Camp Friedenswald

Our Cabin: Kaylee, Amelia, Emily, Ella, Summer and Olivia

Silly Faces

Class Time

Inspiration Point

Borrow the Ball- I spent a lot of time in captivity

More time in captivity

East Fen- Sandhill Cranes

Kaylee and I

Land Bridge on Prairie Fen Hike

Burned area

Hiking

Parents Hiking

Kaylee and I

Camp Friedenswald Map

Kaylee and Emily at Bonfire

Survival Game Instructions

Dining Hall

Moms- Keri, Jen, and Dori

Camp Friedenswald is a three day field trip for all the 3rd graders at LCS. Parents are encouraged to go too. I had the opportunity to go to camp with Kaylee and we had a blast! Camp Friedenswald is located about 2.5 hours west in Cassopolis, MI. It is a science camp. The kids had 8, one-hour classes they had to attend the first two days. They learned about herbivores, carnivores, omnivores and the food chain in general. Lots of the classes involved hiking. The camp has two fens, which we learned is marshy land supplied with water that springs up from the ground. We spent a lot of time outdoors. 

In the evenings, we had large group activities. We had a scavenger hunt one night, a bonfire with kettle popcorn another night, we played a large game similar to capture the flag another night, and the final day we played the survival game. The survival game is AWESOME. The kids are all categorized as an herbivore, carnivore or omnivore. To survive they have to find 3 different watering holes scattered throughout the camp. In addition, herbivores have to find 6 plant food locations; while carnivores have to eat 6 animals; and omnivores have to eat 3 plants and 3 animals. The kids start off with a carabiner filled with little circles called "life rings". Every time they are tagged they have to give up one of their life rings. The goal is the get all their water and food for the day and still have one life ring left. In the meantime, the parents are let loose and are either environmentalists that give back life rings or are hunters/disease/vehicles that kill the animals and take away life rings. I chose to be a disease. I am proud to announce that I collected 23 life rings. Kaylee was a white-tailed deer (herbivore) and was killed twice. It was such a fun game!!!!

We stayed in heated cabins. The boys were jealous of the girls cabins because we had bathrooms with showers. The boys had to walk outside to a bathhouse for their toilets and showers and it was cold outside! We had a fun cabin filled with some of Kaylee's closest friends. In addition to spending time with Kaylee, I enjoyed getting to know the other parents and kids better. It is always nice to be able to put a name with a face. Camp was so much fun. We both had a blast. I'm excited I get to go again with Kianna in a few years...