The CAMROSE BOOSTER, June 28, 2022 – Page 34
Amphitheatre shenanigans My children and I have a funny tradition of making our own amphitheatre shows when we go camping. It started the year my husband took my daughter backpacking for the first time. After they returned, we had a rainy afternoon. My husband and youngest kid stayed at the motorhome to nap, while the older two kids and I explored the campground more. We discovered a neat, wooden amphitheatre that hadn’t been in use for a while, due to a lack of park funding. We started coming up with stories about animals and acting them out on the stage, though the benches were empty. We spent hours on that stage, laughing and acting. Our favourite act was where I pretended to be a tree, and they were beavers gnawing on my “trunk” and causing me to tip over. At some point, a young boy appeared. He watched us with great interest for several minutes, and then asked if he could join in. We looked at each other, shrugged, and said something along the lines of, “Sure, why not? Want to be a beaver?” After a few minutes, his grandparents appeared. They plunked down on the benches and watched, big grins on their faces. I thought this was all getting a bit embarrassing, but we continued, to their enthusiastic applause. Then last year, we took my parents biking in the mountains for their 50th anniversary. Once again, we came upon a cool, wooden amphitheatre that hadn’t been used in a while. We set to work on our scripts, whispering behind the stage before the show began, with my parents as an audience. Before long, our kids had made friends in our campground loop. They started working on a show together, and even researched information on the animals that were being featured. Then they made posters with a show time, biking around the loop to hand out the posters to fellow campers. Later that night, they had an audience of about 20 people who wanted to be included in the magic of the amphitheatre. The other day, I was working on a year-in-review photo collage for my daughter’s birthday. This is definitely one of those projects where I wonder if I should have started this tradition, but it’s too late now. I go through photos from the year and print out my favourites, and any ones that showed milestones from the year. I cut out a shape like a butterfly, ninja, soccer kid, whatever they are into, from cardstock and make a collage. It is a labour of love each year, and it’s the first thing they look for when they wake up on their birthdays. As I pored through the photos of the past year, I came upon a picture from our amphitheatre show in the summer. The four of us are holding hands, right after taking a triumphant bow. My daughter and I are looking at each other, huge grins on our faces. My sons are laughing in that wonderful, unrestrained way that children have. I couldn’t remember seeing the photo before. I stopped what I was doing and stared at it for a few minutes–we each look so happy. The photo made me so excited for summer, for those times when you are in the moment, just enjoying being alive and being with family and good friends. Moments where you can breathe, slow down, and not think about what you have to do next, or stop what you’re doing because you have somewhere else you need to be. We often make a summer wish list of activities which might include swimming at a friend’s pool, day trips to lakes with great swimming, visiting the Edmonton zoo, going for ice cream. So far this year, we haven’t compiled an actual list; maybe that will lead to more of those unexpected moments of pure enjoyment. Almost time for more amphitheatre shenanigans!
Lori Larsen, Camrose Booster On June 18, Lemonade Stands popped up around Camrose as part of the annual Lemonade Day, all owned and operated by some very ambitious and entrepreneurial youth of Camrose and area. Sisters Addyson (12 years old), left, and McKenna (nine years old) Campbell offered the option of special added flavours for their customers at The Lemonade Sisters. The sisters intend on sharing a portion of their profits with the Camrose and District Animal Shelter and Camrose Women’s Shelter.
Lori Larsen, Camrose Booster Customers of the Galaxy Lemonade Stand had a choice of flavours as well as some edible glitter. Customers could also purchase homemade bracelets and keychains. Pictured left to right are lemonade stand owner/operators 13-year-old Rylea Rafuse, 11-year-old Emmett Chartrand, 11-year-old Oliver and nine-year-old Tristan Rondeau. The owner/operators intend on sharing a portion of their profits with the Camrose and District Animal Shelter.
Lori Larsen, Camrose Booster Owner/operator of the WyMows Lemonade Stand 17-year-old Wyatt Mowat, left, served customer nine-year-old Maverik Kyler. Wyatt was offering summery flavours such as pineapple to switch things up for customers.
