Adventure, Target Sports, Nature, Archery

Day 4

Well it's our last day of activities...

This is the day we live our lives to the fullest during each and every activity, enjoying the time we have left to spend with each other. This morning I decided to try something new. Instead of the morning hike, my cabin friends Sammy and Selena joined me to Yoga with Puppy Monster. Surprisingly, my boyfriend also wanted to come along! I actually quite enjoyed yoga because it woke me up, yet it was relaxing. Even after camp ended, sometimes I do yoga on weekend morning's just to wake me up.

After yoga we lined up by the bell to do the Sunshine Dance leading to another delicious breakfast, as expected. The era of Cleanest Cabin Queens has ended and we didn't win the title. But hey, there's always next year! So it didn't really matter to us whether our cabin was clean or messy, so I let my suitcase explode a colossus of clothes all round my bunk. Not my smartest idea to leave it that way considering the ants managed to have a little brunch party in my luggage.

I decided to unravel my tye-die shirt from Art's & Crafts and wear it today. I'm very satisfied with how it turned out! It has a lot of white showing and more color on the back than on the front. We made our way to our first activity which was Adventure with Puppy Monster, one of my favorite counselors. I haven't done Adventure since... 2009 I think, so I was surprised to do it again this year. We did a bunch of team building exercises with Yawl, cabin age ranging from 12 to 13, leading to an exercise that took a majority of the time. We all gathered on a long log and we had to balance while transitioning from tallest to shortest without falling down. Our goal was to do it in under seven falls but we ended up accomplishing it in ten falls instead, which is still pretty good, in what felt life thirty minutes .

Accomplishment yay!

We gave a camp appreciation to Puppy Monster and left for our next activity, Target Sports. We listened to the usual precautions given by Spider and Aladdin and finally started shooting. I used to not like Target Sports as much when I was younger because I wasn't very good at it, but ever since my second transplant I suddenly became a master in the arts of riflery. I guess I have Dakota to thank for that, the original master in riflery! I wasn't the only one who had skill in Target Sports, the rest of Schooner cabin did an excellent job as well! We all could have been on the A- team of top murderers or secret agents... Jedi masters or offspring's of Tom Cruise.

Schooner at Target Sports

Our sexy shots ;)

We left Target Sports and heading to lunch. Lunch was a little different this time since we had a Hawaiian picnic on the field. No mac n cheese but we did get challenged by Tsunami, 13 year old boy cabin, for a Volleyball Tournament during Quiet Hour. Whoever wins has to compost and clean the losers table during dinner. To make the game fair we asked a couple guys from Senior 2 to be on our team against Tsunami who had three guy counselors benefiting their team. So once lunch was over we made our way to the volleyball net and had some time to practice before the boy's came along. Our counselors were cheering us on and the game came pretty close to being tied. It was a game well played but in the end, the boy's won but being the gentlemen they are, they decided to give the win to us. Looks like we have someone to clean our table for dinner!

Jarred and I during the Hawaiian Lunch :) photobomb: Alex level

No time for losers, cause we are the champions!

We played till the last minutes of Quiet Hour and headed to our next activity, Nature. Last year we dissected Earthworms, this year we were dissected Owl Pellets. I remember doing something similar in 8th grade but I don't remember it being nearly as cool. Maybe it's just the effect of being at camp... camp makes science cool (coming from someone who already has a covalent bond in the subject). Our last activity of the day was Archery with Yawl again. I've done Archery since year uno and even with the help of Dakota, I'm still not very good at it. I've done it so many times, I just wanted to let the younger girls get their turn. One girl in particular, Amy, was so sweet and absolutely adorable! Ever since our first activity together she would always run up and hug me whenever she saw me.

Archery

Amy from Yawl! What a cutie :)

Tonight is the night of the dance so a couple girls in my cabin wanted me to do their makeup before dinner. Even after dinner, I had a couple girls from Sloop and Yawl wanting me to do their makeup. Next year I'm making sure to bring extra eye makeup brushes that way when someone asks me to do their makeup I won't get a sty a couple weeks after camp ends. My cabin headed to the Dining Hall looking very... Fabulous?

Pretty gorgeous eh?

Since day 1, my cabin was determined to receive signatures from every counselor in the handbook first. Of course, we had to do a couple hilariously ridiculous tasks but in the end we had the honor of sitting with a very special guest during dinner. That special guest being Captain Compost, the superhero of all things compost! While we were waiting for our number to be called out to eat, my boyfriend walked up to my cabins table and just stared at me... It took me a couple seconds but he was wearing his tye-dyed shirt with writing saying, "Happy One Year Anniversary Shelby <3". I couldn't even express the happiness through my smile I just had to give him a huge hug and continue smiling like a lovey dovey fool.

Sweetest boyfriend on this planet!

Everyone in my cabin, including my counselors, gave him huge boyfriend points and thought what he did was super cute. I think it's clear... he's definitely a keeper! I told him to wear the shirt to the dance tonight to show everyone what an amazing boyfriend he is and what a stud muffin I have. To make dinner any better would to eat mac n cheese and what do you know? We walked up to the kitchen and saw counselors serving mac n cheese on everyone's plate! SCORE!

After Tsunami cleaned our table, we went back to our cabin to get dressed and touch up. I quickly put on my flowery dress which tied into the Hawaiian theme very well, we took some cabin pictures of all of us looking spiffy and BEE-ah-OO-tea-ful and headed back towards the dining hall for a night of fist pumping and being monkeys!

Lovely ladies of Schooner!... oh and Amy :)

Our last night at camp was amazing! I loved dancing with old friends, new friends, meeting more people in one night, taking pictures, and once again slow dancing with my boyfriend. The costume dance last year was considered, "our first date" and now one year has passed and it's like deja vu. Different clothes, more memories, stronger feelings, and slow dancing in the same spot from the year prior.

Heart Couple <3

My little buddy Christian is growing up!

The gang :)

My friend Brandon:)

It was a perfect way to end the night and to end the session. We skidaddled back to our cabins for our final cabin closing... How much has camp impacted you? What does camp mean to you? I have been going to camp since 2004 when I finally met the age requirements and I have never missed a year. Being this close to my final years as a camper sort of feels like growing up. You know you're growing up when you move out, or you enter college or you begin worrying about things you didn't have to worry about before. My graduating year at camp will be really hard for me because I'll feel like I've reached my expiration date as a kid. As much as I want to move out and experience the world myself, there is always that fear in the pit of my stomach of how my life will turn out. Camp has taught me to put a better, more positive perspective in life throughout all the difficult times I've come across. Camp has always been that shimmer of light to motivate me to get back on my feet whenever my heart has brought me down. I guess I thank camp not for just giving me five days of feeling normal and loved but I thank my whole life to camp. Thank you for giving me the confidence I have today, the memories that will last a lifetime, the friends you don't find anywhere else and the want to come back every year!