Last night I was initiated into a top-secret camp society. Obviously, to tell you about it would be to betray the very confidence that was just extended to me, and I’m not even sure if mentioning it like this is really okay. But it was so cool I have to let you, dear reader, know it exists. Here’s what I can tell you: it takes place in the gym. I can tell you that it’s more than a game: it’s a lifestyle. And I can tell you that it’s very, very fun. You wish you could know more, but sadly, you can’t.
That was awkward: as a blogger, one usually chooses a subject matter one can actually write about. So I’ll switch topics to the raging success that was yesterday’s outing to Cacapon State Park.
We piled into two vans and a bus immediately following Rest Hour. The ride was great: some fresh air, good music and good company. At Cacapon, we spent a bunch of hours just chilling on the beach. Kids played Frisbee and water polo; they buried one another in the sand; they lined up for the big hit – the snack bar. The water was chilly, but that dissuaded no one. Everyone got in at some point, from the littlest boys to the oldest girls.
As evening fell over the lake, we moved our gear and our enthusiasm to our pavilion for the cookout/barbeque. There really is nothing like a good burger after a long afternoon playing by the lake, and Mark Clark and Glenn Smith sure can make a good burger. Usually, in the camp dining hall, we eat separated by cabins and gender, so it was awesome to see all the kids eating together, boys and girls, youngsters and teenagers all eating and chatting together. Finally we finished up our watermelon and headed out into the field for games. There was charades, four-on-four soccer, red-light-green-light, mill-and-grab and lots of other camp favorites.
By the time we piled back into our vehicles for the trip back to camp, everyone had that wind-blown, sandy look that means a summer day well spent. I was exhausted, but also the radio was playing all kinds of dance tunes, so somehow my van became the party bus. We sang along to all the summer hits, and we were home before we knew it. I fell into bed, grateful for the chance to spend my summer with such great kids, in a place as great as Camp Tall Timbers.