Family Camp #2

Our last session of camp was AMAZING! I met this little boy who is absolutely extraordinary. He made my summer! He is totally blind in one eye and VI in the other and he is in a wheelchair. The first day of session he came to the rock wall with his mom, I talked with him and his mom for a minute and she said that they were just going to watch so that her son could see what the rock wall is all about. After a few people went I asked his mom if we could put a harness on him so he could see what it felt like. She agreed so with the help of a few counselors we lifted him out of his chair and put a harness and a helmet on him. He was so happy and smiling and said it felt so weird. Then I asked him and his mom if he wanted to try connecting himself to our ropes course (kids climb 30 feet up a pole and then walk across a wire) and see if we could lift him up. They agreed and so we did. He was all giggles and kept telling us to lift him "higher and higher" it took me and two counselors to lift him but it was totally worth it. He came back every day of session to go up. We got him up the rock wall twice and the ropes course 3 times and it was the most amazing experience of my life! The last day he thanked me and Hercules (my co at the rock wall) and told us how much fun he had and how he never thought that he would be able to climb a wall like "normal" kids do. He totally brought tears to my eyes and I will never forget him. Oh, I can't even describe how good it feels to know I made a difference in his life.



Here are pics from Family Camp #2.



Fullerton in the alcove above my bed, I asked him to "kennel" and he hopped right up.



Chewing bones in his typical style.

Wearing some sweet shades.

For our last session this little girl joined us. Her name is Zesty and she is a sweetheart. She is 6 months old and is a Lyric puppy (Coreenas puppy Lodens sister)

Here is Fuller by the Camp Bloomfield Sign.

And Zesty

Fuller on our big metal bridge. He was afraid of it the beginning of the summer but by the end didn't care one bit.

I don't think I could ever top my experience this summer. I had an amazing time!

Teen Camp

Teen camp went by way to fast there were some great kids in this session. There was also a film crew there filming a documentary called. . . "Do you dream in color" I think. Should be interesting and it's coming out in 2011.



One of our staff had a birthday during session so we painted Fullerton to celebrate. You can't see it but I stuck glitter to the paint while it was still wet, it was so fun.





This camper was obsessed with Fuller all she could talk about all session was how she wanted to get a guide dog. Fuller really liked her too.



After session we went to Santa Monica and Venice Beach. Those are some nice places!

Oh, we also had international day during teen camp. All the international staff set up booths about their country it was really neat learning about all those countries and most of them cooked food and it was all amazing!

I did three posts today so look for the others if you want. Look for 2 more tomorrow and then I am all caught up. :D

Junior Camp

Junior camp was fun. The reptile lady camp back from Elementary camp and the Junior kids really liked them. We had a few new guys and some returning. Unfortunately my buddy Draco didn't come back but that's okay. This one was really cool.



Starburst returned and showed off his banana eating skills.



Me and Cornelius the Corn Snake. The kids really liked him, I did too, it make me want a snake. . . if only I didn't have to feed them little mice.



Here is one a VERY few pics I got of my area. I am kinda busy while I am there so I didn't get many pictures. :( but thats okay. This is the Burma Bridge, it is way fun and the kids loved it.



During Junior Camp we had a Halloween dance. One of the staff dressed up a Cruella DeVille so me and Fullerton and a couple other staff dressed up as Dalmatians. Fullerton was so good while I painted spots on him. :D



The 101 crew. :D



During the Halloween Dance. It was really fun.

We also took the campers deep sea fishing. They all had fun feeling all the fish and the bait and everything. Here is a really freaky lookin fish that was caught.

My one and only fish, I didn't fish for long because I was helping some of the campers but some of them caught up to 24 fish and we were only out there for 2 hours. That's about it from Junior Camp. Everyone had a really good time!

Trip to San Francisco

For one of our breaks a group of us went up north to San Francisco, it was a lot of fun. The first day we went to China town and walked around and ate, the food was spectacular! Then we went around Union Square for some shopping. (Here is Fullerton outside of Anthropology)

Then the highlight of my trip, a small (3 of us) group went to see WICKED!! It was so much better than I remember and I enjoyed it so much, we had really good seats too. I spent the whole morning trying to get a hold of the theatre to see if Fuller would be okay to go, about 3 hours before it started I finally got the house manager and he said that it would be fine. I was so happy, Fullerton was fantastic, he slept through the whole thing and when we got up everyone was surprised because they didn't know there was a dog there, that is the greatest compliment, I was so proud of my little man. There was very little room for him but we made it work. :D

The next day we went to Alcatraz (and it was my birthday!! I turned 24. . . yikes almost a quarter of a century old) It was so fun and Fuller was wonderful! His face cracked me up in this pic.

The Wardens house

Me and Fuller with the city behind us. (and I am sporting my wicked jacket I got the day before)

Me and Fuller by one of the cells

I fit Fullerton between the bars to get a pic of him in a cell, he looks a little worried. :D

At the top of the steps in the rec yard. Those stairs are kinda huge and scary to climb.

Laying at the top of the steps.

Fuller with the city behind.

Fullerton in BART on the way home, he wanted to sit with his head in my lap and then he sagged a little when he fell asleep, it was so funny.

Then in the car on the way home, I can't believe the positions he finds comfortable.That was our break, Fuller was a real trooper and boy was he tired when we got back to camp.

Elementary Camp

Elementary Camp has been my favorite session of both summers combined. It was great and the kids were wonderful. On Arrival day before the kids got there, Fullerton was a bit fussy so I took him up to Happy Hollow (our big field) for a good romp. He really enjoyed himself and he was so much happier after.

On the way down I stopped at the creepy clown playground and let Fuller play some more.

Fuller on our bench swing.

We have this little golf cart type thing called a Cushman that we drive all over camp, here is Fuller on the Cushman as you can see he really enjoys these little rides. I also love pictures like this that show a touch of his personality.

During the session we had a reptile lady come and show lizards and snakes and turtles to the campers, they really liked it. The animals were fascinating. Here is a horned lizard name Draco.

And an Albino Corn Snake. She had a bunch of different lizards with different textures and snakes, including a Boa.

Here is Fuller working with some of the campers during the Guide Dog rotation. They are practicing recalls.

We also had Christmas in July and had a truck full of snow brought in and scattered it all over campfire. The campers all got gifts left on their beds and we sang Christmas songs at campfire.

I like little Fuller in the back and Big Fuller in the front. :D He is 11 months old now. Scary!! He will be 1 whole year old next month.

We also went out to a dodgers game with all the campers. It was really fun and we got free hot dogs, popcorn, nachos and soda. The campers all seemed to have a great time and everyone was exhausted afterward.

Me and my boy in the bus on the way home. Whew tiring day.
This session was uber fun and the kids were all fantastic. Some of my campers came back and they were really excited to see me and I was happy to see them too. I can't even describe how wonderful this session was. :D

Well, I have done five posts today so look for the rest, I just have one more till I am caught up but that one will take a bit since there are so many pictures and I have already been doing this since 10am so. . . enjoy! :D

Hollywood!!

The break after Adult Camp I went to Hollywood for the first time. It was so fun to see all the little shops and the stars on the sidewalk. There was a line a mile long to see Michael Jackson's star it was ridiculous so we just avoided that area. We all had a good time and we had dinner at this fantastic Thai place, it was so good. Anyway, here are pictures from our day out.

Fullerton and Lassies star

The Hollywood sign

Some stuff that was used in the Harry Potter #6 movie.
Fullerton takes a break

Me and Fullerton by Bernadette Peters star, I fricken' love her! I am mad Fuller made a funny face though.

We found this star and it made us all smile. . . we miss the Burg.
I LOVE Johnny Depp I was so excited when I saw his star

A lady dressed as wonder woman, she was staring at my dog and I was staring at her. :D

Fuller in the Thai place being such a good boy!

The group, Mule, Nala, Mongoose and me (Elphie) You think Fuller is tired? Silly boy.
That was Hollywood. I am very proud of how good Fuller was, we only had one incident with a little Asian lady who didn't want Fuller in her shop, she kept holding her nose and waving us out so we left. That annoyed me but, oh well. Still an enjoyable trip!