Another nostalgic post

I think Pilgrim Pines is my favorite place on earth. Last week, while on a trip to visit my parents and brother's family in CT, we took a day trip to the Pines. The nostalgic part of me gets emotional every time I am there. It is a place that has been a part of my life pretty much longer than any other. I remember the first time my mom coaxed me to go down the waterslide. Catching frogs in the pond. Cleaning of sandy jolly ranchers in the lake(gross in retrospect). Then, there was the time that the Pines became unfamiliar again, after 10 years in Nebraska. I went with KVP in late high school when my dad was a speaker. We didn't know anyone, so we just stuck together and played monopoly and the color game all week. I remember my very first day as a staff member in 2006. I was so bitter that I wasn't at Cedars and so nervous. Little did I know that several of the people I met that day would become some of my best friends. That summer was one of the most fun times of my life. Having deep conversations with Juli on the lifeguard stand, watching the Office (for the first time) with Kristin, and playing silent football, signs, and catchphrase (most specifically with Alissa). My second summer was much more challenging, but I grew a lot. Even though leading the junior high group was tough, I had a great team, Kiera, Peder, and Anna. And although Nick has never spent much time at the Pines, he was very much a part of that summer for me(& part of the reason that summer was so challenging). It was so fun to go to camp last week and show it to my niece and nephew. I gave Halli some swimming lessons at the lake, and they ate ice cream at the snack shack and even caught a frog.