Today was an epic day. A day of Olympic proportions – literally! Little Olympics is a fourth session Crystal Lake tradition, and after breakfast in cabins and an excellent assembly from the CITs, the proceedings began with the lighting of the torch and the Olympic fire. Everyone was split into four teams, with their clan, and as the torch was lit, the whole camp followed the torch around the game field in a big circle. It was an absolutely gorgeous day – all sunshine and warmth – perfect for Little Olympics.
After the torch was lit, clans flew like the wind for the first contest: All Clan Blueberry Competition (ACBC). The blueberries are just ripening at Crystal Lake, and there are several areas around camp where they abound; on the lower lake trail, behind the outdoor stage, and by old Dunwoody to name a few. Though the results of today’s game’s cannot be published yet, it was clear who the winners of the ACBC were: the Turkeys trounced everyone, picking a full pitcher of blueberries and a little bit more. The Bears came in second with almost a full pitcher themselves, and the Wolves and Turtles were in a close battle for third and fourth.
After everyone returned to the game field, morning game stations were set up and everyone set forth. Five games went on at the same time, with each clan sending team members to each game. The games included a slow bike race, where bikers must go as slow as the possibly can without putting feet on the ground, an obstacle course involving running, jumping, balancing, throwing, and crawling, a cracker eating contest where campers ate crackers and tried to whistle with a dry mouthful (but dry oatmeal was used this time instead of crackers), 5 on 5 basketball games, and 3 on 3 on 3 on 3 mud gaga (with all the rain lately, the gaga pit has turned into a true mud pit, and all players got very dirty). All the games finished at roughly the same time, and once again, everyone gathered in the middle of the game field for all-camp water balloon toss. Clans partnered up and tossed a water balloon back and forth, trying not to break it was they took a step further apart after each toss.
After lunch and a relaxing rest hour, the second half of the games commenced on the waterfront. Four competition sessions broken up into three games shuttled everyone through a variety of games, including the t-shirt relay, swim relay, and blind canoe race (with two blindfolded paddlers and one seeing steerer); the sponge bucket relay, crazy news day relay (where campers read a newspaper aloud while swimming), and the watermelon eating contest; the kickboard race, the high jump, and the dragon’s tail game (where three inner tubes were tied together with a “tail” on the end the other teams were trying to steal while paddling their own three-sectioned inner tube); and the triathlon (swimming, biking, running). And just as this morning’s session ended with a raucous game all together, the afternoon ended with an all camp canoe splash.
Dinner and flag lowering followed per usual, succeeded by separate testimony meetings in camps, with many wonderful and heartfelt testimonies shared on both sides.
Check in in a few days to find out the results of Little Olympics and the clan competition as a whole!
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