Men's Dinner & Girls Camp's Revenge!

Today on the Camp Balcones Springs blog, we’re highlighting Friday night’s Men’s Dinner event and the corresponding Girls Cookout!

We’ve been writing about two of our favorite summer camp traditions – Women’s Dinner and Men’s Dinner. You may be wondering, then – what exactly do girl campers and boy campers do when those respective events are taking place? Well, we have your answers! During Women’s Dinner, boy campers participate in Boys Cookout, and during Men’s Dinner, girl campers take part in Girls Cookout.

At Friday’s Girls Cookout, girl campers began the evening with a competitive game of Capture the Flag in our wooded paintball area on the back of the property. Campers split into their respective Team Comp teams – the Silver Spurs and Lonestars – and worked to cover a white sheet, guarded by the opposing team, in their team’s color.

All staff and campers, now themselves covered in paint, jumped into Lake Ted for a refreshing evening swim. Girl campers then prepared hotdogs, pizza pita pockets, and S’mores. After swimming and dinner had come to a close, we held our famous Chili Cook-Off event. During this annual tradition, each cabin competes to prepare the best chili (put to a peer-review test conducted by our Leadership and full-time staff members). Cabins are given the basics for a chili dish and are also able to select up to seven ingredients to add uniqueness and flavor to their recipes. Extra ingredients range from diced garlic and onion to Skittles and Dr. Pepper – and you’d be surprised just how well some of the stranger ingredients work out! Finally, as the chili is simmering, each cabin creates and presents their own skit to the Leadership review panel to introduce their unique chili recipe before tasting. The Chili Cook-Off is just one of the many Camp Balcones Springs traditions that makes us one of the most beloved summer camps for girls in Central Texas!

Meanwhile, after activities ended on Friday, boy campers gathered at the front of camp for one of our most epic camp traditions – Men’s Dinner! However, things didn’t look quite right when campers arrived at dinner this term – and that’s because the girls got their revenge on the boys for the previous night’s prank by taking over Men’s Dinner in legendary fashion! The girls swapped the boys’ Men’s Dinner menu staples, like turkey legs and chicken wings, for gourmet, heart-shaped PB&J’s, petit-fours, quiche, and salads. They didn’t stop with the menu, though. The girls decorated the outdoor dining room with pink tablecloths and streamers, and the boys arrived to the lovely tunes of Justin Bieber echoing from this epic display of girl power, wondering where Men’s Dinner had gone. However, the boys, although shocked, were not too discouraged, as the mood soon turned, much like the tables had. The boys began blasting classic rock, removed their shirts, and discovered an extra supply of turkey legs, sausage, and chicken wings so they could enjoy the customary Men’s Dinner feast.

After clearing the tables and having a small food fight, the night was continued with a full-camp capture the flag game. The boys were divided into their team comp teams, Rough Riders versus Texas Rangers. Later, the boys came together to watch a movie and enjoyed snacks of chicken wings and mozzarella sticks – if they had any room leftover from dinner!

Stay tuned for more about Saturday evening’s epic Night Team Comp basketball game!