It’s 2014, and that means camp is only months away!  I celebrated the new year out in Arizona where my parents live, and I enjoyed all the amazing weather and outdoor activities.  One of the highlights of my trip was getting to visit the awesome family above!

This is Dylan, and he’ll be a Lower Junior Boy at Canadensis this summer.  He’s currently in 1st grade, and has SO much energy…his bed time is later than mine!  I brought them the Canteen on the Fly shirts, and he did an awesome job designing and coloring his in.  Dylan loves having sleepovers with his friends, and he can’t get enough soccer!  He even has a remote control soccer ball, so he can play indoors.  He’s up for any sport and really likes basketball and baseball too.  He’s excited for all of the food at camp, including noodles in the dining hall – but he’s most excited for the candy at the canteen!  I told him all about the special days like carnival and super hero day and he’s excited!  He won’t be sleeping late on special days though – he gets up early!

We ate M&M cookies, and played this super fun game called “Boom Boom Balloon”.  It was so much fun – you roll a dice, and then have to push a certain amount of sticks into a balloon without popping it – so silly!

It was wonderful catching up with his big sister Jaden, who will be an Upper Inter Girl at camp, and this will be her second summer.  Things are very academically challenging in 5th grade at the Phoenix Country Day School, but when we hung out she had just gotten back from a vacation in NY (where she saw some camp friends!) and a cruise to the Caribbean.  Thoughts of school work were far from her mind, but she showed me a video for the school and it looks like they have an amazing art program and beautiful campus.  Jaden was one of the stars of our Seussical the Musical production, and since camp ended she was in a production of Law & Order: Fairytale Unit.  She has so many great memories from the summer, and can’t wait to be back!

In the midst of all the fun we were have in Phoenix, Dave and I took a trip down to Tucson, Arizona – we went hiking and visited the Biosphere 2.  Along the way we also stopped at an ostrich farm that had a ton of different animals to feed and interact with.

Of course, they had a lot of ostriches – I learned a ton about them, and I was most impressed with how strong their eggs are.  You can stand on one without it breaking!

I gravitated towards the deer in the petting zoo – the ones that live at Canadensis during the summer always run away, but these guys were all excited to have a snack with me.

My favorites on the ranch were definitely the goats!  I know this photo looks quite strange, but I’m a HUGE animal lover, and I promise that the goats were really happy and able to go wherever they wanted…they just stick their heads in these holes to try and get a treat from you!  Now, I can’t believe I’m posting this next photo…but you are encouraged to feed the goats by putting a pellet in your mouth and leaning in…it’s called a goat kiss!

Another trip highlight was playing bingo with my parents!  I blog about my love of bingo pretty frequently, but it was so fun to take my mom for her first experience.  She is a dedicated, life long mah jongg player (she let me play with her group of friends for the first time ever this trip!) and although we didn’t end up winning at bingo, we still had a lot of fun and some heart pounding moments when we were one number away!  I don’t think she’s as hooked as me, but I’m pretty sure we’ll be going back on my future trips!

One last thing I have to share…at the New Years block party we attended, they had motorized stuffed animals you could rent and take on a spin.  They are just amazing!  Happy New Year everyone, can’t wait to see you at camp later this year 🙂

This past weekend, Matt Unger (operations manager at Camp Canadensis) and I decided to hit the slopes and go skiing.  This was the first time either of us had put on ski’s in about a decade…needless to say it was a bit scary at times, but we had a great time going down the green circle (easiest!) slopes at Bear Creek, and I’m proud to say that after almost 10 runs, we both ended the day injury free!

Here’s Matt mid-run on the Broadway trail.  He was much faster than me, but always waited at the bottom so we could take the lift back up together.

Our matching green jackets and black pants were just an accident!  We had an awesome time getting back on the slopes, and we are both hoping to take advantage of the many ski destinations close to us in PA this winter – I’m actually hoping to get back out there this weekend!

In addition to enjoying the winter sports you can do with the tons of snow we’ve been getting in the Northeast, there are ways to enjoy the cold weather while staying inside.   I recently had a Soup-A-Thon with Cara Corradetti (our CIT Head Counselor at Camp Canadensis) where we made endless soups over the course of three hours in her new Vitamix blender (a similar version is pictured above).  This machine is amazing, and can blend smoothies, nut butters, dips and even puree and heat up soups!

(Of course I was cooking in my favorite Canadensis sweatshirt!)

By the end of the night, we had made 9 different soups – the perfect thing to add to a meal during the chilly winter.  Brian Krug (director at Camp Canadensis) has recently gotten in on the blender craze too…he’s recently starting making fruit smoothies, and I’ll bet he’ll be blogging about it soon!  The green smoothies were a big hit with campers this summer – we made them during Free Play with the “Avocado Aficionado” club and it was also a fun prize bunks won at the end of the summer!

I haven’t been crafting nearly enough lately, but I thought I’d post some photos of recent projects over the past month.  In the photo above, you can see the 2013 Canteen on the Fly t-shirt.  It was a mostly blank canvas, and at each ice cream shop location, we setup a bunch of fabric markers to let kids create!  I got in on the fun, and colored mine as shown above – I love pink and orange together!  At the Westchester location, it inspired new Lower Junior Girl, Juliana to create a similar masterpiece!  I’m excited we can match at camp this summer!  Check out some awesome creations below…each one was totally unique!

 

Sisters Anna (3rd summer, Upper Inter) and Lindsay (2nd summer, Lower Inter) made multicolor creations on the Mainline

Dylan is a new  Lower Inter Girl, she went for a tie-dye look on Long Island.

Noah is a 2nd year, Upper Junior Boy from NYC, he took a minimalist (maybe cubist?) approach.

Hannah is a new Upper Inter Girl from Blue Bell, I love the way the black, pink and yellow look!

New Upper Junior Girls Samantha & Sydney met at the Mainline event and colored together.

New Upper Inter Boy, Noah went for a striped motif in Westchester.

Last week while I was interviewing Art Students at Temple University, I happened to be there during a community event while they were making gifts for an after school program, and a senior center.  In the photo below, balloons were used to make stress balls (which also happen to be great for students taking finals!) – how cute is the Minion stress ball?

This next project used an easy to follow template to weave two pieces of felt together into this adorable heart purse with a small wrist strap.  It was fun to mix and match different color combinations.

Recently, 2013 Girls Bunk 6 had a reunion where they got crafty…they went to Make Meaning in NYC – a place that has soap, candle, ceramics , jewelry and tons more projects to enjoy!  In the photo above, the girls have the candles they created in the polka dot bags.

The parents of Girls Bunk 6 had a great time getting together as well, and one of them is super crafty in her own right!  Above is a photo of Jordyn, who will be returning to camp for her 3rd summer as an Upper Inter Girl, with her family.  Her brother Jared will be a new Lower Junior Boy this summer, and he can’t wait!  Every summer while Jordyn is at Canadensis, her mom Wendi takes some of the photos she’s in on the website and creates a unique way to show them off in her room, and it’s a surprise when Jordyn gets home!  This year, Wendi made a #18325 (our camp zip code) full of photos to hang above her bed…so awesome!

 

 

The 2013 yearbook DVD was mailed on Friday afternoon, and will be arriving in your home soon!  Here’s a sneak peak at the front and back of the case, featuring our amazing 2013 CITs!  Pop some popcorn, and enjoy the summer memories!

Also, the Canadensis Carewear Boxes arrived two weeks ago, and we are hoping everyone has had a chance to open it up by now!  I wanted to show everyone the awesome stuff inside.  Above is a sample girls box, and here’s what was in it:

A- Camp Canadensis 9-inch wall clock

B- Package of stickers, 4 lollipops, pen and car magnet

C- Canadensis overnight duffel bag – this is the perfect item to bring on a sleepover with friends!  We have 6 different colors of bags so even siblings got different ones!

D- Canadensis sunglasses, imprinted on both sides.

E- Deck of Canadensis playing cards

F- Canadensis tumbler, packed with candy

G- Girl also received this adorable and soft Teddy Bear wearing a Canadensis t-shirt

The boys package was really similar, but a lot of the colors were different.  Also, the Teddy Bear is swapped out for a mini-basketball hoop!  We hope you all loved it!

I recently got to spend some time with Sydney, a current 3rd grader who will be a new Junior Girl this summer.  She lives in Delaware, which was the very first state in the US, and as far as I know, she’s the first Canadensis camper from Delaware!  She is so excited, and ready for camp.  She had her first sleepover with a friend when she was 5 years old, and she’s loved it ever since!  Sydney had tons of questions about camp, and even though it was late at night right after ice skating practice, she didn’t even need to write them down, she remembered them all!

She goes to Tower Hill school, and they run on a 6-day schedule…just like camp!  Her favorite special subject is arts and crafts, and a big reason why she picked Canadensis is because of our art center.  In her school art class, they are learning about the Van Gogh “Starry Night” painting, and making their own version in ceramics.  Although she likes art, she is a well-rounded girl – and likes just about everything!  Sydney’s favorite sports are soccer and tennis.  She’s excited about being on the swim team at camp this summer, and he favorite stroke is backstroke.  She’s taking piano lessons at home (maybe one day she’ll play as well as her dad!), and she also LOVES roller coasters – she’s not afraid to go upside down, or backwards…the bigger the better!

Sydney can’t wait to try horseback riding at Canadensis this summer.  When we looked through camp pictures, she was also really excited to see the tent the campers use on the overnights – she can’t wait to sleep outside!  (She’s a little nervous about where she goes to the bathroom and changes…but I told her we have a plan for that!)  She will be turning 9 years old right before camp ends, and she thought the pizza party sounded great, but the Sprite soda will be the highlight for her!  She was disappointed that we don’t have sushi or Indian food at camp, but she loves sloppy joes and Mexican food, so we’ll find plenty of options for her in the dining hall each day!  Before I left, I gave her a copy of the 2013 Video Yearbook DVD – she was the very first camper to receive it this year, but all of your copies went in the mail this afternoon! 

Earlier in the day, I was on the University of Delaware campus interviewing new staff members.  I very lucky to get a tour from the guy in the photo above…2013 Upper Senior general bunk counselor, Matt Bibby!  Matt is a Senior, education major and he’s about to spend all next semester student teaching.   In addition to being in Lamda Chi fraternity, he’s also a coordinator of the Blue Hen Ambassadors, the group of 200 students that give tours to prospective High Schoolers.  It’s a very prestigious organization, and I was glad to have him show me around campus.  It seemed like Bibby knew EVERYONE on campus -and he’s full of facts and info about the school, it was a great tour!

I also met up with Dana Aronowitz, a CIT of 2009 and someone who spent many years at Canadensis as a camper and counselor.  She is now a Junior at University of Delaware, and is studying Engineering.  She is also a member of AEPhi (LML to all my AEPhi’s out there!) and through them gets involved with a lot of things happening on campus.  She hasn’t made it up to camp on a Visiting Day recently, but hopes to be back in 2014.  She has been spending her summers working for a Engineering firm and last summer traveled to Israel.

Overall, it was a great to see all of the extended Canadensis family members in Delaware, and we recruited some new staff members to join us!

I’m wishing everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving today – and hoping you get spend it with loved ones, friends and family!  I’ll be spending the day with some of my wonderful extended family members in NY, but unfortunately I won’t get to be with my parents or my sister because they’ll be in Arizona and Texas.  I feel so lucky to have a family that loves and supports this crazy camp thing I do year after year, and I just wanted to express my thanks, and share a photo of me with my parents at camp in 2013!

Below is a collage of photos from the 2012 Levi Family Reunion held at Camp Canadensis – it’s an every 3 year tradition, and has become something I am constantly thinking about and looking forward to.  I thought you might enjoy seeing how we used camp as a beautiful setting for quality family time…which for us includes kickball, archery and of course gathering around a table to share a meal.  HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

If you ordered one of our Carewear Holiday Mystery Boxes, it is officially on it’s way to you in the mail!  The winter team spent most of the day in an assembly line wrapping, packing, and sealing up the 131 boxes that were ordered – an amazing number for our first year offering these gifts!  It was a group effort, and we are so excited for you to discover all the surprises inside!

I’ve been sworn to secrecy, so I cannot reveal any of the items in the box.  But, in the above photo, you can see how it will arrive.  The box is ready to give, and wrapped in Blue & Gold tissue paper.  As soon as you open it up, you’ll see a letter that explains all the goodies inside, and thanks you for helping us raise more than $2,000 for the Canadensis Cares Scholarships!

Each box was packed with the recipient in mind, and even if you and your sibling both received it, you’ll have slight differences between your goodies.  Because some people might not open up their box until the later nights of the holiday, we ask that everyone try to help us keep the secret, and not post their mystery box items on social media.  On December 6th, we’ll be posting photos showing all the items, so if you don’t have a box arriving on your doorstep, you’ll still get to see what was in the surprise!

There go all the boxes…it filled up the entire USPS truck!

If you are a regular blog reader, you know that I love games!  Without a doubt, Mah Jongg is my favorite game to play (and teach!) but Bingo has taken a spot in my heart and number 2!  (It has bumped back connect four, apples to apples and blokus!).  Last night, Beth Or in Ambler hosted a Bingo night, and it’s a ton of fun!  We attended last year, (see this old blog post) and it’s become an annual tradition we look forward to!  So many of our amazing families are involved with Beth Or, and in the photo above you can see (from left to right) Dara Brecher (campers Jeremy & Amanda) with Cara, Melissa, Myself, Robin and Roni Jaffe (camper Idan, and husband Dr. Jamison!).  Many more of our camp mom’s were there as well!

In the photo above, Steffany Kratchman (campers Landon & Rayla) is holding up the basket she won!  Nearly 400 women attend the event, which includes not only Bingo games, but also raffle prizes.  Steffany actually won the basket of goodies that Camp Canadensis donated – what are the chances?!

It was a lot of fun putting the basket together – it included a camp backpack, and tons of essentials that come in handy to have around the house, especially during the holiday season when there are presents to wrap!  Inside was a label maker, stickers, scissors, tape, glue, sharpies and lots of pens for writing holiday cards.

Already excited for Bingo in 2014!

If you live on Long Island, or will be visiting friends…we hope we’ll see you tomorrow at Canteen on the Fly!!  Drop by anytime!  Mark your calendar for upcoming dates in your town!

Time spent with camp friends is always the best, and we know that many bunks have been arranging sleepovers this winter – we love seeing photos!  I thought I’d blog today and share some pictures of my recent time spent with camp friends, so here we go!

First up was a trip to Pittsburgh to celebrate Noah’s Bar Mitzvah!  He is in the picture above with his mom Sandy, who is part of our fabulous Head Counselor team at camp each summer!

He did a fantastic job leading the congregation, and then we go to enjoy “Club Noah” that night – the party was great, and I loved the logo that captured Noah’s amazing hair!

Everyone loves cupcakes…right?  Well, at the Bar Mitzvah there were tons of flavors, but my favorite was the campy classic “s’mores”!

It was fun to dance and hang out with camp friends, here’s a picture of me with Sandy and BeckyJ in the photobooth!

There was also a caricaturist there -he’s just starting to draw me in the photo above…

 

And here’s the final product – pretty good job!  Of course, I asked him to draw me walking Annie!

  Annie got to come to Pittsburgh too, and before we headed out of town we took a walk over to see the giant inflatable rubber duck that was floating in the river.  He was so cute…I’d love to have him swim over to camp and spend the summer in Lake Lenape!

Later that month, I went to a Chinese cooking class with Eric & Robin.  It was hands on, and a lot of fun!  In the photo above, Eric is working in the kitchen with chef Joseph Poon!

He learned how to make lo-mein, and it was delicious!  He’s so good at it now, he’ll be cooking for everyone on Chinese nights this summer!

We learned how to make about 10 different dishes, and it was hard work!  Once we finished cooking, we got to enjoy the meal and by the end of the night we were totally stuffed!

I recently got to do some traveling to Cuba and New Orleans, and I was so lucky that my time in New Orleans overlapped with Lachie and Steph, so I was able to see them for a few hours!

They have spent two summers at Canadensis, and ran our waterfronts this year.  They are from Australia, and Lachie was our lake director, and Steph was the pool director!  They have been on an amazing coast to coast road trip after leaving camp, and they’ve planned to go and see just about everything the US and Canada have to offer!

We enjoyed beignets at Cafe Du Monde (they are like donuts covered in powdered sugar) and it was so good to hear about their travels!

And finally, as you might know – Matt & Melissa are getting married soon!  Melissa is the Lower Girls Head Counselor, and Matt works full time for camp as the Operations Director.

We recently went to Allentown (where Melissa lives and teaches during the off season) to celebrate her bridal shower.  It was a lovely luncheon, and as is the tradition at showers, Melissa ended the afternoon wearing a hat made out of all the bows and ribbons off her gifts.

One of the coolest gifts was the bus Matt’s mom made for the couple.  It recreated their engagement last year!

In the photo above (from left to right) is Cara, Robin, Matt, Melissa and me – all the purple was just a coincidence!

I look forward to the next time I’ll get to see camp friends…on MONDAY (11/11/13)!  If you live on Long Island, I hope we’ll be seeing you at Canteen on the Fly at Carvel in Westbury NY.  We’ll be there from 2-3:30!