Here at Camp Arrowhead, campers have been enjoying the sun with Delaware’s modest showers randomly throughout the day. On Wednesday, the Homestead and Pioneer groups went out to Outpost where they prepared their own meals along side with their counselors and adopted specialist. Their cookout was composed of carrying their “rec” or food order, along with the necessary materials through the woods to their assigned campsite. Upon arrival they wasted no time to gather different sizes of wood –named by the counselors as follows; pencil, marker, fat marker and wrist. Under counselor supervision the campers were allowed to light the fire in which they would eventually cook their hamburgers. On this particular day it was slightly breezy and difficult to get the matches to light on the brier, but following persistent attempts the campers eventually got their fire burning. While the campers patiently waited for their hamburgers to cook one unit found a turtle shell and they all worked together to clean it and prepare for transport back to their cabin.

After cooking and eating hamburgers and s'mores the campers went to play capture the flag in the Outpost. The campers really enjoyed looking for the missing flags and chasing each other through the woods. In reflections later that night the most common “best part of the day” was playing capture the flag and that they wish it could have been longer.

On the Fourth of July the campers all rose early for a traditional march from the beach to the flagpole were the national flag was raised, amendments read, and the Star Spangled Banner was sung. Some of the campers were face painted coming to the march; others got their face painted throughout the day. Throughout the camp you could witness the patriotism of the campers to the United States as everyone was dressed in their interpretation of Independence Day. Some wore overalls and hats, others were dressed in flag shirts and shorts and there were those using bandannas as their colors. All in all everyone was thrilled and excited for the day’s activities.

In the evening of the Fourth of July, all of camp gathered at the waterfront in order to celebrate the anniversary of America’s Independence. The beach party consisted of each camp cabin singing a song, karaoke style, in front of camp while the other campers joined in and danced.  There were select campers who were doing the robot and others just going free style. As the night went on, campers found their way to the watermelon and fruit pops provided by the camp while they continued to sing and dance the day away. Upon the setting of the sun, all of the campers gathered at the waterfront looking across the bay. There the campers witness fireworks exploding from all sides of the bay, as they watched in awe they sang a quieter more soothing tune until the show subsided.

On Friday, some campers were witnessed going through the marsh, known as a marsh walk. At first they were all hesitant to get in the marsh, as it was swampy and extremely muddy. However, with the guidance of their counselors and adopted specialist they all ended up getting in and having a blast. There was jumping and sinking as the mud came up past some campers waist. The campers were able to see an Osprey from a safe distance on its nest and found numerous crabs throughout the marsh. As they retreated from the marsh, most of the campers were covered shoulder to toe in mud, especially the counselors as they had taken a seat in some of the holes of mud within the marsh. They tried persistently to remove the mud and over time it eventually came off.  

#keish 

(aka Keith - Our Dining Hall Supervisor)

Session two has officially begun with a bang, literally! We had a little bit of thunder in the morning, but it left us with a mild breezy day that we all are grateful for after the heat we have become used to. 

The units spent the day getting to know each other and participating in an awesome variety of activities. New friendships are being formed all over camp as we begin to settle into a daily routine. P6 started their day with some good ol’ fashioned exercise and participated in an 80’s themed workout right after breakfast! They also teamed up with the ladies of H7 to try and protect eggs with creative materials as they dropped them off of one of the highest structures on camp, the EC Tower. H1 got to enjoy watery thrills together as they went on a banana boat ride. H4 also got to enjoy the bay as they went kayaking. And a little further inshore, P5 worked on their camp craft skills by making their own torches!

Another great thing about the rain we had today was it gave some groups a chance to get crafty! To name just a few of the activities that happened in the craft shop today,  H8 painted their own tiles, P4 made original clay creations, and H11 began making wind chimes. All of those crafts will go through the kiln and come out later in the week looking amazing!

Our courageous adventure staff was working hard around the rain, as many groups participated in our adventure courses today. H2 worked together to climb suspended ladders at the high ropes course, and H9 also worked as a team to conquer the obstacles at the low ropes course

Our Pathfinder groups wasted no time living up to their names today. In the Sailing Pathfinder group, the campers spent their first afternoon on the water, learning the basics of sailing on the sunfish sailboats. The Adventure Pathfinders began christening their brand new campsite by starting their lashing project, an awesome “Adventure!” sign modeled after the Camp Arrowhead sign that hangs in the dining hall.

After dinner, campers finished off the day with a wide variety of nighttime activities. H3 went on a sunset walk through our marsh, which was extra gooey and fun today because of the rain. H10 and H6 got to practice their camp songs as they went on a hayride that went all around camp. And the ladies of P2 and P6 swam away the last of their energy with a monk swim in the pool. Then all of camp settled down, did reflections, and went to bed with dreams of another awesome day tomorrow. Here’s hoping for fair skies and fun memories made when the sun comes up!