"So a tankini is like a skirt for your stomach?"

The weekend began with a surprise trip to Wyliepalooza and a walk around Irvington. I went to my second choir concert of the week at Roncalli to cheer on my girl Emily.

Saturday morning started early at the Barn for Young Life Camp training. A small army of HS, college and adult leaders will be taking over 250 kids to camps this summer. We spent three hours together talking about logistics, best practices and how to give kids an exceptional experience.

At this point, so many of our leaders were once campers themselves. It's an honor to lead alongside these people. We can't wait to greet our kids and walk with them through one of the best weeks of their lives. 

Haleigh is back from IU and I'm beyond thrilled that we've got a third summer together leading a cabin of girls. Haleigh and I have been in this together from the start and I'm so thankful for all the experiences we've gotten to share. I can't wait to see who we'll get to be with this summer at Timberwolf.

Saturday afternoon was an Arielle Celebration. This dear friend is getting married this summer to the one and only Wolf Dancer Sam so we're in the midst of a season of festivities. All of the women in Arielle's life came together at the Fountain Square Folk Festival to soak up the good music, people watching and fun.

I headed straight back to the barn for our last WL Club of the year-- MERICA. Tonight was extra special because we're adding more seats to the table-- Sophomores are moving up to become Wyld Life leaders and 6th graders are joining the YL fam. We had nearly 30 leaders at Club tonight ready to get to know kids and serve them well. 

I was thrilled about so many new faces, younger siblings who are thrilled to finally have their turn at Wyld Life and even new 7th and 8th graders who showed up for the first time.

We started the night with the Pledge of Allegiance and then Mr. America Max Kibble serenaded everyone with the Star Spangled Banner. It was quite the solo.

We played all kinds of 'Merica games-- decorating team captains, spitting sunflower seeds, digging in apple pie with our faces, CUPS! and balloon popping. Sometimes it's even more fun to watch the kids watching the game than the game itself.

Dan the Man is the new King of Wyld Life-- tonight was his first night at Club and he lived it up.

KCraig introduced Johnna at the end of the night and said, "This is the very most important part of Club when we get to share with you about Jesus and about our lives."

I love that at Wyld Life we invite kids into a party, a celebration, where everyone is included and wanted and loved. Leaders and kids know that this is sacred ground-- it's different than the rest of the world.

I love that I get to do Wyld Life with these 7th graders who fill up the seats in my classroom during the week. It's a privilege to not only be their teacher, but their friend too.

Ugh. I love these 8th grade girls so much. Claire, Katie, Brooke and Mal are some of the main characters of my days and we've spent the last two years living and learning and laughing and dancing together. They're some of the greats.

The weekend finished with a 20 mile bike ride on the Monon that was highlighted with sightings of 6 friends and a time out at Brics for ice cream. Long live the weekend.