Today was one of the best days. Today there was so much whimsy and silliness and fun and friends.
Longhouse partner twinning-- Liz and Sam, Alli and Taylor, Ellyn and Sar
While I was getting in some extra steps, I noticed a whole full bowl of grapefuit. I asked Molly, Tim and Alli if they wanted to do something weird with me and Molly agreed right away. I told her we were going to race eating grapefruit, even though I hate grapefruit. I thought they were smaller slices so when we realized they were halves I told her we could cut them in half. She immediately said, "No! We have to do the whole thing!"
All camp chapel is my favorite. I love seeing all the Warrior and Pathfinder girls that I love who I don't get to cross paths with as often in the Riv. I love Nikki and Ava Baby.
I found Lilly, Annie and Ellen to give them friendship bracelets and they all attacked me with hugs.
We gathered the CILTies into a huddle on the ground just past the dumpsters after chapel. Little did they know that each CILT counselor had a jar of glitter.
We told them to keep their eyes closed and then sprinkled the glitter over all 40 of them. I heard a few ask if we were putting sand on them, but most of them couldn't feel a thing.
When they opened their eyes they were all smiles. Shocked, surprised and in awe of the glitter that was now completely covering them.
So much love. I'd been glitter free until Riley Meyer came over and hugged me. She got glitter all over me, but it was worth it. I love this kid.
When Tim originally came up with this idea for the CILT Jar he suggested that we glitter bomb the CILTs in their bunks when they woke up in the morning. Alli and I immediately shut that idea down, but I think this was a great compromise.
Just in case you didn't already believe that CILTs is magical.
I think Lexie and Devon might have died and gone to heaven. So much joy.
As you can imagine, the glitter stuck with us all day long. Eventually we made it back to the Longhouse so there is glitter in our bunks and on the floor. Even after girls swam in the lake they still had glitter stuck to their skin. And later tonight after they showered some of the girls still had glitter sprinkled through their hair. It's the gift that never goes away.
The CILTs spent the morning doing Group Initiatives in the Oak Forest. My rotation spot was the puzzle-- one of my favorite challenges and a great activity to use to talk about communication and the importance of following and leading simultaneously.
We made it back to the Riv in time to play before lunch-- the CILTies run off to find their kids but I just want to keep hanging out with them the whole time.
Nikki and Devon are girls I've known for years, but I can't tell you how happy I am to be one of their counselors. In the past three days their stories have inspired me, they've made me laugh to the point of tears and it's safe to say I'm never bored when they're around.
Did you know that Katie CILTed for Devon and Nikki in 2012? Did you know that Ellyn, Adam and Alli have a secret club with secret meetings?
Did you know that I would be okay if these CILT girls just never left camp?
When they brought out the Push Pops at the end of lunch I immediately told everyone that they had to get on the ground to HOH-- Hang Out Horizontally. It's much better to eat a push pop while lying down so it can drip in your mouth. Then when there were extras, Payton and I had a contest to see who could eat a Push Pop the fastest. It was a freezing experience.
After rest hour I walked up to the Richard G lake with 6 of the Warrior CILT girls. It kind of felt like being a normal counselors, just walking with my own cabin, which was a nice little change of pace. I love being with just a small group of CILT girls sometimes.
I did Blob Check In with Diggy during lake time which meant I was front and center to see tons of CILTs with their campers.
More whimsy this afternoon-- Fit Bit Distance Estimations with Dayna and Diggy, walking to pop stop with Emma and her cabin, eating a chocolate chip ice cream sandwich in the middle of the afternoon just for fun, army lessons from Tommy Thompson, running into Ellen and Emily Parkes by four-square and Ellen saying, "Sarah! I've been looking for you EVERY WHERE today!"
I got to eat dinner with Catawba, the youngest girls in camp, which is always entertaining. Tonight's biggest drama was when two girls each thought the red cup was theirs and then got upset when they had to use a brown cup. I brought an avocado for my salad and the little girl on my left was mesmerized by the giant seed inside. She took it with her in a plastic bag so she can plant it outside their cabin, water it and check on it every day.
During Trading Post time I wandered around playing with friends and seeing the CILTs do their thing with their kids.
Oh. My. Gosh. These girls. I noticed their big hole in the sand so I crouched down to talk to them about it. The girl on the right was pawing in the dirt and barking. The girl on the left is the dog's owner who has "trained" her to speak and do tricks. Amazing.
This made me actually laugh out loud. Then Mike and Mel showed up on a golf cart so I made them read it and they both died too. Model UN-- so great.
Mike Lang also took some pretty awesome pictures for us while he was in the Riv...
Tonight's big project was making up the CILT cheer. It's always a process to get 40 kids to come up with something that will be legendary. It's a lot of pressure. I'm super excited about our final product... which we're still in the process of memorizing. But hopefully it'll be revealed soon.
We interrupted the CILT cheer for an EASTER EGG HUNT IN MAIN FIELD! 90 eggs holding candy, bouncy balls and 2 friendship bracelets from Sarah Wright. Kids were leaping off the Longhouse Porch to run out and find the eggs.
You just never know what's going to happen next in CILTs.
Lexie found one of the friendship bracelets that was in an egg-- I thought the girl was going to pass out from excitement.
Ellyn appointed shower lieutenants to get all 30 girls through in record speed. We started devotions by writing love tank notes and then did a new twist on the rock devotion. I got to talk in a small group with Riley K, Nikki, Clare and Maggie Morris which I totally loved. I'm so thankful for real talk and the chance to be a friend and counselor to all of these girls. Life is so good.
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