Good morning sweet, sweet world!

Last night was a successful and fun cabin night! There were so many smiling faces around camp as campers got to bond with their cabin mates and participate in some awesome activities.

LCH went on a hike with Carmi to the Log Cabin

Avalon made containers to drop eggs off the top of the treehouse without them breaking! Keeping their babies safe!

Loons made stained glass with Zach

Wombles went down the tipi zipline! Wahoo!

Chateau Fiasco and Fiddler’s Green went to the lake for a dip and some sweet s’mores! Nothing says bonding like sitting around the campfire with some s’mores!

Atlantis went to the wood shop with Brad

Treasure Island had a “mock apocalypse” and went on a blind-folded journey through camp while hearing stories from their counselors

Forbidden Planet spent the night at the pizza oven! YUM

The Burrow made some SICK crafts with Hilary

Down Under made tie dyed shirts and then gathered ’round the campfire for s’mores and a dance party in the Old Dance Studio

French Quarter went to the pool to swim and play games! Fun!!

Paquatahnee made glass beads with Elise! Rockin’!

Valhalla made snacks in the barn kitchen! I love snacks!!!

Shangri-La went camping and then had a talent show around the campfire. I heard there were some beautiful acts!

Halley’s Comet worked on some pottery with Kirsten in the pottery studio.

Wabanaki did a roadtrip to Goodwill and Dairy Queen!

Camelot had a spa night with face masks and made s’mores

Taj Mahal got to decorate their very own mugs! Coffee and tea, ahoy!

In other news…today is JUNK FOOD DAY! Normally on a Sunday, there would be bagels for breakfast, however, today camp had the sweet surprise of being greeted with doughnuts and Pop Tarts and sugary cereal instead (oh my!!) There were some SWEET (and funny) recipes such as Froot Loops on the chocolate frosting of a Boston Creme doughnut, and a doughnut/Pop Tart sandwich. PLUS we were shown the “proper” way to eat a doughnut (with a knife and fork) from our British counselor, Lee, and then were shown the PROPER way to eat a doughnut (by eating the pudding first with a spoon, then shoving cocoa puffs into the doughnut, pouring milk into it and shoving the whole thing into your mouth) by American counselor, Peter I. In a world full of different cultures, I’m just glad we all can eat doughnuts!! More recipe updates to follow later in the day…

Tonight is the Staff Talent Show!! More reports on that later after we see what talents our counselors have been hiding all session!

Until next time! Stay sweet, planet earth!

Miss Melody

Good morning, friends! Humming Bird here! I’ve got some stellar updates for you today! Let’s start from the very beginning…. (it’s a very good place to start)

Last night was the THROWBACK THROWDOWN! We had some amazing time warp-y activities, like a prehistoric cave, a vintage photobooth, hopscotch, and a time warp obstacle course! Check out photos of the groovy night!

Today we awoke at some earlier-than-normal times… We couldn’t sleep because we were so excited about JAKE DAY! What on earth is Jake Day, Humming Bird? Hold your horses, let me tell you! Jake Day is the glorious day that comes but once a session, when we record EVERY SINGLE CABIN performing their cabin cheer! Our talented video staff also record Meeting, and other silly stuff we do around camp! Where does all this footage go?? And WHY IS IT CALLED JAKE DAY?!?! I’m getting to that! We send all the footage to a long-time former counselor named Jake, who edits the whole thing and compiles it on a DVD– a digital yearbook, if you will– which gets sent to all our campers around December! Check your mailboxes!

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE!! In addition to Jake Day, it’s also JENNY’S FAVORITE DAY! What in the world does that mean? Well, beloved Program Director Jenny is a HUGE fan of FRENCH TOAST! She loves it more than almost anything in the galaxy. So once a session, Jenny’s Favorite Day brings french toast to our breakfast lineup! And guess what– THAT DAY IS TODAY! It was SO good!

Speaking of our PD’s, did you see the picture of ALL FIVE Program Directors wearing their Candy Drop shirts?! Yeah, that’s right! ALL of our trusty PD’s have been up in that plane! Thanks for keeping the candy schvitz comin’, ladies!

As we go through our Jake Day, we look forward to tonight’s CABIN NIGHT!! Stay tuned for pictures tomorrow, and a list of what all our campers did!

But for now, I have to go set my watch right… after last night’s dance, I have NO idea what decade I’m in!

Feelin’ groovy,

Humming Bird

Good morning people of the worldwide community!

Last night was we were graced by the beautiful superstars, Kim and Reggie. Their performance was SPECTACULAR (as always) and super inspiring. There were smiles all around, from campers and staff alike. The Rec Hall was BEAMING with joy. Earlier in the day, Kim and Reggie had spent time in workshop with the cabins Down Under and Atlantis, where they worked on a cabin cheer and then performed it at the show that night! Atlantis also sang some silly sea shanties (by the sea shore!!)

Today is the fourth day of classes!! Campers get to work on their projects (stained glass? glass beads? wheel pottery? cooking? things with strings?! you name it, their whistling while they work on it!) So glad to get back into the swing of the class schedule! So many fun things to do!!!

In other news, tonight is the THROWBACK DANCE! More news on it tomorrow, but tonight we will go back in time and see costumes from any era! Word on the street is we may see a dinosaur appearance or two…remember that SICK time dinosaurs roamed the earth!? What a throwback!!

NOW…IT’S TIME TO THROW IT OVER TO OUR FOLKS IN THE ALIVE DEPARTMENT. WE HAVE ARTSY FARTSY REPORTING LIVE FROM THE ALIVE MEETING.

Hello all! Artsy Fartsy here reporting live to give you the juicy updates from Alive. Last night Alive supposedly went to Belfast to make nature art on the beach, inspired by Andy Goldsworthy. I have confirmation that they then roasted veggies over the fire when they returned to camp and swam in the lake. Word on the street is that there was a STUNNING sunset as well. Scandalous!!!

I have spoken with some of the Alive counselors, Olivia and Ace, about how the Alive classes are going. “They’re going really great,” Olivia beamed, “we are doing Japanese stab-binding in our book making class.” “We are also doing creative collaboration in my spoken word and movement class,” Ace added, “that means we are doing half dance, half spoken word, free write and poetry.” There were smiles on both counselors faces as they discussed some of the other classes such as songwriting.

NEWSFLASH: Tonight the Alive group is going to the Bates Dance Festival to see Kate Weare Company (a modern dance company from New York). Every summer Alive goes to this dance festival and we have confirmation that it is an amazing show indeed.

No word yet on the Alive Show theme…wait…what is that?…I’m getting word that a theme has indeed been decided, but in Olivia’s words, “it is on the DL.” No clue has been given as to what it may be. We will keep you posted and report if we hear any news on the matter.

This has been Artsy Fartsy reporting live, now back to you Miss Melody!

Thank you Artsy Fartsy! That’s all for now folks, I will keep you posting on all the happenings here at camp!

Stay groovy, folks, and have a wonderful day!

Miss Melody

 

Hello, folks! Humming Bird here! What a beautiful day we have had here in the Valley! The sun has been shining, the snow’s glistening on Tipi Hill, and the elves have been working hard in Santa’s Workshop!

Wait, WHAT?!?! But, it’s July…. YUP! Snow came early this year, and we’ve got WINTER IN JULY!! Our older half spent the morning doing some FESTIVE activities! We had holiday caroling, a Frozen dance party, gingerbread houses, awkward holiday card photos, Christmas cookies, ugly sweater-decorating, even a snowball fight! The icing on the holiday cake was our sledding station! We had huge chunks of ice that doubled as sleds, as campers rode them down Tipi Hill! Don’t believe me? CHECK OUT THE PHOTOS! It was a holly jolly day!

Meanwhile, the younger half spent the morning at Lake St. George, hangin’ out, loungin’, relaxin’ in the sun! They had a VERY summer in July kind of day! Once they returned, we all gathered for a lovely lunch prepared by Chris and Lillian and their team! Yummy yummy!

Now, let me tell you a little bit about how Trip Lazy Days work around here. As you’ve already seen, one half of camp leaves for a trip, while the other half stays behind on Main Camp for the lazy day. Once everyone is back on camp, we have a super cabin clean and rest period, during which time campers prep their cabins for INSPECTIONS! It’s not as scary as it sounds– two counselors go around in silly costumes and make sure our campers are keeping the cabins clean and livable! Sometimes campers try to scare or bribe the inspectors, who report back on what they saw in each cabin at Evening Meeting! Right after the inspections, the half that stayed for the lazy day (in this case, Older Half) enjoys some wonderful time at the pool (FUN!) before heading to Meeting and dinner!

Speaking of Evening Meeting, did you hear what our evening program is tonight?? KIM AND REGGIE ARE COMING!! I am SO excited to hear them perform again! Rumor has it, our celebrities are already on camp!! Did you know that Kim and Reggie perform in stadiums of 15,000 people?? And we are lucky enough to have our own private concert with them every session! WOW! They’ll be performing tonight with Atlantis and Down Under, so stay tuned for photos of that!!

Now allow me to backtrack a little bit, and tell you about our Electives last night!! We had SO much fun together! There was, of course, Capture the Flag (who won? Who lost? Who cheated? It’s all a mystery!) we baked cookies, and Peter gave his forbidden Hidden Valley tour! We also had some new options, like a High School Musical-themed dance party, and tennis baseball! There was even an option to blow up a watermelon! That one looked fun! We had a spontaneous parade, touch rugby, artsy craftsy things, and slow motion video!! It was a really great night, so be sure to check out photos!

That’s all I’ve got as far as updates go… be sure to check out our photos of the day and last night! And tune in tomorrow morning to see pictures of Kim and Reggie’s performance tonight!!

I’m off to scavenge some more of those Christmas cookies…

Humming along,

Humming Bird