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

      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

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

Yesterday we began our second session! After everyone checked in and took swim tests, we ate dinner. After dinner on arrival days we have introductions in the chapel, where Walt introduces all the staff so the campers are familiar with them. To end the night, campers and their counselors roast marshmallows in the woods.

The first day of camp is a busy one. Our staff started the morning by leading a special chapel to introduce this summer’s Christian Education theme, “it’s all about love.” After chapel, P7 began making wind chimes out of clay while our Homestead campers headed to the pool for swim block. Later in the day, H6 campers braved the rock wall and our new Day Campers ventured over to the high ropes swing. H7 did the low ropes course with Ben where they climbed the “Swiss Alps” (used teamwork to cross from tire to tire in a line of swings). Our Sailing Pathfinders practiced their knots and received their manuals while their Adventure counterparts cooked up some delicious stir fry for their lunch.

Tonight was a very musical evening here at Camp. Spencer, a member of our adventure staff, serenaded folks in the craft shop while the Pathfinders and P6 had a blast at our first ever “Meeting for Singing” at the pool. While our traditional Monk Swim evening block required campers to be silent for the first ten minutes of the block, Meeting for Singing allows the campers to speak, but only through song. Homestead campers enjoyed a rockin’ bonfire on the beach and now are all safely tucked into bed :) 

To quote some of our favorite lifeguards, "stay positive!"
-Anne and Laura

Our apologies - the intent was to post yesterday but the camp internet was down for a good 36+ hours.  C'est la vie at camp :)

Tuesday night Ben, Megan and P2 dressed as characters from the Hunger Games for dinner.  Ben was President Snow, Megan was Effie Trinket and their counselors were Prim and Katniss and the campers dressed as other children from District 12.  We use the "Bucket of Fun" to randomly select staff names to lead songs at meals - "Effie" pulled out "Prim's" name and of course "Katniss" volunteered.  All the pioneer girls had a sleepover together at the EC later that night.

Yesterday was Wednesday Night Cookout.  All the homestead units went to Outpost and made sloppy joes.  They ended their time together with a pretty exciting game of Capture the Counselor.  The camper's first victim was Nate the Christian Education Assistant.  He overcame the initial shame by breaking other staff out of jail later in the game.

Pioneer had a potluck dinner at the Pavilion. P1 made puppy chow, P2 made stir fry,  P3 made quesadillas, P4 made Mexican Surprise (aka nachos), P5 made corn on the cob with old bay, P6 made potato salad, P7 made grilled peanut butter and banana or peanut butter and apple sandwiches.

Today the CIT's started making journals out of recycled cardboard and cool papers during their meeting time with Mitty.  P5 started lashing a shower out in their unit yesterday and finished just before the dance tonight. 

Today both Day Camp groups taught everyone their original llama song at dinner.  (Happy llama, Sad llama, big fat mama llama, super llama, drama llama, President Obama llama.  Moose, alpaca, Moose, Moose, Alpaca.  Awkward Turtles have weird babies.  Evil Mr Coconut turns into a palm tree.)  We told you it was original :)

Today P1 tried with great difficulty to sail.  The breeze on camp helping us stay cool did not cooperate with the waterfront staff.  H4 visited the climbing wall.  And H10 made dream catchers.   The Craft Shop was brimming with tie dye creations.  The Environmental Center lead several marsh walks.  And all the swim blocks participated in aqua dancing.  

Units did their duties after lunch because tonight was the Pioneer Neon Lumberjack Dance!!  (Yeah - we don't know exactly what that means either... there was a lot of plaid and neon - but not so many lumberjacks.)  And the Homestead Unit Leaders hosted a Prehistoric Dance Social at the Chapel.  

Everyone's pretty tired... so for now we'll say goodnight. 

Peace-
Teri & Laura