Record Setting Summer

Carnival 2013… EPIC EVENT.

We did not choose to delay the carnival last night (such decisions are made about 10 hours prior to the event in order to make all the arrangements come out well). We saw the forecast and knew that it was unstable enough to not allow fireworks but our natural optimism was to do the carnival rain or shine.

Carnival for us is a “bathing suit” event. The Dunking Booth and Water Slide form a very popular backbone of the party, and often provide the best way to get cooled off as we run and dance in the hot July weather. It did not seem like a big stretch to go on as scheduled. We purchased a bunch of 12 by 12 canopy tents to set up important “dry zones”. We assigned the photo booth and surf ride to the Pavilion and resigned ourselves to a nice “mud pit” at the home base dance floor. Usually the rain stops in the early evening (something about our location makes this a fairly dependable pattern), so rolling the dice seemed to make sense.

God had other plans.

We experienced a deluge of Biblical proportions! It started raining hard at 4:30, so we decided to move the big BBQ picnic inside to the Dining Hall and hoped that the rain would stop by 7:00. This was reasonable, but did not work out that way. It was clear that this was going to be a wet mess at 7:15… so we embraced the challenge and had a blast. It was rediculously wet and crazy. The dance contest turned the softball field into a mud pit and the girls enjoyed the opportunity of showing off their most extreme dance moves with mud spins incorporated with flair. It was crazy.

Crazy is fun for about an hour, so we called it a day at 8:30 then gave the girls an hour and 15 minutes to get hot showers and pack their wet things into the big laundry pick up that was scheduled to happen this morning. As you read this, two large truck loads of wet towels and clothes are being washed by a big laundry in town (supplementing our limited laundry capacity in this time of need).

We are going to blow up a big picture of this record breaking carnival and have all the campers and counselors sign it. We will then hang it in a place of honor. It really was a “once in a lifetime” carnival!

The sun is now out and we hope to get a break in the weather. It will take several days for the ground to dry out, but it is already much improved. Tuesday is going to be a bright sunny day, till then we will have scattered showers. Let’s pray!

Sleep Late Friday today… everyone loved having a chance to veg a little before starting the day. Camp is going very well and I am very proud of how spirited the group continues to be despite the wet feet. Tonight we will have a laid back “Cabin Night” EP where most of the group will choose to play games or do modified “spa treatments”. I expect to see lots of shiny nails tomorrow!

Thanks for checking in,

Jimboy