We had an awesome Sunday at sleep away camp! We began our morning a bit late; campers got to sleep in until 8:30, and we had a big pajama breakfast at 9am! It was really fun; we ate waffles and really took the time to enjoy each others’ company at our relaxed Sunday breakfast. After breakfast, campers had the chance to choose their activity for the day; they could either go on a beautiful hike up the Colorado Trail, or head to Alpine Park in Salida to make and fly some kites. We had about 10 hikers and about 22 kite-flyers, so it was a nice split. Campers headed back to their cabins to get ready for the day, and then we all met on the green to get going!
After some fun morning songs, we split up; the hikers headed down to the Colorado Trail, while the kite-flyers headed into Salida! Everyone had a great time; the hikers made it all the way up to the top of the trail before eating lunch, and said that the view was absolutely fabulous! Meanwhile, the kite-flyers had a great time at the park; they enjoyed the play structures, and also made and flew some super-cool kites! Everyone ate lunch out on their activity; we had some yummy sack lunches provided by the kitchen folks at Silver Cliff Ranch. In the afternoon, we all met back at camp for a relaxing rest hour; several campers took naps, while others worked on their lanyards or wrote letters home.
After rest hour, we all met in the Opera House for the conclusion of Auction!, our big weekend camp game! Using the points that they had earned, cabin groups had the chance to, as a group, bid on different prizes, including the opportunity to pour a bucket of water on a director, to have 15 extra minutes in the game room, to be first in line at Grizzly Jacks for two meals of their choice, to have an extra lanyard ordering session with Director Jen during rest hour, etc. The bidding was fierce, and Counselor Krista really enjoyed being a classic auctioneer! In the end, every cabin group won the prize they wanted, so it was a great conclusion to a great game!
Campers then headed to free time, where they got to enjoy the game room, play basketball, mix their very own gorp for snack, and create some groovy friendship bracelets and lanyards. Meanwhile, Director Jen welcomed the incoming one-weekers to camp and got them situated in their cabins. Then, the new campers joined the group for the end of free time and dinner; it was awesome to see the two-weekers being so friendly and welcoming to the new campers! Several of the cabin groups had even made signs to welcome their new cabinmates!
After dinner, we all got changed into warmer clothes and then headed down to the campfire ring for our middle ceremony. We enjoyed singing some songs around the campfire, and really had a great time listening to Director Tom tell some funny (and meaningful!) stories from his youth. We then went over the camp rules again, just to give everyone a refresher, and welcomed all of the new campers to camp. It was beautiful to sit under the stars and watch the fire! At the end of our middle ceremony, we sang along with Counselor Phil’s guitar and closed our day with some quieter, more relaxing songs.
Then, everyone headed back up to the green, where Director Tom got hit with TWO buckets of water from the boys of the Burro cabin! (That was the prize they had won at our AO Camps Auction.) It was pretty funny! What a fun end to a fun day–tomorrow, the backpackers head out, as do the kayakers, while the younger campers play “cross the crevasse” with Director Tom and learn how to slackline! We can’t wait!