Tis, I, your campers Head Counselor making his annual guest appearance on the blog. I’ll be holding down the fort for the next few days while Wendy is away. I’ll do my best to live up to the lofty bar Wendy has set for me.
The weather gods did not smile on us much today. We had to deal with rain on and off for the majority of the day. Thankfully, the clouds parted and the sun shined late this afternoon and we had a beautiful evening at camp. The campers have been amazing throughout the session. Activities are loud and lively full of leisure and laughter.
The camp day started bright and early here at Island Lake. The annual Teen Trip left at 6:30am. Our sleepy-eyed crew of teens, counselors, and Wendy set off for The Cradle of Liberty, The Athens of America, Beantown otherwise known as Boston.
Stop one for the Teen Trip is the Basketball Hall of Fame to soak up all the majesty that is the National Basketball Association. I’m keeping my fingers crossed one of the lovely teens or chaperones remembers that I love basketball and love souvenirs! Next up our adventuress crew is heading to the New England Aquarium before exploring Quincy Market for dinner!
Not to be outdone, we will be taking the rest of the campers to Dorney Park tomorrow for Lazy Day. There is a palpable sense of excitement in the air as the campers’ countdown the hours to Dorney. However, before we can all enjoy a day of rollercoasters and merriment, we have an Evening Activity and Canteen to attend. Tonight we are flip-flopping the normal routine. Canteen will be first and the Evening Activity will be second. Why? Great question, Reader. Tonight’s Evening Activity is a Movie Night and you can’t have an authentic Movie Night without snacks, thus, Canteen before Evening Activity.
Until Friday (because I will be at Dorney Park all day riding the rides and eating all the sugary deliciousness I can find), ILCUTHERE
Happy Camp-chella day here at Island Lake! Don’t adjust your screen because yup, you read that term correctly. We are celebrating Camp-chella all day long here at ILC, so break out your best Greatful Dead tie dye t-shirt (unless I’m the only one who has hoarded hers over the past 25 years), dust it off, and join in on the fun! Peace, love, and rock & roll baby! I’ll tell ya more about Camp-chella later on in the blog when I tell you about our special evening activity tonight.
Back down to reality, we woke up to yet again another warm, sunny Starrucca day here in the 18462. We hit the mid-80’s this afternoon so I can only imagine how hot it must be down where you all live. Thank goodness we’re in the country with cooler mountain air. We had a brief drizzle this afternoon that lasted no longer than 3-4 minutes and the sun stayed out the entire time. I seriously could not have asked for better weather this entire summer.
I’m happy to present to you our week 4 video for your viewing pleasure:
Tomorrow morning we are departing at 6:30am for our teen trip to Boston. Our 9th grade and older campers who signed up for the trip, along with 5 staff members and myself, will be heading out of camp to make our way to the land of the Patriots. That’s right, we’re going to Boston, Massachusetts! I’ll be sure to take lots of photos to post on my blog when I return, along with posting lots of pics on Waldo.
Tomorrow we will head straight to the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, MA. After that we will go to Boston to check out the New England Aquarium and then Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market. Tomorrow evening we will be blown away by Blue Man Group. Whoop whoop!!!
On Thursday we will spend the day enjoying Martha’s Vineyard. That evening we will dine and play lots of arcade games at Dave & Busters. On Friday we will start off the day by taking a tour of Fenway Park, home to the Boston Red Socks. Afterwards we will visit the Museum of Science, take a Duck Tour, and then experience the Boston Tea Party Ship & Museum. After dinner that night we will witness a murder mystery. That’s right, you heard it here first. We’re going to see Sheer Madness, an interactive show that’s got murder and mystery. Hey, what a surprise, huh?
And finally, on Saturday we will check out of our hotel and head to Six Flags New England for an exhilarating day of rides, rollercoasters, and attractions. After eating lots of Dip & Dots, funnel cake, and Dip & Dots (did I mention I’m a fan of Dip & Dots?), we’ll finally make our way back home to Island Lake Road (feel free to sing that to the tune of “Old Town Road”).
For all of our campers who will remain at ILC, Thursday is our big Lazy Day trip to Dorney Park and Wild Water Kingdom! Woohoo! Yay! They’ll have an opportunity to head out of camp for the day, as well. Dustin will fill you in all about this adventurous day in Friday’s blog since everyone will be out of camp on Thursday into the nighttime. He won’t be blogging that day so he’ll just make Friday’s blog double the excitement and double the fun (with some Double Mint gum???).
Guess what time it is!?!?! Yup, you guess it, it’s riddle time! (soft cheers off in the distance yonder!) A reminder of yesterday’s riddle: What’s black when you buy it, red when you use it, and gray when you throw it away? Answer: Coal! That sounds pretty easy in retrospect, huh? Cray-cray how that happens. Here is today’s mind-boggling riddle for ya to lose sleep over: What’s the coolest letter in the alphabet? Deceptively sounds like this should be an easy one, huh? Let’s see how you all do but remember, I leave for the teen trip first thing in the morning so please do not email me your answers to the riddle for the next 4 days. You’ll have to keep your guesses to yourself since I don’t yet know whether Dustin will be blogging these riddles for you on a daily basis while I’m away.
Ok so now onto today’s big theme day, Camp-chella. We’re all sporting our tie-dyes, flower crowns, and bleached out jean shorts,…but enough about my wardrobe,…Tonight is our big music festival here at Island Lake. We’re all gonna party on the outdoor basketball court behind the gym. The dress code is tie dye, flower crowns, braids (not just for the girls anymore!), headbands, tank tops, jean shorts, and anything else to look hippie, fun, and cool. We’re telling kids to bring their inflatables, glow sticks, beach balls, dancing shoes, and an open mind to let loose and have fun. We have several guest DJ’s to spin the tunes all night long. Camp-chella will feature DJ Day Tripper, DJ PJ, DJ Steve, Mr. Dyar, and the After Party. Weather permitting we’ll break out the slip & slide, too. Our photographer will be there to snap pics so you should be able to witness the fun tomorrow on the Waldo app.
On a totally different note, today’s special feature is Horseback Riding! Giddy up! I missed a few groups throughout the day since they were riding on trails, but I was still able to take pics of campers who were receiving lessons in the indoor and outdoor arenas. Enjoy and until tomorrow, when Mr. Dustin Hutton will take over my blog, ILCUTHERE!
Hi Island Lake parents, grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, pets, and anyone and everyone who is welcome to read these blogs! Today was our first day of majors and minors for session 2. We woke up to beautiful blue skies and warm temps once again. We had a couple of rain showers come through camp briefly in the afternoon hours, but the showers lasted literally 5 minutes each, if that. The rain slightly cooled the air, which reached about 80 degrees for a high. My weather app shows partly cloudy skies for the remainder of the day with no rain in the forecast. Whoop whoop!
Last night we had a bit of a glitch in our weather system. It actually rained! Not only did it rain, but we had a few thunderstorms, so we altered some evening activities and ran the kids through canteen quickly before sending them back to their bunks in between storms. It turned into an ETB but with canteen.
Here’s what everyone did for evening activity last night: Group 1 boys & girls- still had their campfire because the rain was very light and there were no storms in the area. Group 2 boys & girls- still had their cards party in the art building. Groups 3 & 4 boys & girls- all did Disney Karaoke together in the theater. We’ll have to reschedule Messy Twister for the older girls on another evening in the near future. Messy Twister is a top 5 fav for many campers and it makes for spectacular photos, so I hope we can reschedule it for our older girls right after the teen trip.
Speaking of which, this Wednesday, 2 days from now, 50 campers, 5 staff members and I will hop onto a coach bus and head to Boston, MA and Martha’s Vineyard for 4 days of fun. We are very excited to check out the Basketball Hall of Fame, Quincy Market and Faneuil Hall, the Duck Tour, a Fenway Park private tour, Martha’s Vineyark (Oaks Bluff), 6 Flags, Blue Man Group, and much more. We’ll be away from camp for 4 days/3 nights and we’ll return to camp on Saturday night. Our teens who are participating on this trip are getting soooo EXCITED for this trip! It’s usually the highlight of the summer for them.
After dinner today I will hold my big Boston trip meeting with all of our campers and staff who are scheduled to join us. I’ll hand out the itinerary, a packing list, talk about our expectations while we are out of camp, and discuss details about the trip overall. Have I mentioned how incredibly excited our campers are for our 4 days of fun? We have an enthusiastic group of kids going, so we are really pumped.
While I am away in Boston, Dustin, our fantastic ILC head counselor, will take over blogging duties for me. He’s a very creative writer and will no doubt post very intriguing blogs for you to enjoy. I admit he’s a better writer than me but don’t worry, I’ve come to terms with it and I’m ok. (wink wink!) While we are away in Boston the blogs will be posted later at night when Dustin has a few minutes to sit down and write to all of you. He’ll try to post some photos for you but if he doesn’t have a chance to post pics, just go to the Waldo app for your fill of them.
Yesterday’s riddle was: I have a frame but no pictures. I have poles but not standing up. What am I? Answer: Eyeglasses. Congrats to Joe S. for getting this riddle correct. Joe has been on top of his game all summer. I’m impressed! Today’s riddle is: What is black when you buy it, red when you use it, and gray when you throw it away?
Tonight’s evening activity is ILC’s Got Talent. Yup, you read that correctly. It’ll be just like the tv show,America’s Got Talent, but with our own ILC twist, turns, and simply our own version of it. The entire camp is invited to audition and join in on the fun.
Today’s special feature is DANCE! We’ve got tap, we’ve got ballet, we’ve got jazz, we’ve got contemporary, we’ve got hip-hop, and we’ve got more for our campers to enjoy boogying to all day long. Enjoy and until tomorrow, the eve of our teen trip, ILCUTHERE!
Happy first full day of 2ndsession! If your child just arrived for 2ndsession, welcome to my blog. If you’re still reading from the 1stsession, thanks for your commitment. Today our campers stayed busy with their 4-minors of auditions, level testing, and trying out activities that they’d like to sign up for as their majors.
This morning we wait for it, wait for it,….we woke up to guess what? That’s right, we woke up to a beautiful warm and sunny day here in Starrucca, PA. What a surprise that we once again had blue skies and warm temps! I couldn’t ask for better weather this entire summer here at camp. We actually had a small rain shower this afternoon but it was more of a drizzle in the sun that lasted about 5 minutes.
This afternoon, after our 4 minors, we had a pool party and we opened the tennis courts for our avid tennis players. Our campers played music down at the pool and rocked out while swimming and hanging with their friends on the grass.
Once the pool party was over, our group leaders went around to all of their bunks to sign their campers up for their majors. All of our department heads were in the office to assist in case of any activity conflicts during the same major. We assist the campers with their schedule to make sure they can take every activity they like and be sure no one is closed out of an activity.
For those of you who are new to my blog, I post the camp’s Morning News riddle every day for you, the parents, to figure out. You can email me your guesses at wendy@islandlake.comand I’ll post your name in the blog the following day if you get the correct answer to the riddle. See, camp can be fun for parents too! (wink wink!) Here’s a reminder of Friday’s riddle: I have two legs but they only touch the ground while I’m at rest. What am I? Answer: a wheelbarrow! (spelling is up to interpretation). Here is today’s Morning News riddle: I have a frame but no pictures. I have poles but not standing up. What am I?
Tonight’s evening activity is GROUPS! As a reminder, here is a list of grades and groups: 5thgrade and under is group 1: 6th& 7thgrade is group 2: 8thgrade is group 3: 9th& 10thgrade is group 4 (11th& 12thgrade CIT’s are in bunks with younger kids). Here’s a list of what each of the groups are doing tonight for evening activity: Group 1 boys & girls- Campfire: Group 2 boys & girls- Cards with Campers: Boys Groups 3 & 4- Disney Karaoke (would you believe they’ve been asking for this?!?!): Girls Groups 3 & 4- Messy Twister (sooooo much FUN for the kids! I will definitely go and take photos to post in the blog tomorrow!).
Well, that’s it for now. Have a great evening and until tomorrow, ILCUTHERE!
Happy Changeover Day! With sadness we bid farewell to our 1st session campers this morning. On a brighter note, we welcomed our 2nd session campers with open arms this afternoon. It’s always difficult to see good friends leave but fortunately, lots of campers stayed on from 1stsession.
I know this will come as a shocker to you but today we had yet another beautiful day of weather. Woohoo! The temps warmed up to close to 80 degrees in the afternoon and the sun shined bright for our buses as they pulled into camp with our new, excited 2nd session campers.
At this point, all of our new campers have safely arrived at camp, other than the Newark kids who are on their way and should be here during dinner.
Last night’s performance of “Matilda” was fantastic and entertaining! The older kids all performed their hearts out. Between our talented campers, wonderful theater staff, group leaders, and adult staff who made cameo appearances, the show was a great success!
With our 1st session performances all done now, we will start over again in the 2nd session with auditions tomorrow on 4-minor day. Our younger camper show will be “Annie Junior” and our older camp show will be “Peter & the Star Catcher” (remake of “Peter Pan”). Our sports tournaments will continue into the 2ndsession, as well.
Our special guest photographer, David Lobel, came to camp to take photos once again. You can check them out and download any you wish for free at the following link:
Tonight’s evening activity is “Make Your Own Mess” (aka “Make Your Own Sundae”)! Campers will go to the canteen with their bunkmates to make ice cream sundaes and get to know their new friends better.
Today’s special feature is yesterday’s Rock Concert and last night’s “Matilda!” Enjoy and until tomorrow, which is our 2ndsession 4-minor day, ILCUTHERE!
Hi ILC Families! I cannot believe that today was the last full day of session 1 here at camp! These past 4 weeks have flown by way too fast. It’s going to be sad to say goodbye to many of our amazing campers tomorrow morning. I hope they had the greatest experience here at ILC & I hope to see them all at camp again next summer. All parents of session 1 campers should have received an email from me yesterday 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.
I know I sound redundant but today was yet another beautiful day in Starrucca, PA. The skies were a mostly sunny and after a cool wake-up, we reached almost 80 degrees in the afternoon. We’ve definitely been super lucky with weather this summer. Someone above was listening to our wishes and prayers.
Today we offered all 3 of our majors and just 1 minor in order to have “super cleanup” in the afternoon. Those campers who are staying for 2ndsession had to clean their cubbies and find those missing socks and brand new t-shirts they didn’t know their mom packed for them for camp. (wink wink!) Those campers who are going home tomorrow (tear!) had an opportunity to pack during this time.
Yesterday we finished our ILC Open in tennis and the winner for the girls group 2 round is Aubrey B. Congrats to all of our campers who participated. I also have the winners of our Skatepark Competition:
Rollerblading: 3rdplace- Ryan M.: 2ndplace- Alex Z.: 1stplace- Griffin M.
Skateboarding Beginners & Intermediates: 3rdplace- Ryan S.: 2ndplace- Gilly M.: 1stplace- Maya D.
Skateboarding Advanced: 3rdplace- Miko M.: 2ndplace- Zan N.: 1stplace- Kuba G.
Riddle time! Yesterday’s riddle: What breaks, but never falls? What falls, but never breaks? Answer: day & night! I have 2 legs but they only touch the ground while I’m at rest. What am I?
After super clean up we are now in the midst of entertaining the camp with our big ROCK CONCERT before dinner. Everyone is down in the theater jamming out to rock tunes of yesteryear and today.
Last night’s Circus Show was STUPENDOUS! Our campers performed amazingly well. Our circus staff and the kids worked so hard and it was apparent in their amazing efforts and spectacular performances. The greatest show definitely took place here in Starrucca, PA, that’s for sure. For those of you with children who performed in the show, it’s a video you won’t want to miss out on after the summer. Today’s special feature is some highlights from last night’s outstanding evening.
Well, that’s about all the news that I have for you today, our very last day of the 1stsession. For those of you with children coming home tomorrow, enjoy your last evening of peace and quiet! I truly hope your campers come home happy, healthy, and with tons and tons of amazing ILC summer 2019 stories and experiences to share with you. To everyone else, ILCUTHERE!
Hey Island Lake Families! Wow, 1 more full day left in this session before our first changeover day on Saturday. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, time sure does fly by when we’re having fun. Blink your eyes twice and it’s already over (Cue sad music and tears). For those of you with children coming home on Saturday, I hope they have only amazing ILC experiences to share with you.
Do I even need to tell you once again that today was yet another day of blue skies and temps in the 70’s here in the 18462? We woke up to some cool, brisk temps but it quickly warmed up in the morning and then we reached the mid 70’s in the afternoon hours.
In ILC sports, our 10th & 11th grade girls went out of camp for a Wayne County volleyball tournament at a nearby camp. We placed 4th out of 9 camps. Proud of those girls. Our 5th grade boys played in a soccer game out of camp this morning, too. Although we didn’t win, our boys played hard and they played well. I hear they made it very difficult for the other team to score on us.
Our annual Skatepark Competition took place during 3rdminor today for our rad skateboarders and rollerbladers. I will have the results and winners for you in tomorrow’s blog. Our ILC Open is also finishing up during 3rd minor today with only 1 more tennis match to be played. I’ll give you a list of winners for all of the completed matches. Congrats to:
Boys Group 1 winner- Logan O.: Boys Group 2 winner- Diego Sanchez: Boys Group 3 winner- Ignacy Chylinski: Boys Group 4 winner- Emiliano Prada
Girls Group 2 winner- to be played today (no girls group 1 round was played): Girls Group 3 winner- Fiona Gibbons: Girls Group 4 winner- Marion Karp
Yesterday’s riddle and answer was: You will always find me in the past. I can be created in the present, but the future can never taint me. What am I? Answer: History. Congrats to Ben W. for emailing me the correct answer. Alexandrea W. also said the answer could be “a memory” and I can see that fitting into the riddle, as well. Today’s brain teaser: What breaks but never falls? What falls but never breaks?
Tonight’s evening activity is the much anticipated, super duper greatest extravaganza, that some may even call the greatest show on earth. Yup, that’s right, it’s the Island Lake Circus Show! Lots of our campers will be participating and the rest of our campers will be spectators enjoying the show.
Last night’s younger children’s play, “Frozen”, was a huge success! Wow, we have some talented children at this camp!!! Their acting and singing skills entertained the audience throughout the entire show. Of course, the whole camp enjoyed quietly singing, “Let It Go” with Elsa. Enjoy some of the photos below as well as in Waldo and until tomorrow, ILCUTHERE!
Today was wait for it, wait for it,…another beautiful day in Starrucca, PA! Shocker, huh? We woke up to clear blue skies and cool temps in the low 60’s and it warmed up to the mid 70’s by the afternoon hours. What a perfect day to play camp!
This morning 30 campers went on a day trip to Cooperstown to enjoy the Baseball Hall of Fame. They spent a few hours walking around the Hall of Fame to learn about the history of baseball, America’s greatest pastime. They usually convince the counselors to let them get some pizza and fudge in town, too. They just returned from this trip during our 3rd minor.
Today at lunch I surprised all of our campers (& counselors) with another Music Lunch for the session. They were so excited to listen to music while eating and then sing and dance in the dining room until it was time to go get ready for their 2ndmajor. It’s always such a wonderful bonding time for our campers when have Music Lunch here at ILC. You will see pictures posted on Waldo later on.
We have a few fun activities going on here at camp today, as well. Group Leader Aideen is an avid field hockey player so she offered this activity to our campers in the 1stminor to get them interested in it. She had a pretty good turnout too. Our Fortifying the Frontier kids in Pioneering had a big “FTF Game Day” during the 3rd minor so they will had a huge number of kids playing up there today. Tomorrow is our big Skatepark competition. I’ll post the winners for you once this takes place. We’re also waiting on one final match in the ILC Tennis Open.
A reminder of yesterday’s ILC Morning News riddle: What has a head, a tail, no legs, and is brown? Answer: A Penny! I got some great responses to this one. Props to Rachel B., Brian G., Ben W., and Lisa A. for getting this answer correct. Brian went so far as to also guess a dirty quarter. Here’s today’s fun riddle: You will find me in the past. I can be created in the present, but the future can never taint me. What am I?
Tonight’s evening activity is our younger camper show, Frozen! These kids have been rehearsing and working hard all session to put on a fantastic performance for the camp to enjoy. We’re all very excited to see our little ones take to the stage to sing, act, and dance their hearts out tonight. We’ll have lots of pictures posted for you on Waldo tomorrow and I’ll also post some on the blog.
Today’s special feature is a variety of photos from last night’s Dance Show and Magic Show. Enjoy and until tomorrow, ILCUTHERE!
Happy Tuesday everyone! Or as we say here at camp, “What day is today?” Can you believe we’re already in our 4thweek of camp? We only have a few more full days left in this session. I know I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again. Time flies when we’re having fun! Speaking of which, here’s a link to our week 3 video for your enjoyment:
I’m happy to report that the rain stopped overnight so we had a dry day today in the 18462. It was overcast and dreary this morning but outdoor activities were able to resume once again. This afternoon the sunshine broke through the clouds and temps reached a high of only around 72 degrees so it’s nice to have a break from the heat and humidity.
In ILC sports, yesterday our girls did very well in the gymnastics meet at another camp. Jade O. performed exceptionally well as she came in 4thplace out of a total of 14 camps. This morning we hosted an in-camp fencing tournament. Stefan K. came back from behind and won the entire competition. I was told that our fencing campers really enjoyed this friendly competition. The ILL Open is finishing up their tennis matches today so I will hopefully have the results for you tomorrow. We also have a skatepark competition in the next couple of days that I’ll report more about once it takes place.
Yesterday’s riddle was a head scratcher: I have four blades yet I draw no blood. What am I? Answer: a fan or a windmill! Congrats to Meredith B. and Alexandrea W. for getting this riddle correct. Today’s riddle is: What has a head, a tail, is brown, and has no legs? I give up!
Theater, circus, magic, dance, and music rehearsals are winding down as we begin our performance week tonight. Abracadabra and a 5, 6, 7, 8! We kick off this special week with our MAGIC & DANCE SHOW for evening activity in the theater.
Today’s special feature is from last night’s evening activity, Christmas in July! Our campers had fun with face painting, karaoke, photos with Santa, cookies and milk, snowflake making, dancing to Christmas music, pin the nose on the reindeer, and more. Check out the fun in the photos below and until tomorrow, ILCUTHERE!
HO HO HO! Merry Christmas in July everyone (and Happy Hanukkah)! Today we had a fun theme day to keep the spirit high. Some campers brought holiday clothing to camp to wear, some made things in art, and we even had a Santa Claus come and visit camp. Good thing the weather cooled off, especially for Santa in that costume. Whoops, I mean what costume? Santa is real, right?
Speaking of the weather, I’m happy to report that the temps have definitely cooled off here in Starrucca today. We woke up to overcast skies and we only made it into the mid 60’s all day. The rain started during 1stmajor this morning and it has rained pretty continuously ever since. This is our first real official “rainy day” here at camp. After experiencing that heat wave for the past few days, we’ll happily take this cooler weather. As for the rain, well, hopefully today will be the only day we have it.
Today in ILC sports, our gymnasts went out of camp for an all day meet at another Wayne County camp. Our 9th grade boys played in a basketball game here at home this morning. It was a close game but we came out ahead and won 27-24. Go boys!
Being that this is our 34th summer of ownership at Island Lake, we currently have a couple of dozen campers who are children of our alumni. These alumni attended ILC as campers in our early years. As this group of 2nd generation Island Lakers gets larger and larger each summer, I like to gather them together for an annual photo. Here’s our session 1 group of “alumni campers.”
Yesterday’s riddle was an easy one according to feedback: A butcher is 5’11” tall and has a size 13 shoe. What does he weigh? Answer: Meat! Congrats to the following parents for getting this riddle correct: Brian G., Joe S., Adira B., Ben W., and Jen W. Here’s today’s riddle: I have four blades yet I draw no blood. What am I?
Tonight’s evening activity is Christmas in July! We’re going to take pictures with Santa, offer Christmas Karaoke, cookies and milk, face painting, reindeer games (pin the nose on Rudolph), and lots of other fun holiday stuff.
Today’s blog special feature is MAGIC, SCIENCE, & VIDEO! Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and until tomorrow, ILCUTHERE!
