Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened!

Good morning, folks! Hummingbird here and I have been up for hours already because it’s departure day!! We awoke this morning at the ripe hour of 4:45am (many thanks to Taj Mahal and Forbidden Planet for singing us awake!) to eat a yummy breakfast and send off the buses with a rousing Funky Chicken! It’s been a whirlwind day since we last posted, so here’s what we’ve been up to…

Yesterday campers and counselors gathered to lug all the luggage from cabins to the front yard, where every bag and box was organized by destination so we can ensure it all gets exactly where it’s meant to be! Then we boogied on over to our LAST CAMP MEETING OF THE SESSION, where we heard about the weather in all the different cities we are headed off to.

We enjoyed a beautiful lobster banquet last night. Campers were crackin’ claws and tacklin’ tails all evening, except of course the campers who enjoyed the less involved meal of spanakopita, pasta, or chicken parmesan! Once our food was cleared out of the way we practiced our best manners and banged on the tables until we got ICE CREAM!! The traditional Ben and Jerry’s dessert was consumed in record time and not a spoonful of ice cream survived the massacre that ensued. The banquet was yummy delicious and the smells of lobster and ice cream were thick in the air as we rolled ourselves to Pinegrove. We walked up the hill in silence and gathered in our special meeting place for our closing ceremonies, where cabins sang songs together, and campers said goodbye to friends new and old.

We got a great night’s sleep– all 2 hours of it!! Just kidding 🙂 But we did wake up super mega early this morning to send off our friends! All buses are on their way and families, friends, and people who are just curious can find updates on our Facebook page, Hidden Valley Camp! Everything we know, as we know it, will be posted right there in real time to avoid phone calls to our office, which is a’hum with direct communications with the buses, and preparations for second session!

Camp is a little quieter right now, with counselors off in their program areas, cleaning the facilities, and getting ready to do everything all over again! The campers who are getting picked up by folks in their cars are playing between the backyard and the front yard, bellies full from second breakfast. They’re joined by our campers who are staying through intersession and into second session! They’ll be going on a trip tomorrow while the grown ups set up to do this whole thing ALL. OVER. AGAIN! Over the next 48 hours we’ll be cleaning out our cabins, making new bunk tags, and resetting the Valley for the next round of campers who will be coming in starting around this time on Saturday! Camp is empty without campers…. so Saturday can’t come soon enough!

Keep checking the Facebook page for updates on travel, and until your campers are home, check out these beautiful pictures from last night’s lobster banquet and this morning’s departure festivities!