Today’s weather dawned bright and sunny, perfect for the Monkey Relays! The relays encompass every activity in camp, and involve team members carrying a ping pong ball on a spoon all over camp, to each activity. There are traditional activities involved in the relays, like sailing, archery, and arts and crafts. But then there are nontraditional activities involved as well, like standing on your head and reciting Mary Had a Little Lamb. Or eating saltines and whistling Pop Goes the Weasel.

The Monkey Relays have been happening at Deerhorn since 1930, though not all of the original activities are involved. One event that went by the wayside was pancake making. Campers had to cook a pancake over a campfire and then eat it…but campers were so desperate to win that they often ate the pancake before it was thoroughly cooked! That event has long since disappeared from the Monkey Relay line up.

The Monkey Relays culminate in the Leader of each team building a sand castle over the top of an arrow that’s buried in the sand. The team who completes that first, wins the event. Today’s winner was the Apache, followed by the Iroquois, the Chippewa, and the Navajo. Kids had a great time and showed amazing team spirit!

Breakfast this morning was french toast sticks, lunch was grilled chicken sandwiches, and dinner was spaghetti and meatballs, homemade bread, and caesar salad. The afternoon was spent in regular activities. Please note, there are a TON of photos that were taken of the Monkey Relays, thanks to our awesome photographers, Gabby and Nick. However, our internet cannot handle the load, so it will take a couple of days to get all the photos uploaded to our Shutterfly site. Stay tuned!