Tuesdays storms passed us by....mostly.
Sometimes you just have to love it when the weather reports are wrong. Rather than the predicted three solid days of rain - up until now we had seen rain only at night. Today we made it until late afternoon before a short dousing.
Our day started with morning calisthenics again. A little jogging, stretching and light exercise gets everyone awake enough to eat breakfast. Today's meal featured chocolate chip or regular pancakes, covered with fresh strawberries. Retired faculty master chef Ron Roehl made an appearance as the guest pancake flipper.
After breakfast, groups broke into bible classes. The theme for this week is 'Cross Connections'. Monday we focused on 'God to Us', utilizing the story of Adam and Eve and how God has, and continues to, care for us since the fall into sin. Today we studied 'Us to God' based on the story of the Prodigal son. The main discussion centered on confession.
Bible class led into our morning activity periods. These sessions are divided into two time slots. Kids sign up for their first choice in each session. Today's choices included Body Break -which was pretty hilarious. Given the title, the boys thought this was going to be some sort of self defense or 'throw each other around' class. They were pretty surprised when it turned out to be camp co-director Jess O and counselor Megan R, dressed in 80's clothing, doing aerobics to Richard Simmons' 'Sweating to the Oldies'.
After the initial shock wore off of the first group (which was composed of almost all 8th and 9th grade boys) they decided it really rocked and they were begging to have it again tomorrow. Also offered was a camp favorite - Line Dancing -
complete with cowboy hats and foot stomping rhythm (well, for some anyway). A new arts and crafts event - chalk making - was messy but fun, definitely an outdoor activity. A group of competitive Kick Ball players rounded out the sessions.
Today's Ultimate Team Competition involved each team having to follow a map around campus to locate a variety of challenge stations. At each station one team member had to complete a task to earn a 'stamp'. In order to finish the race, teams had to earn a stamp from all of the stations. From catapult tennis ball (with a nylon on your head), to push the car, to downing 5 freezies, to blindfolded beach ball delivery (with directions provided by a teammate), to hangman, to 3 point shots, to dropping clothespins in a jar, to jump roping... the kids ran all over campus (causing some of the counselors with them, to remember they aren't 12 any more).
UTC took us up to lunch (mac and cheese, chicken nuggets, fruit and veggies). One of the loudest cheers of the morning was when one of our directors announced that there would be FOB (feet on bed) in the afternoon. Apparently they were pretty exhausted from the week - and it is only Tuesday! We decided not to go to the pool today as the weather looked pretty 'iffy'. The directors wisely decided they didn't want to be in the position of having the kids at the pool if things turned ugly. The weather did get rainy, but no serious weather reared its head. After FOB campers had the option of karaoke, spoons, ninja or socializing in the gym.
Supper tonight featured tater tot hotdish, with lots of veggies and fruit. Fresh ripe peaches tasted especially good after a long day of hustling around. After supper the kids and counselors had their nightly discussion groups, with freeze pops provided by our birthday girl of the day (thanks Hammonds). Our evening sing a long included lots of traditional VBS songs - which the kids really got into.
Tonight's activity is a dodge ball tournament. Of course, since it is camp, it couldn't be just ordinary dodge ball - there have to be some twists thrown in... After the first few minutes of traditional dodge ball, a buzzer sounded, music started blaring and huge balls suddenly appeared on the playing field. These were rolled and bounced in from the sides of the field by the ever attentive staff. They were not aimed anywhere in particular, but to get hit with one meant sudden death. There is no way for me to adequately describe the scene. Think...Pastor Hanel emceeing at a frenzied tempo - not unlike what you would expect at a WWF competition. Throw in some flashing lights, a noise level rivaling any international airport, lots of sugar and caffiene, and you sort of get the picture! From the sound of the kids cheering - they enjoyed it. After the last team had dodged the last ball, the group settled down just enough to assemble for the end of the day meeting. Then it was off to bed for the younger kids, while the older kids enjoyed some group time.
Let's not forget that earlier in the day we managed to squeeze in some rousing...'You Lost It I Found It' time. This is when the kids have to 'earn' back the stuff they have left lying around the camp for the last few days. From sweatshirts, to shoes, to beach towels, to watches...the lost and found bin had gotten pretty full. As the items are held up by a staff person (on the stage) the kids have to come up and perform a requested task to earn back the item. We were treated to "You are my Sunshine", If you Love Me - Smile, leg wrestling, "I'm A Little Teapot" and a host of other little ditties. You might think embarrassment would help encourage the kids to keep track of their things -it usually doesn't. In fact, throughout the week, some kids tend to purposely 'lose' items so they get their 30 seconds of fame on the stage. I will let you decide if that sounds like your child or not...but I will say that some of them were up there more than once!
Well, that's all for today - We have included some snapshots from the day to give you a better picture of how it unfolded.
Thanks for allowing us to spend time with your kids this week. We are having a blast! God is good!
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