Pica Graduation and Midnight Swim

Last Friday I packed up Eli and Lucas and took them to girls camp in Warsaw, Mo. Our family friend Emma was graduating from C.I.L.T. (Camper in Leadership Training) from my very favorite NeKaMo Camp. I was a camper from 1st-11th grade and graduated from C.I.L.T. in 1994. Emma is the 4th of 6 kids and we have unofficially adopted her as our own. She stayed with me in 2005 and helped me work 18 hour days at the coffeehouse when she was only 12 and every summer since she has spent a week with our family. The boys are secretly in love with her...but when she is around she is just like their big sister. She calls me Mommy Dawnua and we just love her so much! Soooo, all of that to say that we couldn't miss her graduation! Our original plans included Scott and Noah but when Noah got invited to a sleep over birthday party we changed our plans and Scott stayed to take him to the party.

We got to camp before 5 and once we made our rounds the staff put us to work. When Tross (did I mention that when you graduate from CILT and are a counselor/staff you get to pick a bird name?) saw me she said, "It's DAWNUA! DAWNUA is HERE! DAWNUA can decorate the dining hall for us! DAWNUA is here!" and so off we went to get the dining hall ready for the celebration dinner. I forgot what it's like at camp when you don't have enough time to get everything done and you could always use an extra hand cause you can't handle everything you need to do...Oh wait a minute...I haven't forgotten...It's just like my life....so Yes! I know exactly how they feel... The boys did a great job helping me pick flowers, make center pieces and decorate the tables...and we finished with only seconds to spare as the campers lined up for dinner...

We had a great dinner followed by the graduation ceremony in the air conditioned chapel. The three graduates were the stars and all the different divisions made their presentations of gifts, songs and skits. Emma's bird name is Pica (peeca) and her cousin Sara (who has also stayed with us during the summer) is Sugar. Very cute names. My only advice for C.I.L.T. 1 is to practice your bird name in a whiny voice and see if it can stand the test of 6-20 Pathfinders crying your name without you going insane...if it doesn't bother you then THAT'S the name you should pick! Lucas was our photographer for the evening and he ended up sitting right next to Pica on the front row...can't get much closer than that! After the graduation the entire camp walked down to the 22 rifle range for our friday night camp fire. We sang the graduates favorite songs and listened to each of them give their testimony. It was great to hear Emma's heart and to listen to what is important to her.

After the campfire, Candy (One of Emma's Aunts) and I took Jake (One of Emma's Brothers), Quinn (a cousin) Eli and Lucas to the pool to swim. I meant to be home by midnight but when the campfire lasted till 10 pm I knew it was going to be a long night..and after a long, hot day I surprised the boys by telling them I had brought their swimming trunks for them to swim. They were so excited and ended up playing till midnight. Candy and I enjoyed our pool side conversation and I felt like I was where I needed to be...and someday I hope to be able to go back to camp!

As we were leaving camp Eli said, "I love girls camp...and not just because of the girls either!" The three of us had a great time and we are looking forward to our time with Emma this summer.