Yay!  It’s GACU!  Says no one, except for the mothers on camp.  But honestly, the guys don’t complain.  It’s just one of those things that has to get done, like taking a shower and making your bed every morning.  And GACU (Great American Clean Up) is just once a week.  Plus, the Staff makes it fun.

In case you’ve forgotten, when you’re scheduled for GACU here’s how it works. First, you take a power-shower.  Then you go to The Spa for nail clipping, and then on to the Infirmary for a health check. 

Funny story about the Skylemar Spa:  There once was a perspective parent who called with questions.  After asking the basics, she said she was concerned that maybe we were a bit too “fancy” for them because she heard we had a spa here.  “Is that true?” she asked. 

Well, if you consider buckets of soapy water on a front porch with some dedicated staff members who are brave enough to clip toenails “fancy”, then I suppose we are.  Plus, we do serve cucumber water and play the weird mood music that’s supposed to be relaxing.

Other than GACU, it was a beautiful day for sports and activities!  The 16U Tennis Grand Slam is already exciting. Shout-outs to all those who entered!  Congrats also goes to the group who competed in the intercamp swim meet held at another camp’s lake this afternoon.

Band of Brothers dinner this evening.  It’s fascinating to see the relationships built at the dinner table within each team, made up of boys from assorted age groups.  The team challenge was to make a floating boat out of tinfoil that would hold as many quarters as possible without sinking.   Way to go, Bald Eagles, with 84 coins afloat!

The big rafts made in Yellowhorn were driven down to the lake by the maintenance department.  They floated too.  At least sort of…. Turns out the “Huckleberry Finn” book makes raft building sound a whole lot easier than it actually is.

Blow-up Carnival for Evening Activity!  Hejduk Field at Sky II was filled with giant inflatable games, slides and obstacle courses.  Since you needed to be in bare feet for all the blow-ups, each Division left their shoes together by their sign so they’d be easy to find at the end.  Otherwise, just imagine how many times we’d hear the phrase you might have heard before: “I can’t find my shoes!”

Baltimore Snowballs were the special treat.  Ice gets shaved in a machine and then is put in a big cup (not a cone).  You pick either cherry, banana, blue raspberry or cotton candy flavoring, and then marshmallow goes on top.  Several boys not from Baltimore said, “I waited a whole year for this!”

When kids got back in line for seconds, it was pretty obvious who were the repeat customers.  Blue or red mouths gave it away. Bring on the toothbrushing!