Junior High #2 is in high gear and the classic Qwanoes water games are happening right now!  Just before the games began, the clouds parted and the warm summer sun broke through and the timing couldn’t have been more perfect for a giant, massive all-out water fight!!!

The week wouldn’t be complete without an all out battle of the teams with water guns, shields and shaving cream! I just asked a camper what his strategy was and he had this to say “I love sneaking around the edge, then darting in before anyone sees me, that’s the best way to really get him… or if that doesn’t work I just rush in quick and look for the holes so I can get him really good!”.  The “him” he is referring to is the lucky counselor covered head to toe with shaving cream! Why is that you ask? The other team is sworn to defend and protect him of course! The counselor with the most shaving cream on at the end of the game wins!

While the battle continues on one side of the playing field, if you look over to the other side you will see BIG BLUE! Campers absolutely love BIG BLUE, and why wouldn’t they… there is nothing like staring down 130 feet of smooth plastic, rushing water filled with slippery soap!  Campers love lining up with a good amount of grass (aka runway) to run on just before launching themselves down the water slide!  A group of girls from Cabin 7 just went down – let’s hear what they had to say about it: Sienna ” I love going down on my stomach and reaching up to give high fives on the way down! You go soooo fast!” Laura had this to say” It’s super fast, I love going down with a bunch of friends and bumping into each other all the way down, it is so FUN!”

WATCH THE VIDEO – Qwanoes campers enjoying Big Blue and even our speaker Storm couldn’t resist!

Our camp speaker’s name this week is Storm and he came all the way from Calgary to spend a week at Qwanoes and all our campers.  He loves Qwanoes, especially when campers dare him to go on the activities like the Sky-Scraper or behind the boat on the rocket! Today he joined in the fun and took a turn down Big Blue! I asked the Cabin 7 girls what they thought of Storm and Caylin & Paig had this to say, “He is so awesome, he really gets your attention…one minute you are laughing and the next he really has you thinking hard.  He’s stories about himself are so funny, he definitely can get your attention by telling you things straight up… he doesn’t sugar code it, he just tells it the way it is and I like it that way”.

The Cabin 7 girls are having a blast at camp and one of the reasons is because of Mel their counselor! Mel had this to say ” I love being a camp counselor, I think my girls are awesome… I love telling my girls about God and having fun all at the same time!”

There is still lots of time left in Junior High #2 – after dinner there’s Q-Town and then onto the “Rock Your World Concert & Kick Flip Cafe!”  It’s going to be a great rest of the week and then onto Family Camp starting on Sunday!

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It’s tuck time at Qwanoes right now and that means the “Squirrel” (Russ Smith) is in the nest at the qrok Tower blasting the tunes!  What’s playing right now? It sounds to me like it is “Out Of This World” our theme song for summer 2010 – what a great song! Campers are hanging out on the field enjoying tuck, listening to music and soaking in the rays. Later tonight we will all come together for a giant BBQ on the main field! Burgers, hotdogs, chips, watermelon and all the fixings! And then right after dinner it will be carnival time with “Greylocks Magical Extravaganza”! It is such a great day to be at Qwanoes!!

The challenge course is a great place to hang out on a nice hot summer day, the trees tower above you and provide a canopy of shade to play in.  I started off my walk through the challenge course at the “Sky Scraper” as three girls were being raised to 80 feet up in the air! Once at the top, they were motioned to pull the cord which releases them to fly through the air, 1 pull, 2 pull, 3 pull and then SWOOSH! The girls flew past the ground and back up again! The screams were pure excitement and a memory that will last well past the summer I’m sure.

I then made my way to the screamer just in time to see two girls jump off the platform and soar through the trees! From the expression on their faces it sure looked like a lot of fun… as the two girls (Samantha and Kiera) were detached from the screamer, I heard them exclaiming in the distance to their friends “It’s so FUN, you totally have to do it, it was scary at first, but it was sooooooo FUN!”

As I was making my way out of the challenge course, I ran into Jesse, Elise and Sydney who were enjoying watching their friend go through the “multi-vine” element. I asked them what their favorite activity was and Jesse and Elise said the Screamer! And Sydney said the Sky Scraper!!  The three of them are having so much fun at camp! We got to talking about Ben our speaker and what they thought of last nights time at the fireside… Elise said that “Ben is so funny, and his stories about Jesus were so cool!”  Yes, last night was a good time to be at the fireside for sure! Ben, our camp speaker for the week, shared some incredible stories about Jesus and how He healed a blind man, touched someone with leprosy  and took it away and so many other great stories! His enthusiasm is contagious! Later that night many campers wanted to hear more stories, so all over Qwanoes the stories of Jesus were being told from walking on the water, to feeding the 5000! What awesome stories!

Juniors 2 has 2 more days left, and they are going to be amazing! And then Staff Development Day on Saturday and then onto Junior Hight #2! Summer at Qwanoes, there’s nothing like it.

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Junior High #1 is going great!!! The campers hit the ground running on Saturday with many coming by car and our biggest group ever coming over by ferry!

Before we knew it the campers were on the registration deck, getting their pictures taken, meeting their camp counselor, doing swim tests, doing tricks on the skateboard park, in Club Coco, playing carpetball and moving into cabins! The Squirrel was in the qrok tower playing the new OUT OF THIS WORLD theme song and it was summer once again at Qwanoes!

Every day has been filled with adventure, friends & discovery! There is so much going on all over Qwanoes right now as I write this blog post. I just got back from Qwanoes Beach and boy oh boy that is the place to be on a hot day like this! The campers are loving Castaway Castle & the whole Aqua Park. As I was heading up the stairs I saw all three boats pulling campers behind them, what fun! I also saw a group of campers enjoying “Beach Discovery”, it was really cool to see the campers touching and holding a REALLY, REALLY BIG star fish!

I just ran into Stevie-G and he had this to say about the week, “This week is so cool! And I’m not meaning the temperature – it was crazy today with water flying everywhere, campers were all soaked with water and having a blast on our first really hot summer day!! I love wide eyed and liquified!”

The GONG just went! That means it’s time to head to the dining hall for a tasty meal together. The evenings are such a great time together as we head into Q-Town for an awesome time watching QTV, singing with the Quixotic band and listening to our camp speaker for the week, Randy Carter.  Randy really gets everyones attention with his funny stories and powerful lessons about life & Jesus. We are all learning and growing so much together and having fun all at the same time!

Two more days left of Junior High #1 – it’s going to be awesome!