Posted by Larry Johnson on June 20
Hey there, Skyline parents! My name is Grace Ann Lill and I’m one of the photographers here a camp! I’m at school at Samford University and this is my 8th summer at Skyline. I’m so sorry that you won’t be graced with the musings of the great Larry Johnson tonight, but hopefully I can appease you with my information, levity, and significantly fewer typos than the big man.
Today was a great day at camp! This morning was a little rainy, but that didn’t stop any of the fun. Since I’m walking all over camp all the time, I actually get to see a lot of what is happening, and let me tell you there was nothing but smiles everywhere I went.
At ropes course today all the girls were trying to beat a record of fastest climb up the obstacles in the woods. Mark Pickle, the man in charge of ropes, is famous for giving campers the much envied “Pickle Bracelet” (a rope bracelet that he makes) but only if they do something remarkably brave or impressive. Many girls make it their goal to win a Pickle Bracelet. Today I watched a camper in Riverside climb all the way up the Dangling Duo in 26 seconds flat. Needless to say, she got a PB.
In arts and crafts many of the girls were using chalkboard paint to turn trays into a cute chalkboard. If you see pictures of your daughters holding up a black tray, just know that it’s a lot cooler than it looks! Many of the girls were already talking about writing on it and hanging it up in their room at home.
Beli Deli today was eventful as ever, with the girls spread out between tether ball, gaga ball, ping pong, and just hanging out on the gym steps. Beli Deli is the best time for girls to just hang out with their friends, eat snacks, and really bond together. Many even sit in circles and make up games to play.
After lunch and a much needed rest hour, it was back into the fray of activities for the girls. The mini dance classes are perfecting their routine to perform in front of the whole camp tomorrow night. Speaking of minis, today was mini trot day! Every single mini trotted on a horse today. It was so much fun!! The fun with horses doesn’t stop there, though, because tomorrow the minis will be painting them! No, not painting pictures of horses, but putting paint all over a real living horse. Now THAT is exciting
The nighttime activity of tonight was Candy Crush. Candy Crush is a little hard to explain, but it’s one of my favorite nights. Instead of playing with clubs, the campers play with their cabin as their team. They must find counselors who are “candy makers” who will then request that the kids do something in order to earn points. Points are balloons with a sheet of paper in them. Once they group has completed the task, they are awarded a balloon. Now, the trick is to get the balloon back to the gym. However, there are other counselors dressed as ‘hecklers’ who will stop a group and require them to perform a task as well. If the group doesn’t do it, or the heckler says they didn’t do it well enough, then the heckler will pop their balloon. Examples of tasks can include: doing the chicken dance, making up a rap or cheer, complimenting the counselor, saying something in a different language, or really anything that the counselor can come up with.
I know that all sounds very complicated, and I hope i’ve done an okay job of explaining it, but it really is SO MUCH FUN! Many of the picture’s you’ll see from tonight will make absolutely no sense, and that’s why we love this game so much.
Tomorrow is the minis last day of activities and we are gonna be so sad to see them go! Also happening: the caving and repelling class is headed to Zahnd Wilderness Management Center on their first out of camp trip to repel down some cliffs! Tomorrow is also an exciting day because the boys from Camp Laney are headed over for the Dance! So many exclamation points!! So much to exclaim!! Well, that’s all I got for you today! I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it! Talk to you soon!
-Grace Ann
Larry is originally from Florida and graduated from Florida State University (Go Noles!). He taught and coached for 12 years before working full time at camp. During the off season, he heads up the winter retreats and leadership training with sports teams from all across the country. He’s married to Sally (who tries to keep him in line) and is an avid pilot and caver in any free time he can find.
Copyright © Camp Skyline