Day Eleven: 6/10

**Sorry this is out of sequence - this is Wednesday and the one above is Tuesday**

It is hard to believe that half a week of Camp I has already passed. This week has flown by... we are having so much fun. Today in chapel, we focused on "Celebration" based on Moses's liberation. We learned about the values of celebrations and had a little dance party. We had big plans set for the afternoon... the kids could pick from rappelling off Morgan's Steep, a day trip to Sewanee, or staying on campus for some pool, workout, and drama action. The rain, however, had a different plan. Right about time for the bus to show up, the clouds came rolling in. The park ranger called and cancelled for today, rebooking for Friday (very accomodating) and we decided to regroup and let kids from that group decide whether to stay on campus or go to Sewanee. We ended up with a group of about 30 go to Sewanee for the afternoon. The rest stayed on campus and enjoyed the relaxing down time.

Our Sewanee trip started shaky because of the rain but quickly ended up being a memorable trip. We went to the bookstore (see picture above of the kids reading in the bookstore - seriously, a group of them read for about an hour and loved it), then to the Sewanee playground. The playground was a lot of fun and there was a fort in the shape of a ship that many of the kids (and counselors) liked to play on. We swang, had chin-up contests, and shared good conversations. We ended the trip by stopping by Mountain Breeze Ice Cream Shop on the way back. There is nothing like some home-made ice cream to end a good trip.

After dinner, the night continued with our traditional "All Saints" night. Right after dinner, the kids loaded the bus, decked out in their primped up styles, headed to the chapel on the campus of Sewanee, All Saints. We did an evening prayer service with a litany of lights accompanying, sang many songs, and then had prayer and reflection time. After All Saints, we went to the Memorial Cross and sang more "campy" songs like Country Roads and Teach Your Children.

Coming back to Dubose, the next item on the agenda was the bonfire. There was a bit of a twist this year because Charles Houston decided to bring his newly adopted stray dog to the bonfire in the form of the "putrid yellow dog" from the ghost story. The kids loved the dedication to the portrayal of the ghost story and especially loved getting to play with Droopy.

Tomorrow night will be Coffee House and Skit Night. With this camp, it will be exciting to see what they come up with - this group of kids always has entertaining skits and coffee house selections.

Pictured above:

1) the campers at the Sewanee Memorial Cross after All Saints

2) Five senior boy campers, enjoying their last year of camp.

3) a daytime view of All Saints, taken during the Sewanee day trip

4) campers on the ship-fort at the playground

5) at the Sewanee bookstore reading