There are balls bouncing in our driveway and some music playing in the background…lots of voices and an occasional squeal. The sounds of summer. Liza, our two-year old Lab is whining at the doorway. She loves to play ball. Soccer is more her game than basketball, so she’ll do what she can to steal the ball and turn it in to a game of keep away. The last two days have been AMAZING, especially as day turns to dusk. They’ve been those summer evenings that lucky folks in small town America sit out on their porch and watch the night sky, and lucky campers get to enjoy in the “Heavenly.”
Heigh Ho, our middlers, are at Kuykendall, and having a blast. I drove them out in one of the buses with the van convoy and stayed for a veggie burger (trying to keep my boyish figure), and they were having a ball…lots of creek stomping and frisbee throwing, groups around the campfire. I left before the s’mores came out, but they will be treated to one of the best summer eves we have had this season. The stars were out last night, and a number of the HIllbrook staff and campers gave up the security of the tents for a night out under them.
Our kitchen crew are palate pleasers. They know what we like to eat, and work hard to keep us happy. The two hills in camp had angel hair pasta and a red meat sauce (turkey), a yummy tossed salad, some rosemary grilled fresh veggies, and rolls with Hello Dollys for dessert. Yummm. Hillbrook had a low key night after their campout last night. They watched the Princess Bride in McLeod Lodge on the big screen. Pineview girls were anything but low key. Their “BIG ADVENTURE” was similar to the game show “Minute to Win It.” Teams competed for the most coveted prize in camp…first showers on dance night 🙂 They had challenges like which team member could get a wadded up wet frozen t-shirt on first, eat oreos decked out in hot sauce and other goo, chug a Cheerwine soda, and other sophomoric stunts. They were giggling and cheering each other on…a BIG success.
There was a bunch going on through the day too. Nature classes went to Pisgah Forest today and did stream exploration in the Davidson River with the naturalists there. Our paddlers were on the French Broad river and finished in time to go to Cove Creek for a little rock sliding.
You may notice Lopez, the Spark’s giraffe friend in some of the pictures. He seems to accompany them everywhere. The Sparks are our oldest campers, and responsible for bringing on the camp spirit. They will also be in charge of our final banquet and festivities. I have known many of them since they were little girls…8 or 9 years.
We had four tours today for prospective campers. I asked girls in Rise and Shine what prompted them to choose Illahee if they had toured other camps, and to a girl, “friendliness” was the theme. I think that is what I am most proud of about our community. I do know other institutions that are hard to “break in” and feel accepted. We are certainly not that, thank goodness. Thanks for sharing your camper. We are enjoying an extraordinary start to this session and I am glad you are a part of it…even if vicariously 🙂
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The camper’s album is wonderful!! Our granddaughter looks so happy in each picture and I know is having the time of her life. She definitely looks as if she settled in! Your camp obviously is warm & welcoming. Loved that she tried & succeeded at the zip line, a good boost to self confidence.
Thank you for all you do to ensure a great camp experience.
If you ask Sam why she chose Illahee, she will say out of all the camps we visied, it was the only she felt safe at. Plus the office staff and Laurie were so nice.
Celeste
It was a nice surprise this morning to see a picture of our Isabel on the blog page!