Tuesday, Joy Abounds!

Happy Tuesday! This blog post is going up a bit later than I was hoping because, in the middle of writing, I heard the most joyous shouts, cheers, and noise! Age Group 1 (Connestee, Hillside, and Lakeside) was having the absolute best time in evening program, playing our canoe fill-up game. When you hear that kind of joy, you just have to stop and go enjoy it! I snagged a few photos that will go into the gallery tomorrow.

On to the recap of the day! It’s Day 2 for our July Mini I Campers and Day 16 for our Four-Weekers. It started out a little misty, but the sun came out in full force this afternoon. Today, our Two-Weekers started to settle in a bit and understand the rhythms of camp from how to move around the Dining Hall to where their activities are. For our returning Two-Weekers, it was neat watching them support their first-time peers, helping them get places and learn how camp runs.

During my strolls around camp today, I checked in on a few of our Four-Weekers and July Mini II Campers and asked them a simple question: “What is your favorite part about camp so far?”

As you can imagine, some campers knew their answer right away, while others pondered it for a bit. Below is a great smattering of what folks said (paraphrased slightly by me):

• Levi: “The time I get to spend apprenticing in swimming and supporting the younger campers.”
• Ford: “The lake, the waterslide, and canoe fill-ups!” (He is on track to have it for three evening programs as a Four-Weeker, which may be a record!)
• Brown: “The food it tastes so good!”
• Hank: “I can’t even choose, the options are so many!”
• Charles: “Pottery! I have made 14 items.”
• Stephen: “Being a part of this community.”

My favorite nugget of the day might have been from Tucker, who arrived just yesterday! Today, in his first morning of fishing, he caught a fish! That, of course, was his favorite moment at camp so far. His fishing counselor, Jack, was standing there lifeguarding as we chatted and had a big grin on his face, seeming almost as pumped as Tucker was about the catch. What a great first full day! Moments like this remind me that the magic of camp isn’t just in the activities themselves, but in the community that celebrates them together.