Where Does The Time Go?

We've come to the end of Session 1 here at Camp Sloane, and I really can't quite believe how quickly this past week has gone. I feel like it was only yesterday that I was writing about how excited I was for the kids to arrive! And now they're here, for the next 7 weeks, or 49 days, however you want to look at it. I remember my first year at camp and how long the 8 weeks of summer camp felt, but this year I have a feeling it's just going to absolutely fly by...it's going to be the end of the summer before we know it, so it's time to make the most of it while we can!

Opening Campfire

It's been a busy week, full of fun activities, lots of games and many laughs. It's so awesome to be back surrounded by all these kids, some of whom I've now known for 4 summers, and some of whom are brand new to camp. It's great to see them all having a great time and making new friends and really enjoying their camp experience, and experience that can truly impact their lives for years to come.

A little bit of Wake boarding

This week has been super fun for me too - I've been making videos, taking lots of photos and just loving being back into the swing of everything this summer. I've been out on the water ski boat (one of my favourite things to do here), hung out down at swim beach and I even ran an all camp evening activity the other night with huge success. It was a Scooby Doo themed mystery night where the kids had to figure out which villain (or supervisor) had 'taken' our Program Director... it was pretty special to watch the kids (and staff) having such a great time doing something that I'd planned. And I think that's my favourite thing about camp really, that moment when you can see the effect you are actually having on a child's whole experience.

The Mystery Machine to the rescue!

Check out our closing campfire skits from this first session!

 

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And So It Begins...Almost.

It's been another pretty full on week at camp, full of more training and lots of fun. Almost every member of staff has arrived now and everyone is starting to get excited at the prospect of the kids finally arriving on Sunday! For those of us who have been here since the end of May, it really feels like it's been a long time coming, and I for one, am so pumped for this place to be full of chatter and noise and all the tiny humans having an absolutely amazing time this summer!

My home for the summer

This past week has also been a pretty incredible one weather wise too - everyone is sporting some sort of tan (or burn) lines as we've been out and about in the sunshine either swimming, kayaking, de-weeding the lake, sleeping outside in the middle of a storm (with tent-ripping results), and even square dancing!

De-weeding the lake!

Yes that's right... square dancing. During every two week session we have a square dance with all the campers and last night we had one just for the staff so that everyone can get to grips with the songs and dances so they can then in turn help out the kids with their own groups dancing. It's always a pretty special night (and ALWAYS absolutely boiling hot... the lovely clothes and make up we all put on is totally ruined by the end of the night and we all end up a hot, sweaty mess) and a great way to get to hang out with a few more people that you haven't yet had the chance to properly chat to.

Sleeping in Hammock Haven

That's one of the greatest things about coming here to camp every summer - the amount of people I get to meet and interact with, people whom I would never have met otherwise. It's a fantastic opportunity to learn from others and open your eyes to the world a little bit more.

And so, we're all off out tonight on our day off after a hard slog this week, then tomorrow afternoon brings the final prep to make sure we're ready for the influx of kids on Sunday! Here we go!

Everybody loves a Square Dance!

Staff Training Is Underway

We're well into our staff training here at Camp Sloane... last week was our supervisory and specialty training (lifeguards and adventure/ropes staff) and it was full of fun discussions, lots of learning, note taking, many many group bonding games, and a lot of time to just generally get our areas prepared for the coming summer. It was nice to have the time in a slightly smaller group of staff to get to know the new people as well as to get all my lesson plans written for my media classes, get my media room moved and reorganised, and have more of an overall sense of how the summer is going to go.

 The weather last week was pretty poor, so respect to the lifeguards for getting in the (really cold) pool and lake everyday without any complaints at all! In fact, everyone all week has been quite impressive, there haven't really been any complaints about anything, everyone seems to be working to their absolute best and it's looking like this summer is going to be pretty spectacular! I think this staff group is one of the best ones we've had to a while and I'm super excited to see everyone in action once the kids arrive at the end of this week!

On Friday we all had the night off and it was great to get off camp and get to know one another under different circumstances - it's always fun to get out of the camp 'bubble' every now and again. And then on Saturday a whole bunch of new (and returning) staff members finally arrived! It was super exciting to see lots of people whom I haven't really even spoken to since we all left camp last summer... there were lots of excited squeals and hugs going on!

Then yesterday was one of my favourite days at camp so far this summer... a bunch of us were taken down to our new climbing tower (check out a photo of it in last week's post) and were then formally trained and certified so we can run it this summer and in our Fall season too. We basically spent the morning tying knots, learning about the ropes and different safety measures and the afternoon saw us belaying and climbing. It's a sport I never really got a chance to do much until my second summer here at camp and now climbing is one of my favourite things ever! And I'm super proud of myself too because I managed to climb to the very top of the 'hard' wall, which is actually really hard!

Putting up tents!

So it's all go go go this week as it's only 6 days until the kids arrive! Wow, that's come around quickly!

Two Weeks Down...

I've been at Camp Sloane for almost two weeks now and this Spring season has been pretty excellent. I've loved getting back into the swing of things and basically have the run of the place... being able to just have a wander around, or have a go on our brand new climbing tower, or even take some boats out on the lake for an evening is part of the reason I love this place so much!

Climbing our awesome new tower (that's me on the left!)

A few more people have started arriving already and then tomorrow we get the first big load of arrivals as the supervisor and lifeguard training starts on Sunday! I'm super excited to see all my returning friends (whom I havent seen since camp last year!) and am also really looking forward to meeting all the newbies too... these next few weeks of training are always fun, getting to know people and work out who's going to be living where and what activity they'll be working in.

Taking the boats out on the lake

If you're making your way to camp for the first time (or have just arrived at your camp for the summer), I hope it's going to be awesome for you! Just remember, you will probably feel a bit weird at first, especially with all these returners around you who haven't seen each other in a year and are ridiculously excited to see each other... they are all lovely people I promise. Just try to be yourself and get involved in EVERYTHING as much as you possibly can, and you'll soon feel just as at home as everyone else seems to.

My favourite view in the whole world!

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