First week: Josh, Boatdock (Jonathan), Suzi (ENC), Gerri, Macaelagh and Reina (nurse). Michelle, Ben (ENC), Susan, Me, Angelina,
Angel. Pastor Judi, Tori and Liz, DeVona, Pastor Jeanelle, Amber (ENC), Matt (ENC).

Camp would not be camp without tales of Victor Crowley. This year was "Bride of Crowley". DeVona tries to sacrifice Jerika to him to save herself, but it doesn't work, and in the end she gets sucked into the painting with Crowley. So next year will probably be "Marguerite's Revenge"... But before that, all sorts of creative deaths occur. The only one I made up was Matt's (ENC guy). He throws a water balloon at the painting, and Victor jumps out and shoves the rubber bits down Matt's throat until he suffocates. Liz's immunity from sleeping on the couch under the portrait ends when Victor gets sick of her twin alternate personality, and the couch eats her. Blake gets killed by chiggers when they burrow into him and crawl all the way up to his brain, like the scarabs in The Mummy. Amber (ENC) gets killed by bees. And we finally decided why I never seem to die: I'm the crazy lady who tells the story to each new batch of campers and tries to warn them, but they never believe me and they get killed. Either that or everybody was too lazy to come up with something. They told me they did one night after I'd gone to bed, but nobody could remember what it was.

Second week: Ben, Suzi, Boatdock, Reina and Macaelagh, Kirsten. Brian, Blake, Liz, Pastor Moore, Angelina. Me, Sue, Gerri, DeVona.

Friday night was awesome. We were playing one-line movies on the walkie-talkies, and I had this great idea, so I ran down to the boys' cabins, where Blake, Liz and Brian were and told them, then ran back up to Susan at the girls' cabins, and we carried it out. We were talking to DeVona, and then one by one we said creepy things about approaching lights and figures and dead creepy deer-things, and then we cut out and stopped talking until she was only one on the walkie-talkies. Then we crept up the hill to the lodge, and Brian knocked on the windows and I ran my fingernails down the screens (played havoc with my fingernails). She was creeped out, but not as creeped out as she might have been had not the ENC girls been in there with her.

As DeVona was changing clothes a little while later, we took down the portrait and pushed an armchair in front of her door and set the picture in front of it, so when she opened the door, it was staring her in the face. Unfortunately, I was in the bathroom and didn't get to witness this, but I heard the shriek.

The next morning we stuck it in her bed. "DeVona... He's waiting for you..."

It ended up on her toilet later, as well.

So yeah, Friday night we snuck out and went for a midnight swim; Suzi joined us. It was really cool. Blake pointed out a shooting star at one point. The best part was floating slowly on your back, just staring up at the gray-black sky and the stars and the dark pine silhouettes around you. Very awesome. I've never been swimming in the dark before.

Clean up, clean up for Jesus
Ye campers of the cross;
Lift high that tray of pudding,
It must not suffer loss!
From breakfast unto dinner
His KPs shall He lead
Till every table's sponged
And the floor is swept indeed!

Anybody get the idea I had too much time on my hands the first half of the week? I did crafts with Michelle, which was a cushy job. I also did KP both halves, which is why the song. We slept the first half in cabin 7 with a screaming baby. The first half seemed really long, but the second half just flew by, even though it was a day longer. Preteen camp was definitely cooler than children's camp.

How to keep campers quiet...

We did cabin inspections this year as well. Cabin inspecting is a lucrative career, especially the second week. We ended up with more candy than we could eat, fun notes, and a little crown that read "Cabin Inspector", which I kept. My little twin wrote a story for Blake about him being hotter and more talented than Legolas and saving Harry Potter, and a boys' cabin left this gem:

Dear Blake... Once upon a time there was a guy named Blake. He got a letter in the mail one day saying that evil was going on somewhere so he put on his axe and go out. When he got to the plains of pure evil, he knew he was in trouble. So when the Magical Flaming Zombie assassins came he pulled out his awesome 7 foot sword and slayed them all in one swing of his sword.

He went further in and saw a sword stuck into a pedestal. As he walked toward it he saw words on it saying only one with complete awesomeness can pull the sword out. So he walked up to the sword and pulled and it came out and as it did he warped back to this camp and said "I'm going to cabin one to see how they're doing" so as he walked to the cabin his adventure ended but his awesomeness did not. And he got to keep the sword. THE END. PS: Can I have my axe back please.

Jaaaane
Jaaaane
Cruisin' on a jet plane
Cruisin' on a jet plane
Jaaaane
Jaaaane
Crashed into a weathervane!
Crashed into a weathervane!
Don't that hurt?
Don't that hurt?
Now Jane's got a pain
Now Jane's got a pain
And Tarzan's got a tan
And Tarzan's got a tan
And I hope it doesn't peel
And I hope it doesn't peel
Like a banaaaana!
Like a banaaaana!

Quotes of the Week:

Liz: Rubber bands usually don't have that effect on me...

Brian: This is our circle of trust. What happens in the director's lodge... Staaaays in the director's lodge.

"Love bug". Enough said.

Blake: He's scratching me! He's scratching me like a llama!

My mom gave me a penny
She said go buy a henny
I did not buy a henny
Insteaaaaaaad
I bought bubblegum!
Bazooka zooka bubblegum!
Bazooka zooka bubblegum!

(Followed by nickel/pickle, dime/lime, quarter/water and dollar/collar. We were singing that one all day Monday...)

Random Facts:
Ants can live in water for up to 21 days
Epsom salts are a natural laxative
Blake is scared of feet, electricity, librarians, and chiggers
Willy's gonna kill you
If you chew up millipedes before you swallow them, they make your tongue go numb

How do we know that last one? The theme this year was Faith Factor (like Fear Factor) and they got all the counselors except for Gene and all the staff except for me to eat a millipede. I refused. There are some things in this world I will not do, and eating a millipede is one of them. I'd kiss a fish (which nobody remembered to get me to do) but I won't eat a bug.

We are the staffers who don't do anything
We just come to camp and lie around
And if you ask us to do anything
We'll just tell you, We don't do anything!

Blake had a bit of an adventure. He took cabin 8 hiking one day. Ben had told them that any path he took would lead him back to the road, and he couldn't get lost. So they set out, and disappeared into the woods. Lunchtime came, and no cabin 8! Turned out they walked and walked and walked and walked and got lost, and finally Blake saw a house and went down to it. A little old lady answered the door, and he said, "Do you know where Summit Lake Camp is?" And she said, "Of course, my husband built it!" She followed this up with, "You go down the road and it's four miles away." So she and her neighbor got the neighbor's pickup truck, and cabin 8 climbed up in the back and got a lift back into camp, to enter the dining hall late. We gave them a round of applause.

I got to pray with a camper one evening. It was amazing. It was this little girl who is mentally challenged, and she was just crying her eyes out, and I got to put my arms around her and pray for her. It was a totally awesome experience.

The ENC team this year was probably the best we've ever had. They were very involved, and we got to pal around with them. Very cool and fun people.

The ENC Team, "His Own": Jay, Matt, Ben, Amber, Suzi.

The last night, the guys' cabins had a huge pillow fight. Josh (a counselor) was like, "There are only two rules. Rule number one: No head shots! Rule number two: No ball shots!" It was crazy. I got attacked a couple of times, Matt had Brian's body pillow and was taking out three campers at a time, they lined up and shouted battle cries and charged in with pillows blazing... It was really hilarious to watch. Especially when Matt just gave up and lay there and everybody just kept beating him with their pillows and Blake was screaming, "This is for singing cool songs! This is for making us worship! This is for making chapel fun!"

Later, the twins and Brian and I went down and sat on the dock at about 2:15 AM. Very cool experience.

Cheeeee-tah
Cheeeee-tah
Dancin' on a pizza
Dancin' on a pizza
Cheeeee-tah
Cheeeee-tah
Burned his little feetza!
Burned his little feetza!
Don't that hurt?
Don't that hurt?
Now Cheetah's got Velveeta
Now Cheetah's got Velveeta
And Jane's got a pain
And Jane's got a pain
And Tarzan's got a tan
And Tarzan's got a tan
And I hope it doesn't peel
And I hope it doesn't peel
Like a banaaaana!
Like a banaaaana!

Like a banaaaana!
Like a banaaaana!

Like a banaaaana!
Like a banaaaanaaaaaaaa!