"Woah... My English Comp teacher sounds exactly like that girl." "Hey Jackson- I am your English Comp teacher."

You know you're at camp when you start the day with an FBC sweatshirt, Nike shorts, a potholder headband and a Diet Coke. 

You know it's a good day when you get push-pops for lunch. And no one was there to argue the push pops v. turbo tubes fight with me so I yelled both things.

At 11:00 today the school buses rolled in to drop off the Session 2 kids. 15 minutes later when they finished their chicken nuggets and curly fries, the Session 1 kids got back on those same buses to head back to school.  The great switch-over which marks our halfway point of the week.

I was SO excited because this group of High School counselors brought three of my favorite kids:

Miya was the first HSE kid I ever met a few summers ago when she was in my friend Arielle's cabin. She always has a smile on her face and is so full of energy. She is going to be Session 2 CILT this coming summer.

Maddie is a hipster and so comfortable in her own skin. I met her a few weeks after I met Miya. Her locker ended up being across the hall from my classroom door my first year as a teacher. She will be in CILT Session 1 this summer.

Madison rocked her wolf shirt all day long with me. She was in Session 3 this past summer and is now a regular visitor of the Friendship Bracelet Club. I love her resilient positive attitude and am so excited that she'll be here for three days.

Madison brought her CILT binder and we looked through all the pages. We howled a lot today and did the CILT cheer. Sitting on the front porch seemed like a really good idea during rec time when we just talked about CILTs and how we miss everyone and can't wait to see them soon.

More camp kids came to dinner and out to play today. Man I love these girls a whole lot. They drew trees and collected acorns and watered sticks. Such camp kids.

My big project this year at camp was figuring out the logistics of a 280 person game of Capture the Flag. It includes four territories, face paint, pirate flags, duct-tape toilet paper rolls, buckets and a bell. Tonight's game, round two of the week, was such a success. There were multiple mass invasions and major alliances.

I rotated through all four territories the whole game checking to see who was ahead and reminding them about the rules of guarding their flag. Every team was cheating which I expected with so many kids. With everyone cheating it kind of made it fair again. A 7th grade boy later explained to me with much enthusiasm, "I JUST REALIZED SOMETHING! I realized that cheating can actually make things MORE exciting." Interesting theory... Regardless, the game was a great success. 

Highs of My Camp Day

1. Baked oatmeal. Holy cow it really is so good and perfect on a cold Fall morning like today.

2. Watching eight parents shoot at the archery range this morning for about 45 minutes. They were each so into every round and proud of every shot they got close to the bullseye.

3. Talking in a British accent with Jamie and Caroline and telling her she should apply to be a counselor next summer. Talking to Meghan, an old camper, about applying for staff. Getting to hang out with Jamie while we watched the HS kids plan their skits.

4. Hiking all over the LV and through the Oak Forest. I miss being outside like this. I love not driving at all. I love being in the sunshine instead of just seeing it through a window.

5. Meeting a girl outside of the Trading Post that told Joy, Jamie and I that she used to go to camp in the summer. We of course got really excited and asked what cabin she was in. "Uhhhh... I don't know. The one I'm in now?" So we asked if she remembered her counselors. "Uhhhh.... I think one had brown hair and one had blonde hair." We're all laughing at this point because she remembers SO much about the best week of her life. We asked if she was a Blazer and what color her unit t-shirt was. She had no idea what we were talking about. At this point I told her I thought she was confused and maybe she really didn't come to summer camp. To this she responded, "Uh-huh. I did friendship bracelets.... and crafts.... and volleyball." We asked her if she did the Women of the River cheer. She didn't know what it was so we demonstrated and she looked at us like we were crazy, "No, I never did that." The conversation continued for a few more minutes as we asked questions and she tried to answer and I couldn't stop laughing.

6. Joy and I were entertained by the Gleason children at dinner. We served out all the ingredients for tacos. Reagan piled the beans on her tortilla after she couldn't get any sour cream in the kitchen. Next Braden tried to get sour cream. He came back with a little tub of cream cheese. We tried to explain they were very different but he didn't believe us until he put cream cheese all over this taco and took a bite. Reagan and I then made dessert breakfast tortillas with cream cheese and sugar.

7. During dinner nominations Kip was brought back up onstage to do his broccoli dance. He couldn't stop with just one performance and busted out his Justin Bieber act complete with dance moves and a hat toss. Everyone in the audience joined in on the chorus of Baby. It was probably one of the best moments of his life.

8. One of the Crazy Olympics games involves locking a kid to a chair with a long chain while their teammates search for the correct key in a bucket of corn kernels. When Jordan, Jamie, and Chris brought back a Blizzard for me they decided to try the game out themselves. For the next ten minutes they practiced the best ways to effectively lock each other up.

9. Joy and I decided Crazy Olympics needed some background music so we turned on Friday. Naturally that led us to sing all of the Session 1 CILT cheer. Which naturally led to the cheers of Session 2 and 3. Some of my students were very entertained watching their teacher.

"So can we talk about tomorrow? I really think we need two people manning the pig bucket..."

Did you know that my Junior High goes on a field trip to Camp Tecumseh? It's true.

Did you know that because we have 500 7th graders we go for two sessions that span a whole week? Yep.

Did you know that I'm really lucky and get to go the whole time? Uh-huh.


Things that are different about camp right now:
1. The Longhouse is used as the supply room and office for our counselors.... Which means no CILT girls live there and I don't get to sleep in my bunk in Choctaw.
2. Kids do lesson packets all morning and afternoon--no clinics or lake time or dodge ball or unit games.
3. We don't have chapels or devotions or prayers at meals, just a moment of silence.
4. All the kids are from the exact same place. Cool because they will hopefully become friends with people in their cabin or lesson group that they keep being real life friends with back at school. Strange because they bring their reputations and friend groups from home rather than starting fresh and meeting brand new people.
5. They refer to their cabins as L12 and R1 rather than Teton and Catawba.
6. The fellowship room is called the dead animal room.
7. The camp culture that counselors cultivate in their cabin, unit, and village is missing. The thing that really makes camp so special weeks 1-9.

Things that are still the same at camp right now:
1. We played 4-team Capture the Pirate Flag in Main Field tonight just like when the Blazers play on Mondays. I dare say it is better than the original.
2. Kids love when you give them one on one time to talk and ask questions and listen to their stories.
3. You learn things at camp like responsibility and teamwork and initiative that are more important than parts of speech and multiplying polynomials.
4. The mine shaft is fascinating.
5. It's terrifying for kids to walk in the dark without a flashlight.
6. The Gleason kids totally made my day when they ran in the dining hall and gave me a giant hug.
7. The stars are still shining bright and more beautiful here than anywhere else.

Lil' Lincoln

This kid is so photogenic. He loves when we take his picture.

Oh. My. Gosh. I love this. Fav pic.

He is so precious and funny.

And most of the time just really sweet.

I don't think you can see too many pictures of Lincoln. Here you go.

Eventually it was time for me to go back to Indiana and leave the fam. Don't worry, I'll be back soon.

I stopped in at Hope College, one of my favorite places in the world, to visit some really great friends.

Susan loves Hope this year and it's so clear that she found a home here. She's involved and building strong friendships and leaving her mark on this place. God is using her in profound ways.

I got to hang out with Hannah, Laurie, Gabrie, and Fudge while they were studying in the Science Center. I got nostalgic walking into the building where I used to go to math class upstairs, had lectures before the Tanzania trip, and celebrated SIB activation brunch in this room. I got to catch up with the girls and hear a bit about what their lives are like as Seniors. When I graduated they were just baby freshmen and now they're in their final semesters and soaking it all up.

While I was visiting these friends all over campus I kept thinking that if anyone were to visit Hope on a beautiful day like today they would be sold right away and want to go here. There is something really special about this place.

My last stop was to visit Krissy Roth, fellow SIB and Camp T counselor, at her house. Oh my gosh I love this wall above her desk.

And this on her shelf. Such truth.

And I mostly love getting to sit and talk with her and instantly fall into a heart to heart. Krissy is one of those people that I just know I can trust. She wants to hear my story and she vulnerably shares her own with me. It can be months between talks but she continues to be such a great friend.

And I quote, "He's an overachiever."

I met Casey Dawson for breakfast in the morning, we really love breakfast and each other. It was fun to catch up over our favorite breakfast sandwich. And we had almost matching shirts--we're twins.

Then it was back to the hospital to play with Lincoln... or just watch him while he slept.

First grandchild, he's so stoked.

Wide range of emotions. So cute. The one of the left is one of Mom's favorites.

 "Yay! My first crib sheet." Linc is on his way to being a hipster. A photographer came to take his picture in his tye-dye. He already has a fohawk.

He's such a cuddler. I think I could just hold this child all day long if there weren't so many other people that want to hold him too.

We're already besties. See him holding my finger? He just latched on like, "I love you Aunt Sarah."

We gave them some room at the hospital and went home to paint Linc's room.

Before:

After:

Now it just needs the furniture and the child moved in.

Lincoln is now the official youngest member of the Friendship Bracelet Club. It matches his tye-dye.

Look at us with our bracelets being all, "Heeyyy, check out my fresh threads."

Brittany skyped in from New Zealand to see her new nephew while everyone was here in the hospital room. Brittany showed us her sheep Jane who was running around the room with her.

 The whole Dekoster family.