Meet Abby!   She lives in Cherry Hill, New Jersey and is a current 3rd grader.  She’ll be an Upper Junior Girl this summer! We had a lot of fun hanging out after school, but normally she likes to do gymnastics when she gets home, or play basketball with her older brother.  Abby’s cousins Sophia, Jeremy and Julia go to Canadensis and she can’t wait to join them this summer!  Here’s what you need to know about this creative, adventurous and wild new camper: her favorite food is steak and mac & cheese and she likes the color blue.  She loves dolphins, and her favorite TV show is “Bunk’d” or “Liv and Maddie” and she’s a mix of both Liv & Maddie!  She also likes listening to Ariana Grande and eating Soda Can candies.  She cheers for the Philadelphia Flyers and her favorite book is “Trouble Maker” and she likes the movie “The Jungle Book”.  She showed me some of her gymnastics skills and I was very impressed…it’s her favorite hobby!  She’s looking forward to do a lot of gymnastics this summer, along with climbing wall, dance and art!

Meet Mason!   He lives in Ventnor, New Jersey and is a current 3rd grader.  He’ll be an Upper Junior Boy this summer! We hung out with his whole family (including his little sister who is coming up for Tour & More Weekend this summer!) and I learned a lot about him in each room we visited in his house.  He plays the drums, has a whole room dedicated to sports memorabilia like baseball cards and a cute dog named Snowball.  Here’s what you need to know about this funny, considerate and sporty new camper: his favorite food is lambchops and bbq and he likes the color purple.  His favorite sports team is the Golden State Warriors, and he likes hip hop music.  He makes awesome Musical.ly videos, and watch out…his dance moves will definitely help his bunk win MTV Night! His favorite TV shows are “Impractical Jokers” and “Family Guy” but he’d much rather be running around playing a sport than hanging inside…he loves basketball and baseball!  He broke a finger playing gaga at his day camp last year, so we are hoping he has a fun, injury free summer for his first one at Canadensis!

Meet Ruby!   She sometimes goes by the nickname “Ru” and she lives in New York City.  She is a current 1st grader who will be a Lower Junior Girl this summer!  She has two big brothers, and her oldest brother Zach will be a Counselor In Training at Canadensis in 2017, which is going to make this summer extra special!  We hung out on the weekend right before she went ice skating with her family and I got a tour of her recently renovated very pink and purpley room! Here’s what you need to know about this fun and creative new camper: her favorite food is spinach & ricotta ravioli and she’s a very good singer!  She loves dogs, and her favorite TV show is “Hannah Montana” and she likes listening to Miley Cyrus!  She cheers for the NY Yankees and her favorite hobby is gymnastics.  She also loves s’mores (can’t wait for campfires!) and cotton candy…and the movie “Trolls”!  You’ll be able to catch her this summer in climbing wall and photography electives!

Meet Samantha!   She lives in Tenafly, New Jersey and is a current 3rd grader who often goes by the nickname “Sam” or “Sammy” once you know her.  She’ll be an Upper Junior Girl this summer and good luck keeping up with her…she does every activity under the sun and likes them all!  She even manages to be on a competition dance and gymnastics team at the same time.  She has two little sisters, and she’s excited to be the first one heading off to sleepaway camp.  Here’s what you need to know about this awesome, stylish and perfectly well rounded new camper: her favorite food is peas (really, her grandma makes great peas!) and she likes the colors black & blue.  She loves penguins, and her favorite TV show is “Fairly Odd Parents”. She recently sang the song “Lost Boy” in a talent show, and she cheers for the NY Giants.  Her favorite book is “Twintuition” and she likes the new “Beauty and the Beast” movie.  She showed me some of her gymnastics skills and was heading off to dance right after our home visit!  This summer she’s looking forward to do both of those activities, plus climbing wall, archery, parkour, fishing and glass fusion!

Meet Miriam who almost always goes by “Miri”!   She lives in Pelham, New York and is a current 2nd grader.  She’ll be an Lower Junior Girl this summer! We did our home visit the day after her 8th birthday so I got to hear about her trampoline park party and see some of the balloons and presents!  Miri’s cousins Alex & Carter go to Canadensis and she can’t wait to join them this summer (she had a blast last year doing the Tour & More Weekend).  Here’s what you need to know about this smart and energetic new camper: her favorite hobby is diving, which is a new sport she took up this year after moving from Ohio.  She loves learning new dives, and her gymnastics skills help her improve.  Her favorite food is pasta and she likes the color combo of blue & clear.  She loves the “Harry Potter” books which also happens to be her favorite movies.  Her favorite animal is a leopard and she’s been watching the TV show is “How I Met Your Mother” with her mom!  She likes listening to Z100/pop music and eating Swedish Fish.  Catch this girl in the pool whenever possible this summer, or at the climbing wall, foam pit or possibly in the middle of the lake on a boat!

Meet Dylan!   He lives in Summit, New Jersey and is a current 3rd grader.  He’ll be an Upper Junior Boy this summer! We snacked and talked about camp pretty late into the evening…he was getting so excited about camp I hope he was able to sleep that night!  He’s been learning to play the guitar recently, so it would be awesome to have him in one of our Rock Bands this summer! Here’s what you need to know about this awesome, loud and nice new camper: his favorite food is sushi and he likes the color blue.  His baseball season is just about to start, and he plays for the Tornado’s.  His favorite TV show is “Wheel of Fortune” and he’s recently been listening to the “Hamilton” soundtrack, but he likes a ton of different kinds of music!  When his bunk visits the canteen this summer he’ll be going for a kitkat.  His favorite book is “Harry Potter” and his favorite movies are the “StarWars”.  He can’t wait for his first summer at camp, and fishing, rocketry, quads, lake boats and gaga are among the many electives he wants to try.

And finally, I just wanted to share the photo above of some of our Head Staff at the Winter Meeting earlier this month.  It was so great to bring in our leadership team for meetings, and we obviously had a lot of fun!  March is always the camp turning point for me.  It’s when we attend the American Camp Association Tri-State conference, and we gather with a lot of other camp professionals to share ideas plus we see cool new activities that we want to add to camp.  March is when we pick the Color War teams and start designing the shirts (yep, they are already picked for this summer!!).  This is the month when we finalize a lot of our trips, and activity ideas for the summer.  Yesterday, Brian and I met with Lauren Schwed and Amy Spielberger to do the mind-bending task of scheduling all of our bunks for the summer…we already know what activity your bunk is going to be doing on Day 3 Period 5!  This is the month we celebrate double digits day…where the camp countdown goes from 100 to only 99 days (and now it’s only 85!).  Our staff members for 2017 are connecting through our Facebook group, forms are pouring in and we are placing orders for awesome new gear in our camp store!  This list just barely scratches the surface of the awesomeness we have in store for summer 2017!  Bring on April, bring on warmer temperatures, and bring on the BEST SUMMER EVER!!

Did you know that each summer Camp Canadensis draws campers from around 15 states?  We visit each new camper before their first summer at camp and I’ve just returned from a trip that combined home visits, staff hiring, a camp conference and sight-seeing in some of the most beautiful parts of America!  There is a lot out there too see, but the highlights were the campers that will be joining us at Lake Lenape this year!

Meet Luke!  He lives in Boulder, Colorado and is in 8th grade.  He will be an Upper Senior Boy this summer, and he’s been attending a camp in Colorado for the last few years.  We hung out on a school night at his house, he’s one of four siblings.  He has an older sister, and a younger brother and sister.  In school, his best subject is math…but Luke much prefers to be outside wake boarding, and he can’t wait to ride the hondas at camp.  He cheers for the Redskins, loves Mexican food, and will be playing lacrosse this Spring.

His brother might look familiar, Levi is a current 5th grader who will be an Upper Inter Boy this year.  It’s going to be his 6th summer at camp and he is very excited to finally be in Middle Camp!  Dave came on the home visit too, he’s excited to get to hang with Luke on Senior Side!

Before leaving Colorado, there were a few other members of the Canadensis family we wanted to meet up with!!

We had breakfast with Samantha, who cannot wait to be back at camp for her 2nd summer.  She’s in 4th grade and will be a Lower Inter.  She loves living in Denver, and looks forward to seeing her camp friends whenever she’s back east!  Soccer has been keeping her really busy this year.

We grabbed a dinner in Denver with Jared (who goes by the nickname “Groundhog”) and Eric!  Always good to hang out with Eric and catch up, and Groundhog is having a good school year as well.  He has just returned from a trip to Vietnam over winter break!  He’ll be back at camp this summer to take bunk photos so make sure your ready to flash him your best smile while you lean up against the trees in The Grove!

We did this road trip in a Volkswagon Campervan/RV (which has long been a dream of mine!!).  We picked it up in Denver and started heading to Utah, and our very first stop was in Vail, Colorado where we got to visit Pete Tarnoff!  Pete is the Middle Camp Boys Head Counselor and he’ll soon be celebrating his 20th summer at Canadensis!  When he’s not at camp, he’s a snowboard instructor at Vail Resorts. Yes, he lives the life!!

Our first stop in California was in San Diego with the “Pearlman Dynasty”.  All 5 of their kids were at Canadensis this summer and we had a “camp style” dinner together with hotdogs and hamburgers (grilled by dad instead of Chef David!).  Paisley (front and center) and Cash (with glasses in the back row) are in 3rd grade and will be Upper Juniors this summer.  Sonny (back right) is looking forward to moving up to Middle Camp and being in the Upper Inters.  Ozzie (back left)  is spending the summer working on baseball.  Jones(back middle) started at camp 8 years ago!  He is going to be a CIT this summer and that means all of his siblings are guaranteed to on the same Color War team this year (last year 4 of them were on the winning Good Morning Gold, and one Cash was on Blue After Dark…and even though mom was cheering for blue, it didn’t turn into a win!).

Meet Harper!   She lives in Los Angeles, California and is a current 2nd grader.  But she’s lived in both NYC  & LA and she’s one of the oldest in her grade based on what coast she’s on so she’ll be going into the Upper Junior Girls division at camp this summer! She sometimes goes by the nickname “Harp”. We had a lot of fun hanging out after school, it was the first time I did a home visit mostly outside in the winter!  When I pulled up she was scooting on the block with her youngest sister (she has two younger sisters) and later she was bouncing on the trampoline with her dad.  Harper did the Tour & More Playday this summer, and she knew right away that she was ready for camp this summer!!  Her mom is a Canadensis Alumni and loves camp, but Harper had to convince her that summer 2017 was the right time to go, and I’m glad she did!  Here’s what you need to know about this happy, nice and easy-going new camper: her favorite food is mac & cheese (but she doesn’t like cold cheese!) and she likes the color purple.  She loves horses, and her favorite TV show is “Kickin It”.  She also likes listening to Ariana Grande and eating Laffy Taffy (but she’s glad we often have airheads in our Canteen!).  Right now she’s reading the book “The Descendants”, but she loves to read and had several books next to her bed.  She also likes the movie “The Incredibles” and “The Pacifier”.  Harper is also a talented artist and her home is filled with a lot of her great projects from painting to sculptures.  This summer she’s excited to try archery, woodworking and glass fusion electives.  She loves building things too, and she’s started her own Fortune Telling business at school which is raising money for charity.  The fortunes are very affordable, for $.25 I got a fortune and a paper airplane!  Can’t wait to see all the fun and funk she creates at camp this summer!

Also in Los Angeles, California are brothers Kaden & Noah!   They did the  Tour & More Weekend at Canadensis last summer, and can’t wait for more summer fun in the Poconos!  Their mom went to camp on the East Coast and can’t wait for them to experience it, and make tons of summer memories.  They’ll be joining their cousins Zoe & Marley at Canadensis, and on the day I visited Zoe’s Bat Mitzvah invitation had just arrived.  They are excited to be celebrating in Westchester this April!  We went on a fun tour of their house, and these guys soaked up so much camp information during my visit…I tried to quiz them at the end to see who got first pick of t-shirts, and they both knew every answer!!  They both love music and hockey, and will be practicing rollerblading before camp starts so they can join the Canadensis Hockey League for games.  Here’s what you need to know about these guys:

Kaden (left) is a current 1st grader who will be a Lower Junior Boy at camp this summer.  He sometimes goes by the nickname “KK” and he’s a little comedian who will crack you up!  He is happy, sporty and can sometimes be a little bit of a smarty pants!  For his electives this summer he’ll be trying out the batting cages and rocketry.  His favorite sport to play is baseball and the season starts really soon, but his favorite sport to watch is hockey and he loves the LA Kings.  His favorite food is pizza, and his favorite color is blue.  If he has to pick a favorite animal, it’s fish.  And the answer is the same for his favorite music…Phish!  He likes the TV show “Best Friends Whenever”  and snacking on Milky Way chocolate bars.  He also loves floor hockey, the “Nate the Great” book series, and all things Star Wars, including the movie “The Last Jedi”!

Noah (right) is a current 3rd grader who will be an Upper Junior Boy at camp this summer.  He is cool, funny and smart and definitely wants to try the floor hockey, waterslides and batting cage electives this summer.  He’s involved with an after school program called “Rockstar” which puts bands together that practice and then they play a gig!  Kaden participates too and they’ll be in the same band when they are older.  Noah sings, plays guitar and keyboard so we’ll definitely be lucky to have him in our Rock Band at camp this summer!  He doesn’t watch a ton of TV, but his favorite show is “Phineas and Ferb” and he cheers for the LA Kings.  He had some of the best answers I’ve ever gotten when asking about favorite things…his favorite animal is a koala, his favorite music is classic rock, and his favorite food is In-N-Out burger (even though I only eat grilled cheese there, I 100% agree!!).  He also likes the color red, Twix bars, and Star Wars.  He showed me a huge Star Wars lego model he had recently built which was impressive!  He’s also read all the Harry Potter books, and “Deathly Hallows” is his favorite.  Can’t wait to have them both at camp!

When we pulled into Paradise Valley, Arizona, I pretty much headed right over to see Dylan & Jaden!  Dylan will be spending his 4th summer at camp.  He’s currently in 4th grade and can’t wait to be a Lower Inter…this year there are a bunch of new electives he can try, and he’s excited to step up and ride the Hondas and get his hands covered in clay on the Ceramics Wheel.  He is staying very busy in Arizona with soccer, he’s on a travel soccer team and playing all the time!  His big sister Jaden is getting her 5 year jacket this summer!  She’s currently in 8th grade and will be an Upper Senior Girl at camp this summer.  Last year her bunk won All-Camp MTV Night, they take it very, very seriously!  Jaden takes camp in general very seriously…she’s staying at her current school for 9th grade because the dates work out better with the end of camp, and she doesn’t want to miss anything!  This year she’s gotten very involved with her school’s Speech & Debate team,  and she is part of a very successful Duo Interpretation.  Right after I saw her she was heading to Stamford for a competition, and just before coming to camp she’ll be in Alabama for another tournament!

Also in the Phoenix, Arizona area, I visited new campers Daralee & Tavi!  Their dad is a Camp Canadensis alumni, and both parents grew up in Pennsylvania.  They are so excited for them to spend the summer with us in the Poconos!  They did the Tour & More Weekend this past summer, so we talked about memories and then started to focus on things for the summer ahead!  They have a younger sister who is only 4 years old…but she would hop on the bus to camp  with them if she could!  Here’s what you need to know about these siblings:

Daralee is a current 3rd grader, and will be a new Upper Junior Girl at camp this summer.  She sometimes goes by the nickname “D”.  She is a very serious dancer who practices 4-5 times a week at her studio, and is constantly on the move.  We watched some of her recent team videos on the computer and I was totally wowed, and her season just started!  We’ll be lucky to have her on our competition team this summer!  She is strong, smart and creative, and this summer she can’t wait to test out lots of activities like windsurfing, water slides, glass fusion, ceramics, gymnastics, painting, art shack and of course dance!  Her favorite food is watermelon, she loves the color sky blue and her favorite animal is a puppy (but for the holidays she got a cute guinea pig as a pet, and named him “S’more”!).  Her favorite TV show is “Bunk’d” and she likes listening and dancing to pop music.  She cheers for the Eagles (that makes her Philly parents proud!) and her favorite candy is Laffy Taffy.

Tavi is a current 1st grade, and will be a new Lower Junior Boy at camp this summer.  He goes by two nicknames “Tavster” and “Tot”…and I think “Tot” will be the one that sticks at camp!  He also got a pet for the holidays, a gecko named Jackie that I got to  hold, she was very friendly and had tons of spots!  In his room he also had a huge lego Starwars ship that he built with his dad, and he played me a song on the keyboard.  He’s very fast, and likes to run so you’ll have to be quick to keep up with him!  He’s funny and smart and likes to play ninjas.  He can’t wait to try ceramics, gaga and the water trampoline this summer.  His favorite food is chicken nuggets, he loves the color blue and the TV show “Ninja Turtles” (he also had some of their fatheads up on his wall).  He cheers for the Philadelphia Eagles with the rest of his family, and he loves to snack on Kit Kats.  His favorite book is “The Hulk” and he loves “The Lego Movie” and can’t wait for “Lego Batman” to come out soon!  Can’t wait to have them at camp!

Meet Lulu!  She lives in Bryn Mawr, PA and is a current 3rd grader who will be a new Upper Junior Girl at camp this summer.  She sometimes goes by the nickname “Lu”. We had a lot of fun hanging out the day before she got braces, so her smile is probably looking a little different right now!  I had a great time touring around her house and seeing her room and playroom (which has a cool spiral staircase leading up there!)  She’s going to be celebrating her birthday at camp a few days after Visiting Day, and we talked all about the fun she’s going to have on that special day! Here’s what you need to know about this creative, colorful and happy new camper: After school she likes to hang with her sister and dog Rocky, and do handstands.  She loves gymnastics, and will be signing up to spend elective periods there, as well as ceramics, dance, art shack and the pool for swim team.  Her favorite food is ice cream (pizza is the runner up) and she loves the color pink.  Her favorite animal is a puppy and her favorite TV show is “The Amazing Race”.  She loves Taylor Swift (she has her poster up on her wall!) and her favorite movie is “Sing”.  Her favorite hobby is gymnastics, and she likes reading the “My Weird School” book series.  She roots for the Eagles (even though her dad is from NY!) and her favorite candy is MilkDuds.  When Lulu was telling me all about herself, her parents were able to guess all of her favorites, they really know her and they know she’s ready for an awesome summer at Canadensis!

Meet Dani!  She lives in Plymouth Meeting, PA and is a current 2nd grader who will be a new Lower Junior Girl at camp this summer. She very often goes by the nickname “Dgrace”.  She attended the Tour & More Weekend last summer, so she knows a lot about camp and is totally ready for more summer fun!  She’s a younger sister (her big brother goes to camp, see below) and their family recently adopted a new puppy named Roxy, who doesn’t look at all like a puppy!  Here’s what you need to know about this nice and helpful new camper who is full of love: After school she likes to do her homework…seriously!  Her dad confirmed that she really enjoys doing it, and if she’s done with time to spare she’ll watch some TV.  Her favorite TV shows are “Jessie” and “Bunk’d”.  She’s got a lot of her artwork and crafts on display in her house, and she’s excited to do art electives (including glass fusion, and woodworking) and also play some sports.  She is playing basketball this season, and she’s on the Pink Panthers.  Her favorite animal is a dog or a panda, and she loves pasta.  She thinks pasta is “The Best Thing In The World!!”.  Her favorite colors are purple and orange, she loves Ariana Grande and Justin Timberlake, and she also loves chocolate…any kind of chocolate you’ve got, she’ll take!  She enjoys building legos, and I saw a recent one she built of “Moana”, which is one of her favorite movies.  She also really likes the movie “Sing”.  Overall, Dani loves to help others whenever she can, which means she’ll be an excellent bunkmate!!

Her big brother Aidan is a current 7th grader who will be a Lower Senior Boy, moving over to Senior Boys Side this summer.  He’s spending his 3rd summer at Camp Canadensis and he’s been having a busy year!  We got to hang out for a little bit before he went to Mitzvah Academy, and we talked about how we hope the weather cooperates better with us this year so we can get in more night time baseball games!  He’s getting ready for his Bar Mitzvah and he’s got a lot of camp friends he’ll be seeing all year at different celebrations!  He can’t wait to be back at camp!

Meet Lila!  She lives in River Vale, NJ and is a current 3rd grader who will be a new Upper Junior Girl at camp this summer.  She sometimes goes by the nickname “Li”. We hung out after she got home from her sign language class (they are performing to a song in the school concert!) and she also had Brownies, she’s a busy lady!  Even though I got to know her on her tour this summer, and she came back for more fun at the Tour & More Playday, I still learned so much more about her…and she introduced me to her favorite things, including the “Geronimo Stilton” books and Musical.ly.   Here’s what you need to know about this kind, and artistic new camper who loves to dance: After school she likes to watch TV, and she always hopes for no homework!  She goes to dance twice a week and takes a bunch of different styles, and will be signing up to spend elective periods there, as well as considering lots of other options.  She’s a girl who likes detail, so we got serious about looking at the schedule and she totally understood our crazy system of how Day 1 = Monday, and Thursdays are it’s own Special Day…maybe in the future she’ll work in Programming at camp!  Her favorite foods are cupcakes, sushi and ice cream.  She loves the color blue, puppies and the TV show “Good Luck Charlie”.  Her mom is from the Boston area so she cheers for the Red Sox and Patriots, and her dad went to Michigan so she’s a fan on theirs too!  She likes Taylor Swift music and loves gymnastics.  Her favorite candy is Twix (we both agree frozen Twix is the best thing in the canteen!) and she had a great favorite movie, she loves “E.T.” – classic!

Lila’s younger sister Brynn was part of the home visit too!  She’s only 5 and in Pre-K now, but she had awesome questions about camp and in a few years she’ll be packing her bag to try out Canadensis for a Tour & More program!

While in River Vale, I got to stop by and hang out with siblings Alex & Gabby and enjoy some banana bread while we caught up.  Alex will be back for his 4th summer and is excited to move up to Freshman Hill with the current 6th grade boys.  There are so many changes in store for him this summer, it’s a huge year!  He’s going to have to take a little time out from the Freshman Hill excitement this summer to practice for his upcoming Bar Mitzvah because he’s getting ready for it in October!  Currently, he’s keeping busy with sports, including Lacrosse and Tennis.  He also has started his own business creating apps, he’s made them for his school and other organizations, and he offered to make one for Camp Canadensis.  The app he created for camp has been downloaded over 160 times and hopefully after this blog post a few more times!

Gabby had a great first summer at camp last year, and she’s looking forward to returning to camp as a Lower Inter Girl.  She’s enjoying 4th grade, and while she’s taking tennis lessons currently, she’s really looking forward to warmer temps when softball season begins!  Softball is definitely her favorite sport, she stayed in the softball elective all summer last year, and she hopes we’ll have an intercamp game for girls her age this summer.  We traded lots of stories about camp (and memories about the overnight!), discussed the camp show and which bunk the family will go to first on visiting day this summer.  Can’t wait to see them when camp starts in 162 days!

You can download the app Alex made for free from the iTunes Store here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/camp-canadensis-sticker-pack/id1188135930?mt=8   

Once it’s installed, here’s an easy tutorial about how to use them! https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT206906

Meet Lily!  She lives in Scarsdale, NY and is a current 2nd grader who will be a new Lower Junior Girl at camp this summer.  She often goes by the nickname “Lil” and oh my goodness is she excited for camp!!  She was already 110% ready for camp by the time our home visit started, and when we were done she was at the highest number possible 🙂 . She’s got an older sister (see below), and a dog named Rosie. This weekend her family is heading up to the Poconos to go skiing at Camelback, it’s close to camp so they might make a side trip to Callies Candy Kitchen!  We spent the night looking through camp photos, talking about the best activities and making the tough decision about which perfectly mushy pillow to pack for camp!  Here’s what you need to know about this big hearted, crazy and friendly new camper: After school she loves to do gymnastics, she’s the cartwheel queen!  This summer you’ll definitely see her doing gymnastics electives, along with mountain biking and some of the options up in art!  Her favorite food is ice cream (in addition to sushi, and junk food) and her favorite color is specifically shiny pink!  Her favorite animal is a puppy, and she likes watching the TV show “My Babysitter is a Vampire”!  She loves the movie “Trolls” and likes the song “Can’t Stop The Feeling” from the movie.  In the canteen she’ll choose anything gummy, and we picked out which three books she’ll be bringing to camp…two are “Dork Diaries” and the other is her favorite book “The Descendants”.

A lot of Lily’s spirit and knowledge about camp comes from big sister Izzy!  The girls greeted me in Canadensis gear they had gotten as Hanukkah presents!  Izzy is currently in 4th grade and will be heading to camp for her 3rd summer, this year she’ll be a Lower Inter.  Being a Lower Inter means some elective choices open up for you, including Video & Media (which gets to make segments for the Canadensis Today Show), Ceramics Wheel and Quads!  Her bunk won Honor Bunk (the clean-up competition) 4 out of 6 weeks this year, which means they earned the pizza party, but didn’t make it all the way to the Callie’s Candy Kitchen, so she hopes they can stop there this weekend!  She’s been in the camp drama productions, and through rehearsals she’s gotten to know a lot of the older and younger campers, she’s made so many friends at Canadensis.  Some of the camp friends in her bunk have younger sisters in 2nd grade that are also starting this summer, so it’s fun to think about the new friendships that are about to start!

Happy New Year!  All of us here in the winter office are ready to make 2017 the Best Summer Ever!!  I spent some time during winter break visiting new campers, and they can’t wait to be a part of the activities, fun and spirit that we share each summer!  All of them happen to live in Plainview, NY so I covered a lot of ground in town!

Meet Sofia & Zach! This brother/sister pair loved their tour at Canadensis last summer and decided to come back up and join us for Tour & More Playday!  They each got a great chance to experience the magic at camp and are looking forward to the 7-week experience!

Sofia is a current 4th grader who will be a new Lower Inter Girl at camp this summer.  She often goes by the nickname “Sof”. She’s into tons of different activities, and I had so much fun hanging out with her (and her very cute dog, Maggie!)  Here’s what you need to know about this fun, adventurous and crazy new camper: After school she likes to play with her dog…if she’s not preparing for a show at “Take A Bow”.  She likes to do every activity under the sun, and is thinking about doing dance, swimming, arts and media electives.  She’s excited to help us create the Canadensis Today Show!  Her favorite food is salad and her favorite color is pink.   Her favorite animal is a puppy, and she likes watching the TV show “Henry Danger”!  Her favorite hobby is dance, but in her drama performances she sings, dances and acts.  The first time she ever auditioned, she got the role of Cinderella in Cinderella!  Her favorite type of music is “Hip Hop” and she’ll be choosing Hershey chocolate bars when her bunk goes to the canteen!  She has recently finished reading the book “Wonder” and she loves the movie “Star Wars: Rogue One”.

Zach is a current 7th grader who will be a new Lower Senior at camp this summer.  He’s a huge sports fan, and loves the NY Islanders, as you can see from his shirt in the photo above!  His Bar Mitzvah is happening next weekend, so the whole family is preparing for a really special time together (but I’ve been sworn to keep all the secrets I saw!!).  His favorite sport to play is soccer, and he’s been playing deck hockey since 1st grade.  He recently started playing basketball after trying out and making the middle school team!  He’s into the statistics side of sports as well, maybe we’ll even catch him doing a sports report on the Canadensis Today Show!  He’ll be aiming to get on roller blades before camp so he can join the CHL (Canadensis Hockey League).  That will be convenient since the hockey rink is right on Senior Boys Side!

Meet Maddi!  She is a current 2nd grader who will be a new Lower Junior Girl at camp this summer.  In her house, she often goes by the nickname “Momashea”. She’s got an older brother (see below), a younger sister and two dogs!  Over Thanksgiving she went to the shelter with her family and she was the one who spotted the newest puppy addition!  We hung out during Winter Break at home, but she’s looking forward to an upcoming island vacation with her extended family and cousins – it’s a tradition for them to go most years and we looked through lots of old photos from their trips!  Here’s what you need to know about this funny, creative and kind new camper: After school she loves to do gymnastics.  This summer you’ll definitely see her doing gymnastics electives, along with soccer and art!  Her favorite food is spaghetti and her favorite color is blue!   Her favorite animal is a dog, and she likes watching the TV show “The Simpsons”!  She cheers for the Mets, and will be snacking on Kit Kat Bars anytime she has a chance at the canteen!  Her favorite movies are “Moana” and “Trolls”, and she’s also enjoying listening to the “Moana” music (in addition to “Hamilton”!).  Without a doubt her favorite hobby is gymnastics, but she is also a very talented artist!

Above is a photo of me, Maddi and her older brother Nate.  Nate is a current 5th grader and will be an Upper Inter Boy returning to camp for his second summer!  I didn’t get to do his home visit last year, so I learned so much more about him during my visit.  He’s really into collecting cars/vehicles and he is such a talented artist!  I saw a lot of his works around the house and I’m so impressed, can’t wait to see what he creates at the Canadensis Art Shack this summer!  Right after my visit, he had a sleepover with his bunk mate Hunter, so he had a big Canadensis day!!

Meet Rachel!  She is a current 4th grader who will be a new Lower Inter Girl at camp this summer.  In her house, she often goes by the nickname “Rache”.  She’s an older sister, and she’s following in the footsteps of her parents who both went to sleepaway camp!  Since we hung out during the holiday, she had started a collection of Hanukkah gifts that will come in very handy at camp, including camp necessities like stationery and a camping chair!  Here’s what you need to know about this energetic, tall and unique new camper: After school her favorite activity is singing, acting and dancing in her “Take A Bow” class.  This summer you’ll definitely see her learning to waterski, playing BBK (Basketball, Baseball, Kickball) and doing photography electives!  Her favorite food is pizza (we shared some pizza together for dinner that night!) and her favorite color is purple!   Her favorite animal is a dog, and she likes watching the TV show “Liv & Maddie”!  Since Rachel is good at both acting and sports, she’s a perfect combo of both the Liv & Maddie characters.  Basketball is her favorite sport, and dancing is her favorite hobby.   She likes listening to hip hop music, reading the “Dork Diaries” books, and at the moment her favorite movie is “Star Wars”.

Meet Ava!  She is a current 4th grader who will be a new Lower Inter Girl at camp this summer.  She often goes by the nickname “Aves”. We met up only a few hours after she got back from a trip to Florida – and her family brought me back a surprise gift, mints in a personalized Florida licence plate tin!  Such a handy thing to have around!!  She’s the little sister in her family, but she is the first one to pack her bags for Canadensis!  Here’s what you need to know about this active, funny and nice new camper: After school she likes to have playdates with friends and she also is a competitive soccer player that works on her skills year round.  This summer she’ll be signing up for art shack and climbing wall electives!  Her favorite food is french fries (which we always have on Saturday BBQ night!) and she loves the color gold, so maybe she’ll be on the gold team for Color War?!  Her favorite TV show is “Chopped” and she loved the movie “Trolls”.  She loves Giraffes, and she has a big collection of giraffe stuffed animals in her room…super cute (I love giraffes too, it was my sorority mascot!).  Her favorite hobby is soccer, and she plays on the Warrior Soccer Team.  She loves snacking on gummy bears, listening to the song “I Lived” by One Republic, and her favorite book is “One and Only Ivan”.

Can’t wait to welcome all these new faces to camp!!

Today marks 200 days until camp!!  Can’t believe how quickly the countdown is going…we are busy meeting the new campers and reinterviewing the returning staff members – it’s shaping up to be the best summer ever at Canadensis!!  Last week I had two great days in New York visiting some of our new campers, and I can’t wait to introduce you to them!  Read all about these future Canadensis All-Stars in the blog below!

Meet Sidney!  She lives in Roslyn, NY and is a current 3rd grader who will be a new Upper Junior Girl at camp this summer.  She sometimes goes by the nickname “Sid” or “Sidney Beaners”. We had a lot of fun hanging out right before a tennis lesson – and she’s getting ready for camp!  She’s actually celebrating her birthday on the first day of camp – cannot think of a better birthday gift! Here’s what you need to know about this smart, artistic and sweet new camper: After school she likes to have a snack and relax watching TV and this summer she’s thinking about taking fishing and lots of art electives.  Her favorite foods are pasta, pizza and bagels and she loves the color blue.  Her favorite animal is a penguin (I agree…they make me smile!!)  Her favorite TV show is “Labrats”, she rocks out to all different kinds of music.   Her favorite movie is “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Day”.  She really enjoys tennis and art…and ice cream and candy corn! She’s also a great big sister to her younger brother Kameron, and her favorite book is “Captain Underpants”!

Meet Bianca!  She lives in Woodbury, NY and is a current 2nd grader who will be a new Lower Junior Girl at camp this summer.  She’ll have a summer birthday this July, and can’t wait to celebrate with her new camp friends!  She very often goes by the nickname “B”. The day I had come over she went to school with her Canadensis headband on – love that camp spirit!  She attended the Tour & More Weekend in summer 2015 and 2016, so she knows a lot about camp and is totally ready for 7-weeks of summer fun! Here’s what you need to know about this funny, kind and smart new camper: After school she does a lot of activities, but her absolute favorite is dance class!  This summer she’s planning to take dance, art and rock climbing electives.  Her favorite foods are pasta and ice cream and she loves the color blue!  Her favorite TV show is “Fuller House”, and right now her favorite song is “Closer”.  She cheers for the Islanders and her favorite movie is “Mrs Doubtfire” (that’s a really good suggestion for an upcoming Drive In Movie this year!).  Her favorite book is “Back to School, Mallory” and she thinks we should have lollipops at the canteen!

Bianca has a younger brother and her older sister Sasha is returning to camp for her 3rd summer!  Sasha is currently in 4th grade and will be a Lower Inter Girl.  She’s in touch with her camp friends (and counselors!) all the time and she’s very dedicated to her dance classes during the winter.  Can’t wait to have both of these cuties back at camp soon!

Meet Jara!  She lives in Commack, NY and is a current 2nd grader who will be a new Lower Junior Girl at camp this summer.  She sometimes goes by the nickname “Ja”. We hung out on the day construction started for a pool in her backyard, when she gets home from camp she can host pool parties at her house!  Here’s what you need to know about this caring, colorful and funny new camper: After school she likes to build legos and bake (she’s able to bake independently, just needs adult help with the oven!) and this summer she’s thinking about taking dance and fishing electives.  Her favorite foods are mac & cheese, cake, muffins and cheese.  Her favorite color is rainbow…aka, all the colors!!   Her favorite animal is a puppy, she loves snacking on poptarts and watching the TV show “Jessie”!  In addition to dancing, she also acts in plays (she’ll be doing “Annie” this winter) and she’s been advancing very quickly with her karate skills!  She also loves to color, she’s currently reading the book “Angel Wings” and her favorite movie is “Teen Beach Movie”.

Jara is joining her big sister Julia at camp.  Julia is currently in 5th grade and will be an Upper Inter Girl spending her second summer at camp!  She wasn’t the only one in the family wearing Canadensis gear, their dad was representing with a Canadensis hat on the day I visited!  Julia made wonderful connections with her Bunk 7 friends, and just about everyone in camp knows about her talented singing voice.  She’s getting ready to play “Tessie” in the upcoming Annie production – break a leg!

Meet Dakota!  She lives in Merrick, NY and is a current 3rd grader who will be a new Upper Junior Girl at camp this summer.  She often goes by the nickname “Kota”. We hung out on a Friday after school and I was so impressed by how much she knows about camp!  She learned a lot from doing the Tour & More Weekend, but she also has been listening to a lot of stories about camp from her big brother!  Here’s what you need to know about this nice, shy and friendly new camper: After school she likes to play with her dog (see her in the picture below!).  She likes to do every activity under the sun, and is thinking about doing the batting cage, dance, lake boats, art shack and climbing wall electives.  Her favorite food is sushi and her favorite colors are pink, light blue and blue!!   Her favorite animal is a dog (and she found out she was getting one on the same day her brother got home from camp), and she likes watching the TV shows “Nicky, Ricky, Dicky and Dawn” and “Impractical Jokers”!  In addition to art, dance and softball hobbies, she likes to cheer for the Islanders, Mets and Jets. Her favorite song is “Cold Water” and she’ll be choosing Starburst candies when her bunk goes to the canteen!  Her favorite book is “Wayside School” and she loves the movies “Grownups” and “22 Jumpstreet”.

Her big brother Hunter is currently in 5th grade and will be an Upper Inter Boy this summer.  Hunter is totally addicted to camp…especially the Hockey and Hondas programs, he can’t get enough!  He’s been in touch with so many camp people since leaving in August, he made a lot of connections and it’s truly unbelievable how much he remembers from last summer.  Can’t wait to have them both at Canadensis this summer!

Meet Jack!  He lives in Merrick, NY and is a current 3rd grader who will be a new Upper Junior Boy at camp this summer (he’s actually in the same class with Dakota…considering our campers come from all over the map it’s surprising the two new campers get to hang out at their desks!).  He’s been reading my blog and he couldn’t wait to show me his lego collection to see how it stacks up – it’s very impressive and he’s made some large collections! Here’s what you need to know about this funny new camper: After school he likes to play video games (he considers himself a “gamer”!) and this summer he’s thinking about taking baseball, quads and tennis electives.  His favorite food is chicken wings (he was very excited to hear about our “finger food” night!).  His favorite color is green, and his favorite animal is a giraffe!  His likes watching the TV show “Teen Titans”, and his favorite song at the moment is “Heathens”. He cheers for the New York Yankees, loves snacking on Charleston Chew candy bars and reading the book “Wild Robot”.

Jack is a big brother, his little sister Emma won’t be joining him at camp for a few years…but one day soon, everyone at Canadensis will know her name!

 

I’m loving these warmer temperatures in March – it feels like summer is coming quickly!  I been able to visit some fantastic new campers lately…let me introduce you!  Above are twins Dylan (left) and Ilan (right).  The boys are current 3rd graders and will be Upper Juniors Boys this summer, and they live in Horsham, PA.  When I got there, they were already pretty excited for camp…but by the end of the visit they were ready to throw on their new Color War shirts and hop on the bus!!

Dylan goes by the nickname “G Man” and describes himself as athletic, fast and strong.  After school he likes to play basketball, and at camp this summer he can’t wait to get out on the lake!  A few of his favorite things include steak, sharks, SpongeBob, and the color orange.  His favorite sports team is the Oklahoma Thunder, his favorite candy is taffy and he likes the movie “Lab Rats”.  Dylan likes to read (he was reading when I got there) and his favorite book is “Mighty Robot”.  While he really, really likes basketball…he’s also considering being in our camp show because he’s got some dramatic talent too!

Ilan won an epic “rock paper scissors” battle, and got to pick his Color War shirt first – if you want to, you can call him “Albert Einstein”.  He describes himself as smart, strong and fast.  After school, he likes to do his homework and he also likes to play sports.  His favorite TV show is “SpongeBob”, and he likes to cheer for the San Francisco 49ers and the Golden State Warriors (someone get this kid a plane ticket to California!).  He loves candy and couldn’t even decide which is his favorite, he likes the movie “Lab Rats” and the book “Treasure Hunters”.  He also likes steak, sharks and the color combo red & black.

In Northern, NJ I met up with Lila and her mom for a girls night where we talked camp!  (Her big brother Jack will be a Freshman at camp this summer, but he was away at a wrestling tournament with his dad).  Lila is a current 3rd grader and will be an Upper Junior Girl at camp this summer.  She remembers so much of the fun from the Tour & More Weekend last year, and it’s just going to get better when she gets to spend the whole summer at camp!  After school she likes to do homework, play with friends, and play “school” – she loves being the teacher.  At camp she plans to use her electives to get more art, dance and softball activities.   Here’s what you need to know about this silly, fun and kind new camper: her favorite food is pasta, her favorite candy is gummy bears, she loves pigs and the color blue.  Her favorite TV show is “Survivor”, her favorite book is “Dear Mr. Henshaw” and her favorite movie is “Goonies”!  She dances several times a week, and softball season is about to start!   It’s going to be a great summer ahead!

In Narberth, PA I got to spend a night with Tess, her younger sister and her parents (including her dad who is a Camp Canadensis Alumni!).  Tess is currently in 2nd grade, and will be a Lower Junior Girl at camp this summer – and around her house she goes by the name “Tessiebear” – too cute!  After school she loves to play outside or watch TV.  There are so many activities she’s looking forward to at camp this summer, but some things at the top of the list include dance, glass fusion, t-shirt art and sailing!  Here’s what you need to know about this awesome, cool and fun new camper: Her favorite color is purple, she loves pandas and hot dogs (the food, not the animal!).  Her favorite sports team is the Montreal Canadiens, and she has relatives in Canada she was about to visit during Spring Break.  Her favorite song at the moment is “All About That Bass” and she loves to snack on milk duds.  Her most favorite hobby is reading, and her favorite books are the “Heidi Heckelback” books.  She also likes the movie “Aristocrats” and the TV Show “Game Shakers”…I should check out that show before camp because I love games!

In Bryn Mawr, PA I “hung” out with Maddy!  She’s a current 2nd grader and will be coming to Canadensis for her first summer as a Lower Junior Girl.  She’s totally sweet  and also a great athlete – especially when it comes to gymnastics.  In the photo above we are swinging from the bar she has setup in her basement, and she knows some great tricks.  Her favorite hobbies are soccer and gymnastics, and she’s looking forward to improving her skills at camp.  Here’s what you need to know about this fun, sporty and active new camper: Her favorite food is strawberries (which we often have at breakfast!), her favorite color is blue and she loves bunnies.  When she’s in control of the remote, she likes to tune into the Food Network, and when she’s controlling the music in the bunk you’ll be rocking out to Katy Perry and Taylor Swift.  Her favorite sports team is the Philadelphia Flyers, her favorite book is “Junie B. Jones” and her favorite movie is “Annie”.

Maddy is a middle sister, and her big sis Jordan is a current 4th grader who will be spending her 3rd summer at camp as a Lower Inter Girl.  “Jordy” has been having a great year and staying busy with lots of different activities – whether it’s acting, sports or anything else that sounds like fun!  Can’t wait to have both of them at camp this summer.

In Westfield, NJ I hung out with Lilah right before a holiday weekend.  She is a current 2nd grader, and will be a Lower Junior Girl at camp this summer.  She already knows a ton about camp, she can easily be confused for a camper who’s been at camp for a while but she’s actually going to be one of our youngest kids at camp this summer!  She loves to dance (she takes four different types of dance classes and has a big recital coming up!) and softball season is about to get started.  At camp this summer, she’ll be spending her elective periods in cheerleading, dance and art…but I have a feeling she’ll be changing it up every week so she can try a lot of different things!  Here’s what you need to know about this confident, honest and kind new camper: her favorite food is ice cream cake, her favorite color is blue, she loves dogs and watching the TV show “SpongeBob”.  Her favorite sports team is the Maryland Terrapins (oh well, maybe next March Madness!) and she loves Taylor Swift.  She loves to read and has a ton of books, her favorite is the “My Weird School” series, and the movie she likes the most is “Monsters Inc.”

Lilah’s big brother Jacob is a current 4th grader, and will be at camp for his 2nd summer at a Lower Inter.  He’s an excellent big brother, and he knows Lilah very, very well…he actually guessed most of her favorite things (he even specifically guess that ice cream cake was her favorite food!).  Jacob had a great first summer, and he’s filling his sister in on all the important details of camp…he really paid attention in year one, I couldn’t believe how many names, activities, and camp details he recalled.  Can’t wait to have both of them at camp!