it all started with a fruit crisp

some people live to eat. i eat to live. i'm not very picky and will tend to eat anything given to me. emphasis on the word given. i was never one to get overly excited about food and certainly never spent time thinking and talking about food that was eaten more than ten minutes earlier. then i had this fruit crisp...

it was the calvary classics cruise. the first night in the dining room someone at our table ordered the fruit crisp, and that was it. i never wanted to eat another dessert for the rest of my life. [or at least the rest of the week] i can't explain why it was so good, but it was. everyone agreed.

then a caramel apple fell from heaven. this time i was visiting lindsey in georgia and a friend from church dropped a few homemade caramel apples by the house. i'm not usually a fan, so i didn't get excited. lindsey cut one up and said i really needed to try it. she was right. it blew my mind. i followed the children around and as soon as they set down their bowls indicating they were finished, i snatched up the rest of their apples too. don't judge. i promise you would have reacted the same way.

and last, but definitely not least, there was the banana cake. this brilliant baked good showed up on the snack table at the salem camp reunion. when i first discovered it, there was a good three quarters of the cake still in the pan. i had a piece (okay, three) and headed outside. not five minutes later i come in for round two and said cake is now in the kitchen surrounded by vultures. and approximately one eighth remains. there were five or six of us frantically 'squaring off' slices and corners in an attempt to enjoy as much banana cake as humanly possible before it disappeared. we were quite a sight.

now it's summer and i'm ready to indulge in more than a few visits to the shaved ice stand, if only i could find one...

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the salem camp reunion

ahhh camp. there's nothing quite like it. i have been consistently going to camp for the past twenty two years of my life and have no plans to stop anytime soon. for me, salem camp is where it all began.

this past weekend we had a reunion to re-create and celebrate the amazingness that was salem's multi-generational family camp. we brought back several old standards: the talent show [via video flashback], morning watch, softball [i may have played the best game of my life], odd ball olympics, rest time, the songs, the official, the bonfire, and everyones favorite...the square dance. that's right. we brought in a caller and danced the night away, just like old times.

i've always been really grateful for my camp memories and the great experiences i had growing up. this weekend reminded me how grateful i am for the specific people i got to share camp with...they are a hoot.

my mom and i watching the odd ball olympics...

...where it is completely normal to be spitting koolaid

the square dance

shelly and jen

[missy...it wasn't the same without you!]

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the tour de missouri

in an effort to conserve gasoline, for the benefit of both the environment and my checking account, i am combining a number of fun summer activities and venturing forth on a tour of the great state of missouri.

A: the start [lee's summit]

B: salem camp reunion [high hill]

• i have a million memories of growing up at salem church. i love that place. while i don't know if i could actually pick a favorite memory, i know what would be pretty darn close to the top of the list...camp. i lived for camp. literally. one year i made a countdown when there were still like eighty five days to go. i cried every year when i got home because i wanted it to last forever. i didn't realize it at the time, but salem did camp in a special way. everyone went together, and i mean everyone. if you were six months old, you went. if you were thirteen, you went. if you were forty-seven, you went. if you were eighty-two, you went. everyone, all together, all week long. and it was awesome. i didn't even know that was unique until i was halfway through high school. so in honor of the church's 125th anniversary this year, they're bringing camp back. i'm actually getting pretty excited about it.

C: mom's house [st. charles]

• sometimes i like being at home for no particular reason. while i don't have a specific agenda, i am looking forward to spending a day with some friends i've known almost forever. also, i'm pretty confident i will be drafted into spending more than a few hours at church helping with vbs preparations. i might even get a little ambitious and try to paint a few closets at my mom's house in an effort to check something off my list.

D: float trip [richland]

• need i say more? we're celebrating my friend erica's birthday by floating down the gasconade river. this makes me exceedingly happy. i can think of no better way to celebrate anything.

E: the grob's house [lake of the ozarks]

• i like to consider this my personal resort. there are comfortable accommodations, the hammock is delightful, i am fed home cooked meals approximately every two hours and boat rides are included. the best part is they don't even charge me! i'm meeting missy and sophie there and we have a long list of things to do: lounge around, eat, play games, color, eat, ride on the boat, watch the bbc version of pride and prejudice [another item from the list] and then we'll probably eat.

F: the finish [lee's summit]

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