We learned about Ted the Rainbow Fish this morning at chapel. The story is about sharing with others and putting the other person 2nd. I love that it relates to the I'm 3rd motto and that the counselors have so much fun with the props. We've got silver foil scales, a noodle octopus and an orange cone starfish.
The CILTs gathered in the Party Room all morning. We hammered out names first and then talked about what a great leader is to each of us. After that Smooney introduced a new activity called Life Maps. Everyone drew out their whole life, the most significant events and life shaping experiences they've had. Then one by one everyone got to share their map with the rest of the group. It was incredible.
Never have I seen a group be so open and vulnerable on the very first day. They are building a community of trust and respect. Already we've learned things about people that we'd ordinarily hear about in devotions much later on or maybe never share with the whole group. I hope that sharing these details of their lives will help them to connect and build friendships that much faster.
Lunch time in River Village is the best. Catawba brought back Rach and Paige's "All Catawba Ladies" cheer. There were flies being thrown all over the dining room.
The DC cords are here now and I love getting see Erin and Irene. Ellyn already loves teaching clinics and getting play with kids like Jessie.
We ate with chopsticks at every meal today, checking off that goal for the week from the CILT jar.
All of the Braves and Blazers bombarded our back room to surround us before putting flies on us. We didn't even hesitate before starting the "PARTY ROOM!" chant on our chairs.
Before rest hour we took our official CILT counselor.
But before the real photographer arrived we warmed up by playing the scenario game.
The CILT counselors wanted to play too.
The CILTs met up with their adopted cabins for the first time at the pool. These girls made signs like you would to greet someone in the airport. Their Lakota and Winnebago signs would help their cabins to find them-- I've never seen anyone think of doing that before.
Meg, camper extraordinaire, is back this week. Chrissy introduced me to her last year and I just love this child. I got to play with her all of swim time which is great since she's up in the LV now and I don't get to see her as often.
While CILTs go with their adopted cabins the CILT counselors observe by joining in with random cabins. Main Field was full of plenty of options today. First Ellyn and I hit up dodgeball with some Warrior girls.
I played kickball with two different groups of Blazers.
After the Tecumseh Dust Bowl last year this view is beautiful. Green field. Blue skies. Kids having the time of their life.
One of the best parts of my day was sitting in a circle with these CILT girls at the end of trading post. They were telling stories about their cabins and then we were playing different games like "Crossed or Uncrossed" and "The Moon Is Big And Round." They're funny and kind and I like them so much already.
We passed out the neon green CILT hats tonight-- they always make Team CILT look just so darn fratty and fun.
We started working on this session's cheer. Malik and the guys figured out an original rap and I taught them a step I learned this past year. We're going to have to practice a lot but I've got faith that this will turn out to be a great cheer. Over and over we practiced on the porch and then in front of the Trading Post before calling it a night.
The girls finished the night with a Love Tank devotion. We talked about Ephesians 4:29, "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths but only what is good at building others up according to their needs." We each wrote a handful of notes to start us off. I'm excited to see them take ownership of encouraging each other and loving their friends well.
Just... So much love for one post.
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