Monday Madness

Sometimes the weather can surprise you. Although thunderstorms were predicted for today - they passed us by without a drop. That allowed for an afternoon trip to the local pool -where there was plenty of high diving and sun screen, along with stylish flips, a slick slide and cannon ball competitions as the kids enjoyed a great afternoon of swimming.

Our morning started out with calisthenics at 6:45 - yes - a.m.. That was followed by breakfast and bible study. The morning ultimate team competition involved a giant reverse slip and slide on the hill outside the gym...think - going up a wet, partially Vaselined plastic tarp - while being doused with icy cold water by your favorite friendly staff. Campers were timed and awarded style points. For those of you not familiar with Ultimate Team Competition, each year the campers are divided into groups and assigned to a primary counselor. Every day they compete against the other teams in unique competitions to earn points for their teams. At the end of the week the teams are awarded trophies according to their successes - or failures - as the case may be.

Today's morning activity period included included archery (yes- we use real arrows but they get great safety training first) arts and crafts (making cool bracelets), Frisbee golf and yoga (led by our fearless pastor for the week - Pastor Hanel.

Our menus for the day included a breakfast of coffee cake, cereal, juice and fruit. Lunch was the beloved meatballs (awesome), mashed potatoes, fruit and veggies. Supper consisted of soft shells tacos and nachos - with every fixing you could imagine. Top that off with watermelon, grapes and veggies - and everybody walked away satisfied. For those that left a little room - there was the canteen to sugar them up.

This got them ready for an incredibly loud evening of Bunco. Picture 117 kids shaking dice, yelling and cheering for about two hours, while the counselors blow whistles at the end of each round - resulting in a mad dash to the next table. Those staff not directly involved, tried to be AS FAR FAR AWAY AS POSSIBLE. The good thing is, some of us still have our hearing intact for the rest of the week.

Our evening was rounded out by a sing along and nightly group discussions. Tonight's discussion included answering questions listed on a beach ball that was tossed around, as well as processing the events of the day. As I write this, the kids have headed off to bed. My guess is that some of them will fall asleep much faster tonight as some were already asking for a nap mid afternoon.

By the way - our canteen this year is totally peanut free. This really helps out with protecting our campers that have peanut allergies. Moms, just so you know, yes, some of the kids are buying water and fruit snacks instead of candy bars and pop. Ok - so not everyone - but you can just 'believe' it is your kids if you want.