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 101 Dalmations was adorable! Those little ones put on quite a show with really cute costumes and a great set to go along with it (lots of spots and lots of barks!).

Yesterday’s rain continued on and off throughout the night. This morning and this afternoon we had midsty rain but the precipitation was not heavy enough to bring most of our outdoor activities inside. On the tennis courts were affected by the rain. Due to bad weather, yesterday’s river trip got cut short and the kids returned to camp shortly before dinner. Unfortunately, they didn’t have the opportunity to sleep outdoors under the stars but hey, at least they were able to canoe and kayak during the day before the rain shortened their trip.

Today was another busy one here at Island Lake. Our dancers went to a nearby Wayne County camp to participate in a big Dance Competition this morning and it lasted into the afternoon hours. We also sent a busload of children to Cooperstown to enjoy a fun-filled day at the Baseball Hall of Fame. Here at camp we had our end of the session Skateboard Competition up at the skatepark for all of our rad, gnarly skater dudes.

In the sports department, our 8^th & 9^th grade boys basketball team played in a tournament game here at camp this morning and they won. Yeah boys!!! Our 8^th & 9^th grade girls lacrosse team went out of camp this morning to play in an intercamp game but unfortunately they did not win. Our 6^th & 7^th grade girls soccer team played in the Wayne County finals here at camp this afternoon. They won every game up to this point to make it into the finals but they came just short of a win. We’re proud of our girls for making it so far.

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

Today was sibling photo day so can you guess what the special feature is for the day? That’s right, you guessed correct,…SIBLING PHOTOS! Below is just a small array of the photos that we’ll have posted on our website later on.

It’s hard to believe that we have only one more full day left in the 2^nd session. If your child is going home at the end of this session or your child is coming up to camp at the start of our 3^rd session on Tuesday, you should have received an email from me by now with changeover day and bus stop information. I’ll also post more Changeover Day info in tomorrow’s blog. Until then, ILC U THERE!

Happy “Ballin’ Braids Day Challenge”! Today we are braiding the hair of every camper (& counselor) who has hair long enough, boys included! Campers signed up for free swim at the lake during the minors to have some staff braid their hair (if they didn’t already braid it amongst themselves). Below is a video of children getting their hair braided for this special day.

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 having the most remarkable, amazing, fantastic, extraordinary, spectacular, wonderful, memorable summer with us here at Island Lake. 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.   Last night’s Dance Show & Magic Show were both a success. Our campers did an amazing job up there on stage. You’d never know that they had less time to practice this session. As opposed to 1^st session, we had 2 Lazy Days, 1 Visiting Day, and 3 days of Color War all packed into 2^nd session, but still found time for rehearsals.

Our canoe & kayaking campers went on an overnight river trip today. They left this morning and they’ll return tomorrow morning. Last night our pioneering campers hiked up to Tent City for an overnight. They built a smoker to cook food on for later dates, they made s’mores, and played music by the campfire. The kids said they had a “really fun time.”

To go along with the busy day we’re having here at camp, the ILC Open begins today. Many campers are participating in this tennis tournament within camp and have matches to play throughout the day until the end of the session. We got hit with some rain this afternoon so our activities, including sports and tennis, were moved indoors. It’s ok though, we still have time to finish the ILC Open over the course of the next couple of days.

Tonight’s evening activity is our younger campers’ performance of “101 Dalmations.” I hear it’s going to be the cutest thing ever so I’m very excited to see our little kiddies perform. 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. Enjoy the video below and until tomorrow, ILCUTHERE!

Hi Island Lake Families! Today we woke up to mostly cloudy skies with temps in the low 70’s. It warmed up nicely to the low 80’s this afternoon with a lot more sun peeking through. We had some threats of rain clouds and right before I was going to post my blog saying it didn’t rain, the rain started. It was brief and only at the end of our 3^rd major. Regardless, we’ve been extremely lucky with the weather this summer, as very few activities have been affected by rain. But ok, enough about the weather,…

Today was MUSIC LUNCH, which is an ILC favorite! I played pop music in the dining room while our campers eat lunch. Most of our kids then went up to the front of the dining room to dance around and have a blast to the music. Since many Color War songs were written to tunes of popular summer songs, the kids enjoyed singing (or shall I say “screaming”) the lyrics to their Color War fight songs and comedy songs instead of the true song lyrics. Gotta love camp, huh? The spirit was truly amazing today at lunch. I ended music lunch with an Island Lake favorite, the “Wobble”, and then they all walked out to “Build Me Up Buttercup.” Today’s special feature is music lunch, so you can get a taste of the ILC fun. Can you guess which photos were taken during the “Wobble”?

Our climbing campers participated in a “Climbing Competition” against another camp today in which they were timed as they climbed to the top of our climbing wall. (How many times did I just say the word, “climb”, in this sentence?) We did fantastic and came in 1^st place. Our winners were Jonathan R., Teddy L., and Devin H. Go Island Lakers!

We also had an archery competition at camp with 3 other camps here to participate. Guess who came in 1^st place? That’s right, your one and only, Island Lake. We were on a roll here today because our 6^th & 7^th grade girls played in a soccer competition out at another camp this afternoon. It was the Wayne County semi-finals and we beat the other camp 7-1! Woohoo! We’re going to the finals! We hope to play before the end of the session and bring home the first place trophy. But we shall see,…I don’t want to jinx us or put the cart before the horse here.

Tonight is the start of our 2^nd session performance week. We’ll kick it all off with our Dance Show and Magic Show tonight. The theme of the dance show is television theme songs. We’ll have lots of photos for you tomorrow in our daily photos on CampMinder. Until then, ILCUTHERE!

Hi ILC Families! Today was Lazy Day so everyone left camp for the day. Groups 1&2 went to Montage Mountain Water Park where they had a fantastic day outdoors. The feedback was, “It was fun! The waterslides were the best!” The also said “We went on the toilet bowl! It’s a slide. It was really fun.” So hey, I guess they had a great time!

Group 3 went to Sky Zone, a trampoline park just outside of Scranton, PA. The feedback was, “It was fun to jump around! Man, I’m tired now.” I also heard, “I got my front flip down!”, “I dunked 12 feet!”, and “Flipping out even before we got there!” (I think those kids were trying to make up cute quotes at that point,…lol!).

Group 4 went to Ithaca for the day and they are now at the Binghamton Mets baseball game. In Ithaca they went to a state park and then Ithaca Commons, a shopping area. Don’t worry parents, we didn’t give them enough money to shop till they dropped. The group leaders all had cameras with them today so hopefully we’ll have lots of photos that will be posted on CampMinder tomorrow.

Tonight we had a cookout where we ate dinner outdoors at the picnic tables. Evening activity will be groups. Here’s a list of what everyone is doing. BOYS: Groups 1&2- Campfire: Group 3- Scavenger Hunt: Group 4- Binghamton Mets game. GIRLS: Groups 1&2- Lip Sync Battle: Group 3- Fashion Extravaganza: Group 4- Binghamton Mets game.

Tomorrow we start up with our regular activities until the end of the session, which is drawing near way too quickly. Session 2 is over on Tuesday, August 2^nd, so be sure to come to your appropriate bus stop if your children are going home that day. The buses should arrive at all of the stops sometime around 11:30am-12:00pm, give or take a half hour. I will provide more details in the next few days. Until then, ILC U THERE!

Hi Island Lake families! It was an amazing 3 days of Color War and the East Coast Grey Team took home the win by only 150 points. Last night’s Sing was exciting for everyone. Great songs, funny skits, and fantastic plaques were enough to make each team proud. The whole camp later sang the camp alma mater while the scores were tallied up and many kids and counselors were in tears (tears of joy, of course). It was a fierce 3 days of friendly competition. Friendships and bonds were strengthened and the love everyone had for one another filled the room with joy.   Although one team had to win Color War, the memories over the course of the 3 days are what will stay with everyone for a long time to come.

Our regular schedule of majors and minors resumed today.   The sun is shining strong and the temperatures are warm in the low 80’s (nothing like the heat you are all experiencing right now). Our intercamp games and tournaments resumed today with our ILC dancers going out of camp for a Dance Competition over at another Wayne County camp. We placed 3^rd out of 23 different dance numbers and received a “Spectacular Technique” certificate for our dancers’ overall wonderful technique. Congratulations to our ILC dancers for doing so well today. Our 8^th & 9^th grade girls also played in a softball game out of camp this afternoon.

Tomorrow is our 2^nd Lazy Day of the session. We are going to take our campers to new activities that should be an absolute blast. Groups 1&2 are going to Montage Mountain Water Park. Group 3 is going to Sky Zone and Group 4 is going to Ithaca and then a Binghamton Mets game. It should be a fun day out of camp for all of our different groups. More details will come in tomorrow’s blog.

Tonight’s evening activity is Groups. Here’s the rundown: BOYS: Group 1- Scavenger Hunt: Group 2- Dodgeball: Group 3- Gaga: Group 4- Beaverhead (a movie made here at camp that has become an ILC classic). GIRLS: Group 1- Campfire: Group 2- Pool Party: Group 3- Movie (title not yet disclosed): Group 4- Beaverhead (with boys group 4).

Today’s special feature is GYMNASTICS! Enjoy and until Lazy Day tomorrow, ILCUTHERE!

And the 2016 winner of Island Lake Color War,…by only 150 points,…drum roll please,….the EAST COAST GREY TEAM!!!  It was a fantastic 3 days for our campers and counselors.  Sweet dreams and until more details tomorrow, ILCUTHERE!

Today is the 3^rd and final day of Color War. It’s been a fierce but friendly 3 days of competition between the West Coast and the East Coast. Yesterday’s rain let up after dinner so we were fortunate to be able to play the TEAM SPORTS for evening activity. The winner of the sports was the Grey East Coast. Yesterday’s decorum points went slightly more to the Grey team, as well.

With yesterday’s activities tallied, along with the decorum, at breakfast this morning the East Coast was still in the lead by 184 points. It’s still anybody’s game. The HATCHET was still out there as of breakfast, as well. A 3^rd and final clue was given out and the kids’ minds were racing with ideas as to where it could be. The funny thing was, the hatchet was pretty much right in front of their eyes yesterday while up on the soccer field for Track & Field! The Grey East Coast team finally found the hatchet this morning during their team meetings. They earned an additional 100 points for finding it today, on the 3^rd day of Color War.

This morning the team meetings were followed by our last day of SPORTS. Here’s a list of the sports that our kids played in with their different groups: dodgeball, tchoukball, gaga, soccer, basketball, softball, touch football, and water basketball. The overall winner of the sports this morning was the grey team. As of lunch the East Coast grey team was ahead.

After lunch we had team meetings and then our big APACHE RELAY. The Apache spans over the course of a few hours and it involves a few hundred campers on each team for a total of 194 tasks each. The kids run from one location to another throughout camp and tag a child in a specific department to do an event before tagging another camper to then run to a different department to perform another event.

The Apache is a big camp tradition and it involves all of our departments here at camp,…and then some! We include a whole lot of fun tasks such as eating saltine crackers and then whistling Yankee Doodle Dandy before tagging another camper to run to the next department listed on the schedule. Other fun activities in the Apache are kayaking around the floating raft in the lake, filling a cup of water using a teaspoon, saddling a horse, beading a bracelet, typing “Island Lake Rules” in different languages in the video room, self-hit a homerun on the baseball field, run to pioneering with a jalapeno pepper in their mouth (Oy vey!), drop in on the half-pipe in the skatepark, deflate a tire in mountain biking, sing the camp alma mater over the PA system in the office, and much much much much more. Our counselors also have some difficult tasks such as doing 100 push-ups or hitting a baseball over the fence on the ball field. The Apache Relay finally ends with all campers and counselors in the gym sitting on the bleachers watching a camper from each team successfully shoot a half court basketball shot.

It’s all about fun during the Apache Relay here at ILC, and it shows. In the end, the blue team beat the grey team by about 9 minutes and change. Although grey lost, Hayden F. made the final half court shot in just 1 try! That’s the 2^nd summer in a row that a camper made the infamous final apache event, the half court shot, in just 1 try! Go Island Lakers! Today’s special feature is the APACHE RELAY! To see more photos from today, just check out our daily summer photos via CampMinder.

Color War closes tonight with our annual Sing. Each team is judged for their creative entrance into the theater. They then take turns performing a March/Fight song, a Comedy song, a Skit, an Alma Mater song, and then they present their team’s Plaque. The entire night is bittersweet and somber as Color War comes to an end. Everyone hugs, some cry, and while the final scores are tallied we play the camp alma mater so everyone join together and sing.

And finally, once the scores are all tallied up, Trip, who is in charge of Color War, stands on the theater stage and announces the winner of the Sing and of Color War overall. The winning team will jump up and scream and go crazy with excitement. The other team will be sad for a moment but they’ll quickly get over it by the time they head to canteen (Lol!). Since this blog is being posted prior to Sing, tomorrow I will post the winner for all of you. Until then, ILC U THERE!

Happy 2^nd day of Color War!   Last night’s rope burn was a very close call with the two team’s ropes burning within one minute of one another. Ultimately, the blue West Coast team won and took the majority of points.

At the end of each day, decorum points are handed out to the teams for cheering, dressing up, banners, sportsmanship, etc. With the decorum points tallied up with all of yesterday’s friendly competitions, as of this morning the leading team with 212 more points was the blue West Coast team.

This morning we had the Track & Field competition and Tug O’ War on the upper ball fields. The Track & Field events were for a variety of groups in each of the following categories: softball toss, sprint, baton relay, medley relay (run, bear crawl, crab walk, back pedal, & cartwheel), long jump, progressive relay, off-road run, and punt, pass, & kick. Each group then competed against one another in a big Tug O’ War. The winner of the Track & Field competition was the grey East Coast team and the winner of Tug O’ War was the blue West Coast team. As of lunch time, blue was in the lead.

Another activity that runs throughout Color war is the “Find the Hatchet” event. The hatchet is hidden somewhere in camp. Our campers (who must be accompanied by a counselor) search camp high and low throughout ILC looking for the hatchet. Clues are given out one per day and are quite difficult to solve. Once the hatchet is found then the clues all make sense and the points are given to the team who finds it.

After lunch today we had rest hour and then team meetings. After the meetings was snack break and then we rearranged the schedule due to rain. We had rain throughout lunch and then later in the afternoon the rain started up again so we ran our Five Period Basketball event (instead of having it for evening activity). It was simply each group playing one another, one group at a time, at basketball. Our campers and staff who didn’t play basketball were spectators and cheered on their team’s players. The grey East Coast team dominated the blue West Coast in basketball. Our kids stayed in the gym for a “cheer off” after the b-ball game due to the rain. Eventually the rain let up a bit so we let our campers go down to the theater for their next Color War event, Battle of the Bands.

Battle of the Banks was an enjoyable event to watch. Our campers (& staff) played a variety of instruments, sang songs related to their team’s names, and each group had a separate battle against one another.  The whole camp stood up on their seats and sang and clapped along with the bands. Everyone was super into it, which was great. There’s been an amazing amount of Color War spirit these past couple of days.

Tonight’s evening activity will be the variety of sports, as long as the weather permits. I’ll keep you posted tomorrow to let you know how the rest of the today goes. Below are photos from the Track & Field this morning. Tomorrow I will reveal the winner thus far in Color War. Until then, we’ll keep the Color War spirit alive and of course, ILC U THERE!

I hope you all had a fantastic Visiting Day here at Island Lake yesterday. Our campers were so excited to share their summer experiences with you, their parents, and it was a very positive day for all. Now that Visiting Day is behind us, Island Lake is all about Color War for these next 3 days. West Coast vs. East Coast has proven to be a great theme thus far with both teams making fantastic use of their team names. Campers and staff are very into Color War right now and the energy is running high.

This morning we had team meetings and then sports for all of the age groups. With lots of energy and excitement for Color War the kids played the following: steal the bacon, dodgeball, gaga, soccer, touch football, softball, touch football, water basketball, hockey, volleyball, and chopped (cooking).

This sunny afternoon we hosted the Swim Meet down by the swimming pool and the lake. A variety of groups participated in the following on the lake: canoe relay, kayak relay, standup paddle board, peddle boat relay, log rolling, freestyle relay, medley relay, kickboard relay, freestyle relay, sweat suit relay, greased watermelon, & swim to the island and back.  Here’s a list of activities that took place in the swimming pool: penny fetch, water basketball, medley relay, kickboard relay, paddleboard relay, & freestyle relay.

After the swim meet ended we had a snack break at the bunks and then team meetings. After the meetings and before dinner we then had the game Unique. It’s a trivia game in the theater and it’s done group by group. The kids come up to the stage and stand before podiums with lights. When a camper knows the answer to a trivia question, whether it is related to the CW teams or camp, they flip a light switch and then answer. They earn points for their team by answering questions correctly.

Tonight’s evening activity is the Rope Burn. The counselors fetch wood and build their fires while the kids cheer them on. The first team to burn the rope with their fire wins. This is such a great traditional Island Lake activity.

Below are some photos from the sports earlier today. For more photos, please view our daily summer photos through CampMinder. Until more Color War scoop tomorrow when I tell you which team is in the lead, ILC U THERE!

Happy Visiting Day everyone! We hope you all had a WONDERFUL Visiting Day today here at ILC! Lots of parents, grandparents, siblings, and more were here to spend the day with their campers. It was a fantastic experience for everyone who joined us today.

Our annual post-Visiting Day water fight was a huge success. It was especially great because guess what happened? Yup, you guessed it! We broke Revival Night straight out of the water gun fight. Both events were a great distraction for those campers who had a bit of trouble saying goodbye to their parents today. The happy-go-lucky camp spirit filled the dining room at dinner this evening (although many didn’t eat because you sent up so much delicious snacks!).

Tonight’s evening activity is Squeaky Clean! They’re a rock and roll band that performs here at camp every summer on the night of Visiting Day. Squeaky Clean covers classic rock and roll oldies but goodies such as “Stop In the Name of Love.” We are excited to sing and dance along with them tonight in the gym. Canteen will be closed after evening activity since there is soooooo much junk food in the bunks right now, but curfews are regular time.

We hope you all had a fantastic time here at ILC today. Until tomorrow when there will be lots of Color War scoop, ILC U THERE!