Awesome

Hello there.

Got to say… it was an incredible (dare I say AWESOME… YES I dare) AWESOME Fourth of July celebration yesterday. The weather, the t-shirts, the spirit, the food, the surprises, the rides, the dancing, and the fireworks all added up to magnificent moments that just piled on top of each other with reckless abandon. A Glutany of Good Times! A Festival of Fun! Greystone was THE PLACE TO BE last night.

It started at flag… before the Honor Council marched in, but while the campers were all gathered around the flag pole, I drove a race car into camp. I goosed the throtle a few times, gave the big “Ding How”, waved to the crowd, high fives to my fans as I coasted down the lower road toward the soccer field. Man that thing was loud… and on the rear deck was printed “By His Grace, We Race”. Three crosses hand painted in siloette. The girls were getting their pictures taken next to the race car for the entire evening!

Great BBQ, Very big pork sandwiches with a wonderful vinegar slaw and fresh roasted corn on the cob in the husk (dipped in butter of course). I was doing funnel cakes with Laura and Gervais; we made the batter ourselves this year and it was the best we have ever done. We quite literally never broke a sweat making about 900 funnel cakes in 75 minutes… I call that a MACHINE. Cotton Candy (we own the machines, they are really nice), and Hawaii Ice (having gone to Hawaii and become a fan of real Hawaii Ice, I am sorry to say that this is not the real thing… it is made with ice cubes not ice blocks… no solution because of the skill required to make the real stuff shave correctly). There was other food too… my favorite being the “Firecracker” pops that turned everyone’s lips red. We were fat and happy last night.

The Fireworks were astounding. Lots of great comments from the “fans”, some of whom now time the show every year. This year went for a record 24 minutes 15 seconds! It included such things as Japanese floating lanterns (rice paper hot air balloons, we launched about 36 of them as the girls were gathering by the lake and the sun was setting… lovely) and a Grass Fire (yes, I caught camp on fire again… this time had a “safety” man standing by and he put the 25 foot high flame out in about 30 seconds). Good times. The moon was in the Western sky, so as the sun set in a blaze of orange, purple, and red; the 8% crescent moon became visible from behind the brilliantly colored high clouds. It Was REALLY pretty.

Aahhh…

Today will be a nice one. Slightly overcast skies are giving us a very comfortable 80 degree temperature. We are going to surprise the girls with a theme dinner: Mexican! We will decorate the dining hall, have some accessories to hand out, I have an outfit that I can’t wait to break out… trying to find a moustache.

This is a delightful place, filled with delightful people. Everything is really going very well and this reality will hit us like a feather pillow tomorrow… CHALLENGE DAY! One of the really great moments of the summer happens at 12:00 PM tomorrow during the Green/Gold softball game… I just love this day!

Thanks for checking in. You are very kind to care enough… make sure you are writing your girls and getting to know them through your letters during this precious time. Today’s Breakfast Club encouraged the girls to Social Growth onel last time (I couldn’t resist one last Social talk). The suggestions: SMILE and GET TO KNOW YOUR PARENTS. There is so much to enjoy in life, how can you not smile… look and you will see! And, parents want to get to know you as a person… write them and tell them something real about yourself. I wonder if they will accept the challenge… doubtful if many will (we parents aren’t that cool).

Cheers, and have a GREAT DAY.

Jimboy