#camplife

My favorite EP so far is most definitely Counselor Hunt! Even though the title is pretty self explanatory, I'll explain:
The counselors can either hide in pairs or by themselves, and the trick is to completely cover yourself up and hide both your clothes and your body type in a blanket or something of the sort. The kids then find you, come up to you and attempt to guess who you are. They have 3 guesses and then have to move on. Caroline and I hid together and did not get "found" for both rounds, like a boss. Needless to say, we got to know each other really well, stuck in a tiny area for hours!
When the game was over and we came out of hiding, our kids came running, shouting "we thought you had gotten lost in the forest and died!" They all asked repeatedly where I had hidden, to which I replied "you will never know..."

The next day, I was surprised with a $50 gift from one of my campers! It's a seat called a "Crazy Creek" and sort of uses a pivot system to keep you up, and is used outdoors or on the floor, it is the best thing I have ever experienced. It was signed by all the campers in my cabin and my Co-Co, and is just fantastic! We then proceeded to play cards on the floor so that I could use my gift, and that transformed into them putting Duck Tape on my unshaven legs, and waxing the hair off them! That night we had off and went to dinner at Ingles for sandwiches, before heading off to watch a movie!

The following Wednesday was what is known as "Wacky Wednesday" which a day that was made for me. It's a day where pancakes are green and oatmeal is blue. A day where you wear the craziest outfit you can manage to make, and when you teach all your classes in the most upside down way that you possibly can. I had such fun the entire day, running around like a mad person for no reason other than that it was perfectly normal on that magical day. That evening the EP was "Taking back Ton-a-wandah" which begins with our Program Director running into the dining hall, dressed as a crazy man, claiming that he has taken the deed to the land and that they were going to flatten camp to build a mall. The kids got really "angry" and start screaming take back TAW!!

The EP consists of multiple stations where the kids have to run and collect "money" from each place. They then head to the program office and buy a key to a hidden box. They then find the box and attempt to unlock it. If their group's key unlocks the box, they win and claim back the deed to the lands, saving us all!

The next off night we had, we headed into town in Hendersonville and went to dinner at an great Italian restraint called Mezalino. The best thing about it is that it was showing the FIFA World Cup and I actually got to watch a game! I feel so disconnected from it, and I would normally be curled up on the couch, with my family, watching the tournament like it was my job! This year I would probably have been working my butt off with my Gino's family, catching glimpses of it, but that would still be more than I'm seeing now! I watched the game, munching on some pizza, and was happy as a clam!

For the next EP, the campers were divided into their tribes and played Basketball. It was great fun and the kids were all pretty good, but my favorite part was screaming chants and war cries for my tribe more than watching the games. My tribe won by a long shot, and I am convinced it's because of my undying spirit! Well, that's debatable but a girl can dream.

The next day was our cabin Happy Nappy rest hour movie, and we watched The Little Mermaid. I slept all through it and the next period, luckily I didn't miss my class as it was my off period! All my campers came out of that happy nappy absolutely petrified, as they seemed to take it all a little too literally, ah Disney.
That night, the EP was the Area Cook Out where the Hillside girls (youngest), the Lakeside girls (middle), and the Hilltop girls (oldest) are all separated into groups and make their food over the open fire. It was great, and what made the night for me was the EP that us counselors made up: the Riff Off!! We lived Pitch Perfect and it was a dream come true! The counselors started every round and the kid's groups jumped in when they could, some were amazing and others were Cut Off! I loved it so much.

The next day the Counselors in Training (CITs) were in charge and they orchestrated a great pirate themed day where in the kids completed challenges and received pieces to a treasure map after each game. The treasure was a huge bag of sweets which made it the best day in the eyes of the campers! Caroline and I were stationed in the Gym with a great CIT and basically sat there, jamming to great music, while she did everything. We ate about 12 Pixie Stix each and giggled at nothing at all.

That night we had off and we all jumped into cars and head off for some fast food! Our car attempted to get some Chick-Fill-A but it was closed so moved onto Zaxby's chicken, which is basically like really good KFC! I was so happy because I got to see another World Cup game, and because Caroline, Kelly, Maggie, and Ali make my life! We finished our food and landed up back at Anna's house with the rest of the gang. We put a movie on as background noise and basically used the Wifi for all it's glory! We then set off back to camp and long story short, Caroline and I ended up taking showers at 5am just because we hadn't gotten to bed yet.

The next day was the final day of classes, which meant finishing up lessons and just having a great time. We all practiced our routine for the demo karate exhibition and performed later that night along with all the dancers and drama performers. I came back to the cabin that day to a package on my bed. It was a gift from one of my camper's parents and it was the best surprise! I love that people here make it very clear when they are appreciative!

The next day, some campers performed in the Horse Show but us Lifeguards went to do in-services, which is basically just like revision on all practicals. It was great, we sped through the work and straight into the play! It morphed into a huge lake party and the highlight for me was finally being "Blobbed" which is a huge inflated tube that one person sits on one end of, as the other jumps onto the other side from an elevated platform. The result is one being shot off the end and into the lake! It is such fun! That night, the EP was the Hillbilly Games which is an excuse to dress up like hillbillies and get super dirty! I was on the waterfront and basically orchestrated the best lake games ever! That night we had a "Half Off" which meant we were off but couldn't leave camp. We all ordered pizza and watch "17 Again" and drooled over Zac Effron...

The next day was Tribe Day which is synonymous with the last day of camp. It's my favorite day because the oldest girls at camp, run through the grounds with blow horns and wake the entire place up really early in the morning! We then get dressed in tribe clothes and head off to get tribe paint. We then walk to breakfast in our tribes, screaming war cries at the top of our lungs! We then break into a series of sport challenges. The best event by far was the Counselor Balloon Stomp which consisted of us representing our tribe, with balloons tied to out ankles, and trying to pop the balloons as the boundaries were made consistently smaller. I made it to the last 3 and then got knocked out of the circle, and lost my last life. Over all, the Navajos (my tribe) won the day and the entire session!!

That afternoon was the awards ceremony, where in all the activity directors make and give kids awards that they deserve. It was really great, and I gave out ninja stars I had crafter out of paper to my top Bruce Lee's! We then headed to dinner which again was an event that the oldest girls at camp created and hosted.

The event is called Banquet and is so legit I cannot even begin to describe it! The girls work on it all session long and pick a theme, then make all the decorations, the skits and the multiple elements that bring this event together. They picked the theme The Hunger Games and I was blown away! Each table was a district and the skit was perfect! They even ended up fighting in the lake and throwing each other off the dock towers. The evening is brought to a close by the Candle Light ceremony which is basically the goodbye. All the girls cried their little eyes out and then walked to the lake and set lit candles on the water. It was so beautiful.

The next morning all the kids left, with many more tears, and we all took a deep breath. We then had to clean our cabins and activity areas and went to lunch, childless. We were reassigned cabins and Co-Cos then were set free for 24 hours for session break!

With first session over, and one full month away from home behind me, I'm feeling good.