Camp Ithiel

We landed at Camp on Sunday evening, after a leisurely drive.  On the drive we stopped in at a couple of springs along the Suwannee river.  Apparently Manatee enter these springs in winter to enjoy the consistent 72 degree temperatures.  The springs are low this year due to drought conditions this fall, so they are not as populated with manatee as usual.  We think we may had spotted a few snouts poke out of the water, but that's it.  There's a possibility we may join in with a homeschooling fieldtrip to swim with some manatees next week. 

Camp Ithiel is a Church of the Brethren camp.  It has a summer camp program that runs May-July.  In the winter it hosts many different rental groups.  When we arrived there were 120 college students on the Cornell University rowing team staying in dorms.  We provided two meals for them.  The volunteers do the majority of the cooking and cleaning in the winter season as there is only one full time staff person.  There is one other part time cook (as near as I can figure out the dynamics).  The rowers left on Wednesday, so we've spent a good portion of Wednesday and today cleaning the dorms.  Doug has also done a few other fix-it projects.  There are 7 other couples here, all older.  The family of the cook lives on the campus and they have 3 kids, ages 13, 11, and 8.  They've connected with our kids and are having a blast playing together.

Homeschooling is going ok.  We're still trying to figure out a good routine and determine what amount of work is reasonable.  I'm looking in to some different writing resources to complement what we're doing with the resources sent by the school. 

The weather has been lovely.  Mid to low 70's during the day, 50's at night.  There's been little need for heating in the trailer since we've arrived.  It looks like the weekend will be a busy one at the camp, and then some downtime during the week.  We're looking into going to Disney (good grief the tickets are expensive!) as well as some other day trips.