Here’s the secret Santa doesn’t know.  The very best toy for a boy is a garden hose.  A bucket of water, too.  Maybe a sprinkler.  And of course — Trickey Pond.

These are some of the tricks of the trade used by our counselors today during athletic periods.  It’s just too darn hot for a Flag Football game, so why not huddle around some spraying water?  Basketball’s a lot more fun on day like this when a pail of water gets dumped. 

How about changing up the routine with a waterslide?  Start with a leap, and down you go.  Smiles and squeals every time. 

Time to rotate periods?  Take a short cut through the Garden “car wash”.  Stay in as long as you dare till the bucket tips, and then you’re refreshed.

Spring-fed Trickey Pond is cool and invigorating.  Whether you’re jumping, diving, splashing, boating or skiing, it’s all spectacular.  Maybe you’ll even catch a fish or a bit of wind in a sail.

Meanwhile in the Office, Holly and Kristen were organizing tickets and counting out the cash.  Luci and Cory matched up one or two specific campers with every staff member.  Shep assigned leaders for the seven buses and four vans. All because…

WE’RE GOING TO THE SEA DOGS!

There’s nothing like taking 350 of your favorite people to the ballpark.  It’s Hadlock Field, home of the Boston Red Sox Double-A affiliate Portland Sea Dogs.  Tonight, we took on the Altoona Curve.

We do the Sea Dogs differently than other groups.  For us, it’s our chance to show off how amazing our guys are, and we demonstrate this with our great manners.  As you know, reputation matters. 

An older gentleman randomly came up to Nick and said, “I come to this game every year on July 3 and seeing your guys is the best part”.

To open the game, the stadium announcer bellowed, “Throwing the first pitch will be Camp Skylemar’s Dylan S (Bunk 15) and Alex B (16)!”  Seeing Dylan and Alex on the mound made us feel prouder than ever.  Way to go, guys!

Remember the Sea Dogs Swag Clinic at Hilltop?  The posters, custom t-shirts and hats caught the eye of the Sea Dogs videographer who put those with the swag onto the jumbotron.  Maybe, just maybe, they’ll start selling Sky designs. 

When the game was over (the first-place Dogs pounded out a 9-3 win), the players came out and tossed balls to the fans.  Quite a few from Skylemar were the lucky ones, and it warmed our hearts to see older campers give the balls they caught to a Cub or a Lion.

The fireworks were stupendous — perhaps the best we’ve seen in the 20+ years we’ve been taking this trip! 

Between the heat and the Sea Dogs, our crew is exhausted.  The bus ride back was a whole lot quieter than the one to Portland. Most fell asleep, sweetly leaning on a staff member or a friend. After all, counselors had precious cargo to carry to bed.