Time flies when you’re having fun. Apparently so. I signed some checks today and the date jumped out at me. July? Already?! Really? A sure sign of a great summer is that it does fly by…too fast, in this case. We are rounding the corner into the weekend, and wrapping up week one, and what a great one it has been. Everyone’s settled in, activities are in full swing, and I am constantly amazed at the interaction I get to watch every day from these superstar counselors and your campers.
Today, I spent a little time riding my bike around to activities. Usually, I’m taking pictures and fairly anxious to move on to the next one to maximize the exposure(s). This session, we have two veteran photographers helping out…Rosie , former camper, current federal from D.C. on vacation in her favorite spot has taken the lion’s share of this week’s images, and will return for the last week. Semi-pro Mary Lou will arrive this weekend and take over duties for the middle two weeks of the long session. So, today, I didn’t even have a camera in tow. I sat and watched swimming today during fourth period and was impressed at the number of staff in the water helping arms find the right geometry of stroke and modeling proper technique.
The swim lake is such a great swimming hole. Spring fed and just the right size, it is central to all of our activity in camp. It is just so darn inviting. Gretchen had her day off today and showed up with four-year old Ezra to practice jumps from the diving board. We’re going to have to shrink his head after camp as he was getting applause after every plunge from supportive campers!
We have had a spate of blue ribbon weather in the Heavenly. As you can see from the accompanying picture, there has hardly been a cloud to be found, and to top it off, it has been in the low 80’s during the day and low 60’s at night. I love sleeping under a blanket in the summertime on a cool summer’s eve. Our big girls…Pineview… are enjoying our last night at Kuykendall tonight. Kris and Soup are leading that expedition, so the “A-Team” is out. I drove a bus over and snuck a veggie burger, but was very tempted by the real thing…hamburgers and hotdogs that the younger set can eat to their heart’s content (no pun intended). It’s going to be a terrific evening for them with plenty of stars to gaze at after campfire songs, skits and s’mores.
The rest of camp had Fiesta night with quesadillas, corn and regular salad, and cinnamon chips as a starter…then dressed up in their most festive fiesta wear, and engaged in a “reverse” scavenger hunt. Items are collected and then the best are presented to a panel of judges based on their creative application to the question at hand. “What would you take to a vacation in Mexico? What would you take to meet Enrique Iglesias? (One group actually had a pair of faux handcuffs:-)” were two of the questions.
It has been a full day. It is a bunch of fun getting to know your great girls. We end every morning assembly with either Laurie saying, “Be a Great Girl” and then singing “Make New Friends…But Keep the Old, One is Silver and the Other’s Gold.”
Thanks for all of the wonderful photos and the blogs! We love seeing our daughter (since we have yet to receive a letter!) and know that she is having a great time! I love to experience Illahee again through her. Thanks for the weather updates and letting us know what they are up to each day! Can’t wait to see the posted pictures and read the blogs each night.
Thank you for the wonderful pictures; it is fun to see her having a great time. We have received two letters from Anna Lauren and she is having a “terrific time” as she mentioned in her letter. We are blessed to have found such an incredible camp. I enjoy seeing her and living through her experiences at camp. We also enjoy your blogs with all the details that help us together with the pictures build her life at camp.