Victory Junction Gang Camp

Back in Oct I blogged about Victory Junction - the NASCAR-themed camp for kids with special needs. Besides the one week camps they have for kids they also host weekend camps for the whole family to attend. The weekend camps are grouped by diagnosis and back in Nov there was a weekend camp for families who have a child with Down syndrome.

When I found out we were about 4 hrs away from the North Carolina town where Victory Junction is located, I submitted our application to attend ... and we went!

I can not say enough good things about Victory Junction and all the employees and volunteers who make these camps happen.They are wonderful, caring, enthusiastic people and their one goal is to make sure the kids/families have a blast.

The only thing we paid for was our gas money to get there. Everything else is completely free to the families. The cabins, activities, entertainment, and meals. They even provided gluten-free substitutions for those who couldn't/didn't eat gluten. Kayla was able to eat everything we were eating; spaghetti, garlic bread, French toast, sloppy joe's, pizza, and brownies. At every meal there was a covered plate for Kayla with her substitution item already on the table. And Kayla hardly ate any of it. That was the only frustrating thing about the whole weekend. But I'm so thankful the gluten-free foods were provided and I didn't have to worry about bringing anything for Kayla.

We arrived on Fri evening and went to our cabin to meet our 2 counselors (each family is assigned 2 counselors to take you around the whole weekend.) We also roomed with another family (she doesn't have a blog) but whom I've 'known' online for a few years now. Sydney and Kayla are the same age so it was fun finally meeting in person and having our girls get together! We had dinner followed by a dance party.

The cabins are large. There is a common area with a small kitchenette and doors to the sleeping rooms are on the left and right. Each room has 8 beds and a bathroom. The bathrooms each had 3 stalls, sinks, and showers. So each family had one side of the cabin to themselves.

Saturday was full of activities: mini golf, bowling, arts and crafts, fishing, horseback riding. We also had a 70s themed costume party for lunch and some quiet time back at our cabin thrown in there. After dinner was a dessert party with frozen yogurt, cotton candy, and popcorn; followed by the talent show.

There were a few more activities to try on Sun and then they sent us on our way with a bagged lunch and a back pack (with some goodies) for Kayla.

It truly was a memorable weekend and I'm so thankful we had an opportunity to go! I took so many pictures and had a hard time narrowing them down to post on the blog. Here are a few of my favorites, and then several more in the slideshow below.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com