Today is our very last Lazy Day for summer 2019 (Violins are playing in the background as tears well up in our eyes.).  Our campers slept in for some much needed rest and then we had a big brunch at 10:30am. We also offered an option 8am breakfast for our early risers.

For Lazy Day, Groups 1 & 2 went to see The Lion King.  They had a relaxing afternoon at a local town watching this movie while enjoying popcorn, candy, and a drink.  Don’t worry; we limited their junk food intake so as to not overdo it.  So far the feedback has been very positive about the movie.  The kids say they really enjoyed it.

Groups 3 & 4 went to the bowling alley in Binghamton for a fun day of rolling heavy balls down narrow lanes to knock down pins.  😉  Our older kids also had fun playing laser tag, bumper cars, a flying ride that no one seems to be able to describe well to me, and the kids had snack food galore.

Today we woke up to cool temps and cloudy skies but it quickly changed to warm temps and mostly sunny skies once again.  We were lucky that the rain missed us yesterday but not as lucky late in the day. While the younger groups headed back to camp, a rainstorm came through.

While I was away in Boston our 6^th grade girls tennis team played out of camp and came in 2^nd place overall.  Below is a photo that was taken that day at the match.  How cute are our campers?

Tonight for dinner we will have a cook-in instead of a cook-out due to the rain.  We’ll still serve hamburgers, veggie burgers, and hot dogs along with all of the trimmings.  We’ll also serve a delectable baked dessert and watermelon to top it all off.

Tonight’s evening activity is GROUPS!  Many of these activities may change if the rain continues but as of now, here’s how it stands.  GIRLS: Group 1- Pizza-Making Party. They’ll break into the bistro and make individual pizzas;  Group 2- Pool Party (don’t ya love how we have so many “parties” here at camp?);  Group 3 & 4- Messy Twister (they got rained out last time so hopefully they’ll be on for tonight.  It makes for great photos that I hope to blog tomorrow.):  And on the BOYS side:  Group 1 & 2- a mystery!  They hadn’t decided as of this morning and they’re still figuring it out, weather pending; Groups 3 & 4- Campfire.  I’ll update you tomorrow if these activities change.

Because today is Lazy Day, there’s no special feature slide show.  I’ll make it all up to you tomorrow when we resume our majors/minors once again.  We also have some surprises in store for our campers that I’ll be able to share with you tomorrow.  (Spooky evil laugh inserted here!)  Until then, ILCUTHERE!

Hello ILC families!  Today was another fun day of activities here at camp.  But first, before I tell you all about today, I’m going to flashback to yesterday.  We got hit with some thunderstorms after dinner so we had to change up and improvise the evening’s events.  We had our campers come through canteen once one of the storms passed.  We were going to try to round everyone up for the movie in the theater, but due to the threats of additional thunderstorms for the remainder of the night, we played it safe and had our campers go back to their bunks for some “bunk bonding” time.  In other words, it became an impromptu ETB night, but with canteen instead of evening activity.  Ok, I’m gonna be honest, we were also going to break out Revival Night last night during the movie.  However, due to rain, it’s been put off for another secretive time later in the session.

This morning we woke up to mostly cloudy skies and foggy, humid air, with the threat of rain looming.  Buuuuut, guess what?  It didn’t rain!  The sun worked hard to break through the clouds and succeeded from time to time this afternoon.  The temps were warm and activities proceeded as usual.

Our overnight river trip campers returned and hey, they were pretty dry all considering!  Although their campgrounds got hit with rain last night, they stayed dry in their tents. Our campers had a good ol’ time.

Today we took a busload of campers back to Cooperstown to enjoy the day at the Baseball Hall of Fame.  They soaked in the history of America’s favorite past time while walking around and reading up about players who have made this sport as popular as it is today. Our campers, especially our baseball/softball enthusiasts, always enjoy this day a great deal.

Tomorrow is our final Lazy Day for summer 2019.  (Cue the sad music!)  Groups 1 & 2 will go see the new movie, The Lion King, at a local movie theater.  Groups 3 & 4 are going to the bowling alley in Binghamton to knock down some pins, play some laser tag, video games, and enjoy some of the other virtual games and rides at this fine establishment.

Yesterday’s riddle was:  Which three letters would surprise an invisible person?  Answer:  I C U! Congrats to Lisa A. and Rachel B. for getting this correct.  There was a little snafu in today’s “ILC Morning News” and there wasn’t a riddle posted on it, so we’ll just take today off from riddles (as well as tomorrow since it’s Lazy Day).

Tonight’s evening activity is Groups!  Here’s a breakdown of what everyone is doing:  Girls Groups 1 & 2 are having a Musical Karaoke night; Boys Groups 1 & 2 are having a trivia night;  Boys & Girls Group 3 are having a Board Game Night;  Boys & Girls Group 4 are watching the classic Island Lake movie, Beaverhead.  Beaverheadwas written and directed by our favorite Bistro chef, Dave Morgan, back when he ran our theater program in the 90’s.  Our older campers enjoy watching it every summer.

Today’s special feature is THEATER.  This session we will be performing Anniefor the little kids and Peter & the Star Catcherfor the older kids.  Below are some photos from rehearsal for these shows, along with campers working back stage helping to build the sets and make the costumes. Enjoy and until tomorrow, our final Lazy Day, ILCUTHERE!

Happy Halloween! “Wait, it’s not October 31^st ” you may be thinking, and you would be correct.  However, here at ILC we like to break all holiday barriers and celebrate whenever we feel like it!  Today in the 18462 we are celebrating Halloween with our campers and staff.  I have lots to share with about our Halloween celebration later in this blog.

The following is our week 5 video of fun here at ILC.  It includes changeover day when the buses arrived with our new campers, Make Your Own Mess (uh, I mean Sundae) at the canteen that night, and activities, activities, and more activities.

On the weather front, I know this is a shocker to you all but we woke up to blue skies and sunshine this morning.  It was a warm and sunny first half of the day before the dark clouds rolled in, followed by some wind and rain.  It’s ok though,…our grass needs water on occasion.  It rained on and off during our 2^ndminor and then the sun came back out for the remainder of the day.

In ILC sports, today our 9^th grade boys played tennis in the semi-finals for the Wayne County championship.  We beat a well-known sports camp and now we will have the opportunity to play in the finals.  The other camps playing the semi-final round have put off their matches so we’re really hoping that they play soon so we can kick some major booty,…uh, I mean we can play in the final round for the championship.

Speaking of tennis tournaments, today we also started our 2^nd session ILC Open.  We’ll have boys and girls of all groups competing for championship trophies (& bragging rights).  Once the final rounds are complete, I’ll let you know who the winners are in each group, both boys and girls.

This morning a dozen children left camp for the 2^nd session overnight river trip.  They will take our canoes and kayaks down the Delaware River and enjoy the water for a full day before pitching tents and camping out under the stars tonight at a camp sight near the river.  This out of camp trip was a huge success during the 1^st session.  Let’s hope the weather holds out for them today so these children can have just as much fun.

It’s riddle time! Yesterday’s riddle was:  Two children were born to the same mother on the same day in the same month and year but are not twins.  How can this be?  Answer:  They’re triplets!  Hardy haha! Congrats to Ross K. & Ben W. who got this riddle correct.  Here’s today’s brain twister:  Which 3 letters would surprise an invisible person?  Hmmmm,….

Being that today is Halloween, many campers have been dressing up in costumes.  They vary from wearing animal onesies to dressing as angels, devils, lifeguards, rappers, safari tourists, witches, superheroes, and more.  We will host a costume contest at dinner for our campers and counselors to participate in. Our campers also had the opportunity to trick-or-treat for candy at the different departments in between activities today. Candy candy everywhere!  (DISCLAIMER:  Just kidding! For those of you who are concerned with your child’s sugar intake, we actually only handed out a small amount of candy to each child who went trick-or-treating.)

Tonight’s evening activity will follow with today’s theme.  Camp will all watch, “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” down in the theater.

Today’s special feature is Halloween!  I took pictures around camp of our campers and counselors dressed up in their Halloween costumes throughout the day.  Enjoy and until tomorrow (nope, it won’t be November 1^st), ILCUTHERE!

Happy Monday everyone! Guess what?  Yup, that’s right you guessed it correctly.  We had yet another beautiful day here in Starrucca, PA.  The morning was actually pretty crisp and cool but it warmed up nicely to the mid-70’s by the afternoon.  The skies were bright blue without a cloud to be seen this morning  and very few to be seen all afternoon.

Last night’s ILC’s Got Talent was a huge success!  Our campers performed their hearts out on stage as our audience of campers cheered them on.  3^rdplace went to Aidan S. for his comedy routine consisting of fishing jokes. 2^ndplace went to Avi L. who performed a bo staff routine to the song, “Footloose”.  Avi is extremely talented with the bo staff, as he is a competitive martial artist at home.  He’s ranked top 10 in the country so you can imagine how amazing his act was.  He had the crowd on their feet cheering him on in astonishment.  1^stplace went to Sydney F. who played the piano and sang the song, “Always Remember Us This Way” by Lady Gaga.  Her voice was soulful and beautiful and she received a standing ovation from the crowd. She can give Lady Gaga a run for her money!

I’ve been hearing whispers around camp regarding when we’re going to surprise our kids with Counselor Switch Day, Revival Night, and Color War.  We have lots of surprises in store for them and they’re getting pretty pumped for all of it.  But first, tomorrow is Halloween here at ILC.  Is it October 31^st?  Nah, it’s just August 6^thbut hey, who cares?  Every day and any day can be Halloween here in the 18462.  I’ll have more deets to share with you tomorrow regarding the festivities we have in store for our campers.

And now it’s riddle time! Here’s a reminder of yesterday’s riddle: What spends most of its time on the floor but never gets dirty?  Answer: your shadow.  Here’s today’s brain teaser:  Two children were born to the same mother on the same day in the same month and year but are not twins.  How can this be?

Tonight’s evening activity is a fan favorite here at Island Lake.  It’s our 2^ndsession Social!  It’s time for our boys to shower, clean up, and dress to impress.  Who am I kidding?  We’re lucky if they put on a clean shirt!  The girls love dressing up for the social, whether they do their hair and put on a pretty outfit/dress or they go in the opposite direction and wear a onesy with all of their friends.  Hey, it’s all in the name of fun and that’s what we’re about here at ILC.  We will have an outside DJ come to camp to spin tunes in our gym for our campers to party it up like it’s 1999.  Or ok,…maybe just 2019.

Today’s special feature is GYMNASTICS!  I snapped some pics of our beginners to advanced level gymnasts, along with kids participating in a Yoga and Pilates class.  We had a huge turnout for Parkour this afternoon, as well.  Enjoy the pics below and until tomorrow, ILCUTHERE!

I’M BAAAAAACCCKKK!!! It’s Wendy here, back behind the keyboard once again.  We returned from our successful trip to Boston last night at 10:15pm.  I’ll fill you in more about the trip later on in this blog.  I just want to thank Dustin & Emma for writing such amazing blogs while I was away. Their creative writing skills shined right through these past 4 days.

Back here in the 18462 we woke up to sunny skies and warm temps.  This afternoon the temps reached the mid-70’s with mostly sunny skies. What a perfect day for camp!

I hear yesterday’s Country Western Day was a yeehaw whole lot of fun for our campers and last night’s Hoedown was a soaring success.  You can view lots of photos of this event on Waldo.

Group leader Emma did a magnificent job blogging for all of you yesterday.  I see that she posted yesterday’s riddle.  I don’t think we posted the answer to the riddle right before our trip so I’ll just pick up where I left off.  The last riddle I posted was:  What’s the coolest letter in the alphabet?  The answer was:  B because it’s always surrounded by A.C.  Hahahaha! That was a good one, huh?  Here’s today’s riddle:  What spends most of its time on the floor but never gets dirty?  If you can figure out the correct answer without the assistance of Siri or Alexa, feel free to email me your response atwendy@islandlake.com.  If you get it correct, I’ll post your name in tomorrow’s blog.   Here’s a reminder of yesterday’s riddle:  What is very easy to get into but difficult to get out of? Answer:  Trouble!  Congrats to Ross K. for getting this correct.

In ILC sports, I don’t think I mentioned some big wins we had right before our teen trip so I just want to brag to you for a moment.  Prior to our trip our 8^th& 9^thgrade boys played a friendly basketball game against a nearby camp here at home.  We won that game by 33 points!  Can you believe it?  33 points is a huge feat!  I’m very proud of our campers for working so hard for this win.  Our 10^th& 11^thgrade boys also played a game of hoops against another camp and they, too, won.  It wasn’t quite a 33 point difference but nonetheless it was a win so hey, I’ll take it!

Now back to the Boston trip. For the most part we had beautiful weather.  There was a thunderstorm on our first day while we were at the aquarium, so we had to wait a few extra minutes before heading to Faneuil Hall.  Our 2^ndday on Martha’s Vineyard was absolutely gorgeous.  It was warm, sunny, and a perfect day to walk around the town, rent bicycles to check out the scenery, and dip our feet into the ocean.  Yesterday we had another thunderstorm while at Six Flags, so that kinda stunk, but we still had plenty of time to experience the thrill rides.

Here were some of our campers’ highlights of the trip:  Shear Madness– our campers absolutely LOVED this interactive comedy show.  It was a murder mystery in which we we all had the opportunity to participate and figure out whodunit.  Our campers were so animated and excited to re-enact the scene of the crime and solve the murder mystery.  Blue Man Group– another fantastic show where our counselor, Will, was pulled up on stage to participate.  Our campers had a blast spending the day on the Vineyardas I mentioned above.  Many campers had the opportunity to drive the duck in the water on the Duck Tourso that was a good ol’ time for them.  Dave & Busters– always a fun place to have dinner and play lots of arcade games and win silly prizes with all of their tickets.  Eating foodwas another highlight for our campers because I kid you not, they did not stop eating the entire 4 days, whether it was making waffles at breakfast, eating dinner at the Prudential Center mall, or ordering food to the hotel every night.  There was no shortage of food on this trip by any means.   My personal highlight of the trip- turning onto Island Lake Road and pulling back into camp last night with all 50 of our campers, happy and healthy.  Another successful teen trip in the books!

And now back to life here in Starrucca, PA.  Tonight’s evening activity is ILC’s Got Talent.  We have the final rounds tonight and 1 person or group will be crowned the winner. Stay tuned, as I will announce the results for all of you in tomorrow’s blog.

Today’s special feature is from none other than the Boston Trip!  Enjoy and until tomorrow, ILCUTHERE!

Howdy y’all!

It’s time for yet another guest writer on the blog. Who better on Western Day than a former horseback counselor, Group Leader Emma?!

First things first, yesterday’s riddle: what flower can you find between your nose and your chin? Answer: Tulips (Two-lips). I’m shaking my head. That one is definitely not our Program Director’s finest work!! Today’s riddle has stumped me, I’ll admit: What is very easy to get into, but difficult to get out of?

It’s been a cloudy day here in Starrucca, PA. It’s still warm and the weather has been holding out, but we’ve had a few spots of rain here and there, but nothing that could dampen the mood of our cowboys and cowgirls! Yeehaw! Our campers have donned their best flannel, braids, and denim in order to celebrate one of the best days of the summer calendar – Western Day!!

Today also marks our Rookie Day 2019 when prospective campers get to come and experience a fun-filled day at ILC. While hanging out with the CITs and Group Leaders, the kids got to try a bunch of cool activities! They were soaring high on the Giant Swing, getting sticky in the Slime Lab (Science), and cooking up a storm at our ILC Bistro.

In sports, we hosted a Wayne County camp for boys 6^th& 7^thgrade basketball game. Our boys played hard and had a great time – the victory was just an added bonus!

Of course, we’ll be saddling up for HOEDOWN in the hockey rink for tonight’s evening activity. There’ll be line dancing, a counselor pie eating contest, a marriage booth, petting zoo, corn hole, wellie toss, and much more. I’m sure Wendy will have lots of photos for you tomorrow!

And, not to forget our campers in Boston, yesterday they started their day with a trip to Fenway Park before departing on a land and water tour of the city with Duck Tours. After lunch, fun was had at the Museum of Science and the Boston Tea Party Ship. Later, our campers enjoyed dinner at the Prudential Center before heading to Shear Madness, a murder mystery comedy show.

We’re so excited to have our campers back this evening! They’re spending the day at Six Flags New England before getting back on the road to Starrucca, PA.

Well, I’ve enjoyed writing to you all immensely! Tomorrow, Wendy will have returned to take back the reins (Ha! Reins – do you get it?!… It’s Western Day… This is why they don’t usually let me write the blog, isn’t it?) and we’ll finally have a full house back at ILC!

All the best,

Group Leader Emma

Hi Best Friends –

Yesterday we were off camp for one of the most anticipated Lazy Days of the summer, Dorney Park. The trip proved to be a roaring success and the weather held up for us, making it a day full of sunshine, good food, rollercoasters, and water rides.

This morning we had a lie in, and woke up to the beautiful sunshine.  We originally scheduled today to be Western Day here at Camp.  However, after careful consideration we decided to make tomorrow Western Day so everyone will have to wait one more day before seeing all of our campers in their country western best!

As per usual, theater rehearsals continued for Annie, and Peter and the Star Catcher.  There’s no business like show business! Our budding chefs also continued to cook up a storm in the Bistro.  I personally taste-tasted a fried mozzarella stick and let me tell you friends:  divine!

As to our teen trip campers, I am happy to report that their day might possibly have rivaled ours here at camp. This morning the teen trip group checked out of their hotel, went to Woods Hole and took a ferry ride to Martha’s Vineyard, and stopped at Dave & Buster’s for dinner.  We can’t wait to welcome them back to their home away from home tomorrow, and hear all their stories from the trip!

In leu of the Hoedown, tonight’s Evening Activity is Groups.  The Group 1 and 2 girls will be getting messy as they take their turn with Messy Twister (hands down one of the more popular Group Activities at camp). The Group 1 boys will be competing in a highly anticipated Gaga Tournament.  Not to be outdone, the Group 2 boys will be getting competitive in their own way with a Dodgeball Tournament.  The Group 3 and 4 girls and boys will be watching our in-house Island Lake movie, Beaverhead (a rite of passage in every ILC camper’s life).

Your Friendly Neighborhood Head Counselor