First Day of Camp

I think I am going to LOVE this...!

After a relaxed morning of making posters and going out for a lunch of pizza and beer, it was time to get serious. Today was arrival day and the girls and I got to do oral placement tests for 96 11-13 year olds! They were all soooooo freaking adorable! It was cool to be in the same room as the other three girls, cuz it was fun how, with the same set of questions we were asking, we all did it in such a different way! One was very serious, one was very chill, one was very teacher like and one was, well, me. The biggest difference I could see was that I was 100% authentically interested in the conversation I was having with each one, while two of the others at least seemed focused on the task of evaluation. One kid told me at the end of it that I was really funny and he liked me. ^_^ Hahaha!

After the oral placements, we had dinner and then I got to work on dividing the 100 kids into groups based on their level and gender. I jumped in and took over in a rare act of leadership not so much to be insanely helpful, but because I had fallen in love with some of the kids I'd talked to and wanted to make sure I got them in my group! ;) I came up with a semi elaborate color coding system and went crazy! Man, I love color coded organization!! So. Much.

After I rocked it and got all of the groups assigned perfectly and like the awesome possum I am, we had to take the lists out to the pool where they were doing the First Night Pirate Baptism. It was 11:30 at night and the beautiful orange half-moon glistened across the water. The pool was surrounded by students and lit tiki torches, while two of the guy councilors, fully dressed in their pirate gear, lurked around in the water. It all looked so cool and eerie!! I started taking pictures of them and they told me to come over to get my pirate baptism next. I handed my phone to my friend to take a pic and when I bent down to talk to the two in the pool, they both grabbed me and yanked me into the pool, clothes and all!!!!! The students started cheering and laughing, as I was the only girl counselor they'd done it to, and as soon as I made my way to the surface, I couldn't help but giggle and splash around!

I know it seems like nothing more than silly horse play, but it was one of those rare moments where I just felt 100% alive. <3

XOXO