I had a great visit in Northern NJ with Jessica! She goes by “Jessie” and she’s a current 5th grader who will be spending her first summer at Canadensis as an Upper Inter Girl. She is the youngest of three siblings, but is the first one to go to sleepaway camp, and she’s so excited! Jessie’s looking forward to all the activities, but especially the sports (soccer, lacrosse and basketball are her favorites) and the lake activities (kayaking, sailing and the water trampoline!). After schoo, she likes to go outside, get her homework done and hang out with friends. She’s sweet, mature and very “humorous” – here’s what you need to know about this funny, creative and easy going new camper: she loves all varieties of the color blue, the TV Show “F.R.I.E.N.D.S.” and the NY Mets. Out of her many hobbies and sports teams she plays on, soccer is her favorite. She loves dogs, moneys and horses (friendly ones) and pop music, especially Adam Levine hits. Her favorite food is chicken noodle soup, her favorite book is “Out of my Mind” and her favorite movie at the moment is “Daddy’s Home”. Can’t wait to have her at Canadensis, hopefully she’ll split a Hershey bar with me at the canteen this summer!
On the Mainline, PA I got to hang out with a new set of siblings coming to Canadensis! On the left is Julian, a current 5th grader who will be a new Upper Inter Boy this summer. He sometimes goes by the nickname “Jules” and he is looking forward to so many different things about Canadensis, including playing soccer, doing the Today Show elective and trying out Parkour. Here’s what you need to know about the awesome, fun and nice new camper: his favorite food is sushi, he likes the color gold (go gold team!) and he likes dogs (he has two…you can just barely see Honey in the photo at the bottom right, but Sugar is not in the photo). His favorite TV show is “Family Guy” and he likes listening to Kendrick Lamar and the song “Swimming Pools”. He is going going to be playing a lot of soccer at camp, and he’ll look forward to snacking on some twix bars at the canteen!
His sister Lila is a current 1st grader, and will be a new Lower Junior Girl at camp this summer. She’s very enthusiastic about camp, she’s been ready to pack her bags since she was about 5 years old! Here’s what you need to know about this kind, cool and nice new camper: She loves gymnastics, dogs and remote control cars. Her favorite color is super awesome…she loves tie dye! Her favorite TV show is “Lost” and she’s loving the song “Stitches” right now. She likes the “June B. Jones” book series and the movie “Little Monsters”. She cheers for the Eagles, and would love to eat noodles and chocolate all day. I know she’ll be flipping for camp as it gets closer!!
Also on the Mainline, PA, I got to spend a fun night catching up with Sloan! She’s a current 2nd grader who will be a new Lower Junior Girl at camp this summer – and she already has so much camp spirit because her mom is an Alumni, and she’ll be joining her two older cousins at Canadensis! She goes by a few nicknames, including “Sloanimal” and “Sloanie”, and she is a big sister. A perfect day after school for her would include playing soccer, making up games with her younger brother, and getting to eat a hamburger and ice cream for dinner! She’s excited for a ton of new activities at camp, and the top of her list is sailing, fishing, archery, glass fusion, gaga and the ropes course/climbing wall! Here’s a few other things you should know about this creative, playful and sporty new camper: her favorite color is red, she loves dogs and she cheers for the Denver Broncos. Her favorite movie is “Hotel Transylvania 2”, her favorite TV show is “Gravity Falls” and she loves the “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” book series. She loves listening to “Fall Out Boy” and we are both loving the new Justin Bieber songs, including “Sorry”! Her favorite hobbies are playing soccer and reading, so we’ll be seeing her do both at camp…but not at the same time!!
In Suffolk County, NY I got to spend more time getting to know Brooke…I had gotten to meet her super quickly this fall, but it was soooo cold we didn’t spend much time talking! Brooke is a current 4th grader and will be a new Lower Inter Girl this summer. She’s the first one in her family to go to sleepaway camp, and she’s going to really enjoy all the activities. She stays busy during the school year by performing in shows at “Take A Bow” and she’s had a lot of really huge parts! She’s also currently on a basketball team that has practices and games every week. We talked as we snacked on some freshly baked cookies (she loves to cook, even though she didn’t get to help make these!) and then she gave me a tour of her newly redecorated and very cool room. Here’s what you need to know about this awesome, funny and crazy new camper: Her favorite food is California rolls, she loves the color neon green and puppies! She loves the TV show “Full House”, the new Star Wars movie and the book “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”. She cheers for the Knicks, likes all types of Pop music, and her favorite candy is Twix (the frozen twix are the best canteen item in my opinion!). Can’t wait to see her up on the stage acting in one of our camp shows this summer!
Across the county line in Nassau County, NY I got to catch up with Abigail. She’s a current 4th grader, and will be a new Lower Inter Girl at camp this summer. She goes by the nicknames “Abby” and sometimes “Cocoa”, and the night I visited she was working on Valentines for all of her classmates. I loved seeing how crafty she is, and I’m sure it made all her her friends so happy to receive the cards the next day! While she really loves art, she equally loves soccer. She also likes to dance, write songs, sew clothing and sometimes after school she is a TAG mentor. At camp she can’t wait to go fishing, play soccer, dance and work on projects in the art shack, fabric arts and ceramics! Here’s what you need to know about the awesome, cute and all around amazing new camper: her favorite colors are black, pink and blue and she loves the “Thea Stilton” book series. She couldn’t pick a favorite food or candy, but she likes sweet hearts, all types of chocolate, pasta, donuts, pizza, cupcakes and french fries. Her favorite animal is a dolphin, and she loves the songs “Shut Up And Dance” and “You Don’t Know You’re Beautiful”. Some of her favorite TV shows are “Bunked” “Austin & Ally”, “Liv and Maddie” and “Cupcake/Cake Wars”. Can’t wait for Abby’s first summer!
In North Jersey, I had fun getting to know Alyssa! She did our Tour & More Sleepover Weekend last year, and this will be her first full summer at Canadensis. She’s a currently 4th grader and will be a Lower Inter Girl this summer. She’s got an older and younger brother, so she’s looking forward to making a whole bunk of camp sisters! She really enjoys playing basketball, softball and doing art…any of those would be her favorite way to spend an afternoon! This summer she’s looking forward to zipping around on the Quads, trying new recipes at cooking and getting up on waterskis for the first time (she’s a snow skier, so I bet she’ll have pretty good luck!). Here’s what you need to know about this nice and silly new camper: Her favorite food is mac and cheese, her favorite color is blue and she loves dogs. If she’s in charge of the remote control, she’s going to put on Disney Channel, and she really liked the song “Singing in the Shower” right now. Her favorite hobby is art, and she’s thrilled that our canteen has nerds ropes because that’s her favorite candy! Her favorite team at the moment is “Team Mustard” – it’s the basketball team she’s on, and they renamed themselves based on the color of their shirts. Can’t wait to see her shooting hoops at camp this summer!
Alyssa’s big brother Josh is a current 6th grader, and he’ll be back for his second summer at a Freshman Boy – there a lot of big changes for him this year, including more electives, no more swim instruction and a big overnight trip to Cooperstown! It was great to hear about all the sports and activities he’s been up to this winter. The day after I saw him, he was heading to a bunk reunion/sleepover.
We love seeing photos of #CanadensisReunions, including this one of Josh’s bunk, B12 2015 catching up after a basketball game.
Back on the Mainline, PA, I got to talk camp with with Reed! He’s a current 2nd grader, and will be a Lower Junior Boy at camp for his first summer – and he can’t wait! His big brother Wyatt started camp last year, and will be returning as a Lower Inter, and Reed can’t wait to join the fun. He’s especially looking forward to riding the quads, planying basketball, gaga, soccer and zipping down the waterslides (although, he’s not quite as excited about swim instruction!!). He is currently on a basketball team, but he plays sports year round. His perfect afternoon would include a little bit of xbox, a little bit of basketball and a lot of football! Here’s what you need to know about this fast, funny and awesome new camper: his favorite food is pizza, he loves the color red, and likes sharks. He cheers for a ton of sports teams, but his number one team is the Eagles! He likes to listen to Drake’s music and watch the TV show “Thundermans”, and some of his favorite movies include “Creed” and “Revenge of the Nerds”. He sometimes goes by the name “Reedo Dorito” but that’s not his favorite snack food…if given the choice he’d go for Mike & Ikes! Can’t wait to see him having a ball at camp!
As I’ve been doing home visits this year, it’s been interesting to see how many kids list the Denver Bronco’s as one of their favorite teams…and how many kids liked the Seattle Seahawks last year! I get it…everyone likes a winner, but above is a camper who is truly dedicated to the Denver Broncos, and can’t wait to wear her team colors at Canadensis this summer. Samantha lives in Denver, and will be an Upper Junior Girl spending her first summer at camp. I can’t wait to meet her in Colorado in a few weeks!
Visiting Day is known in part for all of the delicious food, and one of our camp mom’s is known for her outrageously delicious homemade challah. She was amazingly generous with her time this week, and taught me how to perform the mitzvah of making challah – and as a newly wed I know that Dave hopes I put the new skill to use often! I had so much fun hanging out with Kami, and catching up with her two girls. I’m forgot to take a photo, so I only have a picture of the challah to post…but look how amazing it turned out!
A few days later, I went out to Millersville University for a day of interviewing new staff. It was wonderful to meet so many talented new staff. While on campus, I got to catch up with our former woodworking director Jay to hear about his student teaching, and get his insight on the new recruits. It was awesome to see him!
And finally, in todays blog I wanted to share some exciting news about a new addition to our high ropes course and climbing adventure area. Above is your first view of the newly installed “Vertical Playground”! This element will take you to new heights in camp, and can be used for team building, races and more! Campers will get to experience it during their ropes course activity periods, in addition to the zip lining and other challenge activities they’ve loved in the past. Race you to the top!
