HVC Families,

It’s Trivia Thursday! Your question: What did HVC do on their first lazy day?

You guessed it. They watched Buzz Lightyear…and played trivia.

Our younger cabins took a visit to the movies to watch the new Toy Story spin off.

Even though I buzzed at the speed of light to the bus, they wouldn’t let me go-pher the ride, BUT I did get to hang out with our older campers who played trivia outside the dining hall at the picnic tables.

They answered questions about pop culture, HVC staff, and sports.

Haley’s Comet and Forbidden Planet tied for first place! Not to toot my own horn, but I did beat both of their scores. No need to bring up the fact that I hung around our shift leads who set up the game.

After the fan favorite Taco Night, campers headed to the backyard for a performance by famous folk artist Reggie Harris, who got all of the campers involved in singing and dancing along.

Today, campers will resume their classes and head to electives in the evening, each run by our counselors and incredible staff who have come up with fantastic activities.

Gotta go eat some leaves to fuel for tennis at Interest Groups. Pippin said he’d take me on in a game, I “love” a good match.

XOXO,

Go-pher Girl

 

Good afternoon, everyone! Gopher Girl here with another update from Hidden Valley.

Last night after a delicious pasta dinner, it was cabin night! Here’s what everyone got up to:

Wombles spent time with Maisie and Pearl, the donkeys

Avalon did some science at the “End of the World” (HVC’s junk yard)

Gimme Shelter had fun in the pool

Loons did an egg drop

Paquatahnee fused glass with Philippe

Shangri-La made fashion out of newspaper for the “Met Gala”

LCH wrote letters to animals

French 1/4 decorated cookies and had a campfire

Bermuda Triangle played ropes games and had s’mores

Forbidden Planet hiked and made s’mores

Fiddler’s Green did karaoke

Valhalla had a “Who Done It?” night and made s’mores

Camelot decorated wooden flowers with AnneMarie

Haley’s Comet had an outdoor cooking night with s’mores

Taj Mahal had a spa night at the pool sauna

Community had a big circle night with s’mores

Whew! Hidden Valley was full of campfires and laughter all evening. I tried to nibble on some of the leftover marshmallows but am not a fan of fire, so I mostly watched from a distance!

Today thus far has been the perfect day for a lazy/trip – it was super warm and quite sunny. The older half is enjoying a trivia game, some time at the pool, and did a deep cabin clean.

The younger half went out to the movies today, seeing the new Buzz Lightyear movie! Campers this afternoon are busy swimming, slip-n’-sliding, playing cards, and making friendship bracelets. We will eat a yummy dinner outside and then enjoy a performance by the songwriter and storyteller Reggie Harris! Also, Hidden Valley Adventures headed out yesterday for their first week-long outdoor adventure!

We’ve got so much ahead of us today and tomorrow, and our campers are so excited. Until then!

XOXO,

Gopher Girl

 

What’s up HVC families?

I am happy to report that the staff at HVC did not disappoint with their talent show!

After an epic meal, featuring ice cream for dessert, campers headed to the Rec Hall field to watch their counselors show off some crazy skills. The campers(and I) were beyond engaged in the show. Everything from the emcee skits to the closing act were impressive and often hilarious.

Campers watched counselors perform dramatic monologues, dance, put on skits, sing(sometimes with their mouth closed), lasso, long divide, spin a basketball on a pinky finger, catch food in their mouth and show off magic tricks.

My only complaint is that shift leads Eva and Becca, who organized the event, refused to let me show off my ability to speed dig holes in the ground for when it gets too cold to hang out on the Rec Hall deck.

Campers are looking forward to tonight’s Cabin Night, where they will each do fun activities, planned by their counselors, with their cabin groups.

Rumor has it there will be karaoke involved for one cabin, so I’m going to go warm up the vocal chords in hopes they will let me take on Celine Dion’s “I Will Always Love You.”

Until later,

XOXO,

Go-pher Girl

 

What’s hanging HVC families?

Cabins have been all over camp today, as have I. Today’s breakfast was pancakes with blueberry sauce, a meal I wasn’t about to miss.

Afterwards, all of the cabins went on their own adventures for the day. I followed a PD up to their office to confirm rumors that they have a popcorn machine up there. Unfortunately, Pippin must have been wrong, because there was nothing poppin when I arrived.

However, I did come across the list of each cabins’ activities, and although I was in the mood for something salty, I was happy to discover the tea.

The list:

LCH: Created their own super hero capes, and worked on collage pieces for their cabin.

Avalon: Created a cabin sculpture out of clay, visited the camp store and the animals.

Wombles: Planted flower seeds, which will later go into flower boxes the cabin will build.

French 1/4: Made collages, Decorated wooden flowers to hang inside their cabin.

Loons: Created a cabin sculpture out of clay, went on an epic HVC scavenger hunt with GORP Odin.

Gimme Shelter: Created a cabin sculpture out of clay, went on an epic HVC scavenger hunt with GORP Odin.

Bermuda Triangle: Made custom cabin bunting out of fabric in our textile studio, and visited the camp store and the animals.

Paquatahnee: visited the camp store and the animals, had a swim in the pool.

Valhalla: Made their own fused-glass coasters, visited the camp store and the animals.

Camelot: Made their own fused-glass coasters and collages, had hang-out time in the backyard.

Forbidden Planet: Created a cabin sculpture from found materials at the End of the World.

Halley’s Comet: Worked together to build the tallest sculpture possible with rods of glass.

Shangrila: Yoga to start off the morning, and made their own fused-glass coasters in the afternoon.

Fiddler’s Green: Made custom cabin bunting out of fabric in our textile studio and then created their own cabin bunting.

Taj Mahal: Created their own cabin bunting, worked together to create a blown-glass piece for their cabin.

HV Adventures: Went for a morning swim and sauna at the lake, followed by prep and packing for their first trip.

HV Community: Went for a morning swim and sauna at the lake, followed by a hike to the Log Cabin, where they set intentions and goals for their month of community service work.

Each cabin also did something fun together as a group, spending time decorating their bunks, playing a bit of soccer or acting out skits in the Rec Hall. Towards the end of the day, campers relaxed with snack and yard games before camp meeting.

Just like the campers, I’m looking forward to the Staff Talent Show tonight and the start of classes tomorrow!

XOXO,

Gopher Girl