The Halfway Mark

So last Saturday was the halfway point of the summer...I know, how crazy is that? I cannot believe that we are into the last 4 weeks of summer camp already, and really now there's only 3 and half weeks left! I'm staying for Fall camp too, so really I have about 7 weeks to go, but there's only just over 3 weeks with kids permanently on camp. This summer in particular, it seems to be flying by super fast, more than any other year, and I'm not sure I like it...I would work here forever if I could!

Anyway, these last few weeks have been the usual camp madness, with lots of photo taking and video making going on, as well as some fun evening activities, and some crazy weather. We had our square dance last week, which is always a good time, even if we did have to stop midway through and move the whole set up inside as a mental storm came crashing over us (honestly, in the whole of Connecticut, it only rained over Camp Sloane!).

Another fantastic evening activity for the Juniors & Pioneers (the two youngest sections on camp) was a magic show put on by the father of one of our counselors, and it was such a treat, just to be able to sit and be entertained for an hour or so...the best part was seeing the kids' faces when he did a cool trick and you could see them all wondering to themselves (and out loud sometimes too) 'how did he do that!?!'

Last weekend also saw us have our first official Alumni Day, where we welcome many camper and staff alumni from years gone by to camp for tours, a commemoration service for our new Swim Beach Pavilion, and a special campfire with extra special skits put on by current staff and campers. It really was an excellent day, and so interesting to hear about what camp used to be like from some of the alumni who haven't been back here in about 30 years!

Then Sunday was the all camp Theme Day, with the theme being Harry Potter vs Pirates. The teams battled it out all day, doing all sorts of crazy games, building immense forts and ending in a final game of capture the flag. The Pirates came out on top in the end, but fun was had by all and I'm sure the Wizards will be back with a vengeance next summer!

Yesterday was my day off again (it comes around so fast each week!), and we had a super chilled one, with excellent food and even better company. And now it's halfway through week 5 and things are getting hectic for me in the media department, as I try to gather all the footage I need for our Promo and Lip Dub videos!

Sloaning Around

Camp has, as always, been pretty excellent this past week. I'm loving almost everything about this summer (there are always going to be minor stresses and annoyances in any job, nothing's perfect), especially my friends and the kids that we've had these past few weeks. It's always awesome when some of your favourite campers come back summer after summer and you can watch them change and grow up into these amazing people, that's probably the best thing about working at summer camp.

Performing Arts: 'The Little Mermaid'

The weather last week was pretty incredible, with every day being sunny and hot, making a nice change from the previous week of rain and storms almost every day! It seems that the rain and sun are taking turns though, as this week looks to be just as rainy and wet as the one we had 2 weeks ago...it's a shame, especially as it affects my ability to film things like our annual lip dub video and the promotional video we are putting together this year...nobody wants a grey, rainy sky in the background really, do they? Last week I also got a chance to go out on the waterski boat and go tubing with all the other activity heads one evening as a reward for all our hard work, which was pretty awesome and an amazing way to watch the sun go down!

Tubing!

We've just started our new session, so camp is even more full than it was last week, as we now have around 278 campers, filling almost every corner of camp. I love camp when it's full like this, all the noise and chatter and laughter is what it's all about! On our intersession break (when only a handful of kids stay over from one session to the next) we were all 'off on camp', so the majority of the staff went down to the lake to go boating or swimming, but I thought that I'd just chill out, catch up on some sleep and all my favourite TV shows and then just hang out with my besties, lie in the sunshine and order food and ice cream. It was absolute bliss...I love being on camp but having a moment to just be us and not surrounded by children. Just a short break from the mayhem is lovely and totally refreshing.

And now it's the start of week 4 (or week 8 for me, as I've been here since the end of May) and everyone is ready and raring to go...we're almost at the halfway mark!

Opening Campfire moved inside due to rain!

Follow along with all the goings on at Camp Sloane YMCA here:

www.campsloane.org

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/campsloane

Twitter: @CampSloane

Instagram: @campsloaneymca

Another Busy Week At Sloane

It's been another very busy week at camp, just like all the weeks past and all the weeks to come. I've been out and about all over camp taking lots of photos, making videos and keeping the parents up to date via our social media channels (do you follow us yet? Check out the links to find us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram)...all the usual Media stuff. I even went to the batting cages on my day off to hit some balls and get a bit of a break from the camp 'bubble'.

Boy's dining hall.

This week was the start of a new session, which meant we saw a lot of new kids and our numbers increased MASSIVELY from about 50 kids to just over 200...so the noise levels have definitely gone up too! It's awesome to see camp busy and full of life and energy, not just from the kids but from the staff too, all of whom have been on top form all week.

Girl's dance party.

The weather this week has been totally insane, ranging from incredibly hot, humid and gross at the start of the week to having two enormous storms the last two evenings, meaning that the whole of camp has to head to the dining hall to stay safe and dry. Last night was particularly spectacular, with huge lightening strikes ripping across the sky which meant that we were inside from dinner at 6pm until about 8:45pm...quite a long time to keep all the kids entertained and happy. But we just turned the music on and danced the evening away, with the boys even having a 'boyband off' and coming up with their own dance routines.

The storm approaching!

Some amazing stuff this week, with plenty more to come this summer I'm sure, starting with our Square Dance tomorrow evening (fingers crossed the weather holds up for us!)