This weekend just gone saw our Camp at Home: Seaside Splash, our sixth virtual camp in Durham County. Along with the Camp at Home team I helped plan a programme packed full of interactive seaside themed fun.

Fun was definitely on the cards for our opening and closing ceremony.  My co-host Ben and I were able to present together in our back yard. We had a splash. Yes, quite literally we made a beach scene in our yard and what started with the odd splash from a squirty gun, ended with our camera man turning the garden hose on us: it was a splash!

As well as fun, I also found opportunity to challenge myself. During the planning process we found out that our interactive storyteller could not make the date of the event. Not wanting to let the young people down I decided to push myself and live my dreams as a storyteller. I was so nervous building up to going live. Yet as soon as I began telling the Mermaid of Durham story, with the help of our participants answering questions to progress our story, I had a SQUAWK of a time. SQUAWK being the only sound Melissa the Mermaid made when she opened her mouth, my mouth was a little bit parched by the end of the story. But with every spoken word I felt more cool, calm and confident I am a writer, storyteller and foremost a Scout!

All this week when I have heard the seagulls squawking I cannot help but think back on how much fun I had on the weekend. And this week the weather is definitely a splash! The rain has cooled things down with showers and a thunderstorm to rival the amazon, pounding off the ground as I watch the spectacle from the window.