yelling "SHUT UP!" and watching Brother Kukuk rock out to "California Gurls", we made it back home, safe and sound.

And that's our week at Camp Oljato! Adios!

Camp Oljato 2010: Day 7

Friday was our last full day at Camp Oljato, and it started out with a BANG! Literally! You see, Dallin Earl told some of the staff to wake him up at around 5:00 in the morning for the Mile Swim, which is when you have to swim across Huntington Lake and back. So they came into our camp banged some pots and pans, and yelled "MILE SWIM! WAKE UP!" Not only did they wake Dallin up, but everyone else!

Brother Jackson left that morning, so Randall and Brother Kukuk were our leaders. And Dallin came back from the Mile Swim, cold, wet, and tired.

The day went on as usual: Flag Ceremony, breakfast in the Dining Hall, our first two classes, and then lunch. You see, throughout the whole week, Jeremy kept on getting the bent spoon at least once a day. It was weird.

Oh yeah, in the Fish and Wildlife class, somebody found mouse and its babies. They were put in a tank in the Nature area.

During Free Time, we made a big flag pole in our camp. We were kind of inspired by the flag pole in the Comanche camp.

It was also our turn to clean the bathrooms. Grant, some Danville 1st Ward kids, and I went and cleaned some of the bathrooms. Also during Free Time, Brother Garff came up to camp for the last day.

Then came dinner. Since it was the last day, some of the staff got to eat up on the table suspended in the Dining Hall.

We also got to eat pizza and hang out with some of our favorite staff members.

We then went to a Closing Campfire, where some troops and scouts were given awards. Connor got an award from one of his classes, and Dallin got an award for the Mile Swim.

And that's all for Day 7!

Camp Oljato 2010: Day 6

Before we knew it, it was Thursday: the day of the Olympicade. The Olympicade is a series of events where each troop competes against each other, all during Free Time. Luckily, Randall and Brother Kukuk had gotten to camp just in time for it.

The first event was the Regatta, where Jeff and Rick had to sail across Huntington Lake and back. They won 3rd place for us.

Then after a few events, came the 30 vs. 30. Ryan asked Brother Jackson, "What's the 30 vs. 30?"

Brother Jackson answered, "I'm not sure. I think it may be a scavenger hunt, here you have to find 30 things,"

"Okay, I'll do that," said Ryan. Apparently, the 30 vs. 30 was a speech contest, where you had to talk for 30 minutes on any given subject.

After the 30 vs. 30, Ryan comes back to Brother Jackson with his eyes really wide and says, "Brother Jackson? That definitely wasn't a scavenger hunt!"

Then along came the Jenga Craziness, which is what Brandon and I signed up for. What we had to do was take one block at a time from one table and build a tower on another table in a certain amount of time. Whichever troop has the tallest tower wins. Brandon would hand me one block at a time and I would build the tower. We won first place with 20.74 centimeters!

After that was the Dodgeball Tournament. Kyle, Dewlin, Grant, Spencer, and Seth represented our troop. While all the other troops chose to be "shirts" we chose to be "skins".

Not to brag or anything, but Kyle, Dewlin, Grant, and Seth were really good at dodgeball, and Spencer was really good at catching, so we ended up winning 2nd place in dodgeball.

Then came the Hard Walk, which is what Jeremy and Connor signed up for. I don't know what that was, but all I heard from Jeremy afterwards was, "Man, that was hard!"

Then came the Pentathalon. Rick and Jeff had take a Snickers bar wrapped in duct tape and canoe out into Huntington Lake, capsize their canoe, get back in, and canoe back. Then they had to pass the Snickers bar on to Dallin Earl, who had to swim out into the lake, and swim back with the Snickers bar in his mouth. Then he had to pass it on to Dewlin, who had to run around a quarter of the lake, and run back. Then he had to pass it on to Dallin Bruschke, who had to unwrap the Snickers bar, and eat it as fast as he could.

He won 4th place for us.

Before dinner, we went back to camp, and we had to practice the song we were singing for the Troop Skit Campfire (each troop had to make up a skit or sing a song that night). We sang "The Joker" by The Steve Miller Band, and Connor changed some of the words so that it would be more appropriate.

We then ate steak for dinner, and then went over to the Troop Skit Campfire.

When it was our turn to sing, Connor played the guitar and sang the different verses. We got to sing the chorus. All-in-all, we weren't that bad!

And that's pretty much it for Day 6!

Camp Oljato 2010: Day 5

Now Wednesday was a little different. Brother Jackson came up to camp, and Brother Spencer left us in his hands. It was also the day all the staff got a break from serving the meals, and the day where nobody goes to the Flag Ceremony (except for the troop that's putting up the flag). Apparently, we were supposed to put up the flags that morning. Kyle, Grant, Seth, Spencer, Jaren, and Dewlin put up the flags, and I announced each step.

Since the staff wasn't serving the meals that day, we just ate each meal in our camp. We ate our breakfast burritos in camp, and then hung around and played ping pong until our first class started.

For the Camping class, Dallin Bruschke and I got to hike out to a little island in the lake.

Then came lunchtime. We went back to camp and ate sandwiches, chips, and cookies. And apparently, we could get Internet access in our camp, so Brother Wilhelmsen let us watch the World Cup online.

Then Jeremy, Dallin, Kyle, Grant, Ryan, Dewlin, and I went to the creek to hunt for mudsuckers again. We caught three!

When Free Time came along, Ryan and I went to the Trading Post, where Ryan had his first Choco Taco.

We then went to the dodgeball pit to play dodgeball. We played "Mormons vs. Nons", and some kids on the on the "Non" side were smack-talking about us, but we tried to not say anything back, and be a good example. Apparently, it kind of worked! Some of the "Non" kids stop their smack-talkers.

Then dinner came along, and we cooked hamburgers over the fire. They were pretty good!

And that's it for Day 5!

Camp Oljato 2010: Day 4

Tuesday started out as usual. We got up, went to the Flag Ceremony, ate breakfast, and then we went to our first and second merit badge classes.

After lunch, Ryan and I walked around the whole camp.

Then, during our Fish and Wildlife Management and Soil and Water Conservation class, we got to hike up to an area where we could really get a great view of Huntington Lake.

During Free Time, Kyle and some scouts from the other wards found a big spider.

It took the Nature lady, Michelle, a long time to identify the spider in her big spider books. She told them they should name it after a dead person, so Kyle named it the Michael Jackson Spider.

We were supposed to then feed it to the alligator lizard, but what was weird was that the Michael Jackson Spider would sit right next to the alligator lizard, and neither one would do anything to each other!

We then dropped the spider into the gardener snake tank, and the same thing happened: nothing! Then what really surprised us was that the spider started biting the gardener snake! The snake almost escaped out of the tank, but then we banged on the glass, so that it would fall back down to the bottom.

We then went to the Scoutcraft area and played some dodgeball in the big dodgeball pit.

Then it was dinnertime. Rick and Grant had a competition of who could stick their face in their spaghetti and eat all of it first. It was hard to decide who won.

And that's it for Day 4!

Camp Oljato 2010: Day 3

The next day was Monday, and Jeff, his brother Josh, and their dad, came up to camp. On Monday, we got to start eating in the Dining Hall for the rest of the week. So we got up, went to the Flag Ceremony, and then we are breakfast in the Dining Hall.

After breakfast, we had to go to our merit badge classes. Dallin Earl, Kyle, Ryan, Andrew Burrill, Dewlin, Brandon, and I went to Emergency Preparedness and Fire Safety.

Dallin Bruschke, Jaren, and Rick went to Environmental Science.

Tay, Connor, Jeremy, and Jeff went to Camping.

Seth and Spencer went to Wood Carving.

Grant went to First Aid.

And Josh Reed went to Swimming.

After those classes, we went to our second classes. Jeremy, Dallin Earl, and Grant went to Environmental Science.

Tay and Connor went to Archery.

Dewlin and Ryan went to Climbing.

Dallin Bruschke and I went to Camping.

Kyle and Brandon went to First Aid.

Jeff and Josh went to Canoeing.

Rick went to Sailing.

Jaren went to Rifle Shooting.

And Spencer and Seth went to Orienteering.

Phew, what a mouthful! Speaking of which, after our second classes, we had lunch in the dining hall.

Since we had plenty of time until our next classes, Jeremy, Dallin, Ryan, Grant, Kyle, and I went hunting for mudsuckers.

Sadly, we didn't catch any.

Then we had to go to our third classes. Dallin, Jaren, Tay, and Jeremy went to Lifesaving.

Ryan, Jeff, Josh, Dewlin, and I went to Fish and Wildlife Management and Soil and Water Conservation. 

Kyle, Seth, Tay, Spencer, and Brandon went to Environmental Science.

Dallin Bruschke went to Archery.

Rick went to Emergency Preparedness and Fire Safety.

And Grant took a Skills Patrol class (I don't think it's a merit badge class).

But anyway, after our third classes came Free Time. Dallin, Jeremy, Jaren, Ryan, and I went down to the Trading Post. Some of us got some Choco Tacos. Choco Tacos are waffle shells loaded with ice cream and fudge, and drizzled with chocolate and peanuts.

Then Andrew Burrill and his dad had to go back home. It was sad he couldn't be there for the whole week.

Anyway, we had to rearrange the people in each tent so that we were sleeping in our patrols (We put the 11-year-old scouts and Jeremy, and Connor into the two different patrols as well). Jaren, Ryan, and I were in one tent. Kyle, Grant, and Dewlin, were in another tent. Dallin, Jeremy, and Rick were in one tent. Tay, Brandon, and Connor were in another tent. Dallin, Jeff, and Josh were in one tent. And Seth and Spencer got to sleep down in the Navajo camp.

While getting ready for dinner, Dallin and I found another alligator lizard.

We put it in a can and took it to the Flag Ceremony with us. We gave it to the staff, who went and put it in a glass tank in the nature area. Then we got to go to dinner.

After dinner, we went back to camp and had a 5-minute service project. You see, the trail up to our camp was really hard to see, so we lined it with rocks and logs so that it would be easier to find our camp.

After that, we went to bed in our new tents.

And that's Day 3 at Camp Oljato! Tune in next time for Day 4!