It was supposed to be hot today, but something really cool happened instead.
From the south clouds started to appear in the sky and they threw shade (in a good way) over us for almost the entire day. We kept the campers indoors today as much as possible because the UV index was still high today, but the shade felt great!
We got up for breakfast at 8:30 am today, and the primary entrée was French toast, boiled eggs, & vegetarian patties. I could talk about the meals all day, but every breakfast always includes the following items in addition to the entrée: 8 different types of cold cereal, packaged oatmeal, four types of fruit juice, 2% milk, almond milk, rice milk, or soy milk, fruit, fruit cocktail, yogurt, granola, toast, bagels, cream cheese, peanut butter, jelly, and everyone has to have at least a half cup of water. In addition to entrée, we also served sliced fruit, tater tots, ketchup, salsa, and various other toppings associated with breakfast.
Breakfast really is the most important deal of the day.
After eating usually the younger campers try to do an activity before breakfast, but our teen campers are more interesting in hanging out and talking. They hang out until line call, when we raise the flag, and stand very silently at attention. They're probably the second most well behaved campers we've had at camp, and right now they're definitely the quietest bunch I've seen in awhile. I'm sure that will change as the week wears on, but for now I appreciate all the cooperation especially when it's time for everyone to put on sunscreen.
After line call we all went to worship in the Ponderosa Room, which was an indoor location. Usually we have worship outside, but today we had it inside to minimize the opportunities for sunburn. After worship with Pastor Meshach Soli we headed to our morning activities.
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| Cake Decorating: Monday |
Tweens and teens always want to switch activities, some want to switch more than once. In order for this to happen, three things need to occur:
1) There has to be space in the activity they want to go in to.
2) We call the parents to see if the switch is ok.
3) The parents either have to agree to pay the activity fee or receive a small refund for the price difference.
Once it's all ironed out, most of the campers are happier in their new classes. The campers do their morning activities all the way until mail call, which is followed by lunch. The main entrée for lunch today was vegetarian chicken nuggets, scalloped potatoes, and mixed vegetables (steamed). Lunch always comes with a full salad bar with at least nine different salad toppings, three dressings, and two salad toppers. We also have fruit, cottage cheese, Jello, peanut butter and jelly, bread, milk, rice milk, almond milk, and soy milk, as well as white cake for dessert. For lunch the campers can also choose from 8 different flavors of soda, but these are not available for dinner.
After we're all full, it's time for a break to visit the store or just hang out more and rest until our 3 pm rotations. During the week, the campers get to experience the other activities we have at camp besides the one they signed up for in the morning.
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| Obstacle Course Rotation: Monday |
I walked to the archery and ropes course rotations today to make sure the campers were having fun and the staff were on point. It's really easy for me to be proud of our staff, but these camp staff are very professional and easy-going. I would say 90% of them are still on task and have enough energy to keep it up through the week.
A great measure of everyone's energy level is the 5:15 pm group game on the field, which we call 'Big Event'. As you can see from some of these photos, the campers really played their hearts out in the hope of winning points to become our final 'Ultimate Cabin' of 2016.
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| Big Event: Monday |
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| Big Event: Monday |
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| Big Event: Monday |
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| Big Event: Monday |
After dinner the campers have more time to hang out before the 7:50 pm line call where we lower the flag and dismiss for program. The Outpost program is a three-night continuation play featuring a cast of camp performers.
The first night of the play focuses on the plight of a seemingly guilty boy, accused of a crime he says that he didn't commit. No one really believes him until a stranger comes into town with a mysterious message and a retainer of $5 to defend the boy in court. The theme of the first night revolves around the idea that sometimes the right thing to do isn't always apparent, and that we have a responsibility to discover the truth.
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| Outpost: Monday Night |
After the play we all go to bed, except some of the adults who are planning everything that happens on the next day of camp. We'll probably be indoors a lot tomorrow (except during activity periods) so as to stay out of the sun. If the clouds come out again, we'll have a lot more fun tomorrow (between sunscreen breaks, water breaks, and shade breaks).
Blessings,
-Jeremy
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