I had a wonderful time visiting some of our Canadensis families in Maryland!  It turned into a somewhat progressive meal (where you eat different courses in different places) and everyone was such a gracious host!  The day started with a Counselor-In-Training (CIT) of 2012…Dani Schapiro!  She greeted me at the door wearing a Camp Canadensis Super Seniors shirt, and I got to catch up with her and her family over some appetizers.  Dani is currently in 10th grade…but she showed me an absolutely adorable photo from her first summer at camp when she was in Bunk 2!  She also showed me a vintage Canadensis sports pinnie from her younger days at camp, which is totally back in camp style!  She stays super busy during the winter, and we met right after she got home from a pom practice.  We talked about her excitement for the 5-day Disney trip our CITs take during the summer, and she had some really good suggestions about programs at camp for the upcoming year, including bringing back the Fun Run.  They were the first family who I got to tell about our exciting NEW POOL announcement…and they kept it a secret until we made the big reveal on the Canadensis Today Show a few days later.

Dani also invited over Brenna, one of her best friends from home, and someone I know from another camp I worked at.  It was awesome to catch up with her, and hopefully we’ll get to see her again this summer because our camps started doing joint programming.  I know this next picture I’m going to post might get me in a bit of trouble…but check out this old photo from 2008…she’s wearing such a creative costume!

It was a wonderful first stop on my trip, and I wish Dani a wonderful winter break trip to NY.  I hope that I’ll get to see her soon at the Camp Reunion (Sunday, January 8th) – we say that the CIT’s of the upcoming summer “officially” take the mantel of responsibility for being CIT’s at the reunion.

My next stop in Maryland was with “Jes”, also known as Jessica – a current 3rd grader who will be coming to camp for her first summer in the Junior Division.  She stays remarkably active, and it seems like she does multiple activities each night!  I joined her after basketball practice, and we had a delicious salad & pizza dinner with her family, including little brother Liam (pineapple pizza…yum!).  Although I got to meet Jessica this summer while she toured camp, I learned a whole lot more about her during my visit.  She is a serious ballerina, and is currently performing with the Washington Ballet in the Nutcracker.  What makes this even more amazing is that it takes a lot of dedication and practice, and it’s her third year doing it!  She also goes to Hebrew School, takes Piano Lessons, and the list goes on and on.  She is super excited for the activities at camp, specifically Horseback Riding, Woodshop, Rock Climbing, Glass Fusion,  Soccer and the Lake – doesn’t that sound like a well rounded camper to you?

Jessica took me on a tour of her house, and she had an awesome disco ball hanging above her bed!  Have you ever seen something so cool?  She said that when she gets to decorate her bed at camp, she plans to hang up a poster of Taylor Swift & Eli Manning from the NY Giants.  Everyone in the family is a big Giants fan (which will make our director Brian very excited!)  Her brother even had a NY Giants blanket on his bunk bed…and they definitely have fun with those bunk beds when they have sibling sleepovers.  Jessica is a super sweet girl, who is an excellent and caring friend.  She is also very funny, and will be a great Canadensis camper!

My last stop of the night was with siblings Marshall – a current 3rd grade boy and Haley – a current 4th grade girl.  Both kids will be coming to camp for their third summer!  I got to meet their little “potuchkie” (that’s what Haley calls my dog, Annie) named Truffles.  We enjoyed some hot chocolate, and I got to hear about the many adventures they’ve been up to this year.  They are both dedicated students that tackle their homework right after they get home from school, and at their school they don’t only learn English, but they are also learning Hebrew!  On top of that, both kids are in the Cub Club, which is a cheer and spirit group at school, and I can’t wait for them to teach us some new cheers during color war.  Marshall has also been working on his moves…check out this break dancing photo below…

…and Marshall also recently started an acting career.  He auditioned and landed a role in a commercial for Haribo Candies, and when it comes out we’ll definitely have it posted for the Canadensis world to see.  Haley recently joined the Girl Scouts, and she already has the uniform!  I have no doubt she’ll be filling it with tons of patches soon…she was working on her cookies “sales pitch” while I was over!

It was wonderful to see everyone in Maryland, and share either appetizers, dinner, or dessert with them!  I hope to be back again soon!

P.S…providing food is NOT a requirement for home visits!! 🙂

Checkout the photo above…I’m on a home visit with Jordyn, a current 4th grader who will be attending Canadensis for the first time this summer as a Lower Inter!  I love going to visit new campers and getting to know them better, and on my home visit with Jordyn, she gave me a gracious tour of their home…just like I gave her a tour of camp when she came to visit this summer!

She has been going to West Hills Day Camp for 7 years, and she is super excited for overnight camp.  She loves to dance during the year, and is very dedicated – on the weekends her practices last for nearly 5 hours!  She is excited for all the activities at camp, especially gymnastics, glass fusion, ceramics, archery, swimming and water-skiing.  She is already a good snow-skier, so I’m sure she’ll have no trouble skiing around Lake Lenape this summer.  She is a big sister to her brother Darren, and she plans to write him (along with her parents!) many letters this summer.  She just had a birthday, and she got to celebrate it three times with different friends and family members…how cool?

Jordyn got an extra special ride in Aunt Terri’s Pink Golf Cart when she came up this summer, and she’s hoping to get a few more this summer!  She said that her friends would describe her as “funny, caring and a good friend” – and I think her bunk mates this summer will be lucky to have her!

My next stop was at Frankie’s house.  Frankie is a current 3rd grader that recently moved from NYC to the Northshore of LI.  I got to know Frankie when she came up to Canadensis last summer for the Tour & More Weekend.  She was at camp for one night, and if she could have stayed for the full summer, she would have been ready to move in!  Frankie will be a Junior this summer, and she already knows a ton about camp because her cousins Scott, Rebecca, Rachel & Jessica are part of the Canadensis family too.

Frankie was at Hebrew School when I got to her house, and she said it was “good”, so clearly she has more fun at Hebrew School than I used to!  We looked through the camp photo album, and she is so excited about the activities at camp this summer.   She can’t wait for woodworking, and she is excited to have a chance to climb on “The Summit” this summer.  The Summit is a huge inflatable toy on our lake that has a climbing wall on one side, and a slide on the other side – Frankie got to go Banana Boating during the Tour & More lake party, but she’s looking forward to being able to do even more.  As we were saying good night, she grabbed her bag FULL of books, which is her own personal traveling “library” – she loves to read.

When Frankie lived in Manhattan, she shared a bedroom with little sister Ruby, which is great preparation for when she shares a bunk with 8-10 other girls this summer!

This is a picture of little sister Ruby, who is currently in Kindergarten – but has tons of energy and excitement for camp!

A few nights prior, I also got to spend some time with Ally, a current 4th grader who will be a new Lower Inter this summer.   She has attended the Tour & More Weekend at camp in 2010, and she is so excited for overnight camp!  I’ve never met a more active girl in my life…she will play everything and try anything!  Some of her favorites include soccer, sports and biking…when I was at her house she was even asking her mom if she could play football!  Her biggest complaint about day camp was that there wasn’t much to do when she got home, so we’ll be keeping her super busy with the fun Evening Activities at Canadensis!  Everyone at camp has a lot of people that are looking out for them, but in Ally’s case she will also have a whole bunk of “big sisters”.  These girls are friends with her big sister, and they will be helping to make sure she has the best summer ever!

It was a fun night of home visits on Long Island, and on Sunday I gave a tour of camp to new campers Lauren & Morgan from Connecticut!  Next week I’ll be heading to Maryland & West Chester NY, and many more locations in the months ahead – looking forward to it!

Don’t these pictures just make you want to be at camp right now???

I hope everyone is having a great Monday morning!  We have been so lucky to have incredible weather in the Northeast for the past few days, and I hope it holds out through the weekend because I’ll actually be making my way up to camp on Sunday!  I’ll be giving a winter tour to two families from Connecticut that are thinking about Camp Canadensis for summer 2012.  If you are also thinking about camp and would like a tour, it’s not too late to call the office and schedule something…you can even join my tour this Sunday, December 4th – just call us at 484-674-1941.  I’m looking forward to it – and I will definitely be stopping at Callies Candy Kitchen on my way back to pick up some holiday treats.

Now is also the time when we are planning out our home visits for the winter. For more than 70 years, Canadensis has had the philosophy of visiting every new camper in their home, it really helps us maintain the close family we have at camp.  With campers coming from PA, NJ, MD, NY and CT…there is a lot of ground to cover!  If you haven’t been contacted by one of our directors yet, you can expect a call in the next few months.  If you’d like to set up something sooner, just give us a call and we’ll be on our way to get to know you and your camper better!

Some of our new campers who met at Canteen on the Fly have already been getting a jump start on building friendships!  The girls, who are currently in 3rd grade and will be Juniors at camp this summer, had a blast at a sleepover this weekend on Long Island, and made an adorable pillow craft project.  I love the results, and can’t wait to see them on their camp beds this summer!  Thanks for sending us photos so we can keep up with the Canadensis fun happening all over…we look forward to seeing each of the girls at their home visits this winter!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!  We hope you are enjoying a great holiday with your family.  The images this week are dedicated to the some of the many many Canadensis families that we are thankful for…

Carly (left) and Brianna (right) are both blog readers!!!  They are going to be Freshman girls in 2012, and we got to hang out at Canteen On The Fly in Westchester, NY!

Zoe (left) is a new 2nd grade girl, and Jordan (right) is a current 3rd grader returning to camp for her second summer.  Both girls will be in the Junior Division in 2012, and Jordan did a great job telling Zoe what to expect being in bunk 2 (youngest bunk).

We gave out awesome camp t-shirts at every location – this is me giving out the shirts in the parking lot at the North Jersey Canteen on the Fly.  Won’t this be awesome for tye-dying this summer??

This is Bailey, who is a current 3rd grader, and will be coming to camp for her first summer in the Junior Girls division.  We got to hang out at the Long Island Canteen on the Fly, where she met up with a lot of the new girls coming in…

Bailey and her new Canadensis Friends were winning tons of tickets in the arcade, and they were so thoughtful that they decided to pool their tickets and get a bunch of rings to share.  They got one for me, Cara and Robin too – we are so excited to be in on the fun!

At the very last Canteen on the Fly Stop, Eric and I stop for a camera op!

Right now I’m on my way to Long Island for our last Canteen on the Fly for 2011 – I can’t wait to see some of our NY families, and I’m really excited for the Senior Summit which is happening right afterwards!  I just wanted to share two amazing photos for Frame Worthy Friday- we have an amazing staff at Canadensis – and they put the campers above everything else, and here are just two photos that prove it!

I delayed my “Frame Worthy Friday” blog until today because I knew I wanted to post some photos from Canadensis Halloween during the summer!  We don’t really need excuses to dress up at camp – between the 4th of July, Crazy Night, Miss Canadensis, the Camp Shows and Color War, it’s actually rare to go a whole day without seeing someone in costume!

We pull out all the stops for the Canadensis Halloween Celebration – which includes trick or treating, games, costume contests, parades, “haunted houses”, golf cart “hay rides” and so much more!  Below are some of my favorite pictures from last year – I hope you have a very Happy Halloween!!!

I dressed up as grapes – Eric was an apple, and Brian was a banana.  We all wore capes, and were “Fruit on the Fly” – which is an awesome time each day when the camp comes together and enjoys a fruit snack.  Here I am with Super Seniors: Sam as Kermit the Frog, and Carly as a Canadensis Hockey Player.

Girls Bunk 8

Cowboy Roy and Mets Player Josh

Boys Bunk 8

Ben dressed as Mario, and Ethan as a magician

Girls Bunk 5

With Julia dressed as a Pajama Girl – did I mention that I’m wearing this 50 pound costume on one of the hottest days of the summer??

You should definitely get in your car, and come meet me at a Canteen on the Fly this weekend!  We’ll be eating ice cream and giving out camp t-shirts…which sounds like the most perfect day ever!  Check out the locations below:

And now, for your visual enjoyment…some pictures for my weekly “Frame Worthy Friday”: