The Happiest Place on Earth

I'm going to preface this with, "This is going to be a long one, but completely worth the read. :)

A couple weeks ago I went back to my favorite place on earth. I've been trying to figure out how to put my feelings into words. I can only come up with camper statements about camp to really show to wonderful this place actually is.

A camper says to another camper, "You got into heaven too!" Mother replies, "Don't worry, that's what he calls Victory Junction!"

"This place is better than Disney World."

For kids who can't go to normal summer camps, I can completely see how Victory Junction is the happiest place on Earth. It is by far my favorite place to be. I have met the most wonderful people at camp over the years.

Where else on Earth can you leave home with a green mask and face paint all over your body. And this is pretty conservative compared to this past summer.

One of the things I look forward to most each year I go is the week that kids with cancer come to camp and some of the most hair obsessed counselors let the KIDS shave their heads.

Pre-shave

Look how scared and pumped they are at the same time. But then they proudly displayed their shaved heads and mohawks for the rest of the summer!

Its also I think the only place on Earth that you get so excited for kids to dress you up in random supplies and call you a dog or make you swim in a nasty lake.

I also LOVE the fact that all the counselors seem to forget they are supposed to cool college kids and be who they actually are. You can dress up in fast food costumes, pretend to be a boy band, dance, or ribbon dance and thats when people think you are the coolest. I feel like Victory Junction empowers its staff and campers to be the best they can be no matter what that best is. We are loved for who we are, not who someone wants us to be.

At Victory Junction it is ok to eat without hands and get messy.

Some people come and gawk over the brightly colored buildings, odd shaped building, 65' tower, giant swing, and zipline. Others, come and see the building and then see the real camp beside the buildings. I'll let you see the buildings eventually, but that's not what this is about.  This is about the me that I get to show at camp. The person who I strive to be daily in the outside world. Most people call that the "Real World" but I call Victory Junction the Real World and my everyday, is the world I wish was the Real World.

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I wish I could put up more pictures, but to keep our kids safe, only pictures of counselors can be put online. 

My home for two summers was the Adventure Program Area. It was my favorite place on camp because we got to see kids come to the tower scared to death, saying "I am NOT climbing that thing. I will be just as happy sitting right there (pointing over to the two benches) for the morning.

This is how our kids start out at the beginning of the week.

 Here's how they look at the end.

A brand new confidence that only camp and the people there can give you.

So I may be a little biased, but I really do love the work that I did and hopefully will continue to do at Victory Junction.

So I don't overwhelm everyone with the magnificence that is Victory Junction, I'll keep blogging on camp, but I'll stop for right now. But don't worry, I still have two years to finish blogging on. I just wish that I had this sooner, so I could really capture the emotion that I felt during those times. Until next time!