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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

LG (Little Girl): My brother is my twin

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Me: What do you think of camp so far?

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

Me: Do you like your bunk

Camper: I love them!

Me: Do you like your counselors?

Camper: I love them!

Me: Do you like your activities

Camper: I love them!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hello Island Lake families! This morning we had a quick rain shower before wake up call but then it was activities per usual by 1^st major. The sun shined through the clouds and the temps warmed up from the upper 60’s to the mid 70’s. It was activities per usual until late in 2^nd major when the rain returned. It then rained on and off for another couple of hours at most until the sunshine returned after snack break.

Today I’m continuing my tradition of asking the oldest girls’ bunk, G24, to come to my office to blog about their summer camp experiences throughout the years. Although we have 4 bunks of girls going into 10^th grade, many of these specific girls started at ILC at a very young age and have circled around girls’ campus from bunk 1 through bunk 24. Here’s what they had to say about their summers here at their home away from home:

“When I first arrived here at Island Lake I felt strangely comfortable because this is our home. We basically grew up here. Camp has made me comfortable in my own skin. So much happens in 1 week. It’s equivalent to a year at school. I just have a lot to say. I love camp!” –Danielle H.

“Island Lake has allowed us to grow into the people we’ve become today. Whenever the topic of camp comes up at home, none of my friends understand the excitement I feel. They just don’t understand unless they’ve been here.”- Maya S.

“At first when you arrive at camp it’s new and different. By your 2^nd day you feel like you’re home. You never get bored. We all found ourselves at ILC. No one would ever understand the close bond we make at camp. The friendships are like no others.“ –Tyler L.

“I believe camp has changed me so much and made me who I am. The things I’m able to do, if you asked 7 year old me she would never believe it. My first year I was terrified of everybody. To think I’ve grown with everyone and become so close it’s crazy.” -Sara R.

“I truly live 10 months for 2 at camp. Throughout the year I always just look forward to camp. It’s all I talk about with my friends. Coming to Island Lake is like coming home to a 2^nd family. (Sorry mom!)” –Hallie M.

“I think it’s really crazy how I never would have found my passion in life if it wasn’t for camp. I fell in love with circus! When you first arrive and are in a bunk with a bunch of girls you’re like, ‘oh my god’. But then you get to know them and they become your best friends.” – Nathalie M.

“I think camp has made me a really independent person. I learned how to do so many things I never would have learned at home.” -Julia S.

“I was going to say the same thing as Julia because I’ve tried so many things here at camp that I wouldn’t have tried. I branched out of my comfort zones” –Hannah M.

The girls were troopers and weathered the rain to come to my office at snack break and share with us. Today’s special feature is our photo shoot which is below at the end of this blog.

Tonight’s evening activity is Fear Factor! Remember that reality tv show? We’re bringing it back here at ILC. We’re going to break the camp up into lower camp and upper camp and run 2 separate evening activities. Tonight will be our campers’ opportunity to torture their counselors, who will be the participants. For example, the counselors may have to hold a bucket of water in front of them and then the campers will pour gooey gross stuff on top of their heads and see who can hold out the longest. Tonight will for sure be a lot of laughs.

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 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!  Until tomorrow, our first July summer day, ILCUTHERE!

After a fun day out of camp for Lazy Day, ILC majors and minors were back in action today. This morning we had a brisk chill of temps in the 60’s with a mix of sun and clouds. I’m happy to report that by afternoon the temps went up to the mid 70’s! Yay! 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 on our Facebook page (facebook.com/IslandLakeCamp)
4. And of course, our daily photos and weekly videos through your CampMinder account.

Tonight, after dinner, is our first staff meeting of the summer. While our counselors are in their weekly meeting, our campers will sit outside in front of their bunks with our adult non-bunk staff to write letters,…and hopefully those letters will be written home to you, mom & dad (but don’t hold your breath!)!

Evening activity is GROUPS! Here’s a breakdown on what’s going on around camp this evening: BOYS: Group 1- Campfire (they’ll make s’mores sing songs around the campfire,…ok, maybe I’m exaggerating the singing part but they’ll sure enjoy those s’mores!); Group 2- Kong Pong; Group 3- Gaga Ball (with girls group 3); Group 4- Dodgeball. And on the GIRLS side: Groups 1&2- continue to work on their Bunk Cup videos, flags, and plaques; Group 3- Gaga Ball (with boys group 3); Group 4- Theater Games.

Today’s special feature is CIRCUS! Step right up, come one come all to view the photos below. Until tomorrow, when we’ll do it all over again (Groundhogs Day anyone?), ILCUTHERE!

Happy Lazy Day! Today is 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.

At 12pm groups 1&2 (7^th grade and under) went to Binghamton to a big bowling alley there. The kids had fun bowling, bumper bowling, playing arcade games, and enjoyed the snack bar. Groups 3&4 (8^th grade and up) went to see Pirates of the Caribbean at a local town. The overall feedback is that they enjoyed the movie and particularly loved the ending.

The sun shined bright today as the temps warmed up to a blistering 70 degrees. I’m happy to report that the temps are supposed to continue to increase another 10 degrees over the next few days. 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 preparation for Bunk Cup.  All of the bunks in all of the groups worked on their bunk plaques, flags, and videos. Here’s a reminder of what Bunk Cup is all about:

Bunk Cup is a camp-wide activity that will go on for most of 1^st session this summer.   Each bunk is its own team. The bunk/team can earn points in just about every activity here at camp. At the end of the session we tally up the points and have a winner on the boys side and a winner on the girls side. Each team will make a bunk plaque, a bunk flag, and a short video. This is our 4^rd annual Bunk Cup and the kids are so excited for it.

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