An action packed day of Mini Maxon-ing!

Well friends our Mini Maxons are sound asleep after a long day of fun! Just a quick overview of what we did!

After a big ole breakfast we had chapel time! We talked about where God is in the Bible and made a really cool strand of lights!

Next we had a couple of activities: Arts and Crafts, Science Experiment and of course a trip to the playground- always a fan favorite!

With a good siesta behind us we again went to chapel to talk about seeing God in the darkness- we even got inside of the belly of a (cardboard) whale to see the darkness ourselves! 

For our afternoon activity we took a big group trip to Sewanee and adventured to the Quad (up a really cool staircase!), All Saints Chapel and Abbo's Alley!

Finally tonight we had Family Group Olympics where we had a miniature tank race, a 5 legged race, a fun game called "Face the Chip" and a rousing game of Over-Under.

To finish the whole thing we had an awesome bonfire and a little treat-smores. But more importantly we heard some old favorite stories and got to hear some new ones from our youth. They were likely the greatest compilation of campfire stories ever told.

It was a crazy day full of fun and a whole lot of adventuring and beautiful weather!

Camp 2: Friday!

Well, we have come to the final day of Camp 2! How weird! 

Today started with breakfast and cabin clean up as always, but then we did something a little different and went to Abbo's Alley for morning chapel! We had the pleasure of hearing talks from Lara, Abbie and Brandon and some quiet reflection time- and then some time to play around! We had an absolute blast!

When we got back we had the best camp lunch- grilled cheese and chili! After siesta we had time with our family groups to wrap up the week of chapel. We then cleaned up and had the ever popular slip'n'slide! Everyone had a soapy blast!

After we all got ready, it was time to start our last night festivities! We started with our banquet, then went to our closing Eucharist and then to our camp dance! We are all exhausted now but so sad to leave each other tomorrow! 

Camp 2 we had a blast with you and we can't wait to see all of you again next year! 

Camp 1: Friday and Leaving Saturday!

Camp 1 wrapped up this morning- so we'll fill you in on what happened yesterday with them!

We started off with a hike to Greeter Falls as our chapel program. We wrapped up with a little morning prayer, a few brief talks from Lara, Abbie and Brandon and finally had a little quiet time to pray. We loved being there all together finding a "thin place" as Lara says- a place where we are closest to God. 

When we got back it was time for everyone's favorite- grilled cheese and chili day! We had a great sunny siesta and time to relax before small groups. In small groups we had a good time filling our buckets from yesterday by planting sunflower seeds in them (later to be placed around DuBose). We went to afternoon activities of preparing for our evening and then to the slip-n-slide! 

Our final evening festivities started with our banquet- below you can see our staff dressed up and ready to roll! 

 Next we had our Eucharist- which we all concluded was among the best we've ever had. Thanks to Father Rob McSwain from Sewanee for coming to help us out! We had so much fun singing, renewing our baptismal covenants and celebrating all we have learned through Christ this week!

Next we had our dance! So much energy was used that we were all so exhausted afterwards! Our DJ CoCoD (aka Cody Hawks, one of your lovely Assistant Directors) had an awesome playlist for us last night! Thanks Cody!

We finally ended with a bonfire. It was so much fun as our campers shared their own ghost stories, laughed together and shared memories of the week one last time before we left. It was one of the best bonfires we've ever had at CGM!

This morning was so sad as we let our high school campers go. We hope every one of you has learned something about how to find joy, healing, love and God in living water and always remember you can have a home on the mountain! We miss you already and can't wait to see you again next year! Below is a video of the saddest camp tradition- running after the bus as it leaves. See you next year friends! Camp 2- we're ready for you tomorrow!

Camp 1: Wednesday!

Wednesday we finally got out of the rain- and loved every minute of it! We talked about water in other countries in chapel- and then related how there is a difference in dirty/clean physical water as well as a difference in dirty/clean spiritual water. There are lots of ways to clean our spiritual water and we made commercials for all the things that enhance our spiritual water! It was so fun!

We also have a tradition of cabin clean up in the mornings- the campers clean after breakfast every morning and their cabins are then judged by a panel of experts (Vena, Cody and Jani) and the cleanest cabin wins the beloved Golden Dustpan! The cabin 1 boys are cleaning- those are the faces of determination.

Wednesday afternoon was spent on our Sewanee adventure- first to Sewanee's campus for games, a book store trip and general fun and then we took campers to the Res- a huge reservoir on St. Andrew's campus. Both were so fun- and we were grateful for ultimate Frisbee and swimming without worrying about the weather!

Last night was our All Saint's service in Sewanee- we really did spend a lot of time there yesterday! Everyone got dressed up (a little) and we went to have New Zealand night prayer with some contemplative prayer time. We loved praying for each other and having some special time as a community- but we also loved being silly after the service and taking selfies!

We finally ended last night with a bonfire, smores and the Dubose ghost stories from Sydney to Skip. We loved embracing these camp traditions!