Reaching for the Summit

Blaze and Algonquin Adventure have just left.  I’m sitting in the tuck shop and over my head I can hear the shuffle of feet and banging of chairs that mean the dining hall is being scrubbed clean.  Furniture is being dragged out of the way and put back where it belongs.  We’re in reset mode.  After lunch, the waterfront will be opened for staff and we’ll take a breather.

We hope your kids had a wonderful time here.  We hope if your kids are on their way for Summit or Outdoor Pursuits, that they’re very excited.  We’re looking forward to it!  We’ve navigated through three different base camps together on our way to the Summit, and we’re finally reaching it.  I’m really excited about what God has in store for this week.  He’s been moving here already, so I imagine He’ll continue to do just that.

Yesterday was quite drab and rainy here, but as you’ve seen before, that doesn’t stop our kids from having a whole lot of fun!  It does mean the pictures aren’t that great and that there aren’t that many of them though, so I’m sorry about that.  But I assure you laughter was still heard through the entire camp.

Activity 1 went on as planned, with sports still happening, water sports still taking place, and some die-hard kids still out on the pontoon boat fishing.  I want to offer up a great big thanks to all of our staff who are dedicated enough to your kids that even though it was raining, they were still willing to happily drive a boat or play volleyball in the rain.

As the rain picked up through the afternoon, it became both miserable and unsafe to run activities as normal, so we had a movie in the Underground in the afternoon.  There are  no pictures of that.  Last year, we had a movie in the afternoon because it was raining once and I thought I’d grab a picture to put in the blog…. but the kids watching the movie really didn’t like the flash, and they didn’t hesitate to tell me haha, so I left them alone.

Instead of a Camp-Wide game in the evening, they had a talent show.

Our Algonquin Adventure kids arrived back safely yesterday morning.  They were tired, but they arrived!  The rest of the Camp didn’t hesitate to call them out looking for a “Gun Show” (showing off their muscles from canoeing) during the singing portion of lunch-time.

After dinner, whoever received mail or email that day is called up to receive it and has to do something silly before it’s given to them.  There were LOTS last night, so we made them shake their hair.  If you have Summit or Outdoor Pursuits kids coming up this week, you may want to send them some mail so it gets them to be silly 😉

I don’t know what to say about this picture, but Faith has quite a flair for the dramatic.  I asked her in the tuck shop if I could take her picture for the blog wearing all her new Kahquah gear, but she insisted she needed her wig for the talent show on first.

Finally, here are your cabin photos from Blaze/Algonquin 2015!

Until Monday!

The Calm Before the Storm

Funny again… that I decided on my blog title before Mark and Janet started talking… about storms. I chose it because yesterday I went out in the boat twice, so I could be seen a few times wandering around dry land wearing a life jacket.  Kris, our facilities manager, poked a little fun at me and asked if I knew something in the weather forecast that he didn’t know and if we were expecting a big storm that would make me wear a life jacket on dry land.  The water was SO calm yesterday though, all day, that it hardly would have been reasonable to assume that storms could be coming.  Yet, when I looked at the forecast this morning to decide what to wear, I noticed that we’re in for a high of 17 and that it’s calling for thunderstorms this afternoon.  Hard to imagine when the day before, it looked like this outside:

Thankfully, we have backup plans in place because our directors are thinkers.  There may be talent show pictures for you tomorrow instead of archery, but this is how we roll ~ with the punches 🙂

But anyway, this morning, Mark and Janet talked about storms in a more figurative sense.  We started by talking about John 10:7, 9.  The key idea here is “I am the gate for the sheep.  Jesus is our shelter.”  Shepherds would lie down and be a gate so that no sheep could get out and no other predatory animals could get in.  That’s what Jesus says He does for us.  Psalm 91:1-4 says:

¹ Those who live in the shelter of the Most High
    will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
² This I declare about the Lord:
He alone is my refuge, my place of safety;
    he is my God, and I trust him.
³ For he will rescue you from every trap
    and protect you from deadly disease.
⁴ He will cover you with his feathers.
    He will shelter you with his wings.
    His faithful promises are your armor and protection.

Mark asked the kids if any of them had ever slept in a tent.  A tent protects us from weather, animals, and provides shelter.  Mark told a story of one excursion with his family camping, where the winds were so strong that they thought the wind would knock over their tent, so they tied it to their car.  This is similar to what anyone tenting on a journey up Mount Everest would do.  The winds can be hurricane strength at that altitude, so it’s important to make sure your tent is secured.  Jesus is like a tent for us — shelter, and protection.  There are literal storms, and then there are figurative storms like bullying, divorce, depression, sickness, death, cancer, realizing our parents aren’t perfect, gossip, and not knowing who we really are.

Janet then talked about how we need internal equipment as well.  We need to be strong and keep our bodies strong in order to thrive.  Jesus promises to protect us from storms and be with us, but He doesn’t promise to take storms out of our lives altogether.  We aren’t guaranteed 23 degree days with perfectly calm waters ~ sometimes thunderstorms will show up.  Jesus won’t always take the storms away, but He will walk with us and guide us, helping us be strong as we navigate through them.  The word for heart in French is Coeur… which is where we get our word courage (likely from a Latin root :p ).  God wants us to have a strong heart, to lean on Him, and to let Him walk with us.

Fear can take a strong hold in us.  Some of us are afraid of spiders, the dentist, getting sick, what others think of us, or what we’ll do when we grow up… For me, it’s centipedes and moths… completely irrationally.  But Janet told us of a time when she was particularly afraid, just after the death of her Father and right before Mark went through some sickness, that ‘Whatever depth of sadness you’re going through, I’ve been there before.”

As Janet learned through her circumstances that God doesn’t want us to run away from our storms, she found that she wasn’t afraid anymore.  She found encouragement in the people around her, Scripture (which she posted around her home on sticky notes), and songs that she would sing.

She left our kids with questions for their small groups:  What storms have you been in?  What made you feel afraid?  How do you handle and deal with your fear?

 

Taylor, Owen, and Ayden were quite determined at Water Sports yesterday.  Ayden really wants to drop a ski so Heather (our boat driver) gave him instructions to practice leaning all his weight on one leg so he’ll know what it feels like when he drops a ski the first time.  Owen really wanted to turn backwards on trick skis, and he succeeded!  He was quite proud of himself!  Today’s practice (if he’s able to get out), will be to turn back around so that he’s facing forward again!

At canoeing, our canoe major was practicing tipping the canoe.

The fishing crew has been trying out different spots in the bay all week, trying to find the best spot to catch lots of fish.

At the climbing wall, Daniel and Kylie were climbing while tethered to each other which encourages them to work together, wait for each other, and encourage one another.

I finally found the Wilderness kids!  I don’t find them often… the trouble is, I don’t really enjoy anything wild, haha.  I went on a trek (in my car :p ) to find them in the bush across the road and found them building shelters.  I got a shot of each group at their shelter and of all of them together.

Tubing was fun, and with such calm waters I was able to keep the camera still enough to get some great shots!

And finally ~ the beach.

Jesus helps us make good choices… now choose life!

This morning in Underground we learned that Jesus helps us make good choices.  We’re given so many choices even on a day to day basis!  Using Deuteronomy 30:19 as a base, we talked about all the choices we get to make, and we can be sure that there many more as we go about our every day lives.

We get to choose whether we’re going to use all our energy getting to the summit of the mountain or whether we’ll turn back.  We get to choose the pace we climb so that we don’t burn out.

We get to choose our words — we get to decide whether we’ll build people up or tear them down.  Some people are like pineapples:  they’re prickly on the outside but soft and hurt on the inside.  Hurting people tend to hurt other people, and so we can choose to hurt others or to choose words that build up and encourage.  What a powerful choice!

We can choose whether we point to Jesus in the way we live our lives, or whether we point away from Him.

We can choose to forgive.  Jesus forgave and continually forgives us, and using that example we can continually choose to forgive others, or we can harbour unforgiveness in our hearts.  Mark used the story of Joseph to illustrate the power of forgiveness.  His brothers were so jealous of him and his abilities and the favour he’d found with their father that they tore his coat, threw him in a pit, and then sold him into slavery.  He eventually rose through the ranks of Egyptian life and became a right-hand-man to Pharaoh.  Later, when his brothers came to beg for mercy and grain during a drought, Joseph could have chosen not to forgive but instead to get revenge ~ but he didn’t.  He chose to forgive and bring healing to the relationship with his entire family.

We get to choose to believe that God’s plans for us are good ~ even when they don’t seem like they are.

We get to choose our friends and how we treat them.  We can be kind, or we can be cruel.  Mark used David and Jonathan as an example of how to treat our friends.  Jonathan had every right to become King, but he knew that God had other plans, and yet he was still a true friend to David.  Friends closer than brothers.

Finally, we get to choose our attitude.  In every situation we get to choose how to react, both here at Camp and when we get home.  We can choose jealousy, anger, bitterness…. or grace, and joy.  For example, when we look at the life of Daniel, we saw a man who over and over again chose the right attitude, even when others wanted him to choose to worship something other than God, and when they were angry and jealous.

Questions for small group discussion were:  What kind of friend do you want to have?  And what kind of friend do you want to be?  Those are really important questions, especially in this age group.  So many times there can be the temptation to do whatever we have to to fit in — whether that’s make fun of someone unpopular, or gossip about someone behind their back ~ but our campers are now armed with the knowledge that they have a choice.  They can choose to be inclusive, loving, and gracious at all times.  Think of the friendships they could reap if they’re sowing seeds like that!  They could have friends the strength of David and Jonathan.

 

Yesterday was such a beautiful day.  It was chilly, though it warmed up considerably through the day, but that stopped no one from having great fun!  Everywhere I looked I saw smiling faces, and today is quite a bit warmer, so all is well here!

Every time I go to Crafts, I see smiling faces who are eagerly working on the day’s projects.  I see a lot of the same faces at Crafts, but hey — if they enjoy it, who are we to argue?  Some of your kids will be bringing home many lovely projects with them.

The beach looked like a lot of fun ~ I think we have some future engineers on our hands in the sand castle/fort/structure building that was going on.  They could be seen many times stopping what they were doing, huddling together, pointing at various areas of the structure and then going back to their task, making sure they were in agreement about how to reinforce weak areas and make everything serve its purpose.

There was canoeing, kayaking, and paddle boarding, all of which looked like great fun!

I stumbled upon a group of hungry leaders and campers, just waiting for their “GIANT COOKIE” to come out of the oven.  One girl confessed to me that she’s not sure it was going to cook all the way through in the middle, but I heard it turned out quite delicious despite their concern.

At water sports, Hayden crossed out of the wake for the first time!  The rest of the kids did well at their chosen sport, and some are determined to get up today because they didn’t yesterday!  I love the spirit of determination that instead of saying “I couldn’t do this today, I quit, I’m gonna do something else”… says “I know what I’m doing wrong and what I need to do to fix it, I’ll try harder tomorrow, when my arms aren’t as tired!”  Good for them!

The drama major group grew considerably since the day before ~ I found them yesterday working on a skit that I assumed they’d memorized lines for.  It turned out that the girls were completely improvising everything they were doing, and they were laughing very hard as they did so.  I came in in the middle of the skit, so I don’t really understand it, but it seemed very funny.  Good for them!

The God Who Sees

The other day, I talked about how I’ve got one of Laura’s songs she’s taught our kids perpetually stuck in my head.  “I am not forgotten, God knows my name.”  They sang it again this morning, so it’s firmly planted back in my brain, but Janet used it to introduce the talk for Underground.  She started right after worship finished by telling the kids that she believes God is telling her that some of them don’t believe that God knows their name, that they feel forgotten, and that they feel that no one cares, but that that is NOT true.  So she told them the story of Hagar, who was a servant to Abraham and Sarah.  Abraham and Sarah really wanted a child, and they’d been told by God that they would have one, but it wasn’t happening fast enough for their liking, so to speed the process along, they used Hagar to give them a child.  However, shortly after Hagar gave birth to her child, Sarah was pregnant with her own and so they no longer needed Hagar, and banished her to the wilderness.  She sat underneath a tree, waiting to die, when God’s voice spoke to her and said “I see you, and I hear you.”  He is the God Who sees everything!  God was telling Hagar that even though it felt like no one else cared, He had her back.  Ishmael, Hagar’s son, was also made into a great nation, just like Abraham and Sarah’s son, Isaac.  Nothing can separate us from God’s love.

As a recap to the previous lessons, Mark had the kids repeat their past verses, and then he briefly summarized last night’s message ~ Jesus is the light of the world and wants to get into our dark places.  But today, Mark taught us about how in Matthew 5:14, Jesus calls His disciples the light of the world!  He lit a head lamp and put it on his head.  Then he hid it under a blanket.  He asked the kids where the light was more effective… and obviously they understand that the light needs to be shining around for it to be effective.  We can share our light and touch other peoples’ lives.  People who would otherwise not know Jesus could come to know Him because of the light that shines in our lives.  Mark shared several stories of how that’s been proven true in his own life.

We looked at the story of Phillip and the Ethiopian Eunuch.  Phillip stumbled upon this important Ethiopian man reading the book of Isaiah and asked him if he understood what he was reading.  “How can I,” the Eunuch responded, “unless someone explains it to me?”  Instead of saying “True story” or the equivalent for the time period, Phillip breaks down the prophecy in Isaiah as the telling of the coming of Jesus, and explains why Jesus is important.  Because Phillip took the time to let his light shine, the Ethiopian Eunuch was able to understand the good news of Jesus.

It’s like lighting a candle ~ If I light my candle, but don’t use it to light anyone else’s, I will have some light, but it can never spread.  If I hide the candle, it’s even worse.  But if I go to everyone around me whose candle is not lit and I share my light, soon there’s light all around, and those people whose candles I’ve lit can help me light the candles of others.

Before heading out to small groups, the kids were asked to reflect on examples of someone being a light to them ~ maybe even someone whose light led them to Jesus.  And they’re thinking about how they can be a light to others.  These are the discussion questions today for the small group time.

And now for pictures.  I was off-site yesterday, so thank you to Hannah for taking all these pictures for me.  I was afraid it was going to rain and thunderstorm yesterday; the forecast called for it!  But it never did and so thankfully it seems that the kids had a great day!  And today, while a bit on the chilly side, still looks to be absolutely beautiful, which is awesome and we thank God for the great weather we’ve been having so far.

At Sports Major, kids were learning volleyball skills and then applying them later at the volleyball court.

I’m sure the Beach was very popular yesterday, as it was quite warm to start the day and didn’t cool down until a cold front passed through in the late afternoon.

I’m really not sure what went on at Drama, to be honest, but the kids look like they were having fun!

And as always, low ropes is the epitome of cooperation, working together, and having each others’ backs.  It’s great to see kids spotting each other now that we’ve gotten into older weeks.

Cupcake Decorating, Photography, and SO MUCH MORE!

Good morning, friends!  Today’s my day off, so I wrote this last night before I went to bed and have run off to find an internet connection this morning where the only work I will do all day is upload the pictures and hit publish.  Because I’m off, I’m not sitting in my office listening to Underground while I write, so unfortunately I can’t tell you what your kids are learning.

I do, however, have plenty of awesome pictures for you, so please enjoy those and you’ll be back to your regularly scheduled programming on Wednesday 🙂

Before I show you yesterday’s pictures, I wanted to show you briefly this one picture I snagged at our staff party on Saturday.  Frank and Natalie combined efforts to plan something for the staff that was truly special.  I know I felt appreciated, and I’m positive that the rest of us did, too.  We had homemade, barbecued hamburgers, and popsicles!  We got to eat outside at picnic tables, and the grassy knoll area was decorated with balloons and streamers.  Then, after dinner, some picnic games had been organized… which led to this awesome shot of a relay trying to fill up the jar on someone’s forehead using a sponge!

At Lunch yesterday, Erin and Judd were called out to run around the tables.  It was great!  I always love it when siblings get to have fun like that!

Aunt Shelley is doing crafts this week and next, and decided that to switch things up from previous years, she’d offer cupcake decorating for today and today only!  It was a hit, and boy did those creations look delicious!  I love how happy Annika looks in these pictures, complete with icing all over her face…

I caught sight of the Algonquin Park Canoe Trip kids getting ready to leave on their trip (they’re likely gone as you’re reading this, because there’s no way I woke up early enough to post this before they left… I can predict that much of the future for sure!)  They’ve been preparing and training since they arrived on Sunday and I hope they have a great time!

I caught our own canoers as well!

And our Kayakers!

Monday is always a day for skills training in some of our major activities.  The rock climbing wall is no exception.  Kids needed to learn how to tie their knots and properly secure their harnesses before they could be sent to the wall.  Here they are, learning to tie their figure-8 knots.

The Beach was a very popular place yesterday!

I caught the photography kids, and while these pictures may be a little posed, I still think it’s great to have the photographers taking pictures of the camp photographer.

At water sports, the first day is also always spent learning on dry land (mostly), and kids need to learn the proper technique for fastening helmets, holding onto ropes, pulling themselves up, and fastening knee board straps before there’s any point in getting behind the boat.  They also need to know all the proper signals so that they can ride safely.

At Beauty from the Inside Out, I found our girls doing hair and talking about nails, but they had just finished doing a devotion as well.

The Paddle Boarders looked like they enjoyed a nice calm, warm, sunny day!  I know I would have enjoyed being on a board out there yesterday!  It was gorgeous!

The Drama kids, led by Aunt Erin who is a great choice for a Drama activity, were nothing but giggles as they learned a couple of skits.  I’m sorry the pictures are mostly blurry, but the kids just wouldn’t hold still!  I was working on things in my office and could hear them practicing in the Underground.  All I heard was laughter through their lines, so I’m sure they had great fun!

And lastly, I finally made it to a campfire!  I’m sorry these pictures are so dark… they were taken with my iPhone, not my camera, and, well… it’s just not the same.  The pictures you see are of counsellors trying to knock over plastic cups wearing panty hose on their heads with… I’m pretty sure… a tennis ball in the end.  It looked like it would have taken coordination that I just do not have.  Better them than me, I guess!

Well, until Wednesday!

I am not forgotten… God knows my name

Welcome to Blaze!  I have had this new song that our worship leader, Laura, taught us last week stuck in my head for days.  It’s so catchy!  Your kids will likely come home humming it if they’re drawn to it like I am.

It’s great because I was thinking I should name today’s blog “I am not forgotten… God knows my name” before I even knew what our Camp Pastors for the week were going to talk about.  We’re very excited to have Mark and Janet Soppitt here for the week.  They’ve spoken together during Family Camp before, but have never been to Kids’ Camp!  They’re very excited about the new opportunity, and we’re thrilled to have them back!  This morning, Mark talked about some of the equipment you’d need to go from one Base Camp to the other.  Our theme for the week being Mount Kahquah Base Camp, we’ve been traversing from one camp to the next as mountain climbers tend to do when making a big climb.  You have to take time to rest and acclimatize to your new elevation, so you need base camps along the way to prepare for the next leg of your journey.  Mark talked about Ephesians 1:3-4:

³ All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. ⁴ Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.

We pulled out two key messages from that passage ~ 1.  God has a plan; 2.  He chose us before the Creation of the world.  The idea there that kind of blew MY mind, even though I’ve always known this… It seems to be one of those things I’ve just kind of accepted and then not thought about… Before the world was created, God knew each and every kid that was going to be at this camp this week, learning these messages.  He knew that each of us would play a part in His story (history).  I am not forgotten, God knows my name… and He has since before the world was even created.  Isn’t that unbelievable?  And yet, I believe it!  Hopefully the kids here will and do as well.

Mark left the kids with a question for their small group time ~ What piece of equipment would you choose to go up the mountain?

I unfortunately was not on the ball enough yesterday to get pictures of the bus arriving, but no worries, everyone arrived safely and happily!  Swim tests went off without a hitch, and we made it through one more week without unloading in the rain!  Remember last year how every Sunday’s pictures were of luggage being passed quickly to the Chapel porch so that it wouldn’t get wet?  Thankfully, that has not had to happen at all this year!  We have one more week to get through, let’s continue to pray for great weather especially on our arrival days!  I did, however, get some pictures of our decorations, put up by our program directors for the week ~ Noah and Alli, and I got some of the kids in Underground this morning, singing loudly to the songs they learned yesterday evening and from previous years.

It’s great to be here, and here’s praying for another awesome week watching God move through the lives of our Blaze campers!

The God of Angel Armies is Always By My Side

I know Who goes before me

I know Who stands behind

The God of angel armies

Is always by my side

The One who reigns forever

He is a Friend of mine

The God of angel armies Is always by my side

Read more: CHRIS TOMLIN – WHOM SHALL I FEAR (GOD OF ANGEL ARMIES) LYRICS

While I was catching up in the tuck shop tonight after getting back from two days away, I was listening to the beginning of Underground.  I listened to the kids BELTING this song out.  They weren’t just singing.  They were shouting.  Proclaiming.  They were owning that truth.  It’s really neat to hear the Worship Leaders drop out and just let the kids sing.  Their voices together are very powerful, giving Praise to The God of Angel Armies….

That same God of Angel Armies that they sang about in Underground tonight was out in full force today, protecting your kids and our staff (many of whom are likely also your kids) from some absolutely insane weather.  My day started out in Welland this morning.  It was hot, sticky, and windy.  We’d heard rumours of some good thunderstorm action that could show up throughout our drive today… there was even mention of squall lines, and the weather geek in me got quite excited.

Before I unfold today for you, I have to tell you some great news.  Earlier, I posted that Camp was looking for a new pickup truck.  Well, we have been hooked up.  Thanks to Rudy Wiebe Motors in Wainfleet, we now have a lovely gently used Chevy Silverado, and the Camp Truck is now black.  Check out some pics of Frank, our director, ironing out details with Rudy, and then of Nancy and Frank accepting the keys from Rudy, ready to drive it up here.  We’re very pleased with it!

We headed for Barrie to stock up the tuck shop…. and it probably still won’t be enough candy :p

…. and after leaving to do so, the sky started to get dark, and eerie looking.

It was a very stark contrast to yesterday’s wandering around Niagara Falls, which looked like this (and it was 37 degrees…).

Mom (Nancy) and I drove through some pretty intense rain and wind, all the while I was snapping pictures.  We were hoping everyone at Camp was inside, dry, and safe, because as I’m sure many of you saw, there were severe thunderstorm and tornado watches and warnings all over the Southern and Eastern part of the Province.  It was an active day.

When we got back to Camp around dinner time, we found that thanks to smart phones, our staff was aware of the tornado warning situation, and to keep everyone as safe as possible, we discovered that a good portion of the afternoon was spent in the basement, enjoying an impromptu talent show, thrown together and hosted by our awesome lifeguards.  Of course, once the threat had passed and there was no more thunder and lightning, the kids were allowed to head back to the beach.  The evening finished off here nice and sunny.  Nothing came of the warnings here, though we know that it did elsewhere, and so we are very thankful tonight for the God of Angel Armies who was watching over our facilities and most importantly, our kids and staff.  As I’ve seen pictures rolling in over Facebook from all over today of damage left by these storms, I’m reminded that stuff is replaceable, people are not… but I’m also very thankful that we had zero damage.

Even though I was in the car, bracing against driving rain and raging winds, pictures were still taken!  Thanks to Shelly who happily handed over her memory card when I walked back into the building.

Talent Show

Between acts, MCs Conor and Dave had people doing all kinds of things!  Here, it appears that the male counsellors are doing pushups.

This may have been the “how to climb the rock wall” demonstration that I heard about at dinner.

The infamous cup song….

Again, thanks to Aunt Shelly for the pictures!  Here is the short but sweet free swim time the kids were able to have once the weather cleared up a bit.  Some of them are of her son’s cabin, but those pictures turned out awesome, so please enjoy!

This is our tag in and out board.  This is where, when you’re at the beach, you have to place your tag on the side that says you’re there.  This way, if you forget to tag out, the lifeguards know they need to look for you.  It’s best to remember to tag out though, so that there’s never the fear that you’re lost in the water somewhere.

Tetherball — The official sport of Camp Kahquah

Mr. Legge and Randy observe from a distance

Dinner tonight was “Banquet Night” so check out some of the pics Shelly got of everyone all snazzied up.

Ringing the Dinner Bell

And, don’t think I’ve forgotten… I know I promised that I’d show the hilarious pictures from Medieval Times night on Tuesday, and I remembered!  From my Grandmother’s house yesterday in Welland, I sure did try, but apparently they’ve decided they no longer need to be connected to the Internet, and so I couldn’t post last night.Check out the pictures from Tuesday’s Campfire!  This is a rare treat, as I don’t usually make it to Campfire.  I find that that’s actually the best time to write the blog, because no one else is using the internet…. that, or 12:30 am…. which it is quickly approaching here.Somewhere, not being used, someone (and I’m legitimately not sure who) found a set of Gallows…. why do we have gallows you ask?  I really have no idea.  But they were used with pleasure at the Campfire.  Here, we find Joe, one of our trusted maintenance guys, chilling.

Here are Uncle Waffles and Aunt Karley doing the “Smartest Man Alive” skit.  I’m not sure how he does it, but every time Waffles left, he was able to guess which person was chosen in the line.

The Time Warp Dance

The crowd yelling “PUNISHMENT!! PUNISHMENT!!!” in true Medieval fashion, when some of the male counsellors cheated at their game.

The outcome of the game resulted in a dance-off between Noah and Luke.

Noah was declared the winner.

And I’m not sure what made the decision to therefore put Josiah in the gallows, but his brother Jacob looks pretty content standing beside his baby brother, in the gallows, with tomatoes and tomato juice on his face.  Josiah’s a great sport, and hey, I’ve heard some of the stuff that goes on at Campfire.  I’d take tomatoes in the face over many, many other things 🙂

And finally, to wrap up this, the last blog of Blaze, these pictures were also from Tuesday.

Also in Medieval fashion, our counsellors and LITs were gathered together on the Dusty Knoll, and they had to fight each other to remove each others’ socks.  I believe they named it Sock Wars…. Thanks to Sherri for these pictures, and I’m glad I wasn’t out there.  I would not have wanted to have gotten roped into that one!  For good reason, we let the guys and girls go separately on this one, and didn’t involve the kids.