Another day in the books here at ILC! Although cloudy in the first half of the day, we were happy that the rain stayed far away and activities resumed per usual. The sun peeked from the clouds here and there during the afternoon hours but otherwise it was a cloudy day in Starrucca, PA.

Tomorrow is already our 3^rd Lazy Day of the summer. Where does the time go? We’re going to send our campers on a few different adventures. Boys and girls groups 1&2 will go to Sky Zone. Boys and girls group 3 will go to Montage Mountain Waterpark. Boys and girls group 4 will head up to Ithaca for a fun day of site seeing. They’ll check out the gorges (waterfalls), I’m sure they’ll go shopping for “Ithaca is Gorges” t-shirts, and they’ll relax around the town. Please remember that our camp photographer will not be posting photos tomorrow but he’ll try to get pics up as soon as possible Thursday morning.

We hosted our annual 8^th & 9^th grade boys volleyball tournament here at camp today. Other camps came here to play in an elimination tournament of which we did very well. Our 8^th & 9^th grade girls soccer team went out of camp to play a match, as well. We shut out the other camp (Woohoo!) so we’re moving on to the next round.  And as usual, our ILC Open continued to run strong on our tennis courts during all of the minor periods today.

So as to not sound like we’re only all about sports, our theater campers are busy rehearsing and preparing for their upcoming performances of The Lion King and Pippin. Pippin is going to be performed in the circus building as we combine the two departments for this show. I can’t wait to see it! Our dancers are practicing for their end of the session show next week. Our rock band kids are jamming out in order to fine-tune their skills for their show at the end of the session, as well. Our magicians are practicing for their show with card tricks, coin tricks, illusion, balloon animals, and more.

A few days ago our skatepark department held a competition amongst our rollerbladers and skateboarders of all levels. The kids who placed received certificates of their accomplishments.

In Bunk Cup news, there have been some recent challenges. G14 challenged B6 to newcomb and the girls won. They also challenged G13 to gaga and beat them. B6 & B7 will be playing baseball today to win some Bunk Cup points. B2 and G2 will battle one another in a dance off (which I personally would like to see!). Lastly, G11 has challenged G13 to a game of gaga. Bunk Cup is in full swing!

Tonight’s evening activity is a camp wide Spelling Bee in the theater! There will be 2 representatives per group, 2 on the boys side as well as the girls side. They will battle it out to spell words correctly. The winner of each round will have the opportunity to choose a counselor to then pie in the face. There will also be a counselor round and the winner gets to pie a group leader in the face. Should be fun!

Abracadabra! Today’s special feature is MAGIC! Enjoy and until tomorrow when we get to sleep in for Lazy Day, ILCUTHERE!

Today was another fun day in Starrucca, PA! As we say every morning in our wake-up call, “The birds are singing, the sun is shining, the grass is growing,…” Your children had yet another busy day of majors and minors here at ILC. Per usual, the temps started off cool but quickly warmed up to the low 70’s by 1^st major and mid 70’s by lunchtime. We had lots of clouds in and out throughout the day but the weather stayed dry.

We had another busy day in sports. 8^th & 9^th grade girls, as well as 10^th & 11^th grade girls, left straight from breakfast to play in a tennis tournament out of camp today. Our 6^th & 7^th grade girls played a home game of soccer this morning. The 6^th &7^th grade girls’ basketball team then played here at camp this afternoon. 8^th & 9^th grade boys played in a basketball tournament at another camp this afternoon, as well. Our in camp ILC Open continued at tennis today for boys and girls of all age groups.

Today’s quote: After my Sidewalk Chalking With Wendy minor this afternoon, while all of our campers were heading to their bunks for snack break, a first time young camper runs toward me yelling, “Wendy! Wendy!” I said hi and asked him what’s up and he simply asked me, “Can I stay next session?” Well, could you ask for a better question from a child here at summer camp? That means he’s loving life and his experience here at ILC. For all of you who want to know what happened next, I told his mom and she said, “I knew it! I just told his father he was going to ask.” Unfortunately, he can’t stay due to other summer plans but they’re already planning for next summer.

Evening activity tonight is everyone’s favorite, most anticipated secretive activity of the summer. No, it’s not Color War! Here’s a hint,…it takes place down at the waterfront. All parents of returning campers or parents who are alumni here should know exactly what I’m talking about. Those of you new to ILC will for sure hear about this activity when your child returns home. Oh ok, I’ll tell you. Evening activity is Revival Night!!! I can tell you now since we’re breaking Revival directly from dinner. We’re going to have evening activity and then rest hour instead of vice versa. After rest hour we’ll go to canteen. This will really surprise the kids, as they will never expect Revival to start at the end of dinner announcements.

Today’s special feature is GYMNASTICS! The kids practiced their floor skills, the beams, and the bars. Enjoy the pics and until tomorrow, ILCUTHERE!

Happy Pajamas Day! We hosted our first official theme day today and lots of our campers sported their pj’s and onesies. At the bottom of today’s blog are several photos I took at lunch to showcase our campers in their bedtime best.

Yesterday’s Rookie Day was FANTASTIC! We had approximately 30 kids who experienced a day in the life of an Island Laker for the very first time. Even through the brief rain showers they still had a blast. A special thank you to our group leaders and CIT’s who worked very hard with these kids to make their day so memorable.

Beautiful blue skies filled the 18462 all day long today. We woke up with the usual cool temps in the low 60’s but it slowly warmed up to the mid 70’s. It was such a perfect day for kids to wear their pajamas and play camp.

We have a new reining champion of ILC Idol everyone! Jessica T. from girls bunk 23 took home the championship last night. Her competition was tight, as 2^nd place went to Sydney F. and Lulu M. from girls bunk 5. These are some talented kids, I tell you. The camp was fully entertained by all of our contestants.

In sports news, our 4^th & 5^th grade boys played a soccer intercamp game this afternoon. Our 8^th & 9^th grade boys played a basketball intercamp game in the afternoon, as well. Our ILC Tennis Open continued with boys of all different ages as well as our 9^th & 10^th grade girls.

Quote of the day: This is actually a quote from yesterday during Rookie Day. I walked nearby a rookie who was walking with some other kids and shouted out to me, “Can you tell my mom that I don’t miss her?” I asked her to repeat it because I thought she said she DID miss her. Her 2^nd time she emphasized the “DON’T!” Now please don’t take offense to this all you moms out there but how great is that? A child was having so much fun at camp that she didn’t have time to miss her mom! I guess we’re doing something right!

Tonight’s evening activity is GROUPS! Here’s a breakdown of what everyone is doing: GIRLS: Group 1- Spa night (it’s a beauty night as they do one another’s nails, hair, etc.); Group 2- Campfire (make s’mores and enjoy the fire with boys group 2); Groups 3&4- watch the camp movie that was created by our very own staff and has become a classic here at Island Lake, Beaverhead. BOYS: Group 1- Pool Party (go swimming in the pool while listening to pop tunes over the speakers); Group 2- Campfire (with girls group 2); Groups 3&4- Beaverhead, the movie.

Today’s special feature is PAJAMA DAY! Below are photos of our campers looking all cute in their pajamy-jams and in their onesies at lunchtime. My apologies for there being more photos of girls than boys but they’re just the ones to wear pj’s all day long. Enjoy the pics and until tomorrow, ILCUTHERE!

Happy Rookie Day! Today we had a handful of future Island Lakers come to camp and receive the royal ILC treatment by experiencing several activities and dining with us for lunch. These children made friends with other rookies, in addition to our current campers. Some rookies are younger siblings of our campers and some rookies are the first in their family to get a taste of what Island Lake has to offer. They dabbled in several activities such as the giant swing at pioneering, skatepark, cooking, the flying trapeze, sports monsters, pickle ball, and more. Check out the photos at the bottom of the blog to see our rookies in action.

Today’s weather was a mish mosh of everything. As usual, the temps were cool first thing in the morning but the sun came out and warmed it up to the 70’s. We were then hit with some rain at the end of 2^nd major. The rain quickly cleared and the sun found its way to the 18462 skies once again. But wait, there’s more! Another rain shower came through during 3^rd major. Harrumph! But no worries, by 3^rd minor the clouds parted and blue skies shined through.

In ILC sports, our 4^th & 5^th grade boys played basketball this morning here at camp against a nearby camp. 6^th & 7^th grade boys played in a singles and doubles tennis tournament out of camp. We hosted 2 different tennis tournaments here at home as well: our 4^th & 5^th grade girls as well as our 6^th & 7^th grade girls. The ILC Open continued today in tennis for our 9^th grade and older girls.

Tonight’s evening activity is the ILC Idol finals! All of the winners from the preliminary rounds earlier in the week will compete. They will perform in the theater for the entire camp and a winner will be casted amongst us. Will it be another young girl? An older boy? A duo team? We’ll have to wait and see!

Today’s special feature is ROOKIE DAY! Below are pics of our little rookies playing camp for the day. Enjoy and until tomorrow when I’ll feature your campers in another department here at camp, ILCUTHERE!

Hey Island Lake families! It’s hard to believe that we’re already 2 weeks into the summer. Time sure flies when we’re having fun! I hope you’re receiving letters from your children that are all positive and filled with rainbows and unicorns. (I would insert rainbow and unicorn emojis here if I could!)

This morning we woke up to some rain but it was gone by the time everyone left the dining room after breakfast. The clouds hung around for a while with temps in the low to mid 60’s until 1^st minor when it warmed up to the 70’s and the sun made its debut. This afternoon was partly sunny in the upper 70’s. Around 3^rd major (4ish) the skies got darker and as the major ended the rain came pouring down. Luckily it didn’t last too long.

Here at camp we were very busy. A group of campers departed this morning for an overnight river trip down the Delaware. Our canoe and kayak campers spend the day going down the Delaware River and then camp out for the night at nearby camping grounds. I’m looking forward to receiving feedback tomorrow from these kids regarding how fun this trip was.

In the world of sports, our 8^th & 9^th grade boys played in a lacrosse game here at camp this morning. Our 4^th & 5^th grade girls played soccer on our home field this afternoon. Our 6^th & 7^th grade girls’ lacrosse team played here at camp this afternoon, as well. In tennis news, we started our ILC Open with our 9^th grade and older girls. ILC Open is an in-camp tennis tournament amongst each of the age groups with winners announced at the end of the session. We’re keeping your children busy and as active as possible here at camp this summer!

In Bunk Cup news, some bunks have started challenging one another to friendly competitions. Department heads and group leaders have been giving out bunk cup points for a variety of different activities. Our campers are still excited to be in this friendly camp-wide competition.

I have to tell you about a cute conversation that I had with a little girl in bunk 1 this morning:

LG (Little Girl): My brother is my twin

Me: No way! I don’t believe it. I thought he was older. (I knew they were twins but I was just joking around with her although she didn’t know that.)

LG: We ARE twins and I’m actually older than him by 3 minutes!

Me: I don’t believe it! That’s not possible!

LG: We have video of us being born on youtube! You can go online and see it!

Me: Nooooooooo thank you. I believe you! I believe you!

Oh the conversations we have with children on a daily basis. I love camp!

Tonight’s evening activity is COUNSELOR HUNT! All of our counselors hide around camp (only in public areas of course) and our campers have to run around and try to find them. Once caught, the kids find out if the counselors they captured are worth positive or negative points. The bunk that captures the most counselors with the highest score of positive points at the end of the activity is the winner. They will win bragging rights and LTB (Late To Bed).

Special feature today is COOKING! In the majors they made marinara sauce with pasta. In the minors they made rocky road fudge. (I may or may not have stolen a marshmallow while there taking photos.)

Tomorrow is our big Rookie Day for summer 2017. We will have 30 young kids trying out camp for the day to experience life as an Island Laker. We’re so excited to introduce ILC to future campers! Until then, ILCUTHERE!

We’re baaaaaack!  !  Today we’re back to our majors and minors after spending an amazing Lazy Day at Dorney Park and Wildwater Kingdom yesterday.  Our campers had such a fantastic day at Dorney, both on rides of all sizes and in the water park.  It was the perfect day, weather-wise, for a trip to an amusement/water park.  We took the kids in coach buses so it was an easy trip to/from Allentown, PA.  Hopefully you’ll receive wonderful feedback from your children in the form of letters, telling you all about this fun-filled day out of camp.

We let the camp sleep in an extra hour since we returned from Dorney a few minutes after 10 o’clock last night.  We rearranged the schedule while still keeping all activity periods 1 hour long.  

We woke up this morning to mostly sunny skies and temps in the mid 60’s.  By afternoon the temps were up to the mid 70’s and it was mostly cloudy.  No precipitation here so we’re good. (wink wink)

We had lots of sporting events take place on this fine Thursday of July.  Our avid golfers went out of camp to play 9 holes this morning.  Our 6^th & 7^th grade baseball boys played a game here on our home turf.  Our 6^th and 7^th grade girls basketball players also played in a game here at home this morning.  Lastly, this afternoon our 4^th & 5^th grade boys went out of camp to play in a baseball game.

Tonight’s evening activity is GROUPS!  Here’s a breakdown of what each group did:  BOYS:  Group 1- Pioneering Game with “Grampa” (Kris, the director of Pioneering) called Human Battleship;  Group 2- Gaga (with girls group 2 up in the hockey rink for a massive game of fun!);  Group 3- Kickball;  Group 4- Campfire (with girls group 4).  And on the GIRLS side:  Group 1- Big Sister/Little Sister (they’ll be receiving big sisters amongst girls group 3 and then they’ll all play together);  Group 2- Gaga (massive game with boys group 2);  Group 3- Big Sister/Little Sister (with girls group 1);  Group 4- Campfire (with boys group 4).

Quote of today comes from a little boy:  “For next week’s Lazy Day can we go to 6 Flags?”  Sorry buddy but we’re amusement parked out for awhile!

Today’s special feature is an array of photos from yesterday’s big trip to Dorney Park. Enjoy and until we do this all over again tomorrow, ILCUTHERE!

Happy 4^th of July! I hope you’re all enjoying your holiday as much as we are here at Island Lake. Our campers have really gotten into the patriotic holiday spirit as they are all decked out in their red, white, and blue clothing and accessories. They look amazing! You’ll have the opportunity to see for yourselves in today’s daily photos, as well as below in this blog.

To add to all the glory that this holiday brings, the weather today was absolutely beautiful! We had mostly sunny skies with temps up to the mid 70’s.   Tonight we will be in the upper 60’s to low 70’s for our fireworks extravaganza. We make the 4^th of July very special for our campers and staff here at Island Lake. I’ll list for you all that this day entails. Let’s start from the beginning,…

At breakfast this morning we started our 4^th of July with Mike Stoltz’s annual speech about how the U.S. beat the Brits to become our own nation but we are now all very good friends. Our British staff stood at the front of the dining room to sing their national anthem. The rest of us then sang the Star Spangled Banner followed by the chant, “U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!”   For those of you not familiar with who Mike Stoltz is, he’s my dad. Although now retired, he and my mom, Bev, founded Island Lake back in 1986 and are now regular visitors here at camp every summer. (An extra little history lesson for ya!)

Next highlight of the day- MUSIC LUNCH! I played the part of “DJ Wendy” as I spun tunes in the dining room,…ok, truth be told I just hit the play button for each song on my ipod. In any case, the kids had an amazing time singing and dancing to the pop music. Everyone joined in on the fun and didn’t want to leave for their next activity. You can view photos of our music lunch here in this blog. There will be lots of additional Music Lunch pictures in our daily summer photos today, as well.

Next highlight- COOKOUT for dinner tonight! Burgers, hot dogs, veggie burgers, watermelon, cupcakes, and more were devoured at dinner. Our campers enjoy dining outdoors for our cookouts.

Next highlight- CANTEEN will follow rest hour and then as the sun sets, we’ll put on a ROCK CONCERT on girls campus for all of our campers and counselors to enjoy. We’ll also send off some SKY LANTERNS into the air, which always makes the campers “Oooooohh” and “Aaaaaaahh”.

Next highlight- our huge FIREWORK extravaganza! We pride ourselves in having a fantastic firework show. Our neighbors on the lake even come outdoors to enjoy watching because it’s so entertaining. Our campers all sit together on the hill to enjoy this traditional Island Lake event. We’re looking forward to another great show.

Today’s feature,…patriotic campers at MUSIC LUNCH! Our 8^th & 9^th grade boys tennis team went out of camp for a match today. Sports don’t stop for the holidays!

I hope you’re all having a wonderful 4^th of July. As a reminder, tomorrow is our Lazy Day trip to Dorney Park. For that reason, there will not be a blog posted here. Until the following day when we resume our regular camp schedule, ILC U THERE!

Am I getting too repetitive if I say that today was another beautiful day in Starrucca, PA? We woke up to temps in the low to mid 60’s but we quickly hit the low 70’s by late morning.  This afternoon was a blistering high of mid 70’s with lots of sunshine. It’s incredible what a temperature difference we have up here versus where you live, huh? I hear it’s a lot hotter south of us here in the Pocono Mountains.

Today was another busy day with sports. This morning our 8^th & 9^th grade girls went out of camp for big volleyball tournament at another Wayne County camp. Several camps attended so the entire tournament took place in one day by process of elimination. Our 6^th & 7^th grade girls went out of camp to play in a softball game this morning. Our 8^th & 9^th grade boys and 10^th & 11^th grade boys had tennis tournaments at another camp, as well.

Buzz around camp is excitement for tomorrow’s 4^th of July festivities as well as our big Lazy Day trip to Dorney Park and Wildwater Kingdom on Wednesday. We know how to celebrate the holidays BIG here at ILC so we’re sure to blow everyone away throughout the 4^th of July day. I’m going to keep you in suspense and tell you all about the day tomorrow.

Wednesday morning our campers will hop on coach buses and head to Allentown, PA for a fun day at Dorney. They’ll make amazing summer memories on the roller coasters, thrill rides, kids rides, and huge waterpark. We will have breakfast at camp, feed the kids lunch sandwiches on the way, and then all meet up for a picnic dinner. I won’t have the opportunity to blog that day but I’ll definitely post lots of photos the following day.

Have I made you all jealous yet? Perhaps some of you are reminiscent of your summer camp experiences while others are living vicariously through your children. Don’t worry, Visiting Day will be here before we know it on July 15^th. You can be a kid for the day here at camp then.

Today at Island Lake we created a new international holiday. It’s “International Emma Fruhling Piggyback Ride Day”! Emma has grown up with us here at camp since she was a little girl in the youngest bunk. Now she is a counselor in G2, almost the youngest bunk. Our head counselor, Dustin, decided to hand out coupons for kids to trade and then hand in to Emma in order to get a piggyback ride from her. The two of them have been having prank wars since she was about 8 years old, so now it’s her turn to get Dustin back. In the meantime, guess who may have a few sore muscles tomorrow!?!?!

Tonight’s evening activity is ILC IDOL! Once again this summer we will have our own version of American Idol here at camp. Who knows? Maybe we’ll get Katy Perry to come and judge the final rounds! Just kiddin’! We have the preliminary rounds tonight. Our campers will be broken up into their groups to audition amongst them. These auditions will determine who will move ahead to perform for the entire camp in the finale round.

Our special feature today is SKATEPARK! I apologize for some of the blurry images and undisclosed faces but it’s challenging to capture the kids moving in action.  Enjoy these photos and until tomorrow, America’s birthday, ILCUTHERE!

Today was an absolutely beautiful day in Starrucca, PA! We woke up to sunshine after having yet another thunderstorm last night. This morning the temps were in the low to mid 60’s and slowly warmed up to a perfect upper 70’s. Another great day of weather to play camp in.

Speaking of playing, we had lots of intercamp games here at ILC this afternoon. Our 4^th & 5^th grade girls played basketball (awww, how cute!) and they won!!! Our 6^th & 7^th grade boys also played a basketball game here at home. They played amazingly well and also won by a landslide. Now I’m saving the best for last. Our 8^th & 9^th grade girls played a soccer game(or as our European staff would call it, a “football match”). Not only did they win, but they shut out the other camp 18-0!!!! We are all soooo proud of our Island Lakers today.

I ran an activity this morning with the arts & crafts department called “Chalkin’ & Walkin’ with Wendy”. The kids and I had so much fun drawing all over the new path that leads up to the dining room. You’ll see a few pictures below of our master creation.

My conversation with a 10-year old first time camper today.

Me: Hey “Johnny”! (name changed so as to not embarrass anyone)

He then shows me pictures on his camera of lizards he caught up at pioneering during the activity period that had just ended.

Me: What do you think of camp so far?

Camper: I like it! I like it A LOT!

Me: Do you like your bunk

Camper: I love them!

Me: Do you like your counselors?

Camper: I love them!

Me: Do you like your activities

Camper: I love them!

He then proceeded to ask me to ride in the first row with him on one of the biggest roller coaster at Dorney Park on Wednesday, Steel Force. But wait, not just once, but he asked me to ride it with him THREE TIMES in the front row! I told him we’d try to coordinate 1 time! Gotta love children and summer camp!

Tonight’s evening activity is our super duper much anticipated 1^st session SOCIAL! An outside DJ comes to camp to spin some tunes in the gym and get our campers up and boogying all night long. Ok, perhaps they don’t call it “boogying” anymore, but ya know what I mean. Our girls love to get dressed up and do their hair and make-up for the socials. You should see how cute our little girls look! On the boys’ side, if we’re lucky they’ll shower, comb their hair, and put on a clean shirt. Our campers are literally going to put on their Sunday best!

Today’s special feature is TENNIS (& the sidewalk chalking)! The sun shined bright while these kids received instructional tennis out on our courts. I hope you’re all enjoying your long holiday weekend. Everyone here is getting pumped up for our 4^th of July festivities. I’ll leave those details to share with you in a later blog. Until then, ILCUTHERE!

Happy 1^st day of July! Can you believe we’re already 1 week into camp? Time sure does fly by when we’re having fun. And fun is indeed what you’re children are having here at ILC so far.

Today we woke up to cloudy skies and it remained that way for a majority of the day. The temps peaked at the mid 70’s and the rain rolled in at the end of snack break. Up until then it was the perfect weather for children to run around playing sports and other activities.  By 3rd minor they were outdoors doing activities once again with some sun beaming down on them.

Our intercamp games have finally begun and they got off to a fantastic start! Our 9^th grade girls had a tennis tournament here in camp this afternoon against another Wayne County camp and they kicked butt. We won just about every single match! I’m so proud of our campers. A lot more sporting events will be coming up now that other camps in the area are also in full swing.

I heard a great quote from a CIT yesterday that I just have to share with all of you. So you know how last night was ETB, early to bed, right? Our counselors love this night however, the kids don’t like it all that much because they have to go to sleep early. A CIT (16 year old) who has grown up with us since he was a little boy turned to me exhausted from working so hard with the young boys in his bunk and said, “I never understood ETB in the past. Now I do and I love it!” That was the best quote I heard all day. I’ll try to keep you apprised of great quotes I hear around camp this summer.

Tonight’s evening activity is the Bunk Cup Opening Ceremonies. Bunk Cup will then be officially in session. This evening everyone will be in the theater as representatives from one bunk at a time will come up on stage to present their bunk flag, plaque, and video. I’ll do my best to keep you updated about it throughout the next few weeks.

Today’s special feature is ARTS & CRAFTS! I happen to have caught a lot of kids working on their Bunk Cup flags and plaques during the 1^st minor so you can get a peak at some of them below. Enjoy and until tomorrow, ILCUTHERE!