Friday, December 20, 2013

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

So our ol' camper/counselor/coordinator/assistant program director/camp friend for life, Kaytee Mckee, has requested some pictures of camp all covered in snow.

And in case you're not familiar with camp rules, whatever Kaytee Mckee wants, Kaytee Mckee gets.

So following that camp rule, here's a visual walking tour of camp in the snow.*

*Foot Note: My feet are currently soaking wet and ice cold from trudging around in knee high snow banks. Remind me to bill Kaytee Mckee for all frostbite/hypothermia/mild discomfort related injuries.



A well shot.









Look! Animals have been having Vespers while we're gone.

And just like us they come in a slightly disorderly single file line.

And then they exit Vespers Island by walking across the lake. Never mind. Animals aren't like us at all. False alarm.



We're just about to start the Camp Office Holiday Party.

We wish everyone a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Celebratory New Year, Good Solstice, Restful Winter Break, and all the other things there are to wish.

We'll see you back here in 2014, when all this starts toward turning green again....


Thursday, December 12, 2013

Chaos Photos

And now for some submissions from that Chaos Photo Contest Thing...

 From our campers, the Brochinsky boys:


Tyler Smiling. True chaos.

One from our former counselor Brynn Clawson (no relation):

Nothing like being covered in sticky ice cream and chocolate sauce on a hundred degree July day. YUCK.

And three from our Camp Director Jim. Why does he get three? Cause he's the Camp Director. He gets whatever he wants. Maybe when you're Camp Director you can have three chaos photos up here too.

Chaos Circa 2009.

Dinosaur Impression.

What in the world are you smiling about?

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Chaos Photo Contest

To celebrate the unveiling of summer 2014's Themes, let's play an internet game.

We'll call it a photo contest.

I'm pretty sure I've made this concept up and no one anywhere else has ever done it before.

It'll go like this. Send me your camp photo that you think sums up our CHAOS week here at camp the best. I'll pick some winners and put them up on this very blog. What an honor that will be!

Remember. A picture is worth a thousand words. Or in this case, just one word (CHAOS) repeated a thousand times.

Send em' my way!

Here are my personal submissions.

DTTF

Don't throw up, Peter. Don't do it.

You're all super gross.

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Drum Roll. Please.

That's right. It's time to announce the themes for Summer 2014. Your voices were heard when you voted a couple weeks ago, and though we had planned on disregarding popular opinion and just going with whatever themes we felt like, we changed our minds and ACTUALLY picked the six themes with the most votes. Camp democracy in action.



So.

Without further adieu.

Because there's nothing worse than adieu.

Or me hitting the enter key anymore times.

And taking up valuable line space on the internet.

There's only so much to go around.

After all.

Your THEMES for 2014...

Drum roll please.

Seriously.

Do a drum roll. It'll help with the suspense.

Really do a drum roll.

I know you're not doing it.

DON'T TRY TO SCROLL DOWN PAST THIS DRUM ROLL STUFF WITHOUT DOING A DRUM ROLL. That's cheating.

Do a drum roll on your desk. Or you laptop. Or tablet. Or phone. Or whatever way they've invented to read this on in the last ten minutes that no one has told me about.

Drum roll. Please. (I'm going to choose to trust that you're doing it.)

(Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat...is that a noise a drum roll makes?)


Session One (July 7-12): The Hungry Games!
Based on nothing, this week focuses on ludicrous competitions in our all-camp activities, and all campers win the Hungry Games three times a day with our delicious and nutritious breakfasts, lunches, and dinners.  Cabins will be divided into a variety of regions and zones (I suppose you could say “districts”) and will participate in a week long series of contests, activities and feats to determine who will be the last group standing! (The last group standing because everyone else has already sat down to have snack.) May the chances always be on your side as we battle against copyright infringement and solve all problems in a completely peaceful and non-aggressive way.

BAM!

Session Two (July 14-19): Pirates
Lake Shawanni becomes our seven seas, the cabins our hidden islands, and the dining hall our port in the storm as we search for renown and adventure the pirate way. We also avoid scurvy with our supply of fresh fruit. Pirate chants will be chanted as we launch our epic Battle For the Lake and scavenger hunt all over our 108 acres in search for buried treasure and camp trivia answers.

WHAMMO!

Session Three (July 21-26): Chaos
Words cannot describe Chaos week. However, for the next paragraph we’ll do our best.  Chaos week is the mid-point in the summer, and our staff always seem to go just a little nutty. Counselors act way out of the ordinary and pull a steady string of pranks all over camp. Chances are that near the end of the week we’ll have to call in a Chaos Expert ( a certain Evil Doctor) to preside over a Kangaroo Court, and sentence the guiltiest counselors to our patented Chaos Machine. No one ever knows exactly what will occur during Chaos weeks, but it’s a safe bet that some staff will be covered in ice cream.

KABBLOOIE!


Session Four (July 28-August 2): Medieval Mythland
We travel back to the land of castles and knights, princesses and jesters, kings and queens and the rest. Dragons circle above the tree-line, wizard’s cast spells and goblins (very friendly, adorable goblins) lurk beneath the buildings.  Let your cabin be your castle, Battle For the Island will feature extra dark age themes and Friday’s all camp game will send campers all over to camp to stations featuring creatures, magic, and more excitement than you can shake a cardboard sword at.

 SLAMDANGO!


Session Five (August 4-9):  Super Secret Agent Spy Week
Classified information is up for grabs and top-secret missions must be accomplished. Where do each groups’ allegiances truly lie? Who knows what? A week full of code words, hidden plans, and surprising twists and turns. Counselor double agents will lie in wait in each group avoiding identification, mysteries will need to be solved, plots need to be foiled and Camp Clue will never have been trickier.

I STILL NEED ONE MORE EXCLAMATION LIKE "WHAM" BUT CAN'T THINK OF ONE!

Session Six (August 11-16):  Camp Smorgasboard 
The traditional end of summer festival. Our final week of the summer, we celebrate the end of the season and all the fun we’ve had at camp all summer long with a Waterfront BBQ, wish boat brigade, and other end-of-summer only events. The last week of Camp for summer is always a special one, so come join all the counselors and staff in wishing the 2014 season a fond farewell.

...and there you have it. The Themes for Summer 2014! 
Thanks for drum rolling!
And start getting excited for which weeks you'll join us at Camp next summer now.