Tuesday 27th June

So it is officially 2 months until camp end, I have almost been here 1 month wow! It seems more like 3 haha.

This morning was so sad saying goodbye to all the girls. But almost instantly - and even whilst some of the girls from last session were here, new girls were coming. So we didn't even have time to clean! The worlds biggest hailstone storm came in too!

All the girls were here by dinner which was lovely but absolutely manic! I have never seen a dining hall like it in my life, it was so busy!!!

I took the girls on a little tour around camp and then it was time for dinner.

After dinner, it was time for the campers orientation and canteen social!

Needless to say, we were all so tired by bed time!

Wednesday 28th June

I finally went for a little run around camp and headed back to the gym!

It was great to be back, even though I am still sleep deprived. Today of all days was going to be the most strenuous of all, 6 minor day with 12 children.

So the kids pick 6 activities they want to participate in and try, but there was only me in the bunk able to take them places and run around with them. I went to tennis, stagecraft, stage makeup, art, auditions and many more places!

I was so tired by the end of the day and cherished the 2 hours of air conditioning I got from the gym. I was running from one side of the camp to the other constantly - which is far! This camp is huuuge.

We had "A night with Josh" in the evening again. We did this last session. However, the theme this time was modern Broadway. It was fun, and Josh is so talented at playing the keyboard wow. He works at camp in the music department.

Unfortunately there was a mix up with 2 campers being in our bunk so they were moved which was so sad, but we will see them around camp for sure.

Here's a random picture of the lake from my early morning wifi trip/run.

The night time consisted of wifi and an early night, I was exhausted! I had done almost 29k steps and burnt 3111 calories!

I was ready for my bed yet again haha.

Thursday 29th June

Today was finally a normal day at Frenchwoods, except my schedule changed slightly. I managed the gym again yay.

I'm still off for the first period and have nature crafts after, but I have a few new periods like Ceramics and Mosaics which is fun! I'm pretty impressed with my forst attempt of mosaic - Thanks Ashleigh haha.

The best part of the day was mine and Stephs feast at dinner time! Mac and cheese, chocolate pudding and bbq ribs... no way am I going to be losing any pounds this week haha.

Absolute heaven, the food is so good here. I seem to be having better balance with food here, eating 3 meals a day - sometimes only salad, sometimes I get a feast haha.

The evening activity was a dance on the tennis courts. We all had to dress up, our bunk chose to dress up in decades, i'm not too sure what I was meant to be... but I curled my hair and wore an off the shoulder top haha.

I was on canteen duty tonight which is not the worst duty in the world, we pass out pizza and also eat pizza whilst working! There is a member of staff hired solely for pizza making and he is a great pizza maker.

Nothing exciting happened tonight except for the fact my campers loved me because I brought them a whole box of pizza back haha.

Friday 30th June

I can't believe in 2 days i've only been at camp a month! It feels like ive been here for 3 already. I'm starting to feel quite homesick now, especially since the wifi has been turned off in our 15 minute breaks, so the only wifi I get is on a night time when nobody in England is awake.

My friend Liv whom also works in art asked me if I wanted to join in the intermediate hip hop class during our period off, which happens to be the same one. OF COURSE I DID! If theres anything I regret in life, it is not pushing myself to pursue a career in dance. I miss dancing soo much. So off we tottered to dance in the disgusting humidity of Hancock's weather.

One of each mine and Liv's campers were in the dance class! We started by warming up, doing sassy corner steps and some conditioning. I'm hoping my body springs back to its old flexible self in no time.

We then proceeded to learn a dance to a song I have no clue of the nane, which cuts into SWALLA LALA! Love it. Liv and I get to be in the dance show on festival weekend which I am super hyped for omg.

l then ventured up to nature crafts, we were creating sun catchers. Dont worry, I had never heard of them before either! But Shauny had, and they worked. We picked a bunch of flowers up and stuck them on contact paper and made a frame. They aren't finished yet, but I am hoping they will be in a few days.

We had no children for batik, so we helped tie dye and then of course it was time for lunch, mmm.

My afternoon consists of ceramics, jewelry and mosaics. We barely have any children in mosaics which is a nice chill before the end of the day.

The evening activities have now been split on a bunk by bunk basis now, I presume because it is so busy. We watched a play called 'Proof' in one of the many theatres. It was amazing, such a great story about a girl whose Dad passes away after being mentally insane - but he is a maths genius.

The cast only consisted of 4 characters which was amazing.

My life wasn't too interesting tonight either, I went to wifi for a while and saw Fran.

Saturday 1st July
It's July!!! And the Hancock weather seems to be ever changing like England, just a lot hotter

Oh, if I didn't mention earlier, we have a nice bunk pet. A pet skunk. She lives under our porch, knocks our bin over, scares us so that we have to enter our own bunk through next door haha. She decided to spray on the porch by the laundry last night... lovely.

Liv and I joined in dance again and busted
them moves. It makes me so unbelievably happy dancing again, even if it is for only a mere hour! But I was so passionate about dance, and I threw it all away, here I think about it a lot - with being surrounded by theatre kids.

The day panned out nice however we got battered in jewellery because it started raining!

It's almost the 4th July - it's a big big thing here obviously. So different countrys at camp perform various acts as a tribute to our country. Of course the Beatles, Spice Girls and One Direction are in the mix. Fran and I are going as the 118 118 tv advert guys as an inside joke only us Brits will understand.

The evening activity was "Name That Broadway Show". All the bunks have been split into sections for evening activities now so we alternate activities.

I was on canteen duty again which was fine, just very very hot, but I was able to have a nice twix ice cream after.

It was then time to try and facetime my Mum! I forgot my Dad was on a stag do. I never get to speak to them as much since participating in dance, as the WiFi is turned off in the breaks so it is hard to communicate. By the time I am off duty, it is early hours of the morning in the UK.

40 minutes later my mum awoke and we factimed for over an hour and a half, it was so good to speak to her I just wish I could have spoke to my Dad too. My Mum knew I have been feeling slightly homesick so she surprised me with the news that we will be spending next Christmas and New Year in Mexico with my proper Aunty Lucy, Uncle Andy, Karl, Luke and the rest of the gang!

She then also sprung that next year when I return to camp, her and my Dad will come and visit the camp on the last festival weekend and we can then spend time in New York once camp has finished - maybe visit somewhere else. I was also shown my little red driving license over the camera which I was so happy about - it may have even been dropped about the possibility of help for a car for my 21st birthday. I literally didn't even know how to react to all this incredible news. My face was in a constant beam walking to the bunk - that was exactly what I needed.

Sunday 2nd July

This morning, Liv and I rocked hip hop again. It was getting hotter and hotter as the day went on. Although here it is weird, I don't often wear shorts, and it hits 27/28 degrees celsius almost every day.

Every week we have this thing called a super bunk clean up. A lot of cabins go all out on a theme and decorate their bunk. We were not prepared with our little disney theme - being newbies and all. So I hung my cute yet pathetic pine cone The Little Mermaid decorations on my bed, along with my rolled up Americamp tshirt and a paper bag as Ariels face to match my mermaid bedding.

Those are my pathetic art skills coming out.

Of course, we didn't win the superbunk clean up - our theme for each disney princess was clearly rubbish haha. But the bunk is clean!

After dinner, I did my head counselors makeup as it was her birthday today and she was taking part in tonights evening activity - The Dating Game. Also, one of our campers were participating so of course I did her makeul. We headed to the pavillion and then canteen for... yeah you guessed it, pizza and ice cream.

I tried to get to sleep earlier tonight after hanging with Fran and Ciara in the WiFi room.

Monday 3rd July

I loved joining in Dance again! We created some dance moves to a Bruno Mars song as a bit of a change.

I felt soooooo bloated today I needed the exercise haha. Today was a pretty standard day until Kaija collapsed and ended up in an ambulance :( (she is okay though). It was really warm again today so the heat didn't help.

The evening activity was watching the session 1/session 2 carry over show - Baby. It was really good and the singing skills were phenomenal.

Straight after the show, we had a staff meeting which yet again was pretty much all positive vibes. When we got back to the bunk, a new camper had arrived in our bunk (we had spared beds from the other 2 girls moving out). So we have a new camper!

I'm so happy with th me way camp is going! At around 11.45pm we were all cosy in bed and ready to sleep!!

So this is the first week of session 2 and also probably the most kind of homesick week I have had. I know after this hump everything will be fine! I feel like it may also be because this is the longest stint I have stayed within camp grounds for. I just miss a few home comforts like my Mum's cups of tea, my Dads James Martin cooking skills, my bed and sofa... and of course Grandma's baking. Oh and i'm really craving yorkshire puddings and also cheese and marmite toasties - not like we don't get fed enough here haha.

So it's July 4th tomorrow! Stay posted for a July 4th post!

Jade xxxx