---Well, nobody’s perfect. He created the Dolphins. Formed in October, 2001 as the Juaneños of Shining Spirit Nation, the Dolphins have stood for many things in their history; togetherness, creativity, a touch of irreverence, and fun for the girls. The Dolphins love to camp and hike together. We love to yell out “We believe in science!” when Ken is doing magic. We challenge ourselves to never… we mean never… perform a skit from the “standard skit list” (especially dad’s skits). Our cheers are more often than not conceived of and written by our daughters. In fact, our Dolphin logo was completely designed and colored by one of our daughters. After all, if it’s not fun for the girls, can it really be fun for anyone? But perhaps most of all, the Dolphins have made their reputation through leadership. Current Circle Navigators Katie, Ellie, and Mike are incompetent, gassy, incredible leaders taking us through a transitional phase with style and grace. In the past, the Dolphins were integral in leading the conversion to the Adventure theme we all enjoy so much today. The original Juaneños logo had a dolphin in it, so when we switched to Adventure Princesses, we became the Dolphins.
We have also helped lead the formation of Big Thunder Spirit, the most awesomest (is that a word?) expedition to ever grace the Saddleback Valley YMCA. Really, it’s true… just ask Ken! An amazing four Expedition Navigators have come from the ranks of the Dolphins. Not bad for a circle that’s only in its ninth year! Previous year’s Expedition Navigator, Keith Butz, and longtime Dolphin Cookie (look it up, it’s a real circle position), Brian Bowers, have been Dolphins since day one and are the only remaining charter members, having been in the circle continuously for nniiinnnneee+ years (when you read that part, say it like Ed Rooney in “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”). Thanks to our Safety Director, Jeff Passalaqua, we have had 186 consecutive injury free days and our Wizard, Randy Rutman, is keeping our daughters focused on the guiding principles of Adventure Princesses.
Last, but not least, secret weapon Robert Horn made the Dolphins a competitive threat on the B-Ball court at Camp Marsten and gave our daughter’s bragging rights! As you can plainly see, the Dolphins are a great circle. Come on by at a camp out for some good storytelling, fantastic food (slow cooked, smoked tri-tip and dutch oven pumpkin pie are Cookie’s specialties), and great times had by all. See Ken? We haven’t totally failed you!
