Today was a sleep in day at camp - with breakfast at 9 instead of 8.  After our weekend festivities - it was definitely needed!

Saturday morning P4 lead a special Chapel at the Council Ring and campers and staff spent the day with their teams preparing for the Olympics Competition Central.  Afternoon thunder cancelled Free Swim but the spectacular guards opened the pool for the campers during free time.  Saturday night at the movies created a nice break for the Staff to hold a Christmas in July Social and Art Gallery in the Lounge.  

Art was submitted by many staff members and some staff participated in a handmade ornament exchange.  A most notable "piece" in the art show was called "Walter.  In A Moment."  and was submitted by Jordan.  It was Walt's armchair - reclined with his Central hat and boots on hand.  The end table next to the chair held Walt's keys, clipboard, dog leash, morning coffee cup and ice cream bowl.  The best part was Walt believing the chair had been borrowed for Santa Claus.  ha!

Sunday began with the men's group of Adventure Pathfinders leading an instructed Eucharist service in the Council Ring with Father Jeff from St Peter's in Lewes.  Kathy was really proud of the guys.

Our Opening Olympic Ceremonies began at 11am.  Team Madagascar presented a burning banner, chameleons, an elephant bird, traveling palms, penguins, explorers, several lemur species and of course King Julian.  Italy displayed several regions of their country - including a reenactment of Adam and God in the Sistine Chapel, Gladiators, Roman gods and goddesses, mobsters, ninja turtles and a volcanic explosion in Pompeii.  Brazil brought in a Carnival!  Their banner opened like peacock feathers, Pele beat the Italian, Malagasy and Chinese soccer teams, Christ the Redeemer towered over us all, their musicians made us dance and their Bird of Paradise (who looked suspiciously like Woodstock) made us all laugh.  China roared in with a beautiful dragon.  Mulan came to visit, their Captains dressed as Yin and Yang, they had pandas, terracotta warriors and chopsticks too.  Their banner even listed the Chinese Zodiac of every person on their team.

We broke for lunch and continued with three rounds of events after siesta.  The day culminated with a relay race that zig zags all over camp and ends with fire building.  The first team to burn through their rope wins.  And the trophy went to Team Madagascar!!! We all gathered on the beach for a cookout dinner and took short free swims before bed.

            Fourth session is in full swing and we are all getting excited for the weekend! Wednesday night cookout was a fun day for all. Homestead units headed out to outpost for burgers and capture the counselor. The pioneer units had a breakfast potluck, complete with “trainwrecks”, eggs with all the trimmings such as onions, peppers and meats. The pathfinder groups had a cookout in outpost. The girl adventure pathfinders made pasta with breadcrumbs and summer sausage. The male adventure pathfinders prepared jalapeno poppers. The sailing pathfinders made an apple crisp. Ellie, Ben and Brian made a contribution of biscuits and mustard chicken as well. After cookout, there was free swim for everyone and the adventure pathfinders stayed in outpost for their overnight.

            On Thursday, groups got creative and made clay in the craft shop. H2 and H3 dressed up as aliens for lunch, while Day Camp 2 dressed as super heroes. After lunch, H7 made cards in the dining hall with Doreen. H3 got a taste of pioneer when they went to cook cowboy mac in P1 for dinner. Thursday is dance day! The homesteaders had an ice cream social and did some dancing to classics like the “Cha Cha Slide” and the “Cotton Eyed Joe.” There was even a limbo competition! The pioneer dance was themed “Neon Under the Sea.” It was a good time for all. After the dance, homestead girls had a sleepover in the E.C. and watched Anastasia.

            Today, after a lovely chapel by Day Camp 1 complete with an original rendition of “A Wonderful World,” Walter introduced this weekend’s competition central. Competition central takes a lot of planning and will take place on Sunday. The theme for this year’s competition central is Olympics. The teams are as follows: Brazil lead by Jordan and Melissa, China lead by the Kelsey sisters (Anne and Ellie), Italy lead by Shaun and Libbie, and Madagascar lead by Laura and John. Teams will meet for the first time this afternoon, and free swim will be after dinner. We are ready for a busy and exciting weekend and everyone is curious to see who will win the trophy!!

Happy Friday!
-Laura

     Fourth session is finally here! This session is one of our favorites, and its great to have so many familiar faces with us here at camp. With so many returning campers we have hit the ground running, kicking off the session with exciting activities for all. H6 had a blast on the water, banana boating and then heading to a bonfire with other Homestead units on the beach. This morning they even got up for a sunrise boat ride! H1 joined in on the fun with H6 as they engaged in a swordfight. H7 spent their first day being creative with clay at the craft shop and making pickles with Libbie in the Environmental Center. H4 had a special lunch on the boat with Anne and Megan from the pool and craft shop, while the ladies of H8 braved the low ropes course and went canoeing.
      Our older campers have been having a great first couple days as well. The ladies of Pioneer and our Sailing Pathfinders joined the pool staff for water aerobics last night. P5 went sailing and made sand candles with Megan while P4 made a prayer flag for the chapel. The Adventure Pathfinder girls went on a canoeing excursion where they army crawled through the marsh while their male counterparts practiced Tai Chi on the beach.

 More exciting activities to come so keep checking for new posts!
-Anne

Thursday was fun in the sun, the rain and the night. Day camp 1 and 2 played a rousing game of capture the flag, adventure pathfinders returned heroically from their adventure in the outpost and leadership
pathfinders ventured out into the world beyond to lend a helping hand. Some of the staff celebrated the release of the third and final batman movie at dinner by all dressing as batman!

At the homestead circus on Thursday night, we learned how entertaining and talented our homestead campers are. They played minute-to-win-it games demonstrating great finesse with balloon blowing and bobbling, head nodding, rubber band shooting, skittle moving and much more!  And The pioneer rave was off the charts!

Friday the temperatures had dropped into the low eighties and the nor'easter off the coast threatened a pretty big storm.  Walt prudently moved the campfire into the Chapel - but tons of candles lit our evening together.  H2 changed the words to the Moose song to be about an otter that likes to drink a lot of water and his girlfriend the awesome opossum.  The LTG Pathfinders shared the differences discovered between their two counselors and the Adventure Pathfinders sang the praises of having a god knife while in Outpost - even if you had to borrow it from someone else.

The staff had a well deserved break Saturday evening - many rushing out to see the new Batman.  And they were all welcomed back Sunday by members of the parishes of St Peter's in Lewes and All Saints in Rehoboth Beach with an English lunch.  They projected Saturday's Soccer match, and two English television episodes.  They made several meat pies, Chicken Curry and  Bangers & Mash.  The staff really enjoyed the day - The parishioners seemed to enjoy the day as well :)  And our Camp America staff (all from the UK this year) LOVED it.  Thank you so very very much Mr Somerset and company!!

The heat has been sweltering - but a quick storm moved through early last night and brought the temperature back to normal summer heat this morning :)  16 hours ago our Facebook Page surpassed 800 likes.  And Debbie Simms informed us that registration for the summer is up to 955 campers!!

Yesterday was Wednesday Night Cookout!!  All of Homestead went to Outpost to cook out burgers.  All of Pioneer & and the LTG Pathfinders had a potluck dinner in the Pavillion.  Day Camp cooked out burgers on main camp.  And the Adventure Pathfinders were on their Outpost Overnight (even through the rain).  Our Specialists even had a Mexican fiesta at the pool for dinner.

H2 got a new roof on their cabin yesterday - finished far before the heavy rain.  H6 has been earning bracelet beads as they conquer challenges (like climbing the rock wall) around camp this week.  Ben lead H8 on a low ropes leprechaun hunt after spotting a mysterious rainbow the other night.  Alas they did not find the pot of gold - but they sure did try.  

H10 made solar oven apple crisps & H7 wrote a poem with Libbie at the Environmental Center. 

P4 prayed in color with Kathy yesterday.  H1, H3 and P7 made beautiful prayer flags.

The Leadership Training Group Pathfinders spent some time doing all the bridges at the High Ropes Course yesterday and went out to Outpost in the afternoon to help put up tarps and ridgelines for the Homestead groups.  Today they are doing community service with the State Parks and will help out with the Homestead Social this evening.

It's been a bit of a whirlwind - but we're having a blast!!

      Third session is packed! We are so excited and grateful to have so many campers at Arrowhead. The weather was warm today and it luckily didn’t rain on any activities. In the morning, homesteaders participated in swim block. A few campers are even learning how to swim! In the craft shop, some groups started making beautiful tiles while H10 turned cold pricklies into warm fuzzies. H7 made learning the Golden Rule fun with glitter. Day campers and the ladies of H6 braved Walt’s Wall this morning as well.
      Today was also the first day of LTG PF (Leadership Training Group  Pathfinders)! The LTG PF program is new, focusing on molding leadership skills. For their first block, they made life maps and shared them with each other as a “get to know you” activity. These maps highlight key moments of their lives where they experienced a change. They also made journals that they will write in throughout the week about their experiences and take home with them to further track their progress as leaders.
       For dinner, Sarah and Brooks’ day campers dressed as super heroes. During free time (the hour after dinner) campers had plenty of exciting activities to choose from. In the craft shop, Megan and Maddy offered tea staining. At the Carmine Environmental Center., Libbie hosted a snake feed and campers made pinecone birdfeeders. At the waterfront there was beach volleyball and kayaking. Mike opened the back and sides of the rock wall for campers looking for a challenge. Brian opened the plank for any pirates brave enough to walk it, “arrr”.
      This evening, some homestead groups participated in a beach bonfire complete with music and volleyball. P2, P3, P4, P5 and P6 went to the first nighttime water aerobics block hosted by our super positive pool staff! Campers and staff alike broke a sweat to popular songs like “Call Me Maybe” and “What Makes You Beautiful.” Meanwhile P1 and P7 listened to scary stories in the Rec Hall. 

Sweet Dreams!
-Anne, Laura and Megan

P6 wrote this song for Eucharist to the tune of “Payphone” by
Maroon 5.  Kathy generously shared the lyrics with me in advance... enjoy.

"I’m at the crossroads trying to find hope
  I want to change let me rely on you
  Everything’s gone wrong, I need to find God
  I look to the sky in search of you
  Yeah. . .

I know it’s hard to remember
  That you’re always there for me
  It’s even harder when I pray
  Cause I can’t tell you’re with me
  They say that you’re right there
  But I can’t see with my eyes
  All this time I’ve been searching
  
I’ve finally opened my eyes
    You turned on the light
  Now you’re in my sight
 And I’m mesmerized
  You’re here til the end
  And after this life
  I feel the Holy Spirit inside of me

I was at crossroads now I found hope
  I always rely on you
  Nothing can go wrong, now that I found God
  I look toward the sky and he shines through
  The Holy Spirit does exist

I finally understand the jist
  All the parables have proved it
  No more doubting your spirit
  Yeah. . ."

Sundays in a two week session are pretty cool.  Rev Louise Howlett came and celebrated Eucharist with us in the morning and Father Gary Taylor came to hang out for the afternoon.  

Sunday is also the day of our infamous Sunday Central.  It's one of the very few times in a session that ALL of camp is engaged in an activity together.  We think of it kind of like a carnival.  Every group of campers builds and runs a booth... all the specialist and Administrative Staff do too... and it's all based around a theme.  This Session's Central was "Nautical Nonsense" and we held it at the beach of course :)

H1 played Seasick Skee-ball.  Participants had to spin in circles before trying to play a camp version of skee-ball.

H2 built Poseidon's Payback.  You had to throw pool noodle tridents like a javelin through suspended hoops towards a wicked sea creature.

H3 created Captain Jack's Cannonball Chaos.  They used a water balloon slingshot fixed between two trees to launch baseballs at dangling Pirate Ships - while attempting not to hit the Camp Arrowhead ship.

H6 hosted Message in a Bottle.  Participants tried using a small hoop fishing poles to stand glass bottles upright.  The bottles were different sizes and messages slipped inside awarded you different doubloon amounts if you successful completed the task.

P2 challenged us all with their Awkward Turtle Toss.  You have to roll turtles (ping pong balls) towards the ocean and sink them in cans.  Not only could you win loot - but they also supplied participants with fun turtle facts. (Ex:  Turtles and sloths are friends.)

P3 made a variation of Balloon Darts.  The hung a combination of water balloons and regular balloons with varying amounts of booty inside.  

P4's Pipe Dream gave participants a long somewhat immobilized pipe to put a golf ball in and try to hit different targets with when the ball popped out. 

P5 ran Wilson's Water Works. (As in Wilson from Castaway) It's the camp variation of water pistol races.  You come up to a counter with four garden hoses and try to float a needle high enough to pop your balloon first.

P6 played a life size version of Battleship.  They hung a tarp and participants threw water balloons over in an attempt to hit targets form some points or their counselor for extra points. 

P7 ran a Sponge Lunge Water Relay.  Two participants would race to transport water from a baby pool to fill a bucket first - using only a large car wash sponge tied around their waist hovering conveniently over their bum.

The Adventure Pathfinders built a stellar miniature golf course.

The Sailing Pathfinders gave sailing rides.

The Kitchen Staff served Ocean Water punch and ran the Shark Bait Ooh Ha Ha Dunk Tank.  

Our Taste of Camp Counselors and Service Session CIT's ran a food court - selling Fry-rates (Pirate French Fries), Sarah the Whale Snow Cones, Coral (Funnel) Cakes, and Sand-witches (Grilled Fluffer Nutters) for gold pieces.   The Unit Leaders operated the bank and sold Deep Sea Delights (Funfetti Chex Mix) in the food court.   

Specialists did face painting, mermaid braids, a Kayak Regatta, and other games.  The Outside Crew ran a jail where they would incarcerate anyone for enough gold.  I believe our Associate Director had at least 4 warrants out for her arrest.  Father Gary was even arrested!

The weather was breezy and SIGNIFICANTLY cooler than Saturday had been.  The rain held off until our beach bbq dinner.  Main camp got to sleep in an extra hour this morning :)  A new group of Day Campers arrived this morning.  And our Taste of Camp Staff helped with several projects around the property as they eagerly await the arrival of their 
"Tastees" tomorrow morning.

peace-
Teri <}}><

Thursday and Friday were chock full busy camp days, and sadly the last days for some of our day camp and homestead campers. Thursday was… cumulating in socials for both pathfinders/pioneers and homesteaders.  The pioneers had a totally radical 90s social, which was an introduction for some and brought back fond memories for others.   There’s nothing like “Teen Spirit”.  The homesteaders stayed cool in the pool at their luau.  Saying goodbye to the one-week homesteaders was sad, but the bonfire was fun and full of watermelon!  Favorite camp songs were sung and all were entertained with tales of the camper’s adventures as told through skits.  Walt’s ghost story was pretty spooky, I’d be careful out there in the marsh…At the end of the campfire each camper took home a little piece of the fire to always remember their camp experiences, even in the dark of winter. 

Even though it’s hot here we’ve all found ways to stay cool. Campers have been enjoying lots of waterfront activities: sailing, canoeing, kayaking over to Santa Claus Island.  I even heard a rumor that a Pioneer 3 camper found a Nanticoke arrowhead on one such adventure.  Every afternoon bay breeze blows up to camp, and just when you think you can’t stand the heat anymore you get refreshing lift. The sailing pathfinders have sure been taking advantage of that breeze.  They have progressed quickly from sunfish to zumas and hobie waves. Their chapel skit this morning was further demonstration of their excellence.  The camp stood in awe as Noah’s Arc literally set sail.

In my domain, the environmental center, we have found our own ways to stay cool.  Marsh walks with H1 and H2, shady nature walks, and clamming with P3 and P6 and eating wild raspberries with P6.

Pictures to come!

-Libbie

The second day of second session was filled with exciting events. P2 trained for the Hunger Games on our low ropes course with Ben while H1 and H2 caught a record shattering 443 fiddler crabs to feed to the turtles in the Carmine Environmental Center. P4 wrote a poem about the marsh and got competitive in a game of water basketball. Our Homestead campers ventured out to outpost to cook out dinner over a fire and enjoy a game of capture the counselor. Homestead cooled off in the pool while the Pioneer groups had a bonfire on the beach and then everyone headed off to bed. 

Left, right, left, right, left…
In honor of America’s birthday, camp started off 4th of July celebrations by marching from the waterfront to the flag pole where staff members recited the Bill of Rights and sang the National Anthem. Clad in red, white, and blue, campers continued their day by participating in a variety of patriotic activities. P7 decorated commemorative hats for their own unit and specialists around camp. APF used colored sand to design a “Happy Birthday” mural for America. P4 and P5 competed to make the most patriotic warrior. Also, H10 waved their new glittered flags around camp to spread cheer!

The whole camp cooked out dinner on the beach while listening to classic jams like “Born in the U.S.A.” and “This Land Is Your Land”. Following the delicious meal of hamburgers and hot dogs, Pioneer played a spirited game of capture the flag while Homestead units tested their skills in minute-to-win-it games! Afterwards, all units gathered again at the waterfront for more fun and festive music before heading to bed.

Happy Independence Day!
-Anne, Laura and Megan