Happy 4th of July and Happy Birthday America! I hope you’re all enjoying your holiday as much as we are here at Island Lake. Our campers have completely gotten into the patriotic holiday spirit, 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 partly to mostly cloudy and temps went up to the low 80’s. Tonight we will be in the mid-70’s for our fireworks extravaganza. We’re hoping that the rain will stay away. We make the 4th of July very special for our campers and staff here at Island Lake. I’ll list all that this day entails. Let’s start from the beginning,…
At breakfast this morning we started our 4th of July with our friends, the Brits, standing in front of the camp in the dining room singing 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!” Our kids were pretty enthusiastic singing the national anthem considering it was the morning and they had just woken up prior to breakfast.
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 on my ipod with a pre-made music lunch play list. In any case, the kids had an amazing time singing and dancing to the pop music, camp alma maters, and US themed songs. Everyone joined in on the fun and didn’t want to leave for their next activity, 2nd major. You can view photos of our music lunch here in this blog. I posted a ton! There will also be lots of music lunch pictures in our daily summer photos today.
Next highlight- COOKOUT for dinner tonight! Burgers, hot dogs, veggie burgers, watermelon, cupcakes, and more were devoured at supper. Our campers enjoy dining outdoors for our cookouts.
Next highlight- CANTEEN will follow rest hour instead of our usual evening activity prior to canteen. We do this so that we can put on our firework show once the sun sets. After canteen and prior to the fireworks our rock shop staff and campers will put on a ROCK CONCERT on girls campus. 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 our show 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.
Sports don’t stop for the holidays! Today our 4th & 5th grade girls played basketball here at home this afternoon. Our 8th & 9th grade girls played soccer here at home as well. I had the opportunity to check out the soccer game for a little while and I have to tell you, we have some talented players on this team. I’m also proud to share that our 8th & 9th grade girls won their soccer game, 6-1. Go Island Lakers!
We threw in yet another surprise late this afternoon during 3rd minor. What is normally our most anticipated, most secretive evening activity that every child thinks they can predict the break out for, we decided to trick them and do in the late afternoon. “What was it?” you may be asking yourselves. Why here’s a hint: it takes place down at the waterfront. All parents of returning campers or parents who are Island Lake alumni should know exactly what I’m talking about. Those of you who are new to ILC will for sure hear about this activity when your child returns home. Oh ok, I’ll tell you. It was Revival Night!!! I’ll let your children tell you all about Revival when they get home from camp.
As a reminder, tomorrow is our Lazy Day. Groups 1&2 are going to Sky Zone, group 3 is going to Montage Mountain (waterpark), and group 4 is spending the day at Ithaca. I’ll be on the Ithaca trip where the kids will swim in the gorges and then spend a couple of hours at Ithaca Commons. There at the Commons they will have lunch and do some “Ithaca is Gorges” t-shirt shopping. Since we’ll be out until dinnertime, I’m going to forego posting a blog tomorrow. I’ll fill you in any lazy day gossip on Friday, along with some photos.
Today’s feature: Patriotic campers at MUSIC LUNCH! I hope you’re all having a wonderful 4th of July. Until Friday when we resume our regular camp schedule, ILCUTHERE!
