It's been another quiet week at Echo Ranch, my home for this summer. Actually, I'm not sure it could be even close to quiet when 90 high schoolers show up for a week of camp. This month the theme for camps is holidays so each day is a different holiday- Thanksgiving, birthdays, Christmas, Easter, etc. It's been fun to dress up for each holiday and the party never stops. This week my co-counselor was a mechanical engineer. For talent night each cabin had to do a holiday themed skit. We decided to do a skit about National Pi day. We dress up as nerds (tweed jackets, plaid ties, crazy hair, and huge glasses) and talked about math which we thought was great. The skit ended by pieing a few counselors in the face-- who didn't see that coming with Pi day? This week for Crud War it was a huge birthday party. We basically made birthday cakes on our faces. Our ammunition included pancake batter, chocolate syrup, eggs, flour, glitter balloons, and whip cream. It was the sweetest Crud War ever- literally and figuratively. I enjoyed licking the crud off my face this time and eating the ammunition. And in Echo Ranch tradition it ended with an exhilarating polar plunge into the ocean. On Wednesday we celebrated three holidays in one day- Halloween, Christmas Eve, and New Year's Eve. I dressed up as a tiger and we had penguins, cowboys, Spider Man and Batman, and a lot of other random costumes. That evening we had a block party and stayed up till midnight to usher in July 21, 2011 and watched the ball drop-- add in party hats, snacks, and good music and it was quite the party. Christmas Day was pretty much amazing. It started with getting breakfast in bed since it was delivered to our cabins- this meant we got to sleep in which is a wonderful gift in itself during Sr. high camp. We also went "sledding" Echo Ranch style on the slip and slide. That evening we had a banquet and several counselors dressed up to be a living nativity scene. I played the part of a sheep. It was possible the warmest I have ever been during a living nativity scene- I guess that's what I get for wearing a wooly jacket during July. The evening ended playing Mission Impossible searching all over camp for gold, frankincense, and myrrh and following a star to find the baby Jesus at the barn. It's so great that I only have to wait a week to celebrate my birthday and Christmas again.
While this week of camp was a lot of fun it was also probably the most challenging week as well. Most of the girls in my cabin come from rough backgrounds and had a lot of different struggles. The first few days it was difficult to connect with most of them but finally towards the end of the week they started to open up more and share their stories. It was great to see God work but always difficult to see the kids get on the bus and head back to their lives in the real world. But God has the power to change lives.
It's been another quiet week at Echo Ranch, my home for this summer. Actually, I'm not sure it could be even close to quiet when 90 high schoolers show up for a week of camp. This month the theme for camps is holidays so each day is a different holiday- Thanksgiving, birthdays, Christmas, Easter, etc. It's been fun to dress up for each holiday and the party never stops. This week my co-counselor was a mechanical engineer. For talent night each cabin had to do a holiday themed skit. We decided to do a skit about National Pi day. We dress up as nerds (tweed jackets, plaid ties, crazy hair, and huge glasses) and talked about math which we thought was great. The skit ended by pieing a few counselors in the face-- who didn't see that coming with Pi day? This week for Crud War it was a huge birthday party. We basically made birthday cakes on our faces. Our ammunition included pancake batter, chocolate syrup, eggs, flour, glitter balloons, and whip cream. It was the sweetest Crud War ever- literally and figuratively. I enjoyed licking the crud off my face this time and eating the ammunition. And in Echo Ranch tradition it ended with an exhilarating polar plunge into the ocean. On Wednesday we celebrated three holidays in one day- Halloween, Christmas Eve, and New Year's Eve. I dressed up as a tiger and we had penguins, cowboys, Spider Man and Batman, and a lot of other random costumes. That evening we had a block party and stayed up till midnight to usher in July 21, 2011 and watched the ball drop-- add in party hats, snacks, and good music and it was quite the party. Christmas Day was pretty much amazing. It started with getting breakfast in bed since it was delivered to our cabins- this meant we got to sleep in which is a wonderful gift in itself during Sr. high camp. We also went "sledding" Echo Ranch style on the slip and slide. That evening we had a banquet and several counselors dressed up to be a living nativity scene. I played the part of a sheep. It was possible the warmest I have ever been during a living nativity scene- I guess that's what I get for wearing a wooly jacket during July. The evening ended playing Mission Impossible searching all over camp for gold, frankincense, and myrrh and following a star to find the baby Jesus at the barn. It's so great that I only have to wait a week to celebrate my birthday and Christmas again.
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