CMS, Part 3

Tuesday: Hike Day!!! Actually, hiking is a little cooler with the junior high and high schoolers: we actually hike on real trails in the Weminuche Wilderness. Not so with the younger ones; we just "hike" up the spring line outside of camp and kick back in a meadow, eat lunch, throw frisbees, and then head back to camp. Amazingly, though, this glorified walk results in many complaints, laments about hating hiking, and enough blisters, bug bites, and plant scratches to make you think that we forced them to scale K2 (well, I doubt they'd get bug bites on K2, but you get the point).


So here's Matt bringing up the rear with a group of his devotees. Matt is mildly obsessed (in a good way) about protecting his skin from the sun. As we hiked away from camp he realized that he didn't have his hat on, so he hopped on the supply bus and grabbed a sombrero. The boys thought that was a fabulous idea, and who can argue with such great sun protection? They were claiming to be "Spinese." Spanish if they wear the sombrero tilted back, Chinese if they wore it directly on top of the head. Or maybe it was the other way around. No matter.

(Hey, I said we went to Sonlight Christian Camp, not Sonlight Politically Correct Camp.)


The trail was pretty overgrown but with all the rain we had been getting, it was fragrant and green and beautiful. BTW - guess who had a pretty bad reaction to a bee sting the day before? (Hint: look at the left hand of the girl in front of me.)

Check out this beautiful bear track!! The toes are pointing to your right, the palm is on the left.


The week is mushing together for me by now, so I can't remember what we did on Tuesday night. No matter. Tuesday night or Wednesday night was Pirate Night!!! Who doesn't LOVE Pirate Night??? The staff had a box of pirate paraphernalia to pick through if you forgot your eye patch and sword. Matt and I whipped up our outfits in a matter of minutes (as if you can't tell).


In case you want to replicate my fab outfit for Halloween (or create your very own Pirate Night at home), follow these simple instructions: find a plastic pirate flag and rip it off its straw post and duct tape it to your forehead. Next, find the nearest plastic ornament bird (I just so happened to find an ugly little rooster standing on a shelf in my trailer), and duct tape it to your shoulder. If you do not have said plastic bird, a teddy bear will do (thank you, Matt). Put on a really mean face, and you will be well on your way to ARRRGGG-dom.


OR, of course, you could pilfer a perfect outfit from your mom, who teaches middle-school theater. Whatever.


Are you convinced?


Pirate Night usually takes place outside, but it was storming, so we had to make do inside. We had blow-up palm trees, handed out plastic eye patches and bandanas at the entrance, and served "parrot legs" (chicken drumsticks), veggie kabobs, and something else that seemed pirate-y. Loud pirate music was playing and pretty much everyone was shouting and growling "Arrrrrg." It was kind of zooey, but everyone had fun.

I'm now going to diverge from hiking and pirate-ing to tell you some of my favorite things about Sonlight. Not the least of which is the hailed "Second Pantry."


We can thank the health department for the Second Pantry, for it houses the leftovers that you really can't hand back out to the campers. Thank you, Health Department, for this bastion of Sonlight goodness. Many things at Sonlight are made from scratch. You know how most camps have really gross food and everyone loses weight? Yeah, NO. Sonlight is a "fat camp" not because you send your kids there to lose weight, but because everyone who stays there too long risks getting fat. Really fat. So it's late at night and you need a snack? Second Pantry. Too long of a stretch between lunch and dinner? Second Pantry. Need to feed a small nation in a pinch? Second Pantry.

Probably one of my favorite things about Sonlight, I don't even know if I can fully explain. Actually, I won't even try to explain it. These two coffee mugs side-by-side just say it all:


Such a juxtaposition you will find nowhere else. The mug on the left has a picture of a disgruntled cowboy on the other side of it. Matt and I just laughed so hard: disgruntled sarcastic cowboy vs. a Bible verse. WHERE ELSE?

In our next edition I will tell you the spectacular story of The Lost Wedding Ring. It really IS cool!!! Stay tuned!