Week Four: Monday

Today was a rainy one and we were basically in the tent the entire time.  As our first full day session, it went great!

We started the day with a visit from Harper and Ritter.  Both are labs from Therapy Dogs of Vermont.  We were really happy to see them and get to pet them.  We also though Ritter was really funny, especially when he was doing tricks for treats.  Harper was so calm.  It was nice to pet them and start the week with some doggy time.

After some puppy loving, we met Nancy, the President. She taught us all about the mission of the humane society.  We were all very interested in the meaning of humane, and luckily it came into play later in a different activity.

We finished the morning with visits inside to the cat rooms.  We loved being able to pet and play with the kitties in the cat condos.  We also liked painting our water bottles for the rest of the week.  It was a win-win!

After lunch, we started the afternoon with some games of WAH and Zip Zap.  We were happy to be energetic, and we even got to play outside for a bit.

We finished the day with two activities.  The first was a humane vs. inhumane spectrum activity.  The counselors read a statement and the campers decided if it was humane or inhumane action.  The campers did and amazing job deciphering and explaining their opinions.  It is great to be reminded about how thoughtful and caring kids are!

When the parents picked up, we treated them to a tour of the adoption floor of the humane society.  The campers were so excited to show their parents around where they would be spending the week.

The counselors are loving the full days, can't wait to see what the rest of the week brings!

Week Three Afternoon: FRIDAY!

Week Three is officially complete.  The entire week was a great success.  We met many types of animals, and we learned all about different animals.  We did all this with some Poison Dart Frog games mixed in.

This afternoon, we met a state police dog.  We were so interested in the dog and his tracking abilities, that we talked to the officer for nearly an hour and a half!  We got to see some obedience training, and some bite work.  We learned all about what it is like to be a tracking dog.  We also got to explore in the police car where the dog rides and keeps his equipment.

We finished the day with reading Before You Were Mine.  This story is always a huge hit with the kids, and is always very touching.

Thanks week three for all the fun! We were glad to have you.  We are also looking forward to next week, as we are moving up to the older kids.  The next three weeks will be full days with campers ages 10-12.

Today was also one of our CIT's last day.  Molly was an amazing help the past two weeks.  She did all her work as a volunteer!  The camp would not have gone so smoothly without her! Thank you Molly!!!!

Week Three Morning: Friday

The final day of a long week was just as exciting as the rest of the week! We started with a visit from the reptiles.  The snakes were a big hit, but of course, Tiki was the star of the show.  Tiki the hedgehog had a great time exploring the tent.  We had a great time petting her.  We also liked the water dragon and the turtle!

In between the reptiles and the police dogs, we had a special treat of popsicles.  We also each got temporary tattoos.

We finished the day with a visit from two Burlington police dogs.  The dogs showed us everything they can do to help our communities.  They even found one of us by sniffing out our scent.

Ben and Anna were both interviewed today by Fox 44!  Check for them tonight on TV talking about Camp and all the fun stuff we have been doing over the weeks. 

Week Three Morning: Thursday

This morning, we started with sidewalk chalk because all of yesterday's chalk had washed away.  We redecorated the front of the sidewalk and now the sidewalk is back to being fun and colorful!

We followed up our art session with a writing session.  Victoria walked us through a build your own story. After figuring out the first part of the story, we broke up into smaller groups and wrote our own endings.  We really enjoyed illustrating and writing our own stories.

In between the two speakers, we had snack and read Before You Were Mine.

Our next speaker was Jackson, a therapy dog.  We all sat in a circle and we were each visited by Jackson, and all his fur!

Week Three Afternoon: Wednesday

We had a very eventful half day for the afternoon session.  We decided that today would be an "art day" we focused around being creative and artistic.  We started the day by drawing pictures of our favorite pets and animals.  We really liked being able to talk about our furry family members. While we were coloring, we were surprised to find a stick bug in the tent with us!  Stick bugs are pretty rare, and we all wanted to catch a peek of the little creature.

Can you spot the stick bug?

We then decided that the front entrance to the Humane Society needed some sprucing.  We took the chalk out and started decorating the sidewalk by the doors.  We were happy to make such a nice entrance for the many people coming to adopt pets at the shelter.  We hope that our artwork encouraged some people to adopt some friends.

Our finished product!

Does anyone recognize this logo?

Naturally following chalking up the sidewalk, it began to thunder and rain.  How lucky are we?? Unfortunately, our artwork got washed away. We didn't get washed away because we were lucky enough to be welcomed into the classroom in the Humane Society Building.

When we got into the classroom, we finished making our pet puppets.  After we made them, we shared them with everyone. Making the puppets come to life was a great part of camp today.  While we were in the classroom, we were also able to meet the Shelter's adorable ferret, Piper.  Piper was so happy to meet everyone, and be given all the love.  After working the room, Piper went back to his cage.

Next, we were visited by another guest, Victoria.  Victoria helped us to create a "choose your own adventure story".  She started by setting the scene, then we finished the stories in smaller groups.  We drew pictures to go with our stories as well.

After sharing the stories, it was time for camp to end.  Time flies when you're having fun!

Week 3 Morning: Wednesday

Not only did we meet the halfway point of camp today, we also met a Red Tailed Hawk!  We started the day with sharing pictures of our favorite pets.  We really enjoyed telling stories about our pets and why we like them.  The pictures were all very creative.  Next we took a trip to the pet cemetery.  We were all very impressed with the old and new headstones.

After our trip, we were lucky to meet a Red Tailed Hawk.  Even though the hawk had a broken wing, she was still very impressive and big.  She showed us her large wing span and her red tail.  She had very impressive talons and a beak.

We finished the day by making puppets.  Then we acted out our puppets and their favorite thing to do.  We pretended we were on a TV show.  We were silly, but we enjoyed sharing.

Week Three Afternoon: Tuesday

The second half of Tuesday was as much a blast as the first half! We started with a rousing display by the animal society's gerbils.  The gerbils were happy to hang out in the office area with us.  We raced Acorn and Amber and the jury is still out about who is faster. 

When we were finished inside we headed out into the tent. We had a quick snack and we filled up our water bottles.  Then we headed to the pet cemetery.  We were all very touched by the love of the owners for their pets.  We also learned about feral cats and Grey Mama.  Grey Mama was a feral cat who lived behind the humane society. 

We finished the day with two games and a trip into the cat rooms in the shelter.  We played animal charades and poison dart frog.  Half of us went inside to play with the cats and then we switched.  We are all in love with the little kittens that recently came to the shelter!!