The beginning of second session also marks the beginning of a new era. The new APF site is officially in use! As one of the first counselors in the new site, I am truly grateful and excited to see what it has to offer. All six of our campers came in yesterday afternoon and shared the same excitement in breaking in the site.  They expressed that they felt privileged to be the first campers to stay in the site and described the experience as “legendary”.  My co-counselor, Adam, and I helped our campers build an awesome marshmallow roasting fire to christen the site.  It was the perfect way to get to know each other and begin an awesome session! I have a feeling that great friendships and adventures lie ahead.

Your adventurer,

Michelle

Thursday H10 and H4 worked on woodburning their pieces of camp.  Day Camp 1 made sand art prayers in the Pavillion.  P1 made some really cool books in the Craft Shop while H1, Day Camp 2 & H7 made fantastic tie dye shirts. P5 learned how to flip canoes in the bay and spent a good chunk of their morning paddling around in the sunshine.  P3 learned survival skills from their counselors, Will and Kevin.  The boys found that if they shave the bark off of a cedar log and light it with a flint, they would get a raging fire very quickly.  P7 planned their chapel while at archery and led the whole camp on Friday morning.  In P6, some campers enjoyed lashing a tepee in their campsite during a cookout.

Speaking of tepees, The service session CIT's were organizing old tarps in the Rec Hall and uncovered an old one that Teri and her Retreat Pathfinders painted in 1998.  We're working to find enough poles to try to set it up next session in Boy's Homestead... we'll keep you posted!

Thursday Nights at camp are for Socials!  Homestead had a Scooby Doo Dive In Movie at the pool.  They were served psychedelic snow cones and Scooby Snacks (puppy chow).  Don't know what puppy chow is?  You coat chex cereal in melted chocolate and then cover the chocolate with powdered sugar.  It's a camp favorite.  You can also add peanut butter to the chocolate, use white chocolate or mix ingredients like cinnamon, cocoa powder or cake mix to the powdered sugar coating.  It's a camp favorite!  And Ketih and Emma had some episodes of Scooby Doo projected up on a screen at on the deck of the Quail's Nest Staff Lounge.  The kids had a blast - and the staff had fun too.

The Pioneer Units had a beach party in the Pavilion and called it the Tidal Wave Tango. P5's counselor looked up all of his campers names in Hawaiian and made them name tags.   P4 wore lyrics to a beach song on their name tags and P3 wore Hawaiian & beach phrases like Aloha, Mahalo & Surf's Up! P1, P2, P6 & P7 wore flowers in their hair.  They danced to surf tunes and pop music dj'd by the Eriksen Cousins - Paul and Lars. 

Though the weather has been a bit cloudy this week, the sun keeps peaking through at Camp Arrowhead and all planned activities have commenced without any rain drops!

Today we're packing and preparing to return home.  Tonight we will attend Eucharist.  Every unit is in charge of a a part of the service and Father Tom from Christ Episcopal Church in Milford with celebrate. After the service we will have our end of Session Campfire.  All the groups meet up at the dining hall and silently process to the Council Ring for the fire.  Every unit will share a skit to share and Walt's leading the fire tonight so it's sure to be a fun one!

Peace & Adventure Are Out There!
Teri & Theresa

Tuesday morning Day Camp 2 were the very first camper group to lead Chapel.  They read from the Beattitudes and lead us in singing I Like Bananas.

High Ropes was busy busy busy!  P4 traversed our four bridges.  P1 lept from the pamper plank.  P6 & H2 both screamed (or held their breath) on the Giant Swing.

H9 & H10 gardened with Paul at the Environmental Center and H4 disected owl pellets.  H7 dressed up as animals for lunch.  H6 kayaked after siesta. H8 made cards with Doreen.  

Tuesday night the Waterfront Staff hosted many Homestead groups for Pirates and Mermaids Bonfire at the beach.  There was a lot of hula hooping! S'mores were roasted.  Pineapple was toasted.  And many a brave pirate and mer-person helped to capture the evil Sea Monster (aka Chet, a waterfront staff member) and forced him to walk the plank (or just off the bottom of the beachtower, into the bay).  Thankfully no staff were injured in the making of that memory!

Wednesdays are always exciting at camp Arrowhead.  Dining Hall closes after lunch to bltiz the kitchen and everyone cooks out for dinner.  All of Homestead ventured out to their homes in the woods at Outpost and grilled burgers over their fires.  Once the chocolate and marshmallow from their s’mores was wiped from their faces, they played capture counselor before heading back to main camp for free swim.   

In the mean time - Pioneer Units cooked out in their units and gathered at the Pavilion for a Potluck Dinner.  Each unit cooked for 50 people and shared what they created with the other groups.  P1 made twice baked mashed potatoes with bacon, cheese, and scallions, P4 made chicken with a BBQ sauce made from a reduction of ketchup and CocaCola, and P5 made mega egg burgers with a spicy sauce.  P6 and P7 tested their cookware skills and used a Wok and Dutch oven to make pineapple stirfry and baked mac and cheese.  For dessert, P2 made griddle pretzels with cinnamon and sugar and P3 made campfire ice cream cones stuffed with marshmallows, banana, and chocolate.  After they filled their bellies they played games together around the Pavillion.

Peace, 
& Adventure is Out There!
- Teri & Theresa

 After a week of training, the staff was eager to finally welcome campers to Arrowhead on Sunday.  We were overwhelmed by the number of familiar faces and are equally excited to get to know the fresh ones!

On Sunday evening, after settling into their cabins, Homestead ventured out to their camp sights in Outpost to roast marshmallows and get better acquainted with their cabin-mates.  Meanwhile, pioneer units built fires in units to do the same.  After showers and reflections, units went to sleep to rest up for their exciting first day full of activities.

We could not have asked for a more beautiful day to kick off camping season. After a delicious pancake breakfast and a great Chapel (where we learned about the theme of the summer - Peace) the activities began!  Many units such as H-3, P-4 and P-5 took this block to play ice breaker games to get to know each other a bit better. Day Camp, H-3, H-7, P-1, P-2 and P-3 all visited the craft shop to glaze their awesome tiles.  Some campers went for abstract designs while others showed their affection to camp and painted an assortment of Arrowhead inspired pictures on their tiles.

 H-4 had a particularly adventurous morning. While learning an in depth history of camp on a walking tour of camp called the “Path of Peace” the group stumbled upon a turtle laying eggs! Co-counselors Brooks and Hunter decided to put the Peace Path on hold and watched a bit of nature unfold.

A hearty lunch of chicken sandwiches and a relaxing siesta helped campers refuel for their afternoon activities.  Every group enjoyed some afternoon time in the pool during for Free Swim.  Many units were lucky enough to spend part of their afternoon at the waterfront too. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky so counselors made sure that campers lathered up on their sunscreen before partaking in any of those activities. Freddy the boat driver took H-7, P-2 and P-4 out for a spin on the banana boat. The bay was a bit choppy today due to the wind so it was an extra fun ride! Both Day Camp groups, H-3 and P-6 all used the wind in their favor and went out for a sail. Meanwhile H-9 stayed on dry on the shore and held a tea party.

The day was capped off with a Pioneer Mustache Party bonfire at the beach.  Some campers hula hooped the night away while others worked on toasting the perfect marshmallow for their smores.  A memorable night was had by all. We look forward to many more action packed days not only in this session but in throughout the summer!

We will be tending to the blog regularly and apologize for not posting this sooner! All of the staff has been putting in a great deal of effort to ensure the campers have a session to remember. 

Peace!
Melissa