On Sunday we had our first full day of summer camp 2011! Many campers had been waiting months and months to finally roll into Qwanoes. It was so fun to see kids come barreling out of cars and buses with big smiles and anticipation in their eyes for an amazing week. The Squirrel was back in the qrok tower pumping out the summer tunes… and just like that, it was summer at Qwanoes with everything rolling once again! It has been a long time since last summer… but many have said it’s like the campers never left. It is just so natural to have kids here! The laughter, the Qwanoes “GONG,” campers in the cabins, chasing their counselor, eating on the Sky Deck, singing in Q-Town, playing carpetball, and the list goes on!

I was just down at the waterfront and boy is that the place to be! “Castaway Castle” is all connected to “Pirates Pyramid” and you can walk the multiple planks to both towers and even make it over to the floating trampolines… of course only if you have good balance and can make it past others. Many do make it all the way around, but often there is lots of laughter and fun as someone loses their balance and “SPLASH!!” right into the nice refreshing water.

I ran into a big group of friends on the “Super Totter” rocking back and forth and holding on with all their strength. I yelled over and asked their names and got to know a little of how their day had been going so far. I met a few of the boys as they shouted back their names – Ben, Brandon, Alan, Zack and Graham. Here’s what a few of them had to say: “I love the Aqua Park! I love riding on the Rocket, Ben fell off 3 times… it was soooo cool! Camp is so much fun! I love being here with my friends, my counselor is cool, it is so good to be back!!” It was Ben’s first time at camp, and he loved Q-Town and the Aqua Park the most… and then went on to say: “everything is just so AMAZING” and couldn’t choose what has favorite part was so far, which is always great to hear!

Down at the end of the dock I met 3 girl campers – Daryl, Laura and Katie. Daryl said she looks forward to camp every year and that she loves being back, loves the beach, but I was also really looking forward to the challenge course and making really close friends in my cabin. Katie went on to say: “I met Daryl last year at camp and we became really good friends, and now we are back this year together! And it’s Laura’s first time at camp, and I just met her in my cabin, and now all three of us are close friends!”

Randy Carter is the speaker this week, and WOW can this guy keep your attention with all his life stories. The kids just lean closer and closer to see what he is going to say next. We are all learning about how we can trust God no matter what.

So much ahead, so much in store! It’s going to be a great summer 2011!