Overlap: "From state to state, Choctaw girls are really great. Na na na na na"

This Sunday marks the last staff meeting and our last week,

but it is also the beginning of the first week for so many of our campers and the first week of resident camp for counselors like Annie Fazzio, Linsey and Sweeners.

It's crazy to think that we've all been together for the past nine week and know we only have one left. It could be the very best one yet.

Choctaw had three stayovers, Erin, Lexi and Izzy, all excited to meet the new girls in our cabin.

Jamie and I were pumped about week 9 and packing as much fun into this week as possible.

I got to see Olivia, Oksana and Kaya during swim checks--they're finally all together in Warriors this week.

Choctaw went on a special camp wide tour that took us under the porch of the Main Lodge...

the jail at the CAC and the mini-farm.

Who was there but baby Lincoln! He tried petting the donkey and sheep and climbed a tree.

I've loved seeing my family almost every day all summer long. They are the very best people and it's going to be so weird and sad to move away from them soon.

Cali, a repeat week-9 camper, is back again. She is still doing her Fabio impression.

All of the campers in River Village dressed up as the 101 Dalmatians for opening campfire. Jamie and I were Pongo and Perdita and we brought the rest of our puppies on a giant leash.

Woof. Arf. Bark.

I love these opening and closing nights when everyone is together in the same place. It's high energy and everyone gets excited for the week... and excited to sing the Soggy Pillow song.

Monday morning we sang the Camp of Christ figure out that they need everyone--the Maintenance staff, Housekeeping, Cooks, Director, Counselors and Campers--to work together for Camp to really work well. It's a good reminder that everyone is important.

Kata has been part of my camp world for 7 summers now which is pretty insane. I'm so thankful for her and all she's taught me about perseverance, counseling, joy, dancing, laughter and not wearing pants in the afternoon.

I was shocked to hear a camper I'd never met ask, "Are you Miss Wright?" but quickly figured out she is the younger sister of two of my favorite Friendship Bracelet Club girls. It is Cecilia's first summer at Tecumseh. I hope I'll have her in class a year from now.

My clinic line-up this week is French Braiding with Ellyn, Hip Hop with Becca and Brad and then I'm back in the CAC third for Friendship Bracelets with Arielle. Mary and Kendall are close by in Mask Making.

Olivia and Kaya, two of our week 9 Choctaw girls from last summer are back again. Almost everyday before lunch you can find Vince playing a brutally tough game of Simon Says.

Our cabin is full of more fun and loud girls this week and I know it's going to be great.

At the pool I had to watch the shallow end but Erin and Lexi turtled right by me the whole time.

Some of my favorite moments with kids are when we're just hanging out--during trading post, while we're drinking our pop stop, before lunch--we get to talk and just be together.

We were sporty the rest of the afternoon, first we played Dodgeball with the Potters and Peoria.

Then we played Human Fooseball against Abnaki in the Tecumseh Dust Bowl.

After dinner we taught the Blazer Cheer and Women of the River. It's extra fun if you do it while standing on stage.

Choctaw hiked up to the LV to go down the Bullet slide. We did a cabin relay to try to get our fastest time. Caroline was so good at sliding all the way to the very end and Izzy was beast at flying back up the steps.

We had a buddy sleepover with Seminole cabin. Every buddy pair made up a handshake and interviewed each other. Our devotion was about looking up to people and having people look up to us. At some point you realize that you play both roles-- I look up to my friends and family but I have a lot of people that look up to me too and I want to be worthy of that.

Tuesday morning all of camp came together to learn about Kaleepo the monkey who steals from the other monkeys until old Desmond the Lion teaches him to share. We spotted Mario and Lugi in the crowd.

The singing Jamaican deer narrator is my favorite part. Erin loves her neon swag and Katie Foley and I love Young Life.

French braiding clinic went to the Irving steps to do pigtail braids and I got the CILT devotion letters from 2011 ready to mail out.

Our dance is progressing well and we worked on the zipper bracelet in the CAC.

It's Caroline's 11th birthday so she got a special crown...

cupcakes for lunch and a ton of birthday mail.

The Lake was SO fun. We got to see our Seminole buddies, Cali was having fun...

we got to swim with the Pathfinders again which makes me so happy...

and everyone was in a really good mood. I got to be on the blob the whole time which is like a dream come true. I attempted a front flip and got all the way to the end of the yellow log twice which I've never done before.