Today is the first day of majors and minors for our 3^rd session. Our campers are getting right back into their routines with activities once again. For those who are new to the 3^rd session, they are first starting with their activities and it’ll become routine to them before they know it.

The skies were partly cloudy today and the temps are once again cool in the high 60’s to low 70’s. Pretty wild that our summer temps are so low this year but hey, it beats the heat and humidity that the summers usual bring!

Today our 7^th grade boys lacrosse team came in 2^nd place in the Wayne County tournament. We’re so proud of how well our boys have played throughout the summer. Good job guys! We also went out of camp today for an archery tournament. The kids had a great time competing against other camps.

Today’s special feature is Cooking, Science, & Video!. Tonight’s evening activity is Groups. Here’s a list of what’s going on around camp: BOYS: Group 1- scavenger hunt, Group 2- pool party (with girls group 2), Group 3- t-shirt party (kids walk around and write on each other’s blank t-shirts we’ll provide), Group 4- capture the flag (with the girls). GIRLS- Group 1- campfire, Group 2- pool party (with the boys), Group 3- t-shirt party (with the boys), Group 4- capture the flag (with the boys).

It’s going to be a chilly night, but luckily those bunks stay warm from the daytime air. Until tomorrow when it’ll warm up a bit again, ILC U THERE!

Welcome to 3^rd session at ILC! The first full day of the session begins with sunshine and temps only hitting the low 70’s. It was the perfect weather to run around for our 4-minor day. Today our theater lovers auditioned for the 3^rd session show, Footloose. Those new to this summer also took their deep water test for swimming in the lake, waterskiing, wakeboarding, and taking out the boats. Kids also got tested for their level in a variety of activities such as tennis, dance, rock shop, and horseback riding. 4-minor day is their chance to try out activities to see what the kids would like to sign up for as their majors.

Later this afternoon we held our special camp traditional activity,…Panic! I announced items from the bunk and the kids ran in to retrieve them to bring out to their group leaders/judges in the middle of their campuses. The bunk with the most points won LTB (Late To Bed). I play music after announcing each item so our campers can sing and dance along while playing Panic. It’s a fun activity for all ages.

Once Panic was over our group leaders went around to all of their bunks to sign up our campers for their majors. All of our department heads were in the office to assist in case of activity conflicts during the same major. We assist the campers with their schedule to make sure they can take every activity they’d like and be sure no one is closed out of an activity.

Tonight’s evening activity is Groups! Here’s a list of what the kids will all do: BOYS: Group 1- xtreme dance off, Group 2- dodgeball, Group 3- pioneering games, Group 4- kong pong (because the oldest boys love it!) GIRLS: Group 1- pool party, Group 2- egg drop, Group 3- gaga, Group 4- crazy games.

Today’s special feature is Panic! Have a good evening and until tomorrow, ILC U THERE!

Today was our 2^nd changeover day for ILC summer 2015. Where has this summer gone?   We can’t believe we are starting our 3^rd session already! This morning it was difficult to say goodbye to so many amazing campers. We hope they all had a fantastic summer and return home with wonderful memories to hold onto until next summer when we can all be back together here at camp once again.

In the meantime, summer continues as we enter into our 3^rd and final session. We are excited to get to know many of our new campers who are arriving with fresh haircuts, clean white sneakers, and exhilarating grins from ear to ear. Our campers who stayed on from session 2 are pumped up to make new friends and see many from last summer. We know the 3^rd session will be just as incredible as our previous 2 sessions.

We are also busy preparing for our big 3^rd session teen trip to Boston and Martha’s Vineyard. About 80 campers and 9 staff will head to the land of the Red Sox to spend 4 days and 3 nights checking out Boston and the surrounding areas. Included in this trip are a visit to the Basketball Hall of Fame, Faneuil Hall, Fenway Park tour, a duck tour, Six Flags, and a day trip to Martha’s Vineyard. At night we’re going to see Blue Man Group and Shear Madness. This trip is the highlight of the summer for many of our older campers so we’re all revving to go.

Tonight’s evening activity is “Make Your Own Sundae” (Aka “Make Your Own Mess”) in the canteen. Tomorrow is our 4- minor day. Until then, ILC U THERE!

We cannot believe that today was the last full day of session 2 here at Island Lake. This entire summer is flying by way too fast. It’s going to be sad to say goodbye to many amazing campers tomorrow morning. We hope they had the greatest experience here at ILC & we hope to see them all at camp next summer once again. Parents of session 2 campers, you should have all received an email with changeover day information. Please read it thoroughly to make sure you are properly prepared to pick up your children at the bus stops tomorrow.

Since today was the last full day of the 2^nd session, our campers had only majors and no minors. This afternoon they had super clean up and packing time for those campers who are leaving tomorrow. Later in the afternoon we rocked out to our big Rock Concert in the theater. The theme was The Beach so the kids all dressed the part. We were aiming for an outdoor concert but we had a little rain this afternoon. Electrical equipment and wet grass don’t mix well so the beach party went indoors.

Today was the rad skatepark competition during the majors for all of our skateboarders and rollerbladers. Lots of kids have improved immensely over the course of the summer so this competition was a great opportunity to show off their gnarly skills.

Tonight’s evening activity is the older campers’ show, Anything Goes. No doubt our campers will do a fantabulous job. Tomorrow you will be able to view photos of the show on CampMinder.

Our session 2 campers still have 1 more night to spend with one another. We hope your children arrive home happy, semi-clean, with only amazing, fantastic, superb, incredible stories to share with you about their summer 2015 here at ILC. Tomorrow we will welcome all of our session 3 campers to Island Lake. Until then, ILC U THERE!

Today was the last day of our 2^nd session majors and minors schedule. Tomorrow we will have only majors, along with super clean up and an afternoon rock concert. Last night’s performance of Free to Be ILC was adorable! Those little ones put on quite a show with a really cute set to go along with it.

With the sun shining once again, we had yet another beautiful day in Starrucca, PA. Temperature were in the mid to upper 70’s so we could not have asked for a greater day of weather.

Lots of activities and events went on here at Island Lake today. The Rock Cabaret performed this morning during 1^st minor. A whole bunch of campers & CITs sang rock songs from a variety of B’way shows and did a fantastic job. The 7^th grade boys lacrosse team played in a home game this morning. They won and they’ve now advanced to the Wayne County finals! Nice job boys!

The ILC Mud Run took place in the 3^rd minor today for all of our campers. Over 100 kids participated as they ran around camp and completed obstacles along the way.   Some obstacles were wet, some muddy, some dry. They had such a blast! Today’s special feature is the Mud Run!

We also had some activities outside of camp today. Our avid canoe and kayak campers returned from their overnight trip down the Delaware River. Our dancers headed out to another camp for yet one more dance competition today.

Step right up and get your popcorn on because tonight’s evening activity is the Circus Show! It’s going to be an exciting fun-filled night with flying trapeze, high wire, fabric, lyra, mini-trampoline, rolling globe, ground skills, and more! Don’t worry parents, we’ll video tape the show so you can order it on dvd after the summer.

One more full day left in 2^nd session. Changeover day info will come via email tomorrow morning, as well as in tomorrow’s blog. Until then, ILC U THERE!

Happy Neon Day! Today our campers and staff are all wearing neon colors just for fun. You’ll see lots of neon in today’s daily summer photos so warning, you may want to put on your shades before viewing them! (wink wink!)

Holy cow, there are only 2 more full days left in the 2^nd session! Where has this summer gone? The saying is definitely true, time flies when you’re having fun! We hope your children are all having the most remarkable, amazing, fantastic, extraordinary, spectacular, wonderful, memorable summer with us here at Island Lake this summer. We’re sure they’ll come home and share tons of great stories with you. It’s just hard to believe that their wait for next summer will have to start all over again.

Let’s just focus on the here and now since our ILC summer is going so incredibly well. The change in the weather from 1^st to 2^nd session has definitely been in our favor. Today was another beautiful day in Starrucca, PA. The morning started off cool in the 60’s and then it warmed up to the mid-70’s. Perfect summer weather here in the Pocono Mountains!

Our canoe & kayaking campers went on an overnight river trip today. They left this morning and they’ll return tomorrow morning. Looks like they’ll have perfect weather for this fun experience.

Today in sports, our 6^th grade boys played basketball out of camp this morning. Our 7^th grade boys played in a flag football tournament at another camp this morning, as well. This afternoon our 9^th grade girls played in the finals in the Wayne County tennis tournament at another camp. We won a few matches but unfortunately we didn’t win overall. The girls fought a good fight and played very well.

Our photographer took sibling photos today after lunch so you’ll be able to view them on CampMinder. Since some kids are out of camp, don’t be upset if your children aren’t in the pictures. There are definitely some siblings on the overnight river trip and we’ll try to capture them with their other sibling tomorrow when they return. Today’s special feature is Sibling Photos!

Tonight’s evening activity is the younger campers show, Free to Be ILC. It’s an Island Lake version of Free to Be You & Me. I hear it’s going to be the cutest thing ever so I’m very excited to see it. We’ll have lots of pictures to show you tomorrow and if your children are in the show, you’ll have an opportunity to order a copy of the video on dvd after the summer.

I’ll be back tomorrow with more Island Lake scoop. Until then, ILC U THERE!