The Roost

Helloooo and Merry Christmas Eve to ya parents!!! Its Christmas in July eve up here at Skyline and we have been full of Christmas spirit and cheer all week and especially today. Its always great around Christmas time when everyone is acting the way they should all year anyway. Well, its been like that all week up here and the campers love it.

Tonight, we had our Santa’s Workshop where we help ‘ol Santa out by making all sorts of decorations, Christmas cookies (just wait till you see some of those cookies, I almost went into sugar shock just taking pictures of ‘em!!), face painting, making stained glass windows and all sorts of other Christmas decorations to spice up the gym for tomorrow morning when you know who stops by!!! (as long as we’ve all been good!). I even had one of our campers color me a picture using nothing but colors of my college rival (it’s the thought that counts…right???). It really was a great time tonight as everyone got into the mood by dressin up in the Christmas colors and then to add to it, we had nothing but Christmas music playing over the loud speakers in the gym. You couldn’t help but feel the spirit in the air, not to mention the cold front that’s headin’ this way where Jimmy C promised me our campers would awake to a white Christmas morning. The weather channel tried to get up here to do a live shot from camp (you know its gonna be rough weather when Jim Cantore is setting up in your front yard!!), but theres only enough room for one bald guy here at camp during Christmas (beside, my wife would be going crazy!!) so I had to tell ‘em to tune into our website for updates (they can log in to get our weather on the 8’s!!!… I know some of yall will get that!!!).

Well, all the campers have headed back to bed and are getting ready for our big Christmas morning wake up call from St. Nick himself, and then to the gym to get our Christmas presents and a reading from the first real Christmas story. After that he’ll head to breakfast, Sunday school and church (I just love church on Christmas morning!!).

After lunch we’ll have our huge Christmas carnival complete with inflatable toys and slides, sno cones and many more activities and games. Its one of the camper favorites during 3rd session so be sure to tune in to see all the pics throughout the day.

After all that we’ll end tomorrow night with out counselor hunt where the campers will team up and head out to look for counselors that have hidden all around camp. The best part is when they find a counselor,m they get to bring ‘em back and take that counselor home with them for a year!! Just kidding, I just wanted to see how many of ya’ll were still awake!! Actually the counselors are worth club points and the more the find, the more points they get for their club. It’s a great night of hide N seek around camp.

Weather on the mountain: Like I said before folks, theres a storm a brewin’ out there straight down from the artic express and my buddy Jim Cantore sent me a text and said to be prepared for a complete white out tomorrow morning when our campers awake for Christmas!! He said as much as 2-3 cases, um… I mean inches of the white stuff could be all across the ground and in the trees and said every camper as Skyline would wake to a white Christmas. I guess the front should be passing later tonight since its still in the lower 70s out there right now, we’ll wait for a change in the wind direction and see what happens…

Well folks, over the years, I’ve always written a Christmas poem for 3rd session on the night before Christmas and since this is the night before Christmas, here it goes, hope ya’ll enjoy it!!!

T’was the night before Christmas, and all ‘cross the land
Not a camper was stirring; St Nick was close at hand
The campers were nestled and snug in their bunks
Their stockings all hung from the sides of their trunks

Sally in her kerchief and I in a cap,
had just settled down for a very short nap
Then all across camp, we heard such a noise
It was Santa & Rudolf and the rest of the boys

To each of the cabins, they flew in a dash
I’d have taken their picture, but I didn’t have a flash
First Bevshack and Brookwood, and then Dewey’s Den
Next Edmae and Joywood stopping long enough to run in

To Driftwood, Bar-H, Beetlebum, and Totem Hall,
To Rosey Den and Hillbillies, he stopped at ‘em all.
He even made a stop, to see our camp nurses
And left somethin’ for them inside of their purses

He had rosy cheeks, and a broad little face
I could see it real well, as he stopped at Summerplace
Then up to Riverside, he landed on the roof
Took his bag full of toys, down the chimney in a POOF!!

To each of their rooms, he quietly crept,
and set out their toys while Riverside slept
he finally finished, now back to his ride
Put his finger by his nose, and BAM!! He was outside
(sorry E, couldn’t resist!)

He hopped back in his sleigh and gave me a smile
He surly knew I’d been there awhile
I heard him exclaim, as he flew through the pines
Merry Christmas in July, from Camp Skyline!!!

Merry Christmas in July folks from all of us here at camp!!! I hope you have a great weekend…
we sure are……

LJ