Happy Neon Day here at ILC! Today you will see pics of our campers decked out in their bright yellow, pink, green, orange, and purple, etc. clothing.  This brings back great memories from the 80’s, huh?  Today is also Sibling Photo Day so you’ll see lots of pictures on Waldo of siblings together (in neon clothing) at the picnic tables.  If we missed your children then it’s because of one of a few reasons:  A. They don’t listen to announcements in the dining room, B.  One sibling refused to be in a photo, C.   They both refuse to be in photos, D.  They don’t listen to announcements in the dining room.  (wink wink!)

Shocker, it was another beautiful sunny day here at camp.  It was a perfect Sunday Funday.  The morning started off cool in the 60’s but then it quickly warmed up to the low 70’s and we reached the mid 70’s by the afternoon hours.  We had mostly blue skies with sporatic clouds rolling through and no humidity.  Are you jealous of us up here in the mountains or what?

I hear that some of you in New York City suffered a black out yesterday evening, similar to what we went through a couple of mornings ago.  I can feel your pain and I hope you made it through the power outage without much loss of refrigerated food, air conditioning, or a J. Lo concert!

So I have a confession to make.  I lied to you about yesterday’s evening activity.   I had to lie in case any of you read the blog before a phone call with your child during rest hour.  Keep reading and you’ll understand why.  Although our evening activity started out as groups, we surprised our campers with one of their favorite evening activities of the summer,…Revival Night!  I’m sure all of our returning camp parents are familiar with what Revival is all about.  For those of you who are new to ILC, I’m going to let your children tell you all about it on Visiting Day.  Let’s just say it’s a huge Island Lake tradition that’s been going strong for 34 summers now.  Our campers love the anticipation that builds up to it and they enjoy the activity each session, summer after summer.

Yesterday’s riddles brought a variety of responses, some of which could potentially be correct. Here’s a reminder of the riddle: What is a thing that must be given before you can keep it?  The answer: your word.  Thanks to Jordan G. and Lisa A. for your responses, which I can see as a correct answer as well- “trust” and “your name”.  I have a feeling today’s riddle may also bring on a variety of answers, but here ya go:  What has branches but no fruit, trunk, or leaves?  Good luck!

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 2 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.  One camper, Emily, wasn’t able to make it, but the rest of the bunk was here in my office during 1^st minor today.  Here’s what they had to say about their summers at their home away from home. They told stories and gave me quotes:

On the bunk OD sheet when we were in G2 we wrote a story about Dustin (our head counselor).  We just called him “Dustarella” for many summers. That memory stays with us. – Sami

I (Wendy) am going to tell a story that Sami still remembers like yesterday.  When she was in G4 I was riding by the girls bunks on my quad and a bunch of girls were screaming my name, “WENDY!  WENDY!”  I said, “That’s it, I’m changing my name!”  The girls asked me what my name was and for some reason I blurted out “MATILDA!”  So from then on, Sami has called me Matilda instead of Wendy.  And the humor is that during her last summer as a camper we’re putting on the show, Matilda.

“Ever since G1 we’ve had a peanut butter joke.  Right before bed at lights out we all say “peanut butter” which means “Good night! Love ya!”” –Ellie

“We make the leaning tower of chicken wings on the 4^thof July.  We pick someone’s hand as the goal height for the wings and we have to build our eaten wings that high on a plate.  We have to keep eating, and eating, and eating.  It’s become our fun tradition.” –everyone

I started camp at the young and ripe age of 6, ready and willing to take whatever was thrown at me. Unfortunately, being 6 years old, I wasn’t exactly the most mature young girl.  On the first day of camp, my first one ever, a girl in my bunk and I decided to start play fighting.  It started to get a little intense and I kicked the girl in the shoulder! Luckily, Wendy understood that I was still very young and also knew both of my siblings so she let it slide.  But to this day, people (mainly just my family but people, nonetheless) still know me as the little girl who kicked someone in the shoulder.  –Ellie wrote this down to share with all of you

“Fink (Rachel Finkelstein) started out as our CIT and then became our counselor for 4 summers.  Even though she hasn’t been our counselor for 2 years, she still comes to visit on July 4^thjust to see us.  We formed a bond with her and whenever we see her we can just pick up where we left off.  We all still feel very close to her.” -everybody, especially Gia

“Last year in G21 when we went bowling for lazy day we bought this plastic mermaid set.  It’s a little mermaid with a pink tail and pink hair. She came with fish friends.  For some reason she became a bunk daughter or bunk pet to us and we named her “Whiteasha”.  It was from the laser tag names.  All of her fish friends, we named them from laser tag names too that were so bizarre.  We still have her in a flamingo float cup holder.  She just chills with us all day.”  –Phoebe

“Throughout the years I’ve managed to make friends not just in my bunk, but in other bunks around me. I know that in the future they’ll stay some of my best friends forever.” –Ellie

“I like camp because it gives me opportunities to try things I never would.  Camp is a way for me to get away from home.  If it wasn’t for Island Lake I wouldn’t be able to go sailing or kayaking.  Camp is my summer vacation.  ILC has taught me independence.” –Teddie

“My mom and I were talking about how long I’ve been at camp.  It’s been 7 years and 7 weeks each year, which turns into almost a year of my life, a chunk of time.  It’s really shaped my life and who I am today because of the people here and all the things I can do.” –Sami

“I haven’t been here as long as everyone else in this bunk, so even though it’s only my 6th year, I’m kinda different here than I am at home, all in a good way.  I can be a different person and there are so many opportunities here and it doesn’t all have to be serious.”  -Phoebe

“Yeah, you can walk around with a kangaroo onesie with Crocs and carry around a pineapple floatie and people will be like, yeah, that’s normal!”  -Teddie

“Although I try to be my true self at all times, camp allows for me to be an even truer version of myself and gives me the freedom to do and be whatever I want.” –Ellie

“Honestly, sometimes the most fun times at camp can be the most simplest of things.  It can be sitting in the gym on a rainy day or just sitting at the lake with my friends.  Just sitting and having conversations with my friends:  it’s the people here who make it special.”  –Phoebe

“For the last 9 years, camp has always been my happy place.  It has always allowed me to be myself and form friendships with people and I know it will last forever.  My whole family is here so it allows me to not only spend time with my real family but also my camp family.” –Ellie

“This camp has basically been my life.  I’ve been here for 13 years because my mom is a camp nurse.  Staff kid!  It’s great getting to meet new people every year and getting to see my friends that I don’t get to see during the year because I live so far away (New Orleans).  This is my second home.”  -Gia

Tonight’s evening activity is Bingo Bonanza for the whole camp.  They will play a huge game of Bingo and include interludes of karaoke, dance challenges, hoola hooping, and more.  Sounds fun and I’m definitely going to attend.

Today’s special feature is the G24 girls writing this blog with me.  Enjoy and until tomorrow, ILCUTHERE!