Sunday July 11

Shavua Tov!

We had SUCH a beautiful, inspiring, fun Shabbat with hours and hours of singing and dancing! By the fourth shabbat, the chanichim know exactly what to do and when, and so they gave it their all. Davening Hallel together for Rosh Chodesh (and reading a double-parsha!)  also made it special and memorable. The weather was beautiful, so everyone had their fourth and last chavruta-time, finishing up whatever they had learned together and friends could hang out, on the grass, and play board games.  We sang our favorite song (Adon Olam) at seudah shlishit, and chanichim of all ages – and both genders – were crying and hugging, thinking about how sad they would be to go home.

The much-anticipated Machal vs. Eidah Daled basketball games took place in Indoor World, after havdallah…Machal won by a lot!! Congrats!! (They also beat the make-up Machal group, kids who are older than they are, two weeks ago. )

Today we had to follow a rainy day schedule, but the chanichim all had their requests for last peulot they wanted – and our Roshei sport, who plan the schedule each day, gave them their requests –  so some played games in the rain. They did not want to go to Plan B.  It was actually kind of fun 🙂 Others had special art activities or the indoor activities like zumba and dance.

Each bunk was given a peulah to go shopping at the “Stonewear Shack” and purchase camp swag/merch – sweatshirts, t-shirts, pants, water bottles, string bags, hats and more! They had no trouble spending the $40 that was put into their account – and they were all in their new clothes for dinner:) They were so excited and cozy!!

Since we learned today about King Chizkiyahu standing up to the Assyrians (who had exiled the 10 tribes) and fighting off a siege, we celebrated tonight!! What would the kingdom of Yehuda have done the night after the Assyrians left? Had a carnival, probably!! So that is what we did – bouncy house and blow up slide, etc. A fun night in Indoor World to celebrate a victory! And a great month of camp 🙂

Tomorrow is our last full day here. We are so grateful for the amazing month we all had and so sad to be leaving this incredible place where experiential education works like magic and is so much fun, we each developed new talents and enjoyed summer activities, friendships were started and deepened, and a real family-feel was created.

כי בנפשנו הוא – מחנה סטון