Please tell me you at least remember when Sun-In was popular and that you recall just how many times your mother told you “No, you’re not going back blonde.  Your hair color is just fine.”  See the thing is, you didn’t think that blah brownish tone hair was acceptable.  So, you did the unthinkable.  You purchased a few of those bottles of Sun-In from the local Wal-Mart, stuffed them in your duffle under you Camp Cavett clothes (that you packed waaaay to many of) and did something crazy at camp.  You. Went. Blonde.  ….then blammmmed it on the “Sun”.  Nope, I would’ve never done such a crazy thing….and lived to tell about it.

The obligatory photo of me & Danny.  I have so many of these and am amazed at how I’ve gone from the wild child type to the settled and sophisticated type.  You can just tell by my hair color actually and use of make up.  Then again, every one has those pictures, mine are just posted for the world to see.

We all look like babies here.  Funny how over 10 years later we’re still the same goofy bunch we met as when we were kids.  It doesn’t seem possible that we’ve all grown up, started our own lives, had children and gotten married.  I’m truly amazed at how far each one of us has come.

Take note of the lobsterized skin tone, too.  It was a day in time where I thought Sun Screen made you pasty white and could see no other way of obtaining that sun kissed look than going without that awful sun screen.  I’ve since aged out of that thinking and wear sun screen in the winter months now!  I’ve learned a lot in 10 years. {with one of my BFF’s who understands just how far we’ve both come!}

I did everything sun related, just so my hair would become blonder.  Ha!  How bout a paddle boat ride? …with a non-water proof camera? At least this time we didn’t get trapped out in the middle of the lake and have to be towed back into shore.  That has happened on more than one occasion, I’m afraid.  Oh the things we’ve all done to cause those extra gray hairs we see on Danny’s head or the aging lines in our once was camp counselors.

Going home after a great week at camp.  Can you tell?  We’re all burnt, blonder, and a little to hyper for words…possibly caused by lack of sleep?  It’s just a picture worth a thousand words.

You see, while at camp you spend your time either tubing on the lake, and by that I mean being the dare devil and trying everything the boys won’t and out in the hot humid summer heat.  On this particular day we participated in a ropes course.  Did we have fun?  Yes!  Was it hot? YES!  Did I pull off one of the greatest hair days in history?  No.  Let’s just say my hair & humidity didn’t mix back then or I was just too concerned with dumping every bit of Sun-In on my hair that year?!  Who knows.

…like limo sized golf carts and hanging out with my BFF Gabbi….who I’ll always say instigated everything we’ve ever done and all those pesky gray hairs we caused to our cabin counselors…. Let’s just say Camp Cavett is never complete without the two of us!

On another note…have y’all ever seen these kinds of golf carts?  I hadn’t until now, they’re definitely quite difficult to drive and I mostly stuck to the regular sized ones when toting all the campers around.  Fabulous!

Being the goof ball that I am….and the hair fanatic that I am…well let’s just say…I don’t really have words for what I’d say about this.  My used to be piggy back rider and I acting a bit goofy during the bus ride back to camp.  Great times at camp!

Can’t hang out at camp without having a little mud mask fun.  Not sure I have a normal picture  of me during my Camp Cavett days.  That is, until I got older and quit screwing with my hair so much.

I think this was my third year of attending Camp Cavett.  I’m pretty sure this is the year that I didn’t take Roomie, which would’ve been Y3.  Don’t you just love how  I can talk my way through these things.

My favorite piggy back rider.  Poor kid is now over 6 foot tall and giving me piggy back rides now.  This was definitely the summer of crazy hair colors and doing all sorts of crazy things that I knew no one would approve of back home.

This year we had several dances (we all LOVE to dance & have fun), one of them was the 50′s Dance where all the campers dressed up in poodle skirts (that we made!).  Some of us didn’t leave the arts & crafts room that day….ahem.

Group shot with my best friends Dad.  I do believe this was the first Camp Cavett without Cassie, which just made camp twice as hard.  Although, it was great getting to hang out and just be kids for once.  That didn’t happen very often.

Couldn’t get the flip flops dirty, so what was the best thing to do?  Catch a ride on the back of a golf cart, that’s what!  You see where Camp Cavett is held at is HUGE, so golf carts are rented or donated to take us around camp.

Gabs.  We’ve been through hell and back.  10 years have practically flown by and each time we’ve hit a rough patch we’ve come out on the other side with flying colors.  It’s been amazing getting to spend each year at camp with you!  …you know until we got older…

This was the year after OU won their last National Championship.  Like I said, who knew how big this event would become and that meeting the players this year was like making history….just WOW.

Rocky Calmus.  I remember this guys name at least.  Of course, the friends I was with this year just had to have all of our pictures made with the hottest guys on the team.  Yes, that really happened.  Yes, I’m somewhat ashamed to admit that…but hey…I was 17, what can you do?

Jason White.  As in THE Jason White.  When you think about it, he’s really not much taller than I am.  Standing at a whopping 4 “11.  At least in the photo it looks as if he isn’t that much taller than I am…

Jack Mildren.  Had no idea at the time, but I was meeting a legend and didn’t know it!  He played for the Baltimore Colts and New England Patriots…as in NFL y’all!  Crazy isn’t it?!

This is what happen when you mix 3 short girls & 3 very tall football players.  Not even sure who everyone is, but I had my picture made with them.  Craziness, YO!

As another year of Camp Cavett winds down, I’m reminded of all the years I spent at camp.  I love and miss that place dearly, I’m hopeful I’ll make it down next year.  So for now, I’ll be reminded of about this time this year, Camp Cavett is winding down and campers are doing exactly what we were doing so long ago.

Here we go.  Poor guide never got the memo on how horrible of a driver I really am.  We didn’t crash into another boat, run aground or hit a stationary object in the water.  I’d say I did pretty darn well. Ha!

Slowly mashing the throttle down.  I secretly wanted to just wham the sucker down and see what kind of power it had.  I didn’t do that, instead we just moseyed along out in the water with no real place to go.

My third year a camp.  I came out of my shell as I went by myself this year.  I met some of the greatest life-long friends and had a blast that year.  It’s hard to believe that 16 years ago I met my best friend, someone I talk to almost daily and someone who can relate to me when others can’t.

Traveling home from Camp Cavett one year.  Less than 10 of us on a charter bus.  Still not sure how that happened, but believe me we were all excited we got the bus almost all to ourselves.

Looks like it’s time for the campers to go home.  Hard to believe Camp Cavett goes by as quickly as it does.  Makes me sad sometimes that it goes by so quickly.

Let’s just say I got a tad bit of sun this summer.

My BFF Gabbi & our BFF’s  Dad taking time out at the dance for a quick photo op.

Would you look at that hair.  What was I thinking?  There’s always time for plenty of photos when the dance is winding down…especially when you carry your camera everywhere.

Doing some quick learning on how to dance….yeahhhhh.  That worked wonderfully don’t ya think.

We’re die hard campers, mud war vets, and we sure know how to have a good time.  We’re survivors. We’ve been through hell and back & lived to tell about it.  It may not look like we’ve won the war, but I assure you, for these kids the fun is getting extremely dirty and making sure the boys “get it”.

See, aren’t we darling.  We sure know how to rock camp.  I had the best campers that year and was so proud of my girls!!

Sure, we all did some growing up through the years.  Although, I didn’t do much growing.  I’m still dreaming I’ll reach 5 foot one day….still dreaming.

Joshy.  He’s the best and greatest tubing partner a girl could ever have.  I wanted to tube earlier in the week and he got out on the water with me.  Going at some pretty killer speeds, I was just happy he was out there with me….until he decided to try and knock me off.

My BFF of nearly 16 years.  Where on earth has the time gone?  It doesn’t seem like we should be this old at all.  Guess we’ve all gotta grow up sometime.

Let’s just say the dance theme was “All Around the World”.  I didn’t get the memo this year, so it was just a normal dress code & an arm tattoo.  Air brush tattoos are my new friends.

Jaycee Jo & I hanging out during the camp dance last year.  I miss this chick.  She got married & moved away several years ago, so now we only speak by Facebook.  This is when I become thankful for Facebook & allowing me to keep in contact with friends who live all over my great state.

Hanging out at Camp Cavett as campers.  Actually, our last year as campers.  It was one of the first years I didn’t dye my hair an odd ball color and didn’t get sun burned beyond belief mostly because I found that sunscreen actually works.  Who would’ve thought?.

Would you look at that?  Normal.  Well minus the huge wet spot on my jeans from having another camper throw a water balloon at me.  Oh yes, hard to believe isn’t it?  We’re crazy campers.  God love us.

In 1997, I attended the first ever Camp Cavett.  FIRST. Now, 15 years later I’m preparing to attend once more as a volunteer.  Fifteen.  That’s just a few years shy of half my age.  It’s hard to imagine that half of my life has been spent in the waters of Lake Texoma, fishing for Striper, getting ‘pulled in’ by one heck of a monster Bass, and making some of the best friends that I’ll ever have.  Most importantly though, I’ve definitely had a blast at camp all of these years and I intend to do so for a few more.

Most of you all may be wondering if I lost my mind or if my parents lost theirs for sending me to a camp that gives you this opportunity.  Never in my life have I sat on top of a saddled Longhorn and probably never will again.  It really wasn’t that scary, but at 14 I really wasn’t scared of a whole lot (except for those dang Copperhead snakes).  I stepped so far outside the box this year it wasn’t even funny.  I did things I never knew I could and I learned so much about myself and just who I was.  That’s a lot to take in being only 14 at the time.  So, let’s not mention this to my fellow OU peers or for that matter any OU Fans.  I’m not a Longhorn fan.

Charlie’s Angels was somewhat of a big movie during this summer.  It’s crazy to believe just how long ago that was.  I don’t think I have a ‘normal’ picture of just camp, mostly because camp isn’t normal and we tend to act all sorts of crazy down there.  Isn’t that what camp is all about though?  A chance to let loose & just be yourself.  That’s what I did as a camper & that’s what I still do today.  Just leave out the hair dye, my boy crazed friends & myself, and the bright ideas I always had about those darn tubing records.  Scratch that.  Leave out that last part, I still have my bright ideas about setting that gosh darn tubing record and proving to the boys that ‘I still got it’ or that despite everything I’ve overcome I CAN do it.  Maybe that’s it, my need to prove to myself that I can do things and will continue to do things when others thought I might never be able to or that what I wanted to do just wasn’t a ‘good idea’.  Trust me.  I’ve had plenty of those chats about ‘good ideas’ vs. what my parents thought I should do.

Would you look at those shoes though?  If I was never going to grow, those puppies sure did the trick.  So happy the fad of platform shoes disappeared I liked to of worn those shoes out.

P.S. to this day I’m still that tiny…actually a bit smaller, but you get the idea.

And the final infamous photo of the camp director; Danny Cavett & I.  Nearly 13 years ago this photo was snapped to remember one of the best camps that I had been to.  One of the best because it will always be remembered as the one where I had never experienced a death (other than a family member or two) and most definitely had not experienced a great friend my age dying.  I went from one of the worst experiences I had ever been through that summer to one of the best.  I’m glad I overcame what I was going through and went on to make some of the most memorable & hard to forget memories.  It’s one for the books y’all!

Camp Cavett counselors, we rocked & had a blast doing it!

The last photo we ever took together.  As the dance at Camp Cavett was winding down, I made for dang sure we at least got one photo to compare from years past.  Her funeral was today in my hometown & I can’t make it because of deadlines for school.  I feel like crap for not being able to be there, but I know she’d understand.

-David Harkins

Yes, we socialize outside of Camp Cavett.  When we’re not hot, sweaty and have lake watery hair.  It’s great getting dressed up with the old gang and enjoying a nice meal with everyone and catching up.  A year is just too long to go without seeing those friends who have been through everything with you.  Thank goodness for Facebook and phones.

Of course we’re old enough to enjoy the night life too.  Although Gabbi & I don’t really dress up to go out, just throw on some makeup and go to dinner or a movie.  Oh yeah, some big partiers we are now.

It’s a tradition that Gabbi & I take a picture with Danny every year.  That is, only if we can find him.  Some years we’ve met our goal and others we haven’t.  Because of this you can actually see me grow up in photos from camp, all the years I thought sunscreen wasn’t intended for me, and when I wanted to push the envelope and grow up just a little bit more than my parents were letting me.  Oh yes, trying being 13 and slathering on the makeup so you look closer to 16.  I did that, I think everyone did that.

When did I become so short?  Anyone wanna fill me in on that answer?  I’ve always been little, but I just expected I’d grow someday.  My someday never came, as I’m still waiting on a growth spurt! (Kidding, well kinda.)  We’ve battled our demons and came out on top.  It’s awesome to still be friends with all of the campers 14 years later.  Wow.

Gabbi & I have always been the “bigger” kids of camp.  It seems like now the ‘babies’ of Camp Cavett all those years ago are now GRADUATING and going to college.  Ick.  Can time really fly that fast?  I’m not sure I love the idea of growing older, but the kids of Camp Cavett are in fact growing up.  Both a sad and great thing for them…and me.

Ahhh, yes.  Camp Cavett.  It will always be Camp Cavett.  This is the view as you pull into camp.  Lots of trees everywhere.  Copperheads hid out and waiting to be found.  Campers running down to the water awaiting their turn are skiing, tubing, going down the Ice Burg, and just having a good time at camp.  These were my experiences and more.  I love coming back again and again.  I honestly never knew just how much of an impact this camp would have on me until now.

The dock at camp.  It’s waiting for next year.  For all those tubers to walk out on the dock and catch a ride from the boat dock.  Next year, it’ll be here before any of us know it.

One of the most serene places at camp.  All of those late nights at camp were spent down at Crosspoint as a group.

Our campers are loaded up and ready to go home.  Although, I’m not sure about the ready part.  I never was ready to come back home, but I did.  I could’ve lived at Camp Cavett year round, although that was never an option. Ha!

Because Camp Cavett is full of activities for the kiddos to take part of, you’re usually forced to grab whatever is available and chow down.  For instance, a cup of coffee full of creamer & sugar and 2 twinkies.  Not the breakfast of champions, but when you’re pressed for time it’ll have to do.  I’m usually having to go through several cups of coffee because we all wake up before the sun even breaks to set up for the campers.  Needless to say I’m one tired girl by the time camp is coming to a closing.

We can be at camp less than a few hours and already commandeer a golf cart.  Then comes the walkie talkie and we’re out on our own to do whatever we please.  Oh yes, we strike again.

Paul has been coming to the camp ever since I can remember.  He’s always let Gabbi & I do whatever we please and would take us into town on several occasions for “supplies” needed for our mud fights or getting the boys back for doing crap to our cabins.  Man oh man, does he have several stories on both of us.  Some of which I was reminded of last summer.

It’s great to be able to get out on the boat and just take in the scenery.  Breathe in that fresh Oklahoma air.  Swim in the great lake of Texoma.  Be a kid or relive memories of what it was like being a kid all those years ago at camp.

Double Trouble & Trouble.  Heard those nicknames before?  Well here we are.  Years later after we’ve semi-stopped causing trouble at camp.  Funny how showing up at a camp everyone will recall your names and then pull out the stories they have on you.  There are so many things I’ve forgotten that I was reminded of when I returned to spend the weekend Summer of 2010.  Crazy hair colors.  Bruises.  Tubing Records.  The Camp Dance…etc.  Lots of great memories and adventures with the people who understand everything about you.

Goofing off with a camera, why not?  I can take tons of photos now because I’ve got a digital camera.  Audios 35mm, I’m no longer limited in the pictures I take.  I love coming home with millions of photos to sort through.

So, I shocked my family this summer and decided to get to work on a dream I’ve always had.  …a sleeve…at tattoo sleeve that is.  It maybe wasn’t the best idea I’ve had, so thank goodness it was washable and it came right off in the hot shower I hopped in hours later, after our camp dance.

This year the camp dance theme was “Around the World”.  Did I get this memo?  No.  Instead I just wore regular clothes and danced with all the kiddos out in the middle just like old times.  Definitely had to take a photo with this guy since he’s the one who dubbed Gabbi & I with our nicknames.  Just like the year I attended camp without her and I was completely lost without her the entire time.  I didn’t know what to do, my better half and instigator was missing out on all the action of camp that year.

And proof I’m a little crazy at camp.  Need I say more?

Who knew how much work it was to pull off a fishing day?  I know I sure didn’t.  Going to Camp Cavett all those years, not once did I ever realize how early someone had to be up to set up this special day for the kids.  Good thing for a cup of coffee, half a cup of sugar & lots of creamer.  What a way to start my morning!

Poor Bill,  he wasn’t too happy with either one of us that he was having to take a fish off our line.  After all, we’ve been fishing for the past 14 years, I think we should’ve figured out how to do this by now….but it’s also a plus when someone else volunteers getting his hands dirty and fishy smelling.

Chatting with one of our awesome kiddos we convinced to fish in our ‘secret’ spot.  I have no idea how many fish he caught, but it seemed like every time I turned around he had a new fish on his line.  It was great seeing him get all excited over whatever would bite his line, which was my favorite part of this day.

And then the rain came.  All of the sudden the skies opened up and the rain came pouring down.  Literally.  We were all sitting around a table eating hamburgers and it was like someone dumped a bucket of rain on all of us.  No warning, just rain.  Needless to say, my soggy hamburger bun wasn’t appealing after that.

As a warm up for what was about to come, a few campers & some of the counselors went out and kicked back tubing.  It was a blast being at Camp Cavett again.  In nearly 15 years the grounds have hardly changed and all of the same memories are still there.  It’s funny to turn to the ones who have been going as long as I have and say “Remember When….” those were the days.

You learn to make up your own fun when you’re tubing behind a slower boat.  You take risks and act a bit crazier and just have fun.  I love being able to relax & enjoy the scenery while out on the lake.  Makes me want to go now.  Too bad it’s too cold for tubing in November.

Now in the next series of events be prepared.  I’m quite positive my Mom is going to have a fit over my constant need to take chances and make bets with the boys.  I rarely ever lose — I can’t stand to lose.  It’s all or nothing and you better believe I’m going to do whatever I can to come out on top.  Now in a series of photos you’ll see what I’ve put her through during my Camp Cavett years and well into adulthood.  Now if only I could find the photo that precedes this first one and we’d be all set for the wild tubing adventure I had at Camp Cavett this past summer.

Turns out one of our campers couldn’t hold up his end of the bargain.  As told by a few other campers in our boat, our tubes hit a bump and went flying.  Some of them said we flew like they’d never seen any one fly before.  I just remember seeing the wave we were about to hit, thinking a few swear words in my head, hanging on for dear life and then seeing the water below me.  It all happened so fast.

This was around the moment I saw my life flash before my eyes.  When I knew I had to hold on tight and show these boys and everyone else on the boat exactly what I was made of.  That I could dish out just about whatever was thrown my way.  I always have, no way was I going to change them now.  Not after I made the bet with one of our campers & alumni that I’d be the only one left standing after our go around tubing this year.

Now this is something.  Try being bounced around so much that you land on top of the empty tube on the outside of the wake.  It was sort of thrilling to do that, I’ve tubed since I was 5 and not once have I ever rode on top of another tube while still being on my tube.  At least I still managed to hold on tight.  Through all the obstacles that have come my way, I’m still standing.

Audios Josh, I’m in this for the long haul.  It was about this time that I realized I did it. Sticking it out and being the last one on the tube at the end of our ride felt amazing.  I have to thank my Partner in Crime for taking all the photos of our wild ride though, she did an amazing job getting every detail and how the events played out and that my story wasn’t a ‘tall tale’ from my 14th summer at Camp Cavett….it was real.

Our driver still thought he could knock me off.  Boy was he wrong!  After a few zig zags he realized there was no way I was falling off and he turned around to go pick up the boys from our tubing adventure I took them on.  Neither one of them were happy when they realized I was still on my tube.  Sorry boys, better luck next year!

Relieved.  That’s all I could think about.  Well that and the fact that I totally kicked butt tubing this year.  Who saw that one coming?  I did.