Camp!

So in 2 days (TWO DAYS!!!) I'm leaving for caaaaamp :D

Like 7 years ago my aunt and uncle's friend finally convinced them to go and try out the family camp that she runs in Michigan, and they loved it. My dad is really close to this brother, and I'm pretty close to this cousin, so they decided to invite us along. My parents declined (though I have come this close to getting them to come, but they never do. They don't want to intrude on something that they feel is my aunt and uncle's thing) but I didn't because it sounded awesome. And now this'll be the 6th year that I go.

Ironically, (is it irony? Or just funny?) it's super close to this town called Troy, which is where both Carrie and Connor were born. But it's really pretty there and it's on this little spring-fed lake called Stoney.
I liked horses when I first started going there. But then one tried to kill me, and now I'm pretty much terrified. My uncle once had a conference call, so he went to his car to get some A/C. He parked his bike behind the car, but then forgot about it and decided he wanted better reception and back up. This resulted in him borrowing a mallet and trying to hammer everything back into place while cursing and having people walk by and start laughing. A year after that, a horse bucked him off (and then a whole bunch of other horses started bucking, and, really, no one was surprised when the 10 year olds held on and he didn't) and the entire camp kept walking by him at dinner and asking if he was ok. When he was trying to load up the car the day after that, at least 10 people stopped by and tried to help him. He was not happy. The rest of us, however, were extremely amused. I fell off my bike in gravel when I was 12 and could barely walk for the entire week, which sucked.

But even though at least one of us gets hurt like every year, it's still the best place ever. I've known these people since I was 11, and therefore makes them my oldest friends, because I've been sucking at keeping in touch with people from the bajillion places I've lived. It's where I jumped off of the 25ft platform over the lake and did a fabulous back flop. That was the first and last time I ever went up that high. It's where I spent two hours laying on the dock in the middle of the night talking and looking at the stars and water with my friend. It's where a scavenger hunt of sorts ended up with me standing in a freezing cold artesian well for several minutes.

There's a "free night" every year when they encourage all of the campers and counselors to go into town and entertain themselves. This means that we go see a movie (5 years ago my aunt had to stand with my friend outside because my friend got totally freaked out over War of the Worlds. Last year we walked into the theater and saw that there were only like 2 people there that weren't from camp) and then to an ice cream place. The ice cream parlor has the biggest ice creams that I have ever seen. Seriously. They have this "Dare to be Great," which is described on a site I found as "a 21 Softball sized scoop ice cream not for the faint of heart." Someone from camp tries it every year, but none of them has ever done it. If my dad would finally agree to come, he totally could. My aunt always points out remembering my dad crashing at her and my uncle's house years and years ago and her looking up to find him eating an entire carton of ice cream.

I promise to take a million pictures! There's no internet access (which I'm kind of scared about. I'm a bit dependent), but I'll have my phone and can text and call tons.

I'll miss you guys!