Meet Claire and Ben!  They are both finishing 2nd grade, and will be Lower Juniors at camp this summer!  They live in Plymouth Meeting, PA.

CLAIRE:

-She’s very crafty, when I arrived at their house she had made me a sweet card.  She loves doing art projects!

-She collects snowglobes and showed me them in her awesome room.

-Claire plans to try out for the Camp Show this summer.

-Her most favorite activity is gymnastics – she loves being on the floor element!

-Her favorite color is neoon green, and her favorite foods are ice cream and cookies!

-Claire did the Tour & More Weekend last year, and in looking ahead to spending the full summer at camp, she’s excited to try some of the medium paced rides at Dorney Park.

-Mostly, Claire cannot wait to make new friends at camp, and to have friendly competition with her twin brother at Evening Activities!

BEN:

-He really likes books, and soccer.

-Ben is really excited to celebrate his birthday at camp this summer, and we talked all about the special ways we celebrate at camp!

-He think’s he’ll love the batting cage elective.

-And, he loves baseball so much, he will want to participate in the Canadensis Baseball League (CBL).

-He is twins with Claire, but they also have an older brother!  And, his Dad went to Canadensis growing up and is an Alumni of camp!

Henry is going to be spending his 4th summer at camp!  He is going to be an Upper Inter Boy this summer.  He had his TAC’s (Tagger at Canadensis for doing good deeds!) in his room, and I loved seeing it.  We talked all about the sports he’s been playing (soccer, basketball, etc!) and how excited he is to be in Middle Camp this summer!

(Here’s a selfie Claire and I took, and she turned into a collage!)

Meet Casey!  She’s currently in 4th grade, and will be a Lower Inter Girl this summer!  She lives in Westfield, NJ.

-Casey did the Tour & More program twice, and she’s been at camp fir visiting day, so she knows all about our amazing camp food like the Cornman and David’s cookies!

-This girl loooooves to dance!  She is in the process of creating more dances, and taking more classes.

-Casey does every dance style you can think of…lyrical, ballet, tap, hip-hop etc!  We had a little dance party.  She makes up routines on the spot and is going to be a huge help to her bunk during MTV Night!

-She plays every single sport, and especially likes basketball, softball and soccer.

-She is also good at gymnastics.  She showed me her tricks!

-Her dog is named “Teddy” and is so sweet!  She also had some “pet deer” who like to visit her backyard!

-She’s also a great artist, and showed me her fashion design sketches with lots of details including shoes!

-Her basement was under construction when I was over, but when it’s finished it’s going to be a great place to have a party for all of her camp friends!

-She wants everyone to know that she is not at all “vanilla” – she is a totally fun and ridiculous “chocolate” explosion!

Ryan is her big brother, and he will be spending his 3rd summer at camp.  This year he will be a Freshman boy .  He is soooo excited for camp, he screamed from the other room when he heard me and Casey talking about stuff!  We talked about all sorts of stuff, including how delicious the donuts are on Thursday mornings at camp!

This brother/sister team is coming to camp for the first time this summer!  Zoe is finishing 2nd grade and will be a Lower Junior Girl.  Ben is finishing 4th grade and will be a Lower Inter Boy.  They live in Livingston, NJ.

ZOE:

-She is going to be celebrating her birthday at camp, but when she gets off the bus next month she’ll still be 7 years old!

-She loves gymnastics and dance!

-The hat she’s wearing in the photo above is her “disco/shopping” hat!  It’s cool and I hope she brings it to camp!

-She hopes to have a bottom bunk so she can turn her camp bed into a fort!

-After school, Zoe loves to roller blade and ride her bik.

-Zoe has about 5,000 boooks!

-She is super excited for activities like art, sewing and cooking!

BEN:

-He is most excited to do the sports at camp.  Basketball is probably his favorite.

-But, he also likes Tennis and Baseball a lot!

-In September, he got a puppy!  It’s a boxer named Missy and he lvoes her!

-On beach trips with his family, Ben loves to surf…so cool!

-He also enjoys riding his skateboard.

-We talked about a lot of different food questions at camp, and he’s going to be trying Fruit on the Fly!

Meet Kate!  She is finishing 2nd grade and will be a Lower Junior Girl at camp this summer!  She lives in Syosset, NY.

-When I was visiting, Kate had just joined a gymnastics competition team, and she was tumbling with joy the whole time I was there!

-She was doing cartwheels, splits and handstands.  She was working on her back handspring and loves the bars.

-We talked about her past theater performances – she was a mermaid in Peter Pan, and suggests we do Frozen at camp one summer!

-She plays piano, and recently performed at NYSMA for the first time.  But, she’s also an athlete who is good at sports too.  We talked a bunch about her swim team, she can do all the strokes including butterfly!

-She loves art also, and is excited to tie-dye at camp this summer!

-She loves Katy Perry (because they have the same name!)

-She had so many Canadensis things in her room…a clock, water bottle, teddy bear…her normal bedtime is around 8PM, so she’s excited to stay up later at camp!

-Kate loves all foods, except maybe pineapple!

Her big brother Ethan will be at camp for his 2nd summer, and will be an Upper Inter Boy.  He was one of the stars of our play last year, and suggests we do Mary Poppins.  He also did NYSMA this year for singing, piano and trombone too!  He wants to be even more serious about his swimming this year, and is excited to get back to camp…he thinks the food is great!

Meet Jonah!  He’s currently in 3rd grade, and will be an Upper Junior Boy this summer!  He’s from Philadelphia, PA.

-He sometimes goes by the nickname “JL” for his initials.

-He’s looking forward to a lot of different activities at camp, especially painting, mountain  biking, glass fusion, gaga, tetherball and activities in the lake!

-Jonah showed me a porcupine he made in Kindergartend, and it was really great!

-We flipped through a book of camp photos, and when we got to the sports page he liked every single activity!  He especially likes golf.

-Last summer at his day camp, he won the silver medal for a dodgeball game called “pins”.  It sounded like a lot of fun!

-We talked about MTV night and and the big all camp activities, and he was pumped for Dorney Park!

-He was dressed for his hockey game later 🙂

His big sister Annabelle will be at camp for her 3rd summer, and will be an Upper Inter Girl!  She helped me out a ton during the home visit, and explained all the fun details about camp to Jonah.  She’s been staying busy during the school year with performances and dance classes!  Not pictured is oldest brother Eli, who is a serious student…but also loves changes to take a break and see camp friends, his bunk even went on a ski trip together this year!

Meet Jamie!  She is in 3rd grade and will be an Upper Junior Girl this summer.  She lives in Livingston, NJ!

-Jamie loves dogs, and wanted to know if she could spend time helping me out and walking my dog Annie this summer…I told her YES!

-She loves cornman, and wanted to know how many times she’d get to have it this summer (the answer is 3 – open house, carnival and visiting day!)

-I got a tour of her room, and got to see all her fun beanie boos.  Her favorite one was named Fluffy.

-She is a serious soccer player, and was on the 3rd grade championship team called the “Storm”.

-She loves arts and crafts, and cannot wait to try glass fusion this summer.  She knows how to do pottery and showed me lots of her ceramics projects from day camp, and the award she won for helping another camper on the overnight.

-She spent a night at camp last summer in the Tour & More Weekend, and she got to do the banana boat in the lake!

-She also had a pretty funny story ab out where she showered during her overnight weekend…haha!

Her big brother Mason will be back at camp for his 2nd summer, and will be an Upper Inter Boy.  He has been loving seeing his camp friends during the winter, and is letting his hair grow and grow!  He’s excited to be in Middle Camp this summer and get some extra freedom during Free Play and a bowling trip!

Mason and Jamie have Canadensis Cousins too…and it was awesome to see them on the home visit!  David is going to be a CIT (Counselor in Training) and that is the highlight of the Camp Canadensis camper experience!  Rebecca is going to be spending her 3rd summer on staff, this year she will be a Drama Specialist, and is trying to get Jamie pumped up for the camp show!

Meet Dylan!  She is in 2nd grade and will be a Lower Junior Girl at camp this summer!  She lives in Washington Crossing, PA!

-Her favorite colors are hot pink, neon green and blue!

-She plays on a soccer team called the “Patriots” and they wear red and it’s her favorite sport.  She plays goalie!

-But…she’s not a great goalie when she’s defending against her two big brothers in the backyard…they are serious athletes!!

-She also does gymnastics once a week and is working on her back handspring and back flip.  She showed off some cartwheels and roundoffs for me, right in the living room!

-For her electives at camp this summer, she plans on doing glass fusion, woodworking and waterslides.

-At her day camp, she loved played Newcomb, and doing the climbing wall and high ropes – I’m sure she’ll love it at Canadensis too!

-Dylan likes all different kinds of foods, especially bagels, lox, pasta and nachos…all things we have regularly at camp!

-In addition to having two brothers, she has two dogs named Izzy and Cosmo (she got to name Izzy!)

Chase is spending his 3rd summer at Canadensis, and is going to be an Upper Inter at camp this summer.  His basketball team was very successful this winter, and he won a trophy almost as big as his little sister!  He plays sports year round, including soccer!  Logan is going to be spending his 4th summer at camp, and will be a Lower Senior.  He’s excited to be on Senior Side for the first time, and celebrated his Bar Mitzvah this past year.  It’s been great to see all his camp friends at the different parties.

Alana is current 5th grader, and a new Upper Inter Girl!

Meet Alana: She lives in Armonk, NY and is a current 5th grader who will be joining us at Camp Canadensis for her first year as an Upper Inter Girl!  I had such a great time getting to know her, she’s so sweet and was whirling and twirling during our home visit, so she will no doubt be busting a move at Morning Line Up every day this summer!  Here’s what you should know about this great new camper:

Alex is a current 4th grader, and a new Lower Inter Girl!

Meet Alex: She lives in Irvington, NY and is a current 4th grader who will be joining us at Canadensis for her first summer as a Lower Inter Girl!  She loves to follow in her father’s footsteps…that’s part of the reason why she loves to play soccer and is learning to play trumpet.  Her father went to Camp Canadensis too, and now it’s her turn!  Here’s what you should know about this well rounded new camper:

Lila is a current 2nd grader, and a new Lower Junior Girl!

Meet Lila: She lives in Newtown, PA and is currently in 2nd grade, which means she’ll be a Lower Junior Girl for her first summer at camp!  She is joining her big sister Misha at Canadensis this summer, but last year she actually got to spend the night at Canadensis during the Tour & More Weekend!  Here’s what you should know about this fun new camper:

Jordyn is a current 2nd Grader, and a new Lower Junior Girl!

Meet Jordy: She lives in Newtown, PA and is a current 2nd grader.  She will be a Lower Junior at camp this summer, and cannot wait for her first year!  She is going to be 7 years old when camp starts, and will be celebrating her 8th birthday at camp.  She’s already super excited to have the whole camp sing to her!  Here’s what you should know about this sweet new camper:

Jordyn is new to Canadensis, and her brother Andrew is currently in 3rd grade, and is returning as an Upper Junior Boy!

Speaking of her big brother, he’s coming back to camp for his second summer!  Andrew is a current 3rd grader, and will be an Upper Junior Boy.  He was a huge help during this home visit because he remembers EVERYTHING from last summer!!  Here’s some good update from Andrew since camp:

Jordyn is a current 2nd grader, and a new Lower Junior Girl!

Meet Jordyn:  She’s from Maple Glen, PA and is a current 2nd grader, and will be a Lower Junior Girl at camp this summer.  All you need to do is check out that giant smile (that’s missing a few teeth!) to know she is ready for camp.  She told me she would start today if she could!  Here’s what you need to know about this super active new camper:

Elias is a current 3rd grader, and a new Upper Junior Boy!

Meet Elias: He lives in Maple Glen, PA and is a currently 3rd grader.  He will be an Upper Junior Boy at camp this summer and will be joining his older brother for the summer at Canadensis.  Elias also has a younger brother, and he’s lucky to get to be both a big and little bro at the same time!  I really appreciate that his family included me in lighting Hanukkah candles together, and I had fun getting to know Elias better.  Here’s what you should know about this happy new camper:

Elias is joining his older brother at Canadensis, Griffin is a current 6th grader, and will be a Freshman Boy this summer!

Here’s a photo of me with Elias and both his brothers.  It was awesome catching up with Griffin during the home visit and hearing all about what he’s been doing since camp.  He’s a current 6th grader, and will be moving up to Freshman Hill this summer.  Here’s a few updates from Griff:

-He’s playing basketball and training for baseball right now.

-He’s been filling his brother in on all the things he should know before his first summer.  When I came over, they were starting to watch the Yearbook DVD!

-He’s really excited about the perks of being a Freshman. Things like double electives, getting to opt out of the overnight, choosing cooking as an elective, and going on the overnight trip to Cooperstown.  (Even though he’s going to go twice in the same summer since he has a baseball tournament there!).

Check out that gigantic cookie!  Having fun with the Plant Family!

I love seeing our campers!  A few weeks ago, I got to hang out with Jordan, a current 6th grader who will be a Freshman Girl at camp this summer, and will be getting her 5 year jacket!  She was in town visiting several camp friends, and I got to spend some time with her and her parents!

Jordan (left) was visiting friends in Philadelphia, and I met up with her and Rachel (middle) right before Rachel went to Nutcracker practice!

One of her sleepovers was with her bunkmate Rachel, and we all got to spend a little time together in Philadelphia before Rachel went to ballet practice.  But, not just any ballet practice…Rachel had to practice with the Pennsylvania Ballet for the production of the Nutcracker, where she was starring as Marie…the lead!  It such a dream come true, and a major role!  It takes tons of practice and rehearsal, plus dedication.  She has a lot of performances to do at the Academy of Music, which seats more than 2,500 people!

At the show with Jordan and Jordyn

A few weeks later, the curtain went up on The Nutcracker, and I went with some of Rachel’s camp friends to support her!  Here I am with Jordan, and Jordyn (who is also going to be a Freshman Girl this summer, but is in a different bunk in the division).  We were all SO impressed. Rachel was incredible on stage – just phenomenal!!!   All her hard work is paying off, and if you are in Philly this holiday season, it’s not too late to get tickets to see her on stage!

We love seeing holiday cards from our camp families!

We love when our camp families include us on the mailing list, and send us their holiday cards.  We get so excited to open the envelopes and pass them around so everyone can see!  We also love when we spot camp photos or camp gear that makes it onto the holiday card, but this year was the first time we were a “trivia” answer on a holiday card!  This super creative personalized family word search comes from Aidan (Lower Inter Boy) and Brooke (Freshman Girl) and their fun loving family!  The question for 11 Across said: “Brooke and Aidan go to this overnight camp”, and the answer of course is CANADENSIS!

And since this will be my last blog of 2014, I wanted to share one last thing I’m very excited about!  Amy Spielberger has been a Canadensis Mom for several years, her children Ruby and Drew will both be back at camp this summer.  This year mom is coming with them, and joining us on the Programming Team at camp!  She’s grown up at sleepaway camp, met her husband at camp, and has served as a JCC Day Camp Director.  Her hard working and detail oriented approach to camp will be a huge asset to our program this year.  Our Program Director Lauren Schwed and I can’t wait to have her on our team!

We had an amazing time seeing our campers and camp families at our Canteen on the Fly gatherings in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania over the last few weeks!  I wanted to recap with a photo essay documenting some of the highlights!

Ella, Dayton and Alexa (all Upper Inter Girls coming back to camp for their second summer) had a great idea to take a “selfie” outside of the Livingston, NJ Canteen on the Fly! Check out the selfies I took with campers below:

In Ambler, PA, I took a photo with sisters Misha and Lila on the left, and Sydney is on the right.

In Westchester, NY, I loved how Michael colored his shirt with Canadensis Blue & Gold on the left, and it was awesome getting to meet Alex on the right, I loved her super colorful design!

On the left is Izzy (a new Lower Junior girl) and on the right are Sami and Jamie (new Upper Junior girls).

On the left is Lauren, Lauren and Sophia (all decked out in Color War Spirit on the Mainline, PA) and on the right is Madi.

What’s been really fun to see at these Canteen on the Fly events are our “frequent flyers”…campers, CIT and staff who travel with us from one location to another…or meet us at Canteen on the Fly at different locations on different days.  It truly takes the camp spirit to another level, and it means so much to us when people are willing to travel to see their camp friends!  In the photo above, you’ll see 2014 CIT Lauren at the Mainline, PA location, and below she’s at the Livingston, NJ COTF party!

It was a partial G4 reunion at Swede’s Yogurt! Ella, Dari, Amanda, Jadyn and Samara reunited with their 2014 CITs Lauren and Alix!

Scott, Matty, Zach, Marshall, Jacob, Sam, Jake and Matt with “Daddy Dave” at the Long Island, NY Canteen on the Fly.

2014 CIT Marshall was another frequent flyer!  We got to catch up with him above in New York, and below in New Jersey!

Max, Dave, Eric, Matt and Marshall in Livingston, NJ.

Also joining us at most Canteen on the Fly locations were our youngest Canadensis “Campers”…Carli Forti and Emerson Krug!  Our Lower Girls Head Counselor, Melissa Unger got the perfect photo with these two popular ladies!!

Here are some other awesome moments Cara captured at our 5 different Canteen on the Fly Events!

And, one last photo I wanted to share…”Transformation Tuesday” style.  These two photos were taken a year apart at the same location.  Hannah is now going to be a Freshman camper, spending her second summer at camp – and I love both her t-shirt designs!!

During the summer, everyone who works at camp wears many hats.  It’s 7 weeks of pure non-stop action, and we love attracting staff who are looking to get involved with as much of the fun as possible!  That’s why our cooking specialist might also run an A Capella elective, a general counselor will take a role in our camp show, and it’s also why I take on the role of basketball coach during the summer!  Above is a photo of me with the 2014 “Team Pro”.  Team Pro (short for “programming”, my main responsibility as Assistant Director) plays in the WNBA, which is an optional, competitive league our female campers can sign up to participate in.  Most players are between the ages of 13-16, but it’s open to all ages who want to compete.  This year, we had 6 awesome teams in the league, and I love getting to know campers in a different way on the court.

Team Pro had an amazing season, and the team consisted of (from left to right) Dara, Daniella, Alyssa, Lindsey, Julia, Lauren, Carly, Sabrina, my co-coach Theresa Malafronte, and our CIT coaches Zach, Max and Marshall.

I also coach a basketball team in the IBL (Inter Basketball League) which is another optional, more competitive league for boys who have finished 4th and 5th grade.  As the league commissioner, I got to pick the names of the three teams, and the Princesses, Mermaids and Unicorns had some epic battles last summer!  Dave and I coached “The Unicorns” (our team is wearing white above), we enjoyed seeing the heart these boys poured into our games!

The Unicorns even attracted some cheerleaders!

In the photo above, you’ll see some of the IBL award winners from the 2014 season (from left to right), Landen, Alex, Dylan, Dave (my co-coach of The Unicorns) Ben, Ozzie and Adam.

So at this point, you might be under the impression that I’m a serious basketball player , or someone with a great jump shot and understanding of the game…but sadly, my own basketball ability is on the basic side (ok, super basic side!).  I’ve definitely been “knocked out” in the first round of many knock out games…even when playing against some of our youngest campers!  But, I love the game, and getting involved with the Camp Canadensis Basketball Super Leagues gives me a chance to get more involved with the sport, and bond with the players on and off the court.  It’s actually been a very long time since I’ve actually played a game of basketball (half a lifetime ago…sophomore year of High School, 1996), but the teams I coached this summer inspired me.  So, when I got back to Philadelphia this fall, I joined a team!

Here I am with the “Longshots”, we play in a rec league and all of us were free agents, so we were randomly grouped together…and we are definitely “longshots” in our league!  The games are really late at night (sometimes we play at 10PM on a weeknight…yikes!) and often times we don’t have any subs, so I end up running sprints on the court for 46 minutes straight.  When I need motivation to leave the house on a chilly night when I’m just not feeling up to a long game, Dave will remind me of The Unicorns and Team Pro, and how important it is not to let your teammates down…and that always gets me into gear!

It’s been a real eye opener for me, I’m older, slower, less skilled and know much less about the sport than everyone else on the court.  We’ve lost every game this season by a large margin, but the girls on my team are very nice, and we celebrate the small victories.  For instance, some personal highlights came when I somehow made this pass in the photo above, or the time I scored 10 points in a game, or that one foul shot I made this season.  But most of all, I’m proud of the fact I’ve shown up for every game, and it’s thanks to the inspiration I received from watching our campers give their all on the office courts this summer.  

But, that isn’t the only way I’ve been inspired by the basketball teams…when deciding costumes for Halloween, Dave and I chose to dress up as unicorns, and even Annie had a unicorn getup too (and hers lights up!)  They were super cozy…and you should definitely expect to see us on the coaches bench rocking these during the summer!

Speaking of Annie, I tried my hand at carving her likeness in a pumpkin for our annual neighborhood  pumpkin carving contest.  If you haven’t carved a pumpkin lately, let me tell you…it’s hard work!!  I did this one above without a template, and each time I walk by I feel a twinge of pride.  However, when it glows at night…Annie looks very “evil” because her eyes and nostrils look like they are on fire!

But alas, the “Annie Pumpkin” didn’t win the neighborhood contest…my other submission did!  It’s the pumpkin on the right, “Hipster Pumpkin” has a hat, thick rimmed glasses and a perfectly groomed mustache!  Besides the hours invested in creating these two masterpieces, here’s some other photos of what I’ve been up to lately…

Camp looks stunning in the fall…love seeing all the leaves change!  Had a great trip up with some of the winter team recently, (from left to right), Me, Brian, Matt and Eric.

I also took a trip up to camp on a brisk fall day to show around a new camper.  Dani (a current 6th grader) will be a Freshman Girl at camp this summer, she’s in the photo above on the left.  Next to her is Joey, another Freshman Girl who knows Dani from home, and will be returning to camp for her 4th summer!  In the bottom photo, Joey poses with a camp sign and the CIT Girls Bunk behind her.  Her hope was to go inside the bunk and check it out, but I think it’s more fun when the CIT bunk remains a mystery until you get to move in!! (CIT stands for “Counselors In Training” and they are the leaders in camp, they’ve just finished 10th grade).

It was also so much fun to celebrate Ben’s Bar Mitzvah last month.  Ben will be a Lower Senior boy, and this will be his 4th summer at camp.  His mom Lauren is our amazing Program Director during the summer, and there were so many camp people in attendance to celebrate!  Above are some of Ben’s cousins that also attend camp.  Justin (left) is a former camper who has now spent two years as a counselor and in the middle is Amanda who will be a CIT this summer, and receiving her 8 year jacket!!

And, although it’s hard to make out all the faces, this photo shows the entire Canadensis crew that came out to party!  In the top left are Ben’s brothers Alex & Matthew.  On the right is Lauren, and in the middle wearing a baseball hat is Benjamin (the man of the night!).  Other faces in the photo are our camp mom, Steph and all of the guys from Boys Bunk 14 last year, including Jeremy, Ethan, Jordan, Sam, Ben, Jeremy, Ethan, Ben and Mitch (it seems like I repeated names…but several of the guys have the same name!).  Can’t wait to see all of these guys on Senior Side next year!

We hope to see you at the Summer 2014 reunion on Sunday, January 25th from 10:30AM-12:30PM at Funtime America in Eatontown, NJ.  We can’t wait!