Today was YLC 2009 Olympics Day! Each team was assigned a color. Pixels got red, Firefly got yellow, Evermore got blue, Callus got green, and Gizmo got black! Everyone got their face paint on, painted their flags, and created a chant for the opening ceremony. It was a very exciting start to the day!
For the Opening Ceremony, we paraded around the fireside and the Daily Drum building. Travis Clevenger, our camp director, led the parade, he held a flamed torch (which is really a tin cup attached to a stick) and walked around the campgrounds. We showed our spirit by doing our chants and waving our flags proudly in the air. We gathered at the fireside and Travis put the torch into the fire. The Olympics day had begun!
The first event of the day was a relay containing four parts: three legged race, wheelbarrow, piggy back racing, and carrying a spoon with an egg in a dizzy stance. Many of us stumbled as we did the three legged race, but there was no harm. Then the relay got harder as we did the wheelbarrow. Our arms were sore after walking several yards on our hands. After that, we did the piggy back race which was the most challenging because one person had to carry their partner across the field, then they had to switch to run back! The last part of the relay was the egg on the spoon, we all had to spin around a baseball bat then run with the egg across the field and back, if we dropped the egg we had to start all over again! It was hilarious to watch each other stumbling as we focused on the egg. Team Firefly won the event and got to compete against the Gizmos for fun! The Gizmos barely won by one player!
The next event was the water balloon toss! Each teams picked two pairs of players from their team. Each pair had to toss their water balloon to each other, if they caught it they both took one step backwards, if they dropped it they were out of the game! The game got harder and harder as the players stepped further apart! Firefly won again, and got to challenge the Gizmos again! This time the Fireflies won!
We had a game called “Steal the Eggs” which is very similar to the “Steal the Bacon” game. Each team stood on one side of a square, the referees (Gizmos!) placed two eggs in the center of the square. Each team member was assigned a number, when the referees called out a number, the players with that number had to run to the middle and try to steal the eggs and make it to their side of the square for points, or try to tag the player who stole the eggs to earn points! If a player broke an egg their team would lose a point. We all had a blast because we had to come up with strategies, chase others, and some of us accidentally broke eggs! Callus won this game, and went up against the Gizmos! The Gizmos won by one point!
Next, we played "Pass the Lifesaver," which was a really funny game! Each player on our team had a toothpick in our mouths, we had to use it to pass a lifesaver between every player! It was difficult passing the lifesaver candy without dropping it! Many campers were laughing because they never had to face each other so closely before! We couldn't hold our toothpicks with our fingers, so it was a challenge to pass the lifesaver. All teams enjoyed the game simply because there was no way that anyone could not enjoy the game!
The toughest event of the day was the Ultimate Egg Relay. We had to go through tough obstacles while holding an egg without breaking it. If the egg cracked, the person responsible had to do the obstacles again! It was a lot of pressure on all of us! We had to crawl through wet sand by using our upper body only and then we had to jump rope twenty times. After that, we had to jump for a lengthy distance in a tiny sack and shoot a basketball into a hoop. For the last part of the relay, we had to fill a bucket with water using a sponge. Don’t forget that we had to do all of that and hold an egg! Our arms were exhausted and sand covered every part of our bodies. We all agreed that the relay was very difficult, but we had to admit that it was pretty fun at the same time!
After the relay, we went to swimming pool to refresh ourselves and of course we still had more activities! The pool activity was that all groups had to compete against each other swimming with all different styles such as the breast stroke, butterfly, free style, and doggie paddling, while blowing a ping pong ball and while swimming with a sweater on! All of the campers enjoyed this activity, and some of us got to learn new swimming skills!
Next, each team sent in two female and two male players for Hot Shot, a basketball game. The players had to shoot from specific spots on the court to receive points when the basket was made. Some players weren’t really basketball players but they did pretty well. Meanwhile, the rest of the teams created cheers and chants to support the players and impress a judge who is a cheerleading expert. Everyone made the effort to do well and we all had fun!
For the evening activity, we played Tug of War! Pixels and Firefly went first against each other to pull the rope. Firefly won! Next, Evermore and Callus both played against each other, Evermore won! Again, Pixels against Callus, it was a struggle at first, but the Pixels finally won after some of the staff cheered us up and said, “Don’t give up!” Then, because they were the Tug of War champions, Firefly got to play against Gizmo, it was a difficult competition, but Gizmo won!
As olympic day ended, it started getting dark outside. All of the groups went to fireside to celebrate the closing ceremony. Each group got up in front of everyone and said a few words about how they felt about the day, then together each team put their flag in the fire with pride. We had a moment of silence for each flag so that we all could reflect on the events of the day. The last part of the closing ceremony was to put out the fire. This indescribable day required a lots teamwork, bonding, and it became a very unforgettable day. After we burned the flag, we felt a stronger bond to our teams than ever before!
What the campers thought:
Robb Ingram: I loved it because I like competition. I also like to learn work with others and accomplish together!
Patrick McMullen: I liked it because it was fun and it was worth the exercise. I got myself in shape!
MaryAnn Peterson: I loved it, it was mentally and physically challenging. It made me feel good.
Tandy Lewis: I enjoyed it because it was very competitive and I also now feel that I am more connected to my team and even to other teams too! The games were a lot of fun!
Subrina Morales: I loved it so much because it had a lot of challenges!
Richard Bertling: I liked it because it was lot of fun. I am the type of person who likes to do things instead of just sitting there and thinking!
Travis Clevenger led the campers and staff around Camp Taloali for the Opening Ceremony!
The Pixels were full of enthusiasm to start their day!
The Pixels' opening chant!
"Callus! Callus!" chanted the green team!
"EVERMORE!"
The Fireflies getting ready to light up the stage!
Patti Klinger, where's your three-legged partner??
Yolynn Valdez and Nha Kim racing for the finish line!
Jordan Ramser concentrating hard on not dropping his egg!
Don't drop that egg, Shu Han Guo!
Jennifer Wrenn carried her egg with ease back and forth across the field!
All four teams attempting to get points during the steal the eggs game!
Team Callus celebrating the end of YLC olympics!
All the events made the day an amazing one! We were exhausted but fortunately got some extra early sleep time. We closed the day with our tradition, YLC ‘09 GOOD NIGHT!
