July 4, 2005

Fourth of July Party was a huge hit! Celebrating the independence of your nation in the nation that we were fighting is interesting. This is this unspoken commentary that plays through my head, which is of course just silly, but as we sat and watched the fireworks, ohhs, awwws and applauded at our favorites, I just couldn't stop thinking about the people 229 years ago, and how they could probably not imagine this.

The day began like any other, there was class in the morning and a lunch prepared by Chef Henry.

Around 3:00pm the students were grouped according to their clan and the staff and faculty were added to the teams. The first event was held down in the butterfly garden behind the palace--Capture the Flag. Well, I'm 30 years old and I've never played this game before! But I loved it! It was good exercise and a fun strategy game. I must admit, the Campbells and the MacDonalds lost all both matches to the Bruces and the Wallaces, but all had fun (except for the burning neddles!)

After the flag fun with moved on to WaterBalloon/Sheet Volleyball! The object is to have 2 sets of 5 people on each side of net holding sheets, toss a water balloon back and forth without dropping the balloon or letting it break! What a silly game--but the laughs and splashes overflowed the court. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the event! Campbells (my clan) came in second to the rowdy Bruces.

A quick game of all out water balloon fighting led to a calmer game of water balloon races. The conspiring Cambells, as they are sometimes known for, decided to ambush the other teams durint the race. We simply held our balloons and attacked as the other teams were actually trying to play. We are such terrible sports but we had it out for the Bruces!

Finally, before the BBQ, there were skits for each team to perform. Each team was given around 10 props and 7 randomly selected words. The four teams than had to present a skit to the rest of the house. There were plays, comedy and a bit of silly narration, but our clan decided on a newscast. As 'Ron Burgundy' and 'Ken Brockman', Tim and I read the news. Our clan's words: Michael Jackson, Quasimodo, Time Travel, Cockroaches, Big Brother, Handstand, Australia. I let you imagine how those words worked into three news stories.

The BBQ was prepared by students and we finished the night off with a fireworks display and campfire ghost stories--a great day/evening for all to remember.