It's 8:00 am in the morning. I roll out of bed, give a good stretch and get into my bathing suit and grab my towel for my traditional "polar bear" dip (it is optional, but I decide to go with my pals). I leave the cabin and see the dew steaming off the grass as the sun pokes over the eastern sky. Yet another beautiful day at Kilcoo. I stroll down to the tower with my cabin mates, grab my daily Vitamin C from our Director Lub, hop into the warm Gull Lake and return to my cabin to get ready for flag raising.

The entire camp gathers outside the lodge and listens to the national anthem of the morning as the flags are raised. Then we all parade into breakfast as we get ready for what our cook Chef Chris has prepared. After filling our bellies, we listen to our daily chapel after breakfast and then head back to the cabin to try and win cabin clean-up for the day.

At 9:45 am we begin our day of activities. The activities range from ball hockey and basketball (we have two greats courts for each), swimming, sailing and canoeing to arts and crafts, archery, sports, aerial course and campcraft. Special activities include swamp walks, trips to the Minden whitewater preserve and to Trout Rock for cliff jumping. After our 3 activities are over in the morning, we return to the lodge for lunch at 12:45 . After lunch, we head to our cabin for rest hour, a time when we get to read comics, write letters and get out of the sun. When the bell rings at 2:45pm , I spring from the cabin with the rest of my cabin mates to begin another fun filled afternoon at Kilcoo. With 3 more activities in the afternoon we know we're going to have a busy and exciting time. With so much action going on, it is easy to get caught up in the fun-filled lifestyle Kilcoo offers and lose sight of the "real world".

As the bell rings to let us know that dinner is in ten minutes, we wash our hands, head down to the lodge and get ready to eat again. After dinner's over, we gather in a horseshoe formation to lower the flags as we sing "Maker of Men", our camp song. Once the flags are down, we meet in our mail call area to see if we have any mail, find out who won cabin cleanup and what is "open" for evening program.

Evening program takes us until 8:15 pm , when the bell rings to signal taps dipping (an optional swim before bedtime). We head back to our cabins for a quick snack, and get ready for bed. Three or four times a week we have a camp fire where we get to roast marshmallows and have hot chocolate and listen to songs and stories. As the sun sets over the western shoreline, Kilcoo Camp winds down from its adventurous day and I lie in bed reflecting on my day, listening to a story (we get a story usually every night!) and wait for Lub to come around to say goodnight. Taps is played at 9:30 pm and I roll over and think about what may be ahead for me tomorrow. Thanks for the day "Comrades"!