Today was long hike day. I've had a fluctuating number of kids this week due to people switching groups and instructors being ill. One kid spent the first couple of days this week trying to convince everybody to send him home because he was homesick. He finally told one of the teachers that the only way he would stay was if he could be transferred to my group. I can't take any credit here - he just wanted to be with his friend, who just happened to be in my group. Today and yesterday we had to split up the groups of coworkers who were absent due to illness. That meant that everybody got extra kids. Then of course there's the little girl with arthritis, who has to expend twice as much energy as the other kids when she walks. She never complains and has a great attitude, but often gets piggyback rides from teachers or cabin leaders when she gets tired and sore. She has missed a couple of classes just so she could rest. Today her mom came and took her out to lunch, so she missed the long hike. It's just as well, because we hiked for hours and ascended about a thousand feet in elevation. I missed her though.
We ended up making pretty good time, and covered a lot of ground. The skies were cloudy but the rain held off. The homesick boy and his friend proved to have the baldest shoes I've ever seen. They spent most of the downhill portion of the hike slipping and giggling about it. It's a good thing they didn't end up in a ravine. Kids are funny.

After I got home, the rain started. Tomorrow is supposed to be rainy as well. I had originally planned to go to some concerts this weekend, but one got cancelled and another sold out. Not that I can really afford it anyway. There's always plenty to do around here.