Opening Day 4th Session
Hello parents and welcome to opening day of 4th session. Although I didn’t have the chance to meet everyone this morning, I did manage to speak to quite a few of y’all as you weaved you away around the cones in the parking lot and then made your way to your daughters cabin for the unload and to get settled in. It didn’t take very long for all the campers to get settled into their new cabins and start meeting all their new cabin-mates. Once all the campers had their beds made and all their surroundings just like they wanted them (or like the mom or dad wanted them) it was time to play some get to know ya games with all their new friends. This way they can learn a little more about all the new friends they’re gonna be spending the next 2 weeks (or 1 week if they’re a Mini camper) with. Now don’t worry, you and I both know there’s a lot to learn when it comes to meeting that many new friends so were gonna spend even more time doing that tonight, but don’t get ahead of me, I’ll get to that soon.
After check in it was time to come to the gym and meet all the counselors and staff that will be here this session with them. and then do what some of them have been waiting all year to do. Sign up for their activities! Some of these girls just couldn’t wait to sign up to ride their favorite horse again or get back in canoeing or ropes with their new and old friends. Believe it or not circus, archery and rifelry are big favorites for the girls to sign up for as well. One of the favorite classes here is cooking class and I know why… those girls in that class make some delicious meals and treats throughout the session. I’ll always try to find a way to slide by there at least every other day…. just so I can report back to you guys playing along at home and be as through as possible in my reporting. You know, just trying to do a good job.
One unofficial activity here at camp is the rope swing right here by the office. I’m happy to let ya know, that activity is going strong as I’ve seen no less than 60 girls on the rope swing throughout the day (not all as once, that would be some sort of world record…) It’s always great to see that no matter how many horses or zip lines we have, a good old fashioned rope swing will capture their attention and provide all sorts of entertainment for them. My favorite part is while they’re swinging or just waiting to swing, they are having all sorts of conversations eye to eye and face to face without a screen or even using their thumbs to communicate…. who knew???
After lunch it was time for all the girls to come back to the gym and do their club drawings to see which club they will be in. Now pay attention here, especially if your a first time camp parent. This is where they will draw a bead to see if they are a Mountie, Ranger or a Trooper. The color of their bead is what club they’re in. If its red they’re a Mountie, blue means they’re a Ranger and green means they’re a Trooper. Now these girls take this club thing seriously and once they’re in a club they’re in it fir life. We have some alumnae who are in their 70s and they still have a little fire in them the they visit camp about what club they’re in. I’m not saying its a life or death thing, but small family feuds have erupted when someone called their daughter by the wrong club name so make sure you always get their club right when you’re emailing or writing them.
The best way to tell which club your daughter is in is by looking at their shirts in their cabin pics. the color of the Skyline logo will give it away. If you’re still not sure then look through the club pics that went up today and you can find them there. You’ll get a card in the mail in a few days telling you what club your daughter is in and what her activities are so if ya don’t want to go through all the pics, there’s always that method.
Speaking of pics, we use a program called Waldo for all our photos online. You were emailed a “join code” before you came to camp that will get you in so you can see all the pics they take each day for free. If you would like, Waldo offers facial recognition program and for a small fee paid to Waldo it will send you notices and your daughters pics as soon as we put them up straight to your phone. It really is an amazing program and will find your daughter even in the largest crowd.
That same join code will allow you to also email your daughter while she’s here at camp. The emails are downloaded each morning at 9AM central time and printed out and delivered to your camper right after lunch with the rest of the mail. Each email cost $1 and they’re only downloaded and printed out once each day so here’s a tip for ya. If you’re the kind of person that likes to send lots of “Hey’s” or “just thinking about you” or even “ we just saw a picture of you”, go ahead and type them all out on a word or pages document and then at the end of the day or first thing in the morning, copy and paste them all onto 1 email. They’ll still get them at the same time but she’ll only be charged $1 for several emails instead of $3-4 for that many emails. Also be sure to keep that passcode to yourself, you don’t want to give ti to someone thats gonna send a lot of email each day.
Now back to today….After a full dinner, it was time for one of the campers favorite night time activities. Cabin Fun Night! This is where each cabin gets to pic which activity they want to do all together so then can keep on playing and learning about all their new fried they’re gonna be living with (see…. told ya I’d get back around to telling ya more about the get to know ya stuff!!). Some of the activities they played tonight were, of course shaving cream wars, hungry hungry hippo (human version), gaga ball (if you don’t know what that is, your camper will be happy to explain it to ya), water balloons on the tennis courts, counselor face painting, playing in the pool, karaoke, and of course spa and make over night.
Throughout the night each cabin made their way to the campfire where they just had to slow down and enjoy some good old fashioned S’mores. I’m pretty sure by the smiles on their faces they enjoyed those the most. After the S’mores, it was time for our nighttime campfire and devotion followed by singing of camp songs. Tomorrow will be a full day of all their new activities so I’d better go and get some sleep so I can keep up with all the girls. I’d suggest the same for you guys ay home too, we still have a long way to go and you’re gonna need it!!
Have a good night and go get some rest, the next 2 weeks are gonna be fast, furious, fantastic, fabulous, and frantic and you don’t wanna miss a moment!
see ya tomorrow,
LJ
