Adventure Ireland Summer Camp Diaries

Dear parents, campers & friends,

Collie has left for the airport, and while we still have some people left to depart, this morning has a strangely quiet and calm feeling. The end of another Adventure Ireland! This is year 11, we were young and carefree when we began running this programme, now we’re a little older, wiser, greyer, but still delighted to put a summer experience together like this. Collie has done a good job below in encouraging y’all (got this from Elliot) to pass on details of this camp to your friends & relations - we want more families to send us their teens, partly because these are our jobs, and as long as we have lots of schools, camps and campers coming, thrity people in this small town are kept busy! But also because we do it with love and enthusiasm, and we believe, 100% that our kids grow and learn, thrive and interact in the best possible way. All my staff here deserve so much thanks and praise for the lengths they go to to deliver a good programme. Tolerance, respect, healthy life choices, humour, self respect, self confidence…these are the goals, and the teachers, instructors and people here do so well in teaching by example. As Collie said, you as parents have obviously shared our beliefs- this year’s batch of kids were wonderful to work with, and as they say ‘The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree’. So thank you to you all for sending your kids to us, thank you to Collie, Rosie, Richard, Kyle, Stevo & all for the fantastic programme, Thanks to Trish and Ciara who handle all the paperwork & fees and a million other things. We continue on with surf camp through the summer, and look forward to meeting more campers, from Ireland & overseas. We do ask you to help us as nothing - and we mean nothing - is as reassuring to a parent contemplating an overseas trip for their beloved as another happy parent. We are trying to spread the word in the USA, Europe, Canada, Mexico Venezuala yeah, around the world, and you, the parents & the teens who have done it are our best advertising. You are also now part of the big family that is Adventure Ireland, and we hope you will stay in touch, and talk about us until your tongues fall off!

Finally, folks, i think you will agree that Collie is deserving of a huge thanks for being the glorious leader of Adventure Ireland. He makes friends with every single kid here, and takes so much time to ensure everyone is happy. He is patient and kind with everyone, -firm when firmness is called for, but his continuous good humour is the driving force. Teen groups can be difficult to handle, and he seems to magically set a happy and enthusiastic tone. We call him ‘Jolly Colly’ here each July, and not only does he look after the kids, but his evening diary I know has been such a pleasure for you all to read at home. So, Collie, big ups to you for this year, I’ll let you do it all again next year

Collie has just texted to say our first group are all safely on their planes, trains and automoniles. This isn’t quite the last post - but as Collie would say, the fat lady is clearing her throat. Please do email us your thoughts and feedback over the next few days - we’d love if you would agree to be contacted as a reference for next year, and nice posts are always nice to read! Once again, thank you all for choosing us, thank you for sending us lovely kids, and stay in touch! Be safe & happy. Niamh.

“Today Collie”, big Pau said, “today, was the best day”.

Hello from Ireland on what probably won’t be the last post but is the last daily diary entry. I’m sitting at home at the moment, taking a little break before I join the gang back in the centre. They are all at the cinema at the moment –they’ve gone to see The Dark Knight on it’s first night over here and as it won’t open in mainland Europe for a few weeks there was quite the clamour to see it.

We awoke this morning to disappointingly grey skies but soon the sun came out and blew all the cobwebs away. The surf was only ok this morning but it was high tide and Bundoran works best on a low tide so there were very high hopes for the afternoon session. As it was high tide Dickie and Roisin took the culture class for a cliff jumping session this morning-and even Nat and Eliot got in! Don’t get me wrong these guys have been nothing less than model campers and are welcome back anythime-they just ain’t crazy about wetsuits but the chance to see our Dickie jump off the top of the cliff jump was just too good to resist.

In the afternoon the surf proved to be just as good as hoped-Fede described as “Just like a lake ..but with really big waves” we had undoubtedly our best surf session and all the guys went for a gorgeous last night dinner in stakes very satisfied with themselves. I spent my time putting a few new photos on our gallery page.

Our first bus leaves at 2 am our time with Iannis, Kyle, Elliot, David, Nat and Alejandro (how I’m going to miss that big grin) heading off to Dublin with me. Then about 11 hopefully with all the former safely through customs and on their plane, I’ll meet Sebastian and Trent and sort out their flights-not that Trent needs any help, quite the world traveller. About the same time Leanne, Paddy, Lyna, Mary Kate and little David will be picked up by their parents at the camp (not the same parents, I know Irish families can be big but…) then About three thirty pm, the last bus containing the gang from Barcelona, Flippo,  Diarmuid, Emma & Martina (who has run Leanne, TiffanEy, Sienna, Anabelle, Liz and Anna close for the title of the nicest girl we’ve ever had at our camp-seriously the girl is always in a good mood) will arrive. We’ll get them all checked in / or picked up and then I’m going to get back on the bus and SLEEP FOR A WEEK. Then I’m going to the pub.

But in case I don’t get a chance later I want to mention a few things. First I want to thank Dickie and Roisin for everything they have done in the last three weeks-I have always had great help running Adventure Ireland but this year I had partners who stayed late and came in early, always with a smile and a fresh idea. Niamh and I tend to get all the thank yous because we write the diaries but the guys deserve huge credit. I know this is what we get paid for but believe me when I say they went above and beyond. Speaking of Niamh, I want to thank Niamh for her great classes, her great program, which is the highlight of my working year. I want Trish and Ciara for the truly thankful job of organising all the money / flight details as well as the day to day things-As I write Trish is organising supper for everyone even though she was supposed to finish at 5 –it’s 9:30 now. I would like to thank all the instructors who worked with the gang, Kyle, Steven, Adam who worked with surfcamp especially. A particular mention must go to our resident biologist Jose Luis who has been a dream to work with. He has helped me loads with both the kids and all the photos in the gallery and quickly understood our humour (if not all the jokes ) and recognised that our jovial manner doesn’t mean that we are not serious professionals for whom the care of our charges is not paramount. And this is where you come in. we are a small camp but all modesty aside I truly believe we are the best camp of our type anywhere. In fact I don’t believe there is another camp of our type anywhere with such an eclectic mix of international students, activities and staff who consider this a vocation, not a job. So if you think we are doing a good job too, please feel free to mention us to friends and families, link to our websites, tell your local school / paper about the work we do here, check out our other programs, our gap year and instructor training courses or if you happen to be a billionaire … well ok that probably ain’t going to happen. Finally I would like to thank two groups of people. Firstly you, it is a not a coincidence that such a warm group of friendly bright engaging young people came out of your home. Thanks for putting the trust in us and sending them here. And most of al, the students themselves. I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t yelled at them a few times to clean up or to stop standing on the furniture etc but that’s just us doing our job. They have really been a pleasure to work with –we have about very high return rate and I’m already looking forward to seeing the gang next year. But first I’m going to sleep!  As to the title - it’s how Dickie’s 8 year old nephew says goodbye and has become the camp catchphrase..so for one last time-good luck to your cowsCollie 

Woah-I do not feel well but it’s totally self inflicted –before we start thinking about stereotypes, it has nothing to do with alcohol or indeed potatoes. But more on this later.
We woke to a beautiful morning this morning and a wall of water coming in from the Atlantic. Everyone had a skip in their step coming over for breakfast. The surf and English classes went to their respective classrooms (The orange room & The Atlantic Ocean) while the culture class were joined by Paddy and Jose Luis and set off for Donegal town with me.
Donegal is not the county town (capital) of County Donegal, despite being its namesake. It is however, a very pretty if rather touristy town about twenty minutes from the camp. Donegal Town itself is famous for being the former home to the O’Donnell Clan, who played a pivotal role in Irish history. From the 15th to the 17th century, they provided the main opposition to the colonisation of Ireland by England
Our destination was Donegal castle situated in the centre of Donegal town, For most of the last two centuries, the majority of the buildings were in ruins but the castle was almost fully restored in the late 1990s.
The castle consists of a 15th century rectangular keep with a later Jacobean style wing. The complex is sited on a bend in the Eske River, near the mouth of Donegal bay, and is surrounded by a 17th boundary wall. There is a small gatehouse at its entrance mirroring the design of the keep. Most of the stone work was constructed from locally sourced limestone with some sandstone. The castle was the stronghold of the O’Donnell clan, Lords of Tír Conaill and one of the most powerful Gaelic families in Ireland from the 5th to the 16th centuries. Elliot being our military expert enjoyed the trip staircase built to favour the defender . Jose Luis and Carles were much taken with the amazing roof –photos tomorrow-Trent, Kyle and Nat enjoyed the whole tour and paddy enjoyed not having to put on a wetsuit for once !
We than did a bit of shopping and headed back to the camp to have lunch for the first time in our newly opened canteen in our new Homefield House hostel.
Today was Dickie’s birthday so he got to pick today’s activity. An excellent surfer, climber and gaelic footballer, Dickie’s best sport is bodyboarding, for which he has represented Ireland. Passionate that done right that it’s just as good as surfing, Dickie, Kyle, Roisin and Neil took the gang down to main beach and had a brilliant session.
The highlight of the day was still to come. Tonight was talent show night! After a few hours to prepare, we kicked the show off about  10. Our first act was the kitchen crew- Emma, Constantin, diarmuid, Mary Kate and Trent playing pots, pans and jam jars with spoons. Now as they drove me demented practicing all day, I was not looking forward to this but boy was I wrong. They were fantastic-back out rhythms with perfect timing. Santi and Fede followed with some impressive hurling and soccer skills –
David was next and showed off his double jointed-ness (not sure that’s a word) in the sort of fascinating and repulsive show only a 12 year old boy can put on-he was great and as they went the bed the kids were still asking him to do it!
Our international supergroup was next –Iannis, Kyle, David , Elliot, & Flippo were the air band to end all air bands, Kyle’s keyboard playing, Iannis taking off his guitar in the middle an David’s ultra cool Teutonic front man were particular highlights.
Victor, Nacho, Marc & Joan were next with their version of   ”Baila el Chiki Chiki” Spain’s Eurovision entry-the boys were hysterical. More comedy next with Jessie, Leanne, Martina and Lyna doing a sketch based on what boys are like. Very funny (and very true too J )
Our next two acts were dance acts with Big Marc doing a fantastic routine followed by Albert with maybe an even better dance accompanied by Diarmuid on the saucepan!
Xenia, Anna, Laura and the other Anna were next with a very funny sketch about making a movie and then Paddy & Alejandro were next with a nursery rhyme-brutal and side splittingly funny at the same time, they were asked up for an encore!
Dickie was next with both Pau’s and Sebastian and sang the pirate song which Dickie learned in school when he was 6!
Carles played a little Spanish guitar for us and then just to show how brilliant he is, he then played the guitar one handed while juggling something his grandfather used to do. Amazing. I’m telling you I might keep him, David and Albert and put on a little traveling show-it would pay for this year’s trip to vegas J
Brian who is working night duty tonight than played an excellent bit of Spanish guitar (he’s from Sligo!) Then our own Roisin played a couple of songs. Roisin is a fantastic singer and guitar player and gigs all around Ireland and blew the gang away even when I insisted that she changes the words of Valerie to Collie !
 

Despite the fact I would have thought they were totally sick of hearing me, the gang insisted I get up and to a couple of my party pieces to close the show. And close the show I did!
 They are all snoring away as I write this, I put up a load of photos today in the gallery and hope to put more up tomorrow
Collie
 

Ps the reason I feel so unwell is that following on from yesterdays biscuit conversation and that while we are very sensible with the care of your children, we are idiots when with each other, Dickie, Roisin Brian and myself decided to see to follow yesterday’s  have a nice cup of tea and a sit down. We also went to the shops and bought as many different packets of biscuits we could find and decided to see how many we could eat –not gorging- Brian dropped out at a pathetic 11, Rosie at a respectable 17 (she’s a tiny wee thing) and Dickie and myself decided to call it a draw at the ridiculous total of 28. The gang were highly amused by our antics and were delighted when we finished up because they got all the leftovers.
Tomorrow I’m only eating fruit.
    

Hello Collie here, reporting on another action packed day from Donegal.
Today the camp split into two –the English camp and most of the surf camp stayed in Bundoran, while the culture class, joined by Martina, Diarmuid, Leanne and Emma got into the bus with Dickie and myself. Poor Jose Luis was feeling a bit ill so we left him in bed. But more on him later.It was a pretty rainy start to the day but we headed off undaunted. Meanwhile back at the camp, the surfers didn’t mind the rain once the word got around-big waves today. In fact the waves were so good that everyone of them from new kids on the block like  little David, Marry Kate and Lyna to veterans like Constantin all went for a second surf where they were  joined by the English class.
We all unaware of this as we were all trundling towards Glencolmcille, hoping the rain would stop. And lo and behold it did, just when we arrived.
Firstly a little background. Glencolmcille or Glencolumbkille (official name: Gleann Cholm Cille)^[1] is a coastal town located on the southwest Gaeltacht tip of County Donegal, Ireland.
The name translates into English as the Valley of Saint Columba. Saint Columba (Irish: Colm Cille) is one of Ireland’s three patron saints (along with Saint Patrick and Saint Brigid). Colm Cille and his followers lived in the valley and the ruins of several of their churches can still be seen there. Following a dispute with the church about the right to copy religious manuscripts, Colm Cille went into exile on the isle of Iona off the west coast of Scotland.
There we stopped for lunch and the world’s nicest soup-seriously it’s fantastic, last year Leanne said it was the nicest soup she’d ever had aside from her mum’s. this year she admitted it might actually better. Then we ordered two of the biggest pots of steaming hot Irish tea. Divine

When we emerged, our wishes had come true, the weather had passed and we were able to see the beautiful valley. We did a quick tour of the folk village and then headed off to the Silver Strand (An Trá Bhán in Irish) a beautiful beach which are accessed by about two hundred steps. We all charged down for a paddle and walked considerably slower back up them-except for Elliot and Dickie who decided to run, a decision they soon regretted much to our amusement.
On the bus, we had gotten into a strange discussion over which was the best biscuit you can have with a cup of tea. To our international readers a biscuit is like a cookie but we deemed choclate chip cookies etc ineligible. Ireland may not lead the world in cuisine, but for a cup of tea and a biscuit we are hard to beat. Because of this, we stopped off in a small shop-so small in fact the proprietor recognised me from last year-and bought a load of biscuits including kimberely and mikado (Irish people will know what I’m on about)  and munced away on the bus.
Then to much amusement on the bus Dickie & I rang pretty much everyone we knew to ask them what their favourite biscuit was. The most popular were custard creams, Mikado, Toffee Pops and a choclate digestive-but it’s an ongoing survey (really even the kids who didn’t know what a biscuit was, are now asking everyone )so final numbers have yet to be talleyed-what’s yours?

Sad news for Bundoran. Meatloaf was supposed to play a gig here tonight but cancelled at the last minute. However luckily for you the other large, loud man in Bundoran tonight is still workingJ
We had a really good day today, Culture class decided to relocate for the day and went to the bridge bar for coffee and a political discussion. Niamh promises to include all the details in her Thursday culture blog. I think she’s afraid I’ll take the words right out of her mouth.

English class went ahead as usual but the real buzz was with the surf camp who had checked the internet last night and knew there was due to be a really big swell so for once waking them was no problem and they were out of bed like a bat out of hell to get to the surf.  They were hoping for an offshore wind, big waves and a sunny morning. The waves and wind were perfect but it was a little dull this morning. Still two out of three ain’t bad.
In fact it was so good that we decided to cancel our plans for this evening and we put on another surf for everyone. The waves were even better and it was a glorious summers evening here in Bundoran.  Even Anabelle and Alejandro said they were warm. It was almost dark when we dragged them out of the water. As we drove home we could see a bus full of very happy surfers lit by the dashboard light.
(Ok ay I’m going to start writing normally now, and stop trying to put Meat Loaf lyrics into the text as it’s getting late and the only other song I can remember is Objects in the rear view menu…kudos to you if you got all the lyric references-and for those of you who don’t know Meat Loaf-what were you listening to in the seventies? Well a lot of the kids want to see Mama Mia on Thursday so I suppose I can try for ABBA on that blog)
After surfing, when they arrived back, I had packets and packets of noodles waiting for them (I know but it’s what they wanted-Constantin in particularly is a huge fan) and settled down to watch amovie on the projector in the orange room.In-between the surf sessions, we did all aboard-one of my favourite climbing activities. This is where four kids have to climb a 40 ft pole and balance on top of it (don’t worry they have safety ropes). It’s really good fun and just scary enough to get the adrenaline going. Augie says to mention that he was the first one up. Paula, Kevin still can’t believe you want photos of him –he says you know what he looks like but I tried to explain to him that’s not how mums work. Iannis was very amused that his mum knows he’s not going to call for three weeks. Elliot, Kyle & Nat told me to say hi to their families which I take it means they haven’t called home either.  But hey it means they’re having a good time.
Speaking of which can I say hi to my family too, see you on July 25^th
Anyway it’s after midnight (at the lost and found) I’d better
sign off because to quote Meat Loaf

Baby we can talk all night
But that aint getting us nowhere
I told you everything I possibly can
Theres nothing left inside of here

Actually that’s not true there’s loads more stuff about David, Emma, Martina, Diarmuid, Trent, Leanne, Nicole, Charlotte, our gang from Catalonia, not to mention Jessie who announced today she’s staying for another week (Yay) but I’m going to bed!
Collie
p.s. Santi ate my chunky kit-kat that I was saving for my cup of tea tonight-I told him I was going to tell the world in revenge
    

Oops another rather late post tonight but with good reason. The much vaunted surprise is up on the gallery page. We always try our best to get a good selection of pictures of the kids but some of them have an uncanny knack of avoiding the camera. So each of us recorded a little message to say hello to the folks at home and so you could see who your kids were spending their time with.  Some of them are a little hard to hear but I think you’ll enjoy it nonetheless. I’ve also put a good few pictures up from the last few days with more to follow.  

Today, we are delighted to report, the surf picked up so there were beaming smiles all around surf camp. Culture camp were visited by Rhya who decided to teach them cupla focail (a few words of Irish) and then I did a little bit on Irish myths and legends particularly how Setanta became known as Cuchullain and Fionn McCumhaill (Finn McCool). We’ll explain more about this in Niamh’s weekly Culture blog.  

As the surf was pretty good, we all went for a surf in the afternoon and then after dinner, was the highlight of my day. Dickie’s sister Karen who is an Irish champion dancer, came up to the centre to show us a little set dancing. Set dancing is a form of traditional Irish dancing-think of a cross between Riverdance and square dancing and you’ll get the idea. Needless to say it was hilarious but some of the gang really got into it, Charlotte being particularly good. It was a smashing evening so we decided to take the music outside and all 42 of them danced out in the front of the centre. God only knows what people driving by thought but we really enjoyed ourselves. I even have a little video that I’ll try and convert tomorrow and get up on the internet.  

Collie  

Ps Elisabeth, I hope you like the surprise, Augie was the first to volunteer! The game was called a tie but sides are pretty convinced they won J  

Don’t forger to check out the new gallery page http://www.adventure-ireland.com/newweb/pages/gallery.html

  

 

A rare early post from me today. This mainly because the gang are upstairs watching Step up 2 so I decided to give it a miss and do some work (For a changeJ )
We had a morning surf planned today but while it was a nice warm sunny morning, the ocean was pretty flat-ok for beginners but not for a gang. So we had a little meeting and the consensus was to go to the beach anyway-some played a little soccer, some just  lay back and enjoyed the weather and a couple including Jessie, Paddy and Leanne decided to go for a dip in the ocean, enjoying not having to wear a wetsuit for a change.
In the afternoon, we worked on a little something for you guys which you will see tomorrow. Then  we split into a few groups, Augie, Martina, Timothee, Paddy, Flippo, Big Marc, TiffanEy, Sienna, Iannis, & Sebastian went to the school next door with Melissa  to play a little basketball, Pau, both Annas, Trent, Emma, Jessie, Leanne,  decided to redecorate our yellow room a little with Morgan while Santi, Albert, Joan, Carles &  other Pau played cards. A good few including Nat and “I don’t get tired” Elliot went for a nap! Smart people Conor (our gaelic expert) , Kevin, and Diarmuid decided to watch the Munster Hurling final between Tipperary and Clare with me. If you don’t know what hurling is click here for a little video. Mad huh?
Here we were joined by an ever increasing number of kids who watched in amazement at this brilliant game. They were even more surprised when they found out the players are amateurs.  For anyone who’s interested Tipperary won by seven points although Jessie who is from Clare didn’t seem too worried.
This evening we went back out to our high ropes course were we decided that mere climbing wasn’t good enough for us so we opted to do the (mothers look away now) high balance beams and tightropes blindfolded. I have lots of photos of this, the Gaelic match and various other shenanigans we’ve been up to upload, which I’ll do in the am tomorrow. Now I know I promised to do this today but myself and the Train (Jose Luis) were working on a little treat for you which you’ll see more of tomorrow. Trust me, it’s worth it.
Collie
Back to the hectic schedule tomorrow which includes Gaelic language, surfing for all, and then Dickie’s sister is going to teach them all how to do Irish dancing.

Saturday is usually an excursion day, and this Saturday was no different. Rosin and Dickie were up early making sandwiches for the trip and they all clambered on the bus leaving poor Uncle Collie behind. They promised to bring me some cake but returned empty handed
However all the students had a nice day out. I know they have really enjoyed their first 9 days at the camp but still they needed a day away from it for a break. Letterkenny which is Donegal’s largest town was our destination, about an hour West of Bundoran. Here the gang indulged in a spot of retail therapy and I think generally enjoyed an urban setting for a change.
On our return after dinner, we all got togged out for game of Gaelic football. For those of you who have never seen it here is a link to a classic game-I suppose Gaelic football is best described as a cross between soccer, rugby and basketball. (Australian rules football derived from it) To score you can put the ball over the bar (but in-between the posts) or in the goal similar to soccer (although the goals are much smaller) it’s a really tough fast and fun game and everyone was fairly gung ho. Instructors Dickie, Morgan and Adam are all excellent players, (Dickie is on the Bundoran team)and they spent some time showing the gang some skills.  Then it was time for the main event.
We split the gang up into two teams-Trish came over from the office to be the referee and threw the ball in to start the game. And it was most impressive. Some of the crew really showed a great knack for the game. However to my undying shame, none of these were Irish. Worthy of special mention are Iannis our quiet but charming Belgian, Martina, Marc, Kevin ,Alejandro, Augie (who did play last year but managed to injure himself by running into Victor after 5 minutes-they were kept well apart today and Jose Luis, the Spanish leader who is now known as the train or El Locomotora This is not so much for his ability to charge very quickly at people, more for his inability to change direction. However, for me, the real star of the show was Conor who proved a natural especially at the pick –up which is where you have to flick the ball up into your hands. 
After the game some of the gang went to watch another group that we work with, globalworks, do a mural on our climbing tower (Pau, Anna,  & Albert were really fascinated by this, I’ll post a picture tomorrow) and some of the others had a game of basketball where after a week of surfing, climbing & other extreme sports, Jose Luis and Anabelle both managed to cut their fingers. They are of course fine just a scrape but really basketball injuries! Is it any wonder why I’m going bald?

Collie

Oh what a silly night-Everybody is in flying form this evening. For all the sport, games & events we do sometimes it’s nights like this I remember most. We were having supper in the kitchen and rather spontaneously, we ended up singing songs from each of our nationalities. My argument was that while you guys may have the food, the weather, the fashion and maybe even the looks-we’ve got the music. After all we have won more Eurovision titles than anyone else. A fact that is both a source of contstant pride and eternal shame to me. At the same time. Somehow this ended up in my medley of songs which ended up with our new version of the Venezuelan national anthem as inspired by Alejandro-the boy is just so funny. I must stress this was in no way offensive to anyone from Venezuela or indeed anyone at all. (except perhaps music lovers) but we had so much fun just being silly with each other it’s been one of the highlights of the trip for me so far.

It was nice to have such a pleasant evening especially as the camp was a on a little bit of a downer after the gang left today-there were a few tears. the mood however was uplifted bythe arrival of our old friends Sienna and TiffanEy and newbies Emma who joined Leanne and Jessie who is Martina & Anabelle’s new roommate. (For those of you who weren’t reading last year -TiffanEys name is written this way due to a disagreement in spelling on last years blog:)

I’m going to leave it quite short tonight as between Nicky, Kyle,  and Niamh’s blogs I think we’ve probably given you enough homework and as for my homework , Tara he says he has no credit -which I’m fairly certain is  code for:  If I say that she’ll buy me credit & then I can spend all my money on other stuff-a code I think most parents know -I have a load of photos resized and I’ll upload them tomorrow & Anabelle has a load of really good photos she wants me to put up on the web. Paula I’ll get one of Conor & Kevin too I promise. All day trip tomorrow, then some gaelic football.

Collie

ps ok gang that left I’ll mention you once more-Gemma, Sharon, Aoife, David,Cian, Leeroy, Eimhin, Alex, Giggler sorry George and of course Charles in charge, yes we all miss you and hope to see you next year. All though Sharon wondered would she be too old at 17-too old at 17, God they do make feel ancient sometimes