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The past few days have seen two of the greatest evening activities of all time. Cabin theme night and Harry Potter night and to top it all off, about 26 of our campers spent the day yesterday white water rafting in Northern Maine.

Two days ago we had cabin theme night, one of my personal favorite nights of the entire year. Each cabin is given two hours to transform their cabin into a theme of their choosing. This year we all had the experience to a bank heist in the cabin of Little John, a spa in Sebago, a jungle safari in Monhegan, a hospital in Cranberry, a haunted circus in Isle au Haut, and an art museum in Manana. All of the themes this year were amazing. Manana and Sebago were the winners. Manana had 6 foot tall back drops for each of their living paintings and each painting had a witty line to say. My personal favorite was when the Scream told us that it was screaming because she had liked her crush’s Instagram post from 42 weeks ago. Sebago was decorated completely in white sheets with oak branch fans. Guests were treated to a massage, facials, and pedicures.

The next day a group of campers went white water rafting in the Forks. They left at camp at 4 in the morning and got up there at about 7 am for a safety talk and then they were in the river. The first part of the day was huge rapids and then they took a break for lunch on the river and continued with the smoother portion to meet the bus and head home. To see the pictures from that day check out adv-bound.com!

They arrived back to camp just in time for Harry Potter night. At lunch Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall showed up to deliver everyone’s invitations and then the whole camp was sorted into their houses by the sorting hat. We had dinner in the great hall (dining hall) and the campers were joined by other professors and students from Hogwarts. After dinner we broke up the houses and played a couple games of Quidditch, learned some new spells, and made it through the maze in the woods. At the end of the night Harry Potter defeated Lord Voldemort and Ravenclaw was awarded the Goblet of Fire for their heroic efforts.

Only a few more day left of camp and still a ton of fun left to have!

It is the final week of camp and we are all crazy busy fitting all that we can into the schedule. Saturday was car wash/work day, steak and lobster night, and talent night. It was jam packed with fun and running around.

At breakfast, the campers were all assigned to groups for the day. About 36 campers were sent out on 3 car washes in the area and the rest stayed here to work on projects around camp. Those who were on the car washes brought a bag lunch and had the opportunity to raise money for our sister camp, Campo Alegria, in Nicaragua. It was a pretty warm day so they were all eager to get the hoses out and get to work. Those here at camp stacked almost 6 cord of wood, cut down a large tree, and cleaned our dining hall from top to bottom. I have been here for many years and I have never seen a group finish so quickly. They were done with the dining hall before lunch and spent the afternoon setting up for talent night.

Dinner was the ever popular steak and lobster night. Campers got a choice between trying one of Maine’s most famous meals and having a delicious steak prepared by our cooks. Neither choice was wrong. For many campers and counselors it was their first time eating lobster. Everyone left a little happier and a little fatter.

Finally we ended our day with talent night. This night gives campers a chance to show off all of their impressive abilities. Many campers chose to sing or play and instrument, some put on skits or dances, one boy solved a rubix cube in under a minute, and the cabin of Pemaquid closed the night out with a rap. The counselors served all of the campers Doritos, root beer floats, and ice cream. It was a great day and everyone went back to their cabins ready for bed.

The night before last was one of my favorite nights of camp this session. After an early dinner we packed all of the campers up for the hour long drive to Pemaquid Point Lighthouse. It is one of the most photographed lighthouses in all of America and for good reason. There are long rocky shelves that extend from land out into the ocean forming the point of Pemaquid Point. Each year we take our campers there to explore, take pictures, and listen to a chapel talk from one of our counselors. As the campers came past the trees lining the parking lot and onto the rocks there were oohs and ahhs all around. Campers quickly ran out to the end to watch the waves crash against the rocks and spray them with salt water. Others gathered around the few cameras present and took some beautiful pictures with one of the most scenic views in all of Maine in the background.

After about an hour of exploring all of the rocks, the whole camp gathered on one of the larger rocks to sing and listen to the chapel talk. A counselor shared his thoughts on “God the Dangerous,” a God who is unpredictable in his teachings and mighty in his ways. He concluded by quoting something that the counselors talked about during staff week, one of my favorite quotes of the summer. “God does not promise to be our pillow, but he does promise to be our rock and our foundation.” He promises to be strong and hold us up when we are weak, but he does not promise a soft landing or that life will always be easy. Everyone enjoyed it and we were all excited to be on the bus and get back to our warm beds after spending so much time near the ocean.

The fourth has officially passed! Chop Point campers and staff had a busy few days. On the fourth, a group of campers went into Bath early in the morning to run either a five mile or a one mile race. Chop Point did extremely well with one of our girls being 10^th place overall and 1^st place for the women and another of our campers winning first in his age group.

The rest of camp met them after breakfast for the annual parade and while we were all there, a few groups of campers started a dance battle across the street while the bath bands and floats provided us with music. Some of the dance moves thrown about included the Macarena, the worm, and some very synchronized line dancing. Everyone had a blast and we were all excited to return to camp and enjoy the beautiful afternoon full of activities.

We had a snack for the campers of fried dough at about 3:30, for some of the foreign campers it was their first time experiencing my favorite food. We ended the day by having red, white, and blue birthday cake and singing happy birthday to our favorite country. For our evening activity we had a special Disney night complete with some of our favorite princes, princesses, and villains.

For the evening activity on the fifth we all made our way back to bath to enjoy their carnival and fireworks. We had an early dinner so that we could make the most of our time there! Many campers opted to enjoy the ferris wheel,  zipper, or gravitron, while others chose to eat their way through the midway and then find a place on the waterfront to hang out until the fireworks started. All of the campers got to enjoy some of America’s best foods: funnel cake, fried dough, fried chicken, and fried oreos. The fireworks show was beautiful and as we all made our way back to the buses and vans they shot off a few more for us all to enjoy. We got back to camp around 10 o’clock and everyone headed off to get a great night of sleep.

This morning every cabin got a 5 (the highest possible score) on their cabin inspections! It was a great end to a phenomenal weekend here at camp!