Happy Sunday fun-day! We woke up to misty rain and dreary skies but hey, it didn’t break our campers’ spirits. The skies slowly cleared and activities resumed as usual. By afternoon the sun shined once again and today turned into a beautiful warm, sunny summer day. Our campers are now settling into their majors for the session and trying lots of new activities for their minors.

We had a few sporting events in and out of camp today. This morning’s tournament was here in camp. Our 8^th & 9^th grade girls played against another camp and they kicked booty and took names! That’s right, our girls beat the other camp 12-3! Whoop whoop!  This afternoon’s sports were all away games. Our 8^th & 9^th grade girls played soccer and our 6^th & 7^th grade boys played baseball out of camp.

In archery news, our campers had an ILC Shootout amongst their peers once again. The kids broke up into teams of 2 and competed amongst themselves against other teams of 2. Lots of action has been going on for our Island Lakers.

In other departments, our theater kids are busy learning songs, staging, and lines for 101 Dalmations and Xanadu. In cooking, they’re making “busy day cake with whip cream” (Yum!). Rock Shop has lots of bands rehearsing, as well as lessons going on all day. In Pioneering, they’re busy on the climbing wall, ropes courses, giant swing, zip line, building fires, and hiking around trails. In magic, they are practicing close-up, card, stage, illusion, and much much more to become the next Houdini. On the water, our kids are swimming, boating, sailing, skiing, wakeboarding, jumping on the Aquaslide, and playing on all of the other lake toys.

In circus, they’re twirling on fabric, flying on all of our different trapezes, climbing and swinging on the Spanish web, rolling on the globe, juggling pins and balls, flipping on the mini-tramp, walking the tightrope, as well as participating in many more activities. In art, they’re creating amazing projects from scratch. Just wait until Visiting Day when you can go to our art building to check out the exhibit. Some of these projects are seriously incredible! You won’t believe that children have created these outstanding projects.  All of these activities I just mentioned only touch upon everything that has been going on here at camp.

Tonight’s evening activity is Mr. & Ms. ILC. This is amongst one of the more popular evening activities here at camp. The girls’ bunks dress up male counselors and the boys’ bunks dress up female counselors to look, act, and perform as the opposite gender. Mr. & Ms. ILC is a light-hearted, fun beauty pageant and quite entertaining for everyone involved, as well as our spectators.

Today’s special feature is ROCK SHOP! Below are photos of rock bands practicing for the rock concert at the end of the session, as well as private lessons and practices down by the lake. Enjoy the remainder of your weeekend and until tomorrow, ILCUTHERE!

Hi Island Lake families! Today was our 2^nd Rookie Day of Summer 2015! It was a great success, as several future Island Lakers experienced a day in the life of a camper. We hope the children had as much fun as we did!

Today was also our first full day of majors and minors for our 2nd session campers. The sun shined throughout most of the day and the temps went all the way to 80 degrees.   Our happy campers were fully engaged in our major and minor schedule.

Today was the 31^st annual Dr. William Perkins Memorial Run in Honesdale, PA. A busload of campers left early this morning to participate in this run, which has become a tradition for our Island Lakers for over 20 years now. The run took place at a park to raise money for the nearby hospital. Our campers ran a 1-mile race, a 2-mile race, as well as a 5K race, and they placed very well overall.

In ILC sporting news, our 8^th & 9^th grade boys played in a tennis tournament here at camp this morning and they won. Next for these boys is the Wayne County semi-finals tournament. Our 8^th & 9^th grade girls played in a softball game this morning here at camp and they won, too! Woohoo, go Island Lakers!

Tonight’s evening activity is COUNSELOR HUNT! The counselors all hide around camp (only in public areas but of course) and our campers have to run around and try to find them all. 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 at the end of the activity is the winner. They will win bragging rights and LTB (Late To Bed).

Well, that’s about it for today. I hope you’re having as nice of a weekend as we are here at camp. Until tomorrow, ILCUTHERE!

Happy first full day of 2^nd session! With mostly sunny skies and temps in the low 80’s, it made for the perfect day to run around and have some fun here at Island Lake. 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.

Later this afternoon we held our special traditional ILC activity,…Panic! I announce items from the bunk and the kids run to retrieve them and bring them out to their group leaders/judges in the middle of their campuses. The bunk with the most points wins LTB (Late To Bed). We get creative and announce things such as 2 campers wearing last summer’s blue & grey Color War t-shirts doing leap frog from their bunk to the judges. Another item may be as simple as a red Island Lake canteen token. I play music after announcing each item so our campers can sing and dance along while playing Panic. It’s a fun activity for kids of all ages.

Once Panic 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 there are activity conflicts during the same major. We assist the campers with their schedule to make sure they can take every activity they’d like and be sure no one is closed out of an activity.

Tonight’s evening activity is GROUPS! Here’s a run-down of what each group is doing: BOYS: Group 1- Pool Party: Group 2- Gaga: Group 3- Capture the Flag: Group 4- Kong Pong. GIRLS: Group 1- Theater Games: Group 2-Team Building Games: Group 3-Dodgeball: Group 4- Messy Twister (Wait till you see pictures of this activity. All I can say is, it’s very MESSY! Oh and a LOT of fun, too!)

Today’s special feature is PANIC! Enjoy and until tomorrow, ILC U THERE!

Happy Changeover Day! With sadness we bid farewell to our 1^st session campers this morning. On a brighter note, we welcomed our 2^nd session campers this afternoon with open arms. It’s always difficult to see good friends leave. Fortunately, this was a small changeover day and many more campers stayed than left.

Last night’s performance of “Zombie Prom” was truly unbelievable!   The kids sang, acted, and danced their hearts out. Between our wonderful theater staff and our talented campers, the show was a huge success!

With our 1^st session performances all done now, we will start over again in the 2^nd session with auditions tomorrow on 4-minor day. Our younger camper show will be “101 Dalmations” and our older camp show will be “Xanadu.” Our sports tournaments will continue into the 2^nd session, as well.

Speaking of which, today our gymnasts went to another camp to participate in the big Wayne County Gymnastics Competition. The results aren’t in yet but our girls did great. Lila S. placed amongst the top in the floor routine. We also had a male swimmer come in 1^st place in a swim meet at another camp. Go Zach W.!

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.

I don’t have any photos for you today, but there will be tons of them posted on our website of this morning’s goodbyes and this afternoon’s hellos. Until tomorrow, ILCUTHERE!

I cannot believe that today was the last full day of session 1 here at Island Lake. These past 2 ½ 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. Parents of session 1 campers, you should have all received an email 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.

Last night’s Circus Show was absolutely FANTASTIC! Our performers put on a stupendous, outstanding, magnificent show. We recorded it so parents, you can order a copy after the summer. Tonight is our older camper performance of “Zombie Prom.” It should be another wonderful ILC production.

Today we offered all 3 of our majors and just 1 minor in order to have our once per session “super cleanup” in the afternoon. Those campers who are staying for 2^nd session had to clean their cubbies and find those missing shorts, matching 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. We then had our big Rock Concert in the late afternoon. Our rockers worked all session with their bands to perform for the entire camp. They jammed out to old school tunes, as well as pop hits, and looked stylish all the while.

Today was a light day in sports. The only intercamp game was our 6^th & 7^th grade girls’ basketball team who went out of camp. Although we didn’t win, the kids said it was the best time they ever had losing a game to another camp. Actually, in the words of our athletic director Danny, “the kids said it was the funnest loss we’ve ever had.”

Today was our “Sibling Photo Day”. After lunch our camp photographer took pics of just about all of our siblings and then he posted them to our website’s daily photos. I just so happened to have snuck in my little point and shoot camera to get my own set of pics for you to all enjoy here on my blog. I took random photos of siblings who were posing at the moment, so I apologize if I don’t post a photo of your children.  I’m sure there is a pic of them on our website’s photo album.

Well, that’s about all the news that I have for you today, our very last day of the 1^st session. For those of you with children coming home tomorrow, enjoy your last evening of peace and quiet (Ha!). I truly hope your campers come home happy, healthy, and with tons and tons of amazing ILC summer 2016 stories and experiences to share with you. To everyone else, ILC U THERE!

Hey Island Lake Families! Wow, 1 more full day left in this session before our first changeover day on Thursday. I cannot believe how fast session 1 has flown by! For those of you with children coming home on Thursday, I hope they have only amazing ILC experiences to share with you.

Last night’s younger children’s play, “Oklahoma”, was a huge success! Wow, we have some talented children at this camp. Their acting skills, with their southern accents, entertained the audience throughout the show. Those little ones truly sang, acted, and danced their hearts out. I hope you enjoy the photos posted on our website.

Yesterday our 5^th & 6^th grade boys played in a 1-day soccer tournament against several other camps in Wayne County and we came in 2^nd place! We’re so proud of our boys for doing so well!

Today in sports, we hosted an 8^th & 9^th grade boys’ volleyball tournament here at Island Lake. Lots of other camps attended and played all day long. Our 8^th & 9^th grade girls went out of camp to play in a basketball tournament and they said they had an absolute blast. A few of our avid golfers went out on a trip to a nearby golf course. Our future generation of Tiger Woods’ are working hard, both here at camp at our driving range, as well as out on a local golf course in the area.

Our skateboard and rollerblade kids competed in our Skatepark Competition today which we host for our campers at the end of each session. Campers of all levels competed in rollerblading and skateboarding to show off their mad skills they developed over the course of the past 2½ weeks.

Today’s special feature is HORESEBACK RIDING!

Tonight’s evening activity is our highly anticipated Circus Show, followed by ETB (early to bed). Woohoo! A good night’s rest for our campers! But anyway, back to the show,…I’m excited to see all that our campers have learned throughout the session under the big top tonight.   I’ll deliver to you a full report on the Circus Show tomorrow. Until then, ILC U THERE!

Wow, we can’t believe that session 1 is drawing to an end in a few days. Didn’t camp just begin? Time sure does fly when you’re having fun. And fun is indeed what’s being had here at Island Lake. There’s tons of spirit here at camp, both from our beloved Bunk Cup as well as in the dining room cheering during the meals. Every day something new and exciting occurs and we LOVE it!

Last night’s Dance Show and Magic Show were both AMAZING! Our kids did such a fabulous job performing on stage. The girls were so graceful and danced beautifully to well choreographed numbers. Our magicians came in all ages and sizes, both boys and girls, and never ceased to amaze the audience with their abracadabra skills. It was an entertaining night in the ILC theater.

Today in sports our 8^th & 9^th grade boys played soccer out of camp. Our 8^th & 9^th grade girls played lacrosse out of camp this morning, as well. The 6^th & 7^th grade girls soccer team played here at home this morning. Lastly our 5^th & 6^th grade boys played soccer out of camp this afternoon. It’s always an added bonus that we won several of these games! Woohoo!

All session our tennis program has been running an ILC Open where the kids of all levels play on a bracket and the winners advance until we finally reach a winner in all skill levels. The ILC Open is still going on. Today we also hosted an ILC Open here at camp for our archery kids.

Tonight we have a pioneering overnight for our campers who take it as a major and have learned how to orienteer, pitch a tent, cook, and camp under the stars. They’ll be heading to Tent City, which is about a mile hike from our ropes course area on camp.

So as to not sound like we’re only all about sports, our theater campers are busy rehearsing and preparing for their upcoming performances. Tonight we have our younger camper show, “Oklahoma”. We know this is going to be fantastic, as our theater director and tech director are amazing. Their staff creates wonderful sets, costumes, and lighting design.

Tomorrow night is our always anticipated and never a disappointment, fantastic, unbelievable, greatest show on earth,…the Island Lake Circus Show! It always amazes us what these children can learn to do in only a couple of weeks’ time and rehearsal. Even after 30 years, I’m still in awe by our circus shows.

Wednesday afternoon we will have our big session 1 Rock Concert. Wednesday night is our older camper performance of “Zombie Prom.” Lots to look forward to over the course of these next several days during our performance week here at ILC.

Today’s special feature is CIRCUS. Tonight is “Oklahoma, “ which I’ll be sure to tell you all about tomorrow. Until then, ILCUTHERE!

Happy Pajamas Day! We hosted our first official theme day today and lots of our campers sported their pajamas and onesies. Below are several photos I took at lunch to showcase our campers in their bedtime best.

It was a good day to wear long pj pants around camp because the temps didn’t warm up past the upper 60’s. Quite strange how the temps shot down like this in July but hey, it beats crazy heat and humidity that many of you are probably experiencing close to NYC and the NY metro area this summer. Tomorrow it’ll warm up close to 80 degrees once again here in the 18462. But back to today, we also experienced some on and off rain throughout the afternoon hours, but it wasn’t heavy nor did it last too long.

Below are photos of our campers looking all cute in their pajamy-jams and in their onesies at lunchtime today. Enjoy the pics!

Tonight’s evening activity is a double whammy. We have our ILC Magic Show combined with our Dance Show. We’re looking forward to kicking off our Performance Week tonight. Until tomorrow, ILC U THERE!

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. The first Rookie Day was today and our second one is next Saturday, July 16^th. If you or any of your friends are interested in having your young child experience ILC for a day in the life of a camper, just give us a call. We’d be happy to have your younger one join us here at camp for the day.

Although we didn’t have the best of weather today, our campers and rookies made the best out of what they were given. We woke up to misty rain and some fog, which stayed with us until lunch when a thunderstorm rolled through Starrucca. The rain stayed with us for a large portion of the day, but by snack break the skies cleared and the sun made its cameo appearance. We were able to end our Rookie Day with a pool party, which was a lot of fun for the kids. The rain unfortunately returned right as the pool party was ending so our rookies were able to have some fun in the sun while it lasted. (This weather forecast has been brought to you by Wendy B. Stravitz, your Island Lake meteorologist!!! Lol!!!)

This yucky weather got in the way of some special events that were supposed to take place today. We were going to send our water enthusiasts on a tubing trip down the Delaware River, but we’ll have to reschedule it for another day before this session ends. We also had to postpone some outdoor intercamp games, such as our 6^th & 7^th grade girls’ tennis, 6^th & 7^th grade boys lacrosse, and 8^th & 9^th grade boys hockey.

Last night our evening activity was a 2-parter. First we announced the winners of our annual ILC Session 1 Bunk Cup, followed by everyone’s favorite surprise evening activity,…Revival Night! As always, Revival was a hit. Here’s a run down of our Bunk Cup finalists. On the girls side, in 4^th place was girls bunk 8, 3^rd place was G21, and in 2^nd place was G24. The overall winner of Bunk Cup on the girls’ side was,…drum roll please,…GIRLS BUNK 20!!! Woohoo! Yay!

And now on the boys side, in 4^th place was B24, 3^rd place was B21, 2^nd place was B12, and the winner on the boys side was,…drum rolls,….BOYS BUNK 22! The overall big winner of bunk cup, for both the boys and the girls side was,…..BOYS BUNK 22!!! (Cheers from the croud!) B22 brought home the large gold bunk cup trophy, along with unlimited bragging rights for the rest of the summer. Go B22! We’re proud of you guys!!!

Today’s special feature is none other than our ROOKIE DAY! Tonight’s evening activity is GROUPS! Due to the on and off rain all day, each group’s activity is still up in the air, weather pending. We’ll have to decide on each group’s evening activity shortly before it begins. I’ll try to fill you in on what each group does in tomorrow’s blog. Until then, ILCUTHERE!

Today we were back to our majors and minors once again. Yesterday’s Lazy Day was a nice break from our regular schedule but today we’re back to our regular routine. It’s been another warm day at camp with some mixed skies- clouds and sun on and off. No complaints about this summer’s weather since hardly any activities have been affected by rain. Woohoo!

Lots of sporting events went on here at camp and out of camp today. Our 8^th & 9^th grade girls tennis team played extremely well and all won their matches here at home this morning. Our 6^th & 7^th grade girls lacrosse team also had a home game this morning. We had 2 soccer games this afternoon for 6^th & 7^th grade boys and 8^th & 9^th grade boys. It was another big day of sports for our Island Lakers.

Today we also have our once a session river trip. 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 Bunk Cup news, lots of bunks have been 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.

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 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 emails were already printed and post-dinner phone calls have been made so the surprise cannot be ruined for the kids.

Today’s special feature is a wide variety of the evening activities that took place last night. The pictures came out so cute that I just had to post some of them here on the blog. Enjoy, have a great Friday night (it is Friday, right? Hard to keep track here at camp!), and until tomorrow, ILCUTHERE!