Happy Saturday-right-before-the-big-holiday everybody! Or as we call it here at Island Lake, just another beautiful day in Starrucca, PA. Can you believe we’re already one 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.

So remember that cold rainy weather I was “gently” complaining about a few days ago? Well the sunshine god have finally returned my calls after I left them endless voicemails, texts, and Facebook messages. They’re now making up for lost time with warm temps and sunshine. Woohoo! We hit the upper 80’s today, which I’m sure is still much cooler than the temps you’re experiencing back at home. We’re frequently reminding our campers to carry water bottles and to keep applying sunscreen. We have bottles of sunscreen placed in many buildings and departments here at camp so they can even apply mid-major/minor if needed.

Our 5^th grade and under baseball boys played a game here at home this morning against another camp. Our 6^th & 7^th grade boys had a tennis tournament here at camp this afternoon, as well. It’s great to see the sports getting off to a start now that all of the camps in the area are in full swing.

Tonight’s evening activity is a new game for our Island Lakers called, “Taken.” Contrary to the big time rumors going around camp, it’s not Revival Night. I’ll explain Revival to our rookie parents when that evening activity actually takes place. Now back to Taken. Our group leader, Patrick, created this mystery game for the whole camp to participate in all at once. It involves bunks collecting clues about adult staff members who are suspects accused of stealing canteen tokens. The bunks have to perform interviews with suspects and collect clues all around camp to solve this crime. They have all of evening activity to work on this as well as tomorrow. The details of the crime will be revealed at dinner tomorrow so we expect the kids to all debate “who done it”.

Today’s special feature is PIONEERING! Below you’ll see kids scaling the climbing wall, flying down the zipline, soaring through the air on the giant swing, climbing the upper ropes course, and having a good ol’ fashioned water fight to cool off this afternoon. Enjoy these pics and the beautiful blue sky and until tomorrow, ILCUTHERE!

Hello Island Lake families! After a fun day out of camp for Lazy Day, ILC majors and minors were back in action today. This morning the temps already started off warmer in the 60’s with sunny skies. I’m happy to report that by afternoon the temps went up to about 80 degrees! Woohoo! Summer weather is officially here and it doesn’t look like it’s going anywhere anytime soon.

All of us here at ILC hope you’re enjoying our social media updates so you can feel as if you are part of the excitement at camp this summer. As a reminder, you can find us on the following websites:

1. Daily blogs here on our website
2. Daily tweets on Twitter (twitter.com/IslandLakeCamp)
3. Short videos and photos on our Facebook page (facebook.com/IslandLakeCamp)
4. Photo posts and stories on Instagram (instagram.com/islandlakecampofficial)
5. And of course, our daily photos and weekly videos through your CampMinder account. If we have issues linking the videos to CampMinder then we will update you regarding where they will be posted.

As many of you know, every morning at 8am the camp is woken up with our traditional wake-up call. Matt plays music over the PA and then says “Everybody up, everybody up, up, up, up! Rise and shine.  It’s a beautiful day in Starrucca, PA. The birds are singing, the sun is shining, and the grass is growing. Breakfast, as always, is in 10 minutes. See you there.” I’m sure some of your campers have come home quoting this wake-up call, as the tradition started with my dad 33 years ago when my parents founded this camp. Although the announcement has pretty much stayed the same, the music has changed quite a bit over the years. Matt’s eclectic taste in music can now be downloaded for your listening pleasure. You can follow his ever-growing Spotify playlist as the summer progresses with each wake-up call. Here is a link for you:  Spotify

I am excited to tell you that we started our Wayne County sports tournaments today. We had 2 tennis tournaments, one home and one away. Our 8^th & 9^th grade boys played here at camp this morning and our 6^th & 7^th grade girls played at a nearby camp this afternoon.

Evening activity is Fear Factor. The lower half of the camp will play in the gym and the upper half will play in the theater. For those of you who aren’t familiar with this game, it involves kids terrorizing their counselors with gross food, ice buckets, and dirty disgusting things. Should be fun!

After evening activity we have our very first ETB of the summer. For those of you new to Island Lake, ETB stands for Early To Bed. This means that the canteen is closed so all campers will go back to their bunks directly after evening activity to get a good night’s rest. On a personal note, I have to admit it’s one of my favorite nights of the week. Hehe!

Today’s special feature is WATERFRONT! It was a great day for a dip in the lake and pool. Until tomorrow, our last June summer day, ILCUTHERE!

Happy Lazy Day! Today was our first weekly Lazy Day of the summer. Our campers had the opportunity to sleep in, which many needed, and then we had a big brunch at 10:30am. We had an optional breakfast at 8am for our early risers and I hear it was a full house.

Groups 3&4 (8^th grade and up) departed from camp first as they made their way to Binghamton to a big bowling alley. The kids had fun bowling, playing laser tag, riding bumper cars, playing arcade games, and enjoyed the snack bar.   Groups 1&2 (7^th grade and under) then went to see Incredibles 2 at a local town. The overall feedback is that they absolutely LOVED the movie.

Today was a mish-mosh of weather as we experienced a mostly cloudy day, a little bit of rain, and then shortly before dinnertime the sunshine managed to return. Fortunately most of the rain occurred while our campers were out of camp. The temps are finally warming up again as we reached the mid-70’s. It was nice to see the sun and blue sky peep through the clouds once again. I’ve missed it! I’m happy to report that the temps are supposed to continue to increase another 10 degrees over the next few days and the sun will be shining tomorrow. Yay, summer weather is upon us!

Tonight’s dinner was a cookout of burgers, hot dogs, veggie burgers, and all of the trimmings. Tonight’s evening activity is GROUPS. Here’s the rundown: GIRLS: Groups 1&2- ugly fashion show (just what it sounds like. They dress up in silly clothing and make up and have a good ol’ time fashioning it for everyone else); Group 3- pool party (with boys group 3); Group 4- ugly fashion show with boys group 2 but with a different spin. The girls will dress up the male counselors from boys group 2 and boys group 2 will dress up the female counselors from girls group 4. BOYS: Group 1- gaga; Group 2- ugly fashion show with girls group 4; Group 3- pool party; Group 4- capture the flag.

Today’s special feature is the COOKOUT!  Additionally, we didn’t post daily photos on CampMinder today due to it being Lazy Day and we just didn’t feel like it. Just kiddin’! They’ll be posted tomorrow morning. Until then, ILCUTHERE!

Happy Wednesday to all of our Island Lake parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, 2^nd session campers, pets, and friends! Today is Sports Jersey Day here in Starrucca, PA (also known as “Starruccapa”). Many of our campers are “sporting” their favorite athletic teams today whether it be a jersey, t-shirt, shorts, or baseball hat. Enjoy viewing lots of daily summer photos of our campers in their sports wear today via CampMinder.

And now onto our daily dose of the Island Lake weather. Many of you may recall that last summer was pretty cold and rainy, right? We are doing our best to speak with the sunshine gods above to make sure that doesn’t happen again this year but so far they’re sending us straight to voicemail. Unfortunately, the rain started at breakfast time and was with us throughout the whole day so far. It’s been a pretty steady light rain. The temps started in the upper 50’s this morning and only made its way up to the low 60’s at best. I’m sure many of you are thinking, “Did I send my child with warm blankets? Should I send more sweatshirts, pants, rainboots, raincoats, and jackets?” Well tomorrow it’s supposed to start warming up and we should have beautiful summer temps by early weekend.

Even with the rain our activities continued per usual. Our sports kids played in the gym, tennis in the hockey rink, pioneering played games in the gym along with waterfront. We kept the outdoor kids active indoors throughout the day. The rain doesn’t affect most of our other activities so it was biz as usual for them. As you’ll see below in the featured photos, arts and crafts stayed plenty busy today.

Tonight’s evening activity is going to be camp-wide feature of the blockbuster hit movie, Incredibles. Since tomorrow is Lazy Day and boys and girls groups 1&2 are going to see Incredibles 2, it only seems proper to show the first one in the series tonight. Tomorrow groups 3&4 are going bowling, but I’ll tell you more about that in tomorrow’s blog.

Please keep in mind that since tomorrow is Lazy Day, we will not post photos on CampMinder. Capturing pics of kids sitting and watching a movie in the dark isn’t too exciting (wink wink). Any photos that we take tomorrow will be posted Friday for your viewing pleasure.

Today’s special feature is ART & CRAFTS! Enjoy the pics and until tomorrow, ILCUTHERE!!!

Hi Island Lake Families! This morning we woke up to some chilly temperatures. As soon as the sun rose high in the sky the temps warmed up here in the 18462. The start to summer has been a little cool but it looks like that will change very soon. I feel déjà vu at the moment because we experienced this chilly weather at the start of camp last summer as well.

I’m happy to report that Island Lake 2018 is now officially in full swing. Our campers are adjusting to their majors, trying out new activities for their minors, and are becoming great friends with their bunkmates. I hope you can see all the joy on your children’s faces in our daily photos.

Speaking of photos, we started to take bunk pictures. Once they’re complete, we will post them in their own folder on CampMinder. You can check out our 5-year jacket and 10-year jacket pics now for your viewing pleasure.

Soooo, our campers have brought quite a variety of unique games, toys, trinkets, and what nots to camp this summer. On the right you can see Sydney and Sutton working hard in my office to put the final touches (and by touches I mean air) into their bunk mascot.

I have a funny story to share with you that I think is going to put a huge smile on your faces. I have an ongoing joke with one of the younger boys bunks and every day is a “free hug” day for them. For instance, Sunday was “Free Hug Sunday” and Monday was “Free Hug Monday.” I decided to switch it up on the boys for fun this morning and tell them my hugs weren’t free today,…ya know, because I don’t want it to get played out in the first week of camp (wink wink). Well these boys acted as if they didn’t care so I told them I was charging for hugs. I then took it one step further and told them it would cost them a canteen token to receive a hug from me. They continued to laugh at me and tell me there’s no way they’re paying me a token for a hug, so I left their breakfast table feeling defeated. I went on with my day, business as usual, and returned to say hello to them once again at lunchtime. The biggest shocker was when a counselor told me one of his campers who I never hugged before (I always ask new “huggees” permission first) brought canteen tokens to lunch so he could receive a hug from me!!!! I was dying! He took them out from his pocket to hand over to me and I gave him a big hug with an even bigger smile on my face. This boy just made my day. I explained to him that I was only joking and I’m happy to give him a free hug anytime he’d like. Following this exchange, much to my surprise, the boys who had laughed me off in the morning all asked for hugs as well! How cute is that? I love camp!  (Disclaimer for anyone who skimmed that paragraph: No money/canteen tokens were exchanged for hugs at any time!)

Anyway, now back to ILC news,…tonight’s evening activity is GROUPS. The boys and girls of each group will be playing together so here’s a breakdown of what everyone is doing:  Group 1- crazy games (variety of games in the gym); Group 2- capture the flag; Group 3- gaga; Group 4- pool party.

Today’s special feature is SPORTS. It’s amazing to see so many exciting activities going on here at ILC. Enjoy these pics and until tomorrow, ILCUTHERE!

Happy first day of majors and minors! Show rehearsals have started, rock bands have been formed, and dances are being choreographed. Kids are walking around doing magic tricks, making all sorts of arts & crafts projects, riding horses, waterskiing in the lake, swimming in the pool, and some campers are becoming little chefs at the cooking bistro. They’re flying in the air on the giant swing, as well as on the circus trapezes. Kids are learning to use the half pipes in our skatepark, the low and high ropes courses in pioneering, and science experiments are being created by children of all ages.   Sports and tennis went on outdoors as well as in the gym and it was great to see so many kids participating. Tons of kids were spotted playing flag football, soccer, basketball, and volleyball this afternoon. We’re extremely pumped for all the action going on here at Island Lake!

The day started off very cool but after lunch the temps warmed up to 70 degrees. We said goodbye to the clouds this morning and the skies could not be any bluer right now. The cool temps don’t really bother the kids as they were still out and about running around all morning & afternoon. The camp spirit is very high and activities are all in full swing.

Tonight’s evening activity is a big camp-wide game of To Tell The Truth. For those of you who haven’t been watching the reboot of this game show on tv, it involves contestants on stage all telling the same personal story to the audience (our campers) and then they take questions from the kids. The audience then has to decide who amongst the panel is telling the truth. It’s light hearted entertainment for kids of all ages.

After evening activity tonight our campers will head to the canteen for a snack or two. There at the canteen, as well as the gym, they will have the opportunity to socialize. Lots of kids will take the opportunity to play 4-square as well as basketball (a big games of knock out). We also opened our Teen Lounge for our campers who are entering 9^th grade and older (boys and girls group 4 and CITs). They’ll have access to a television and soda machine to hang out and socialize. The teen lounge is a good alternative to hanging around in the gym and the canteen every night. Our kids seem excited about it, too! What will they watch tonight? American Ninja Warrior or The Bachelorette? Oh, such decisions!

To summarize the first few days here at Island Lake, I can honestly tell you that our campers are having so much fun and are forming everlasting friendships with one another while learning many skills in their activities. We couldn’t be happier for all of them!

Today’s special photo feature is CIRCUS. Below are a bunch of pics from a variety of circus activities throughout the day. Enjoy the pictures and until tomorrow, ILC U THERE!

Happy first full day of camp! Yesterday’s Opening Day went extremely well with lots of happy campers coming off of the buses. New and old friendships are blossoming already. Campers are bonding with one another, as well as with their counselors, and they are settling into Summer 2018 here at Island Lake.   Be sure to check out our daily summer photos via CampMinder on our website. We also tweet daily, post on Instagram, and post on our Facebook page. There’s SO MUCH to check out that’s going on here at ILC.

Today’s was our 4-minor day so the kids were busy trying out activities to see what they’d like to sign up for as their majors for the session.   Campers took deep-water tests, had sports orientation, pioneering, started art projects, and were tested for their tennis levels. Auditions for the musicals went on all day today, as well. We’re excited to offer Wedding Singer for our older campers and Wizard of Oz for our younger kiddies.

Lots of other activities also took place today, too. Horseback riders and dancers were tested for levels, circus activities were in full effect, our magicians started to learn their skills, our skaters & bladers tore up the skatepark, our chefs cooked in the bistro, in addition to all of the other activities we offer here at ILC: magic, video, rock shop, gymnastics, and more!

Directly after lunch we gave out many 5-year jackets and 10-year jackets to our loyal Island Lakers, both campers and staff. In our daily summer photos through CampMinder we will show you photos of campers and staff in their ILC-wear. The hope is that our campers won’t have to wear these (rain) jackets quite so much over the course of the summer. But per usual, we experienced some rain today on and off. We had a medley of weather: sunshine, clouds, rain, cool temps, warm temps,…but don’t worry, nothing stopped our kids from running around and having fun!

After our 4 minors and snack break, we held our favorite traditional camp extravaganza,…PANIC! It’s a camp-wide game where I call things out over the PA system and our campers have to run into their bunks, find the item(s) and bring them as fast as possible to their group leaders in the middle of their campuses. It can be something as basic as a red toothbrush or more involved like 5 campers wearing 2017 ILC Color War t-shirts singing the camp alma mater. I play music over the PA in between while the kids all sing and dance with their bunks. Ok, I’m not gonna lie. The boys don’t sing and dance as much as the girls! Regardless, Panic was a hit and the kids participated and cheered their bunks on as they ran around having a fun-filled fantabulous time,…well, until the rain returned. Luckily that was a quick rain shower and we were able to continue and finish the game in style.

Tonight’s evening activity is GROUPS, which means the group leaders take charge and run different activities for their bunks. Here’s a list of what everyone is doing (weather pending): BOYS: Group 1- gaga; Group 2- dodgeball; Group 3- dodgeball (separate from group 2); Group 4- capture the flag. On the GIRLS side: Group 1- sidewalk chalking; Group 2- xtreme crazy games (in other words, getting to know you games amongst the bunks); Group 3- welcome party (a cool title for getting to know you games); Group 4- xtreme bonding (yet again, getting to know you games)

Below is an array of photos from out around camp today. Please return to this blog each day as I, Wendy, will be posting ongoing events happening here at Island Lake. I’ll hit different departments daily to show you action photos of your campers living it up here at camp. Until tomorrow, ILC U THERE!

Two more days!  The camp season is finally upon us and we just want to remind you of several important things.  This letter is for all camp families, new and returning, so please read it thoroughly.

All buses leave our bus locations on Opening Day at 11am sharp!  Please be sure to give yourself enough time to get to the buses by 10:30am, especially those of you going to our Queens bus stop. It is inevitable that there is always traffic heading to Queens, so leave extra early in order to arrive on time.

Don’t forget to pack your child a lunch for the bus ride to camp. Please do not pack anything containing peanuts or tree nuts.  For campers who are flying, it’s a good idea to send them with extra money for snacks that they’d like to purchase upon arrival at the airport.

Cell phones are strictly prohibited at camp!  Any child caught with a cell phone will be sent home from camp for a 3-day suspension.  Only campers flying to camp via airplane may travel with a cell phone.  We will collect your flying camper’s phone after your child calls home to let you know that he/she arrived at Newark safely.  Additionally, non-functioning iPhones are not allowed to be used as music players, even with the SIM card removed.

The bunks are all finalized and campers will receive their bunk numbers on their bus ride to camp.  We can no longer accept new bunk requests for the 1st session.  We try to honor all bunk requests to the best of our abilities.

If you have not yet sent in extra spending money for out of camp trips, you may send some money up with your child to place into his/her bank account. Although all trips out of camp are paid for, our campers like to have extra money for snacks and souvenirs, especially for Dorney Park in the 2^nd session. We recommend approximately $25/week ($100 for session 1 and $75 for session 2) but feel free to use your own discretion.

SOCIAL MEDIA
We will post hundreds of pictures to our website daily so be sure to go to islandlake.com and login to your CampMinder account to view the photos and send your child emails. We will attempt to post weekly videos on CampMinder but if our internet does not allow for this then we’ll have links to the videos on our Facebook page.

You can read our daily blog right here on our website at islandlake.com. Scroll down and click the yellow “B” at the bottom of any page on our site to read the latest regarding what’s going on in camp and to see some extra photos.

We will continue our practice posting to our Facebook page.  You do not need to have a Facebook account in order to view our posts.  You can just visit facebook.com/islandlakecamp.

Last, but definitely not least, we will be tweeting daily.  Once again, you do not need to have a Twitter account to see what we are posting.  Simply go to twitter.com/islandlakecamp to know more about your camper’s daily life at Island Lake.

We can’t wait to see all of our first session campers roll in on the buses this Saturday, June 23^rd!  ILCUTHERE!!!

This past Saturday was our Open House here at Island Lake for new campers and their families and it was a FANTASTIC DAY for all!!! We had a great turn out with lots of excited new campers. They all met one another, meet our staff, they toured camp, and they play games together in the afternoon. We loved meeting our rookie Island Lakers and we are that much more pumped for June 23^rd to arrive. We hope all of our campers are, as well.

With only 12 days until our opening day of camp (as of today, June 11^h), many of our staff members are arriving for training in their specific departments. Circus, waterfront, ropes/pioneering, horseback riding, and group leaders are amongst the departments that are already in training. All counselors and staff will be here by June 15^th for our staff orientation week.

We are sure many of our parents are now in full “camp mode” as you pack and prepare your children for their amazing ILC experience. Just a reminder that our packing list and equipment list are right here on our website under “Families” and “forms & mailings.” Any outstanding Medical Forms must be completed, signed, and returned to us ASAP, prior to your children’s arrival at camp.

By now you should have received your luggage tags and bus stop information packet. Place your children’s tags on each of their 2 duffel bags so we can transport them to their appropriate bunks upon arrival. All luggage will travel to camp on the buses with our campers.

REMINDER: ALL BUS STOP DEPARTURES WILL BE AT 11AM (other than Newark Airport)! Please arrive at your assigned bus stop by 10:00-10:30am on June 23^rd for a prompt departure at 11am.

Today you can start calling camp to set up your children’s phone appointments for summer. The phones are closed the first week of the session and then each child can call home once per session. See your Parent Handbook for more details. Once you have dates and times in mind, just give us a call here at camp at 570-798-2550.

If you have any last minute camp questions, feel free to give us a call. Until camp begins, our office is open daily until 5pm with a break for lunch from 12-12:45pm. Once camp begins we’re open daily until 9pm.

Enjoy these photos below from our Open House this past Saturday. Lots of new, excited, happy campers are joining us this summer. We CANNOT WAIT for everyone to arrive for an amazing, fantastic, out of this world ILC summer! In 12 more days, ILCUTHERE!!!