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!

Hello Canadensis…

So, I just logged onto www.canadensis.com and saw that there are only 57 days until camp!  Woo Hoo!  Tomorrow, I will actually get up to camp for a preliminary sneak peak.  If you don’t know, we host many groups up at camp before and after our summer season.  And, our first group arrives this weekend.  For this group, I actually get to be down at the lake helping out, which is one of my favorite areas of camp.  I will post some pictures in a future blog.

Some of our pre-camp staff and counselors have already arrived this week to help us out with these groups and assist with setting up camp for the summer.  In fact, Matt Unger has been up at camp for a few weeks already preparing and getting camp into summer shape.  Be sure to check out the Twitter feed, http://twitter.com/#!/Canadensis , which now has all the updates coming directly from the 18325.

Eric, Pam and I have started to work on and have almost completed our 6-Day Master Schedule.  This really gets us excited for the summer as we are setting the schedule for all of the fun that will take place.  However, putting together a balanced day for 400+ campers is one heck of a task!  But, we are almost done.  On top of that, I just got back a list of all of the Pike County Inter-Camp Tournaments we will be participating this summer.  Looks like we will have basketball, baseball / softball, swimming, dance, gymnastics, hockey, lacrosse and soccer games for many of our age groups.

Also, in talking about the summer, campers can once again look forward to outside guests coming into camp.  Already booked for the summer are Brad Henderson magic workshops (www.bradhenderson.com), Adam Issadore’s Path To Rhythm Drum Circles (www.pathtorhythm.com), Rak Dan Dancing (www.rakdan.com) and Future Fashionistas (new for 2011 Girls Side) workshops (www.futurefashionistas.com).  Of course, these are just a few of the many exciting things we have planned for the summer.

There are definitely some more wonderful home visits to report on as well.  In Merrick, NY, I saw the Talarico Family, which will now have all three of their children at camp this summer.  Oldest brother Ross, who will be a Lower Senior this summer and returning for his five year jacket, and sister Paige, who will be an Upper Inter in her fourth summer at camp, will be joined by their younger brother Drew, who is currently in the 2nd grade and will be in our Junior Boys division.  All three Talaricos had great things to tell me about all they have been up to.  In the fall, Ross played his first year of tackle football as an offensive lineman for his team, the Rams.  He also played basketball and baseball this year.  He can’t wait for his new journey over to Senior side this year, the Hondas elective and having his younger brother at camp in 2011.  As for Paige, she has been rehearsing for her school music production  of “Hank and Gretchen,” which is a take on Hansel and Gretel and will premiere in June.  She is also very busy with all kinds of dance classes and competitions in hip hop, jazz, tap and ballet.  This summer, she can’t wait for the go-karts elective and a later bedtime.  She also wanted to say hello to all of the girls from Summer 2010’s Bunk 7.  And for Drew, he just started baseball season on his team, the Orioles, where he plays pitcher, first base and outfield.  He also played soccer this year on his team the Dominators and played on a basketball team, too.  At camp this year, he looks forward to all of the sports, making new friends, the trip to Dorney Park and being with his brother and sister.  Here is a picture…

In Philadelphia, PA, I met up with Luke Jaspan, who is a second generation Canadensis camper, as his mom Jodi was a camper.  Currently in 3rd grade, Luke will be in our Junior Boys division this summer.  At home, his big passion is ice hockey and he plays on a team, the Warriors, which posted a 30-4-1 record this season.  Luke plays wing, defense and goalie on the team.  Luke also participated in the “Mites on Ice” at a Philadelphia Flyers game this year, where he played goalie and earned the “Mite of the Night” honor.  Luke also plays baseball and lacrosse.  He is a huge Flyers and Harry Potter fan.  When he gets to camp this summer, he is excited for the inter-camp athletics against other camps, hockey, baseball, lacrosse, gaga, waterskiing / wakeboarding, fishing, woodworking and ceramics.  Here is a photo…

In Dix Hills, NY, I spent some time with Alexa and Tyler London.  Tyler, currently in the 6th grade, returns to camp for his fourth summer as part of our Freshman boys division while Alexa, now in the 4th grade, will be in our Lower Inter girls division in her first summer.  Tyler has been playing a lot of USTA tennis tournaments lately and also been involved with basketball and flag football.  At camp, he can’t wait for hondas, waterskiing and his division’s trip to Cooperstown the the Baseball Hall of Fame.  Tyler wanted to give a shout out to his bunkmates from Summer 2010’s Bunk 9.  Alexa plays a lot of basketball and just recently finished up her team’s season, which made it to the championship game.  The coach even created a special “hotness” play for her this season.  Alexa also enjoys bike riding, going to the movies, swimming, being with her friends and family vacations.  When she gets to camp in 2011, she is excited about the climbing wall, the Dorney Park trip and “getting away from home.”  Here is a pic…

In Northport, NY, I got to see the Kahane brothers, Sam and Max.  Sam joins us for his third summer at Canadensis as part of the Lower Senior Boys division while Max is coming for Summer #1 and will be in the Junior Boys division.  Now in 7th grade, Sam has been attending some bar mitzvahs of some of his bunkmates which he was really excited about.  At the same time, he has been playing numerous USTA tennis tournaments.  In the winter, he loves snow skiing and has even been skiing double black diamond trails.  At camp this summer, he looks forward to cooking, the Tennis Academy and of course, being on Senior side.  He certainly wanted to say hi to all of his bunkmates from Summer 201o’s Bunk 14.  Max, who is in the 2nd grade, likes lacrosse, basketball, tennis and snow skiing.  He, too, skis double black diamonds.  He is also a big fan of WWE wrestling and his favorite wrestler is Batista.  When he gets to camp, Max will be all about trying activities like waterskiing, cooking, flag football and lake boats.  Here is a picture…

Last weekend, I also had lunch with the Shaw Family, who are from Caldwell, NJ.  It was great catching up with Oliver Shaw, who is back for his fourth summer as part of our Upper Inter Boys division, and his younger sister Avery Shaw, who will be joining us for her first of many summers at camp as part of our Junior Girls division.  Avery told me all about how she loves gymnastics, dance and art.  She also told me that she just can’t wait for the summer since she has been hearing about all the good things that Oliver has told her each year.  Avery attended last summer’s Tour and More Weekend and has already connected with some of the girls that will be part of her division this summer, which has gotten here even more excited.  On top of that, she told me that she can’t wait to try “everything!”  As for Oliver, he had some very exciting news!  For the past year, he has been part of a band called Going Dark.  A few months ago, the band entered “The Break” Contest, which started with close to 500 bands competing for the grand prize…a chance to play at the Bambooze Festival and the New Meadowlands Stadium.  After several rounds, Going Dark won the competition!

Here was their promotional video…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpKP1cvDmvY&feature=related

Here was when they won “The Break” Competition at the Stone Pony in NJ…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbnW7nRm9ic&feature=related

Oliver Shaw and Going Dark will now be playing Sunday, May 1 at the Bamboozle Festival.  More info here:  http://thebamboozle.com/ .

Congratulations, Oliver!

Here is a picture, too…

I also got to have lunch with the Greenspan family, who were in town from North Bethesda, MD, visiting relatives.  It was great to see Marshall and Haley, both who are joining us for their second summers at Canadensis in our Junior division.  Both Marshall and Haley are excited for their return to camp and told me all about what they have been up to, including recently getting a new dog and a family vacation they went on in the winter.  Here is a photo…

On a final note, I wanted to wish Will Armon and his soon to be wife a CONGRATULATIONS!  Will and Amy will be married tomorrow, April 30 in Missouri.  Many Canadensis staff will be in attendance!  I hope everyone has a great time!

Well, that’s all for now.  More blogging next week.

Have a great day…Brian

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!

Hello Canadensis readers! It’s been waaaay too long since my last blog, I can hardly believe it’s the end of April! So much has been happening, both in and out of the office, so I’ll try to keep it short and simple!

Earlier this month Mara came to Pennsylvania to visit Dani, and by default (I mean, we DO live together) I got to see Mara too!!! The best part was that I had planned to make a quick day trip up to camp to get some things out of my camp house, and Mara and Dani got to come along for the ride! We spent a beautiful hour in the Poconos, including stops at Callies and Sonic!

The fun didn’t end after my weekend with the girls. Just as the cold weather was deciding to come back for a visit, my gal pals and I hopped on a plane and jetted off to Cancun! The weather in Mexico was perfect, sunny and 82 everyday, and we spent our days by the pool and splashing in the ocean. Our resort was the same location where they filmed MTV’s “The Real World”, so it was a really cool place to be! We had the best long weekend, and returned home just in time for Passover.

Cancun was fabulous, but as soon as I got home I was happy and excited to get back to real life, because camp is getting here so quickly, and I still have lots to do. The sheer excitement of so many of my best camp friends coming back this summer after taking a year or two off, (Gabe, Moira, Steve, Alex, just to name a few…) has got me out of my mind with joy! When Gabe was away in Africa for two years we couldn’t talk about camp on the phone like we did in years past, so now that he’s back we’re talking about it constantly, which is not helping!!! Ahhhh can it just be camp now?

The biggest event these days is Dani’s spring musical, The Sound of Music. She’s playing Mother Abbess, which makes it really hard for me to keep a straight face when she’s dressed head to toe as a nun! She does a fabulous job, as always, and I cannot believe it’s her last musical with this Theatre Department. Tears!!! The show opened last night, and will play again tonight, and then twice tomorrow, at 2 and 7:30. If any campies want to join us, you know how to get me!

Well, I’ll try to blog some more before I move to camp on MAY 23rd!!! I’ll be picking Gabe up and taking him to precamp in less than two weeks, so I’ll try to take some pics and blog from camp for you all!

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!