I had a great evening this week with some of the lovely Camp Canadensis Senior Girls of 2011.  Pictured above, Remy will be a new Lower Senior, and Mel, Elizabeth (E-beth) and Alix will all be back for their 6th summers as Upper Seniors.  We drove around the Villinova, PA area in circles for a while – but while on the car ride the girls discussed their favorite camp activities and stories, and they even caught me up on some basic pop-culture things I don’t know now that I’m old.  Apparently, there is a song called “Friday” by Rebecca Black, that everyone in the free wold has heard of besides me!  I just watched the video on YouTube, pretty hilarious.

While enjoying our ice cream at Hopes Cookies, we relived some of the best memories from 2010, including the 3-day trip to Lake Placid that all the Lower Seniors go on.  We explained some of the best camp traditions, including Color War and Sing, Prom, and so much more.  Now it’s only 36 days til new camp memories begin!

Wow, camp is coming so soon!  At this point next week I’ll be living at camp (I’ll also be turning 30, but that’s another story…)!  I know we are all looking forward to being back around Lake Lenape with our favorite camp friends, or coming to spend our first summer at Canadensis as a camper (or staff member), and meeting some of the most amazing people in the world!  In light of that, I thought I would dedicate this ‘Annie the Dog’ post to friendship.

Above is a picture of Annie with her BDF (best dog friend) Cooper.  This photo was actually taken at camp a few years ago, and the reason they are so excited with their heads out the window is because they are looking around at all the trees, grass and small animals to have fun with!

Below is a photo of Annie with her friend Rinker.  They were only at camp together for one year, but they had each others back – just like a true camp friend!  Just remember, friends come in all shapes and sizes…this photo isn’t doctored at all!

And finally, here is a picture of me and my two best Philly friends, with all of our dogs!  Clearly, you can see how well we have them trained.  This photo is the result after 5 minutes of trying…oh well!  Annie will totally write Stella (left) and Bishop (right) letters while she’s up at camp this summer.

Annie the Dog, making lots of friends – – Annie the Dog, hopes the summer never ends!

(Don’t forget to submit your rhymes for the Annie the Dog music video that JCal will be filming at camp this summer!)

Coming soon, you’ll be receiving a postcard with information about the Indian Summer Family Camp Weekend that we run at Canadensis each summer.  The postcard features two of our current campers, Brett who will be in the Freshman Boys Division and Katie who is back for her second summer as a Lower Inter Girl.  Also pictured are their parents (mom Meredith and one of our Camp Doctors, Ross) who loves spending time at Canadensis!  Keep an eye out for it in your mailboxes by the end of May!  More information about the weekend is posted below…we hope to see your whole family at Canadensis this Labor Day Weekend!

As shown in the photo above, I got to hang out with one of our new Bunk 2 girls in NYC over the weekend.  Mackenzie is a current 2nd grader at the Ethical Culture School and she was at Canadensis last summer for the Tour and More Weekend.  She is a super silly girl, she showed me some of the funny faces she likes to make, and she loves to laugh.  This year she dressed up as SpongeBob for Halloween, and she also loves to watch iCarly.  She enjoys riding her bike, and she can’t wait for the activities at camp, including rock climbing, waterskiing and gaga.  She likes gaga “very much” and plans to join our Gaga League at camp this summer.

Mackenzie recently got her ears pierced, and she showed off her emerald studs, which are the color of her birthstone.  Her birthday is in May (just like mine) and she’ll be turning 8 soon!  She really likes going to the beach, making art projects and splaying sports like softball, soccer and tennis.  Mackenzie is an all-around camper, and we can’t wait to have her spend the summer with us at Canadensis!

I haven’t uploaded any of my crafts recently, but I have definitely been working on some projects.  One of the more recent examples are the coin purses shown above.  The actual coin purse is store bought, and it’s large enough to store plenty of treasured objects (I actually have one for myself that is the perfect size to hold my MahJongg card, coins and cell phone!).  I personalized each one above for some of the “Mothers” in my life.  It was a simple project using iron-on letters from a craft store, but once they were personalized I also stuffed them with some candy and chocolate covered pretzels.   Happy Mother’s Day to all the Canadensis Moms!

“Annie the Dog” and I took a trip up to Camp Canadensis this weekend, and we both had a great time, but Annie was especially happy to be back in her summer home!  As soon as we turned on to the camp road, she literally started doing flips in the front seat, and couldn’t wait to get out of the car so she could spend some time with her camp friends (the chipmunks and squirrels of course!).  So, I just wanted to post these two pictures real fast…remember to submit your “Annie the Dog” rhymes – they will be collected and used in the “Annie the Dog” music video this summer!

Annie the Dog, shaped like the letter “C”…Annie the Dog, Camp Canadensis is her favorite place to be!

Annie the Dog, on the lookout for some chipmunks…Annie the Dog, I hope you don’t find any mean skunks!

Camp is all about fun, but we can’t save all the fun for the summer…sometimes we spread it out during the year, which is why Cara and I threw a “Royal Wedding Viewing Party” at work today!  We both came in dressed up, and and enjoyed a lovely cup of tea with cookies and finger sandwiches.   We watched a few video highlights (while answering the camp phones) and it was a lovely way to mark the day.

In the above picture, you can see that even Annie got into the wedding spirit…she wore a ruffled dress.  If you want to have some royal wedding fun at home, here’s what I suggest:

1.  Make simple cheese sandwiches, cut off all the crust and chop it into bite size pieces.

2.  Wear a fun headband or hat, but if you don’t have either of those things, just grab a bobby pin and some flower (mine are fake florals from the craft store) and stick them in your hair.

3.  Wear tons of jewelry – you can’t really see it, but I have about 12 necklaces on!

4.  Use some pretty china to make a cup a tea…it doesn’t have to be expensive, Cara and I used a set I found at Goodwill for under a dollar!

This week I had the chance to meet a great new family that will be coming to camp this summer!  The Moyer Family lives in Reading, PA, and they are related to the Konst Family at camp (Terri runs our Evening Activities and Special Events – Maxim and Lydia are in the Junior Division, and Sam is going to be an Upper Inter this year).

This will be the Moyer’s first camp adventure!  Michael is currently in 8th grade, and he will be an Upper Senior Boy this summer, and he’s already looking forward to the three-day trip to Boston.  During the year he enjoys playing some sports, XBox and doing a lot of Tae Kwon Do.  Henry is currently in 4th grade, which means he’ll be starting as a Lower Inter Boy, and he also loves doing Tae Kwon Do.  Henry is also pumped for all the activities at camp that his cousin Sam told him about, he can’t wait to Zip Line, try out for the Camp Musical and do everything else that camp has to offer.  He loves sports, fishing, and just about everything under the sun!

Carrie will also be coming to camp for the first time this summer, and she will be running the Arts and Crafts Program.  During the year she paints beautiful murals for children’s rooms, and she also refinishes cabinets.  As pictured above, she is sharpening her crafting skills, and is practicing her tye-dying technique for camp!  Husband/father, Michael (not pictured),  will be found fishing on our lake during the weekends, and he has a green thumb, so maybe he’ll help us with out our flower gardens around camp!  Please join me in welcoming all four of them the camp!

Everyday at camp is amazing, and there are always highlights…like Color War Break, Carnival and the first day when all the campers arrive. During the “off season” there are highlights too, and I want to dedicate this blog post to the BEST day I’ve had this winter.

It happened last month when my boyfriend surprised me with an anniversary trip to see a taping of The Nate Berkus Show – and the episode is airing TODAY! I LOVE The Nate Show because it’s all about design and decorating, which is a hobby of mine. Everyday I get home from work and watch Nate on my DVR. It was such a sweet and thoughtful surprise for Dave to take me to see a taping of the show, and it was really wonderful that the Canadensis office gave me a day off on a Wednesday to go to NY for the taping!

Just seeing the show would have been more than enough – but while waiting to go into the audience, we started talking with a producer for the show, who wanted us to ask a question to Nate on the air!! Dave (who also works at camp, it’s a day camp in NJ called Pine Grove) asked about Nate’s hair, and you can see the rest through the photos and videos below…

In the hair and make-up chair backstage

After hair and make-up…in the green room!

A screen shot of us with Nate (and Kimora Lee Simons)…thanks Cara!

Another screen shot!  I think Nate is touching Dave!!

A few months ago, my camera had a meltdown and I lost of the photos I had taken with new campers.  Luckily, I got to see both of the girls at New Camper Bowling earlier this month, and we did some photo retakes.  Above is Abby, who is from Briarcliff Manor and is in 3rd grade.  She will be a Junior Girl at camp this summer, and no doubt we will see her on the sports fields and up on stage!  She is well rounded, and super outgoing!

Here is the “make-up” photo that Chelsea and I took!  She is currently in 4th grade, and will be spending her first summer at Canadensis in the Lower Inter Girls division.  Her big sister Lindsey (who will be a Super Senior!)  has been helping her get ready for a great summer, so Chelsea is looking forward to MTV Night, Color War and making tons of new friends.  During the year she loves going to school, skiing, playing soccer and basketball, and you will often find her dancing, being silly or telling jokes!

Do you have any good rhyming quotes for this ‘Annie the Dog’ photo?

Annie the Dog, eating some food…

Annie the Dog, sticking out your tongue is rude!