8 The Indoor Olympics

8 The Indoor Olympics We were supposed to have archery out in the field, but it rained. We were supposed to go rock climbing, but it rained. We were supposed to play pickleball, but it rained.

It rained all the time! On Tuesday and Wednesday, there were no outdoor activities. Instead, they had us do something called the Indoor Olympics. The Lame Games is more like it. First we had to play a game called Balloon Baseball. You hit a balloon up in the air, and then you have to run around the bases while the other team tries to keep the balloon in the air by blowing on it with straws. That game was lame. Then we played a game called Hot Seat. You sit in a chair, and one kid holds a piece of paper behind your head with a word on it. Everybody gives you clues to help you guess what the word is. That game was lame. Then we played a game called Musical Baby Food. You stand in a circle and pass around a spoon while music plays. When the music stops, whoever is holding the spoon has to eat a spoonful of baby food from a jar. That game was lame too. We played all kinds of lame games. It was like the counselors were desperate to come up with indoor activities so we

wouldn't notice it was raining all the time. What a snoozefest. I just hoped my parents got my letter and would pick me up soon. "Okay, that was fun!" exclaimed Uncle Ahdoanwanna after the last game in the Indoor Olympics. "Our next game..." Ugh. Not another one. "...is called Guess Who's in the Sleeping Bag?" That's a weird name for a game. But it was also the perfect name for the game because four counselors carried in a big, lumpy sleeping bag and rested it on the floor. "Okay, this game is easy to play," said Uncle Ahdoanwanna. "All you have to do is guess who's in the sleeping bag." I looked at the sleeping bag. It was all zipped up. There was no way to tell who was inside it. "Is it Uncle Ray?" I asked. "No..." said Uncle Ahdoanwanna. "Is it Aunt Kim?" asked Michael. "No..." "Is it Uncle Craig, the swimming counselor?" asked Ryan. "No..."

"Is it Aunt Nancy?" asked Candyman. "No..." "Can you give us a hint?" asked Neil. "You fellas need to think outside the box," said Uncle Ahdoanwanna.* "Is it George Washington?" asked Neil. "George Washington is dead, dumbhead," said Michael. "Hey, there could be a dead guy in there," Neil replied. Good point. Whoever was inside the sleeping bag hadn't moved at all. "I'm... not... dead," said a voice from inside the sleeping bag. We all just about jumped out of our skin. But the voice was familiar. I know I had heard it somewhere before. "We give up," Ryan finally said. "Who's in the sleeping bag?" Uncle Ahdoanwanna unzipped the zipper. And you'll never believe in a million hundred years who was inside the sleeping bag. I'm not going to tell you. Okay, okay, I'll tell you.

It was our old principal from Ella Mentry School, Mr. Klutz! He has no hair at all. He must need a lot of sunscreen in the summer so his head doesn't burn. Mr. Klutz was our principal until he retired last year.

"Mr. Klutz!" I shouted. "What are you doing here?" "I missed you boys!" he said, hugging us all. "Uncle Ahdoanwanna is a good friend of mine. He asked me if I would like to visit the camp, and I said sure. I used to go to camp here. Believe it or not, I was a boy once." "Just once?" I asked. "I'm a boy all the time." Guess Who's in the Sleeping Bag was a fun game, but we were all bored out of our minds. During dinner in the mess hall, we were trying to think of something to do. "Y'know what we should do?" Candyman suggested. "We should put a goat in Uncle Ahdoanwanna's cabin. That would be funny." "Where are we going to get a goat?" asked Ryan. "From Rent-A-Goat," I told him. "You can rent anything. Hey, y'know what we should do? We should sneak over to the girls' camp in the middle of the night and scare them." "No, we should do a panty raid," suggested Neil. "What's that?" Michael asked.