High School Week #2 has arrived! (July 23-28)

The campers arrived on Sunday afternoon ready for the adventures the rest of the week would bring. The campers started with switches between a camp tour led by fun squad and then the swim test led by life squad. Once they finished their switches everyone went back to their cabins to get ready for cabin unity dinner, which was followed by campfire.

Right as campfire ended some Mario Kart characters emerged from the boathouse to announce the Olympic competition of the week. Each person would be competing on an Olympic team named after a Mario Kart character to see who would become the next Mario. These teams were Donkey Kong, Walugi, Koopa Troopa and Shy Guy. The teams went to respective places on camp property to make a team flag and a team cheer. After this everyone had canteen, then we headed to the lower lodge so the teams could present their flags and cheer. This part of the night is also when the character show takes place. The character show is an event each night where the staff members create a character to compete as throughout the week. This week, these characters were trying to become the next brand new Mario Kart character. This is a fun way for all the campers to get to know each staff member better! After the night’s activities concluded the campers headed back to their cabins for devotions then bedtime.

The next morning the campers woke up, had morning worship, breakfast, chill time and then bible study where they also signed up for the 11 o’clock activity they’d like to participate in. After bible study and 11 o’clock activities we had sports lunch. Lunch is always followed by afternoon switches which consist of swim time, canteen, and a game in the field of life. During swim time the campers get to use the raft, lilypad, waterbees, crossnet, our new shallow water slide, and water basketball. The switches were followed by space cowboy dinner and then a treasure hunt where each team got hints and had to find a certain number of numbered rocks in order to win. After the treasure hunt was campfire, where first year life squader Claudia Stein gave a talk. Claudia talked about trusting God, even when situations are hard to understand. In the end, as Claudia looks back, she wouldn’t actually change a thing about the path God has given her. After campfire we had canteen and the character show and a few games of minute to win it that the teams participated in to win points. At the end of the night we had cabin devos before lights out.

Tuesday went very similar to Monday except after lunch instead of switches everyone played a big game of crazy soccer, had canteen, and then did the balloon launch where each team had a certain number of water balloons they attempted to hit staff members with. The rest of the day went similarly to Monday, just with different games and activities at night.

Wednesday, however, was a very different day! The morning went similar to the other two days but after lunch the campers got ready for Land Olympics!! The teams participated in tug-of-war then broke off into duos or trios to participate in separate activities, such as tire toss, lighting, spelling bee, etc. Once Land Olympics concluded, the campers had canteen time and then it was time for Water Olympics!! During Water Olympics the teams as a whole participated in crisco watermelon pass and then canoe sink. Then similarly to Land Olympics each team split their members up to different activities, such as canoe race, big richard, synchro, etc. Once these events were all finished the campers got ready for disco dinner. Dinner was followed by one of our all time favorite camp games – bonkers!! After bonkers the evening went the same as the nights before, and during campfire I (Sierra) gave a talk about finding perspective in our most important friendships and family connections. After campfire we had canteen and then the character show. After the character show the campers had coffee house where they got to dream up random performances if they chose to. Coffee house is always a ton of fun, even if you are just watching!

Thursday morning went the same as the other mornings. After ‘dress like a staff’ lunch the campers lined up on the upper deck for balloon drop, which went similarly to the balloon launch but instead they dropped the balloons off the upper deck towards the staff members down below. Next the campers had switches similar to Monday, where they got swim time, canteen, and a game. Then was ‘dress your best’ dinner. After dinner was steeplechase! Steeplechase works as a relay race where there are 18 different activities that the teams sign their campers and counselors up for. After an intense steeple chase, the campers headed to campfire where first year fun squader Lauren Thull gave an incredibly moving talk. Lauren talked about losing loved ones, and how important it is to remember how much God loves everyone no matter what. In an eternal way, the love we share with our friends and family never dies. I don’t think there was one dry eye in the whole crowd. After campfire and canteen, we had the final episode of the character show. First year staff member Kellen Ruth’s character, Righteous Randy, won! After this, we had an all camp devo in the chapel while the counselors got some much deserved free time.

In the morning, the campers headed to morning worship, followed by a cinnamon and caramel roll breakfast, and afterwards they headed to the chapel for their camp video. After watching the video with pictures from their week, they headed back to their cabins to pack up and clean. Then they had their outside lunch before boarding the buses to head back to Eden Prairie.

Thanks for reading and I hope your kids had a fantastic week! See them next year!

Sierra Luna