Brother/Sister Teams Coming to Camp!

Claire Ben 2

Meet Claire and Ben!  They are both finishing 2nd grade, and will be Lower Juniors at camp this summer!  They live in Plymouth Meeting, PA.

CLAIRE:

-She’s very crafty, when I arrived at their house she had made me a sweet card.  She loves doing art projects!

-She collects snowglobes and showed me them in her awesome room.

-Claire plans to try out for the Camp Show this summer.

-Her most favorite activity is gymnastics – she loves being on the floor element!

-Her favorite color is neoon green, and her favorite foods are ice cream and cookies!

-Claire did the Tour & More Weekend last year, and in looking ahead to spending the full summer at camp, she’s excited to try some of the medium paced rides at Dorney Park.

-Mostly, Claire cannot wait to make new friends at camp, and to have friendly competition with her twin brother at Evening Activities!

BEN:

-He really likes books, and soccer.

-Ben is really excited to celebrate his birthday at camp this summer, and we talked all about the special ways we celebrate at camp!

-He think’s he’ll love the batting cage elective.

-And, he loves baseball so much, he will want to participate in the Canadensis Baseball League (CBL).

-He is twins with Claire, but they also have an older brother!  And, his Dad went to Canadensis growing up and is an Alumni of camp!

Claire Ben

Henry is going to be spending his 4th summer at camp!  He is going to be an Upper Inter Boy this summer.  He had his TAC’s (Tagger at Canadensis for doing good deeds!) in his room, and I loved seeing it.  We talked all about the sports he’s been playing (soccer, basketball, etc!) and how excited he is to be in Middle Camp this summer!

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(Here’s a selfie Claire and I took, and she turned into a collage!)

 

Casey

Meet Casey!  She’s currently in 4th grade, and will be a Lower Inter Girl this summer!  She lives in Westfield, NJ.

-Casey did the Tour & More program twice, and she’s been at camp fir visiting day, so she knows all about our amazing camp food like the Cornman and David’s cookies!

-This girl loooooves to dance!  She is in the process of creating more dances, and taking more classes.

-Casey does every dance style you can think of…lyrical, ballet, tap, hip-hop etc!  We had a little dance party.  She makes up routines on the spot and is going to be a huge help to her bunk during MTV Night!

-She plays every single sport, and especially likes basketball, softball and soccer.

-She is also good at gymnastics.  She showed me her tricks!

-Her dog is named “Teddy” and is so sweet!  She also had some “pet deer” who like to visit her backyard!

-She’s also a great artist, and showed me her fashion design sketches with lots of details including shoes!

-Her basement was under construction when I was over, but when it’s finished it’s going to be a great place to have a party for all of her camp friends!

-She wants everyone to know that she is not at all “vanilla” – she is a totally fun and ridiculous “chocolate” explosion!

 

 

 

Casey 2

Ryan is her big brother, and he will be spending his 3rd summer at camp.  This year he will be a Freshman boy .  He is soooo excited for camp, he screamed from the other room when he heard me and Casey talking about stuff!  We talked about all sorts of stuff, including how delicious the donuts are on Thursday mornings at camp!

 

 

 

Zoe Ben

This brother/sister team is coming to camp for the first time this summer!  Zoe is finishing 2nd grade and will be a Lower Junior Girl.  Ben is finishing 4th grade and will be a Lower Inter Boy.  They live in Livingston, NJ.

ZOE:

-She is going to be celebrating her birthday at camp, but when she gets off the bus next month she’ll still be 7 years old!

-She loves gymnastics and dance!

-The hat she’s wearing in the photo above is her “disco/shopping” hat!  It’s cool and I hope she brings it to camp!

-She hopes to have a bottom bunk so she can turn her camp bed into a fort!

-After school, Zoe loves to roller blade and ride her bik.

-Zoe has about 5,000 boooks!

-She is super excited for activities like art, sewing and cooking!

BEN:

-He is most excited to do the sports at camp.  Basketball is probably his favorite.

-But, he also likes Tennis and Baseball a lot!

-In September, he got a puppy!  It’s a boxer named Missy and he lvoes her!

-On beach trips with his family, Ben loves to surf…so cool!

-He also enjoys riding his skateboard.

-We talked about a lot of different food questions at camp, and he’s going to be trying Fruit on the Fly!

 

 

 

Kate

Meet Kate!  She is finishing 2nd grade and will be a Lower Junior Girl at camp this summer!  She lives in Syosset, NY.

-When I was visiting, Kate had just joined a gymnastics competition team, and she was tumbling with joy the whole time I was there!

-She was doing cartwheels, splits and handstands.  She was working on her back handspring and loves the bars.

-We talked about her past theater performances – she was a mermaid in Peter Pan, and suggests we do Frozen at camp one summer!

-She plays piano, and recently performed at NYSMA for the first time.  But, she’s also an athlete who is good at sports too.  We talked a bunch about her swim team, she can do all the strokes including butterfly!

-She loves art also, and is excited to tie-dye at camp this summer!

-She loves Katy Perry (because they have the same name!)

-She had so many Canadensis things in her room…a clock, water bottle, teddy bear…her normal bedtime is around 8PM, so she’s excited to stay up later at camp!

-Kate loves all foods, except maybe pineapple!

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Her big brother Ethan will be at camp for his 2nd summer, and will be an Upper Inter Boy.  He was one of the stars of our play last year, and suggests we do Mary Poppins.  He also did NYSMA this year for singing, piano and trombone too!  He wants to be even more serious about his swimming this year, and is excited to get back to camp…he thinks the food is great!

 

 

Jonah 2

Meet Jonah!  He’s currently in 3rd grade, and will be an Upper Junior Boy this summer!  He’s from Philadelphia, PA.

-He sometimes goes by the nickname “JL” for his initials.

-He’s looking forward to a lot of different activities at camp, especially painting, mountain  biking, glass fusion, gaga, tetherball and activities in the lake!

-Jonah showed me a porcupine he made in Kindergartend, and it was really great!

-We flipped through a book of camp photos, and when we got to the sports page he liked every single activity!  He especially likes golf.

-Last summer at his day camp, he won the silver medal for a dodgeball game called “pins”.  It sounded like a lot of fun!

-We talked about MTV night and and the big all camp activities, and he was pumped for Dorney Park!

-He was dressed for his hockey game later 🙂

Jonah

His big sister Annabelle will be at camp for her 3rd summer, and will be an Upper Inter Girl!  She helped me out a ton during the home visit, and explained all the fun details about camp to Jonah.  She’s been staying busy during the school year with performances and dance classes!  Not pictured is oldest brother Eli, who is a serious student…but also loves changes to take a break and see camp friends, his bunk even went on a ski trip together this year!

 

 

Jamie

Meet Jamie!  She is in 3rd grade and will be an Upper Junior Girl this summer.  She lives in Livingston, NJ!

-Jamie loves dogs, and wanted to know if she could spend time helping me out and walking my dog Annie this summer…I told her YES!

-She loves cornman, and wanted to know how many times she’d get to have it this summer (the answer is 3 – open house, carnival and visiting day!)

-I got a tour of her room, and got to see all her fun beanie boos.  Her favorite one was named Fluffy.

-She is a serious soccer player, and was on the 3rd grade championship team called the “Storm”.

-She loves arts and crafts, and cannot wait to try glass fusion this summer.  She knows how to do pottery and showed me lots of her ceramics projects from day camp, and the award she won for helping another camper on the overnight.

-She spent a night at camp last summer in the Tour & More Weekend, and she got to do the banana boat in the lake!

-She also had a pretty funny story ab out where she showered during her overnight weekend…haha!

Jamie 2

Her big brother Mason will be back at camp for his 2nd summer, and will be an Upper Inter Boy.  He has been loving seeing his camp friends during the winter, and is letting his hair grow and grow!  He’s excited to be in Middle Camp this summer and get some extra freedom during Free Play and a bowling trip!

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Mason and Jamie have Canadensis Cousins too…and it was awesome to see them on the home visit!  David is going to be a CIT (Counselor in Training) and that is the highlight of the Camp Canadensis camper experience!  Rebecca is going to be spending her 3rd summer on staff, this year she will be a Drama Specialist, and is trying to get Jamie pumped up for the camp show!

 

 

Dylan R 2

Meet Dylan!  She is in 2nd grade and will be a Lower Junior Girl at camp this summer!  She lives in Washington Crossing, PA!

-Her favorite colors are hot pink, neon green and blue!

-She plays on a soccer team called the “Patriots” and they wear red and it’s her favorite sport.  She plays goalie!

-But…she’s not a great goalie when she’s defending against her two big brothers in the backyard…they are serious athletes!!

-She also does gymnastics once a week and is working on her back handspring and back flip.  She showed off some cartwheels and roundoffs for me, right in the living room!

-For her electives at camp this summer, she plans on doing glass fusion, woodworking and waterslides.

-At her day camp, she loved played Newcomb, and doing the climbing wall and high ropes – I’m sure she’ll love it at Canadensis too!

-Dylan likes all different kinds of foods, especially bagels, lox, pasta and nachos…all things we have regularly at camp!

-In addition to having two brothers, she has two dogs named Izzy and Cosmo (she got to name Izzy!)

Dylan R

 

Chase is spending his 3rd summer at Canadensis, and is going to be an Upper Inter at camp this summer.  His basketball team was very successful this winter, and he won a trophy almost as big as his little sister!  He plays sports year round, including soccer!  Logan is going to be spending his 4th summer at camp, and will be a Lower Senior.  He’s excited to be on Senior Side for the first time, and celebrated his Bar Mitzvah this past year.  It’s been great to see all his camp friends at the different parties.

 

Home Visits, Ballets, Programming and more!

 

Alana is current 5th grader, and a new Upper Inter Girl!

Alana is current 5th grader, and a new Upper Inter Girl!

Meet Alana: She lives in Armonk, NY and is a current 5th grader who will be joining us at Camp Canadensis for her first year as an Upper Inter Girl!  I had such a great time getting to know her, she’s so sweet and was whirling and twirling during our home visit, so she will no doubt be busting a move at Morning Line Up every day this summer!  Here’s what you should know about this great new camper:

-She’s been flipping and dancing from a really young age, and has earned the nick name “upside down Alana”!
-She loves to dance!  She really good at it, and dances five days a week.  She takes lyrical, ballet, hip-hop and jazz.
-She’s doing a lyrical solo this year, and lyrical is her most favorite type of dance.  Her dance competition team has competed in front of hundreds of people and travels to places like Boston for competitions!
-She use to live on a lake, so she’s tried a lot of lake activities, but she cannot wait to waterski at camp!
-She goes to gymnastics on the weekend (she’s working on getting her back handspring back!), and will want to do cheerleading for one of her electives.
-She loves to eat salad lunch and will convince her bunk to go to the salad bar with her.  She’s excited that we serve Chicken Caesar Salad at camp!
-At camp this summer we’ll be teaching her a lot of new sports, and she’ll be teaching her bunk a lot of awesome and funny nontraditional “high fives”!
Alex is a current 4th grader, and a new Lower Inter Girl!

Alex is a current 4th grader, and a new Lower Inter Girl!

Meet Alex: She lives in Irvington, NY and is a current 4th grader who will be joining us at Canadensis for her first summer as a Lower Inter Girl!  She loves to follow in her father’s footsteps…that’s part of the reason why she loves to play soccer and is learning to play trumpet.  Her father went to Camp Canadensis too, and now it’s her turn!  Here’s what you should know about this well rounded new camper:

-She plays soccer for two seasons a year on Team Blaze – her dad is the coach!
-At day camp last year she audition for the play and was offered the lead as Belle in “Beauty and the Beast”, but she turned it down to you play Lumiere!  It was her first time being in a show, and she loved it!
-She plays golf, takes tennis lessons, and likes all sports including basketball.
-She’s not afraid to play soccer with the boys, once they see how many goals she scores, they all want to pass to her!
-She broke her leg skiing last year, and  got back up and skis recently.
-At camp, she’s excited to learn how to waterski and do things up in the arts and crafts center, she especially can’t wait to make a pizza plate in glass fusion!
-She loves the color blue and likes all foods (except for broccoli). She remembers how great the camp chicken fingers are from her lunch tour last year!
Lila is a current 2nd grader, and a new Lower Junior Girl!

Lila is a current 2nd grader, and a new Lower Junior Girl!

Meet Lila: She lives in Newtown, PA and is currently in 2nd grade, which means she’ll be a Lower Junior Girl for her first summer at camp!  She is joining her big sister Misha at Canadensis this summer, but last year she actually got to spend the night at Canadensis during the Tour & More Weekend!  Here’s what you should know about this fun new camper:

-Her day camp last summer use to do competitions during lunch, and she won the hula hooping contest!
-During the year, she plays tennis once a week, and wants to play more.  She’s a winner on the court, and has won prizes (like candy!).
-She also goes to gymnastics once a week, and one of her favorite activities at Canadensis is the foam pit.
-She will probably spend her electives at tennis, lake recreations and the  climbing wall.
-On tour two summers ago she visited the canteen and loves it in there, she’s excited to go three times a week!
-She usually stays up late, and wakes up early.  She’s funny, loud and energetic, and hopes to have a lot of bunkmates who are the same way!
-At her day camp, she never won Color War…so hopefully we can snap her streak this year!
-She had recently gone to the Jingle Ball concert, and loved Ariana grande!
Jordyn is a current 2nd Grader, and a new Lower Junior Girl!

Jordyn is a current 2nd Grader, and a new Lower Junior Girl!

Meet Jordy: She lives in Newtown, PA and is a current 2nd grader.  She will be a Lower Junior at camp this summer, and cannot wait for her first year!  She is going to be 7 years old when camp starts, and will be celebrating her 8th birthday at camp.  She’s already super excited to have the whole camp sing to her!  Here’s what you should know about this sweet new camper:

-She loves to play soccer, and is on the “Leopards”, their uniforms are blue, but I bet she wishes they were purple, since that’s her favorite color!
-The night after I visited her, she was going to be up on stage performing in a play!  It was an updated version of “Cinderella”, and sounded really cool.
-She loves to dance and sing, and will be working on a production of Mulan soon!
-She had a lot of great ceramics projects she had made around her house, she really loves art.
-She’s been having sleepovers since she was age 3!  On some nights at home, her sister ends up sleeping in her room.
-She absolutely loves hamburgers, it’s one of her favorite foods!
-She goes to gymnastics once a week, and just got a balance beam for Hanukkah – she was showing me her tricks!
-At camp this summer, she wants to get better at tennis so she can be the tennis champion and her family.  Her family has an air hockey table, and right now her big brother is the air hockey champ!
Jordyn is new to Canadensis, and her brother Andrew is currently in 3rd grade, and is returning as an Upper Junior Boy!

Jordyn is new to Canadensis, and her brother Andrew is currently in 3rd grade, and is returning as an Upper Junior Boy!

Speaking of her big brother, he’s coming back to camp for his second summer!  Andrew is a current 3rd grader, and will be an Upper Junior Boy.  He was a huge help during this home visit because he remembers EVERYTHING from last summer!!  Here’s some good update from Andrew since camp:

-He used to wrestle during the winter, but he loved basketball so much at camp that he switched his sports!  His basketball team is the “Chargers”.
-He’s an big Eagles, Phillies and Devils.  He’s such a big Devils fan, he couldn’t bring himself to take the didn’t take the Flyers workshop at camp this summer!
-He was also in the Cinderella show, and played the Prince!
-He’s also super excited to have his sister celebrating a birthday at camp this summer.  He’s planning to join her during the pizza party at dinner!
Jordyn is a current 2nd grader, and a new Lower Junior Girl!

Jordyn is a current 2nd grader, and a new Lower Junior Girl!

Meet Jordyn:  She’s from Maple Glen, PA and is a current 2nd grader, and will be a Lower Junior Girl at camp this summer.  All you need to do is check out that giant smile (that’s missing a few teeth!) to know she is ready for camp.  She told me she would start today if she could!  Here’s what you need to know about this super active new camper:

-Her favorite color is blue, and one day she hopes to paint her room that color.
-She’s getting ready for camp, and recently got a lot of helpful things for Hanukkah, including an camp address book, camp towel, and sweet looking pillows and blankets covered with candy and ice cream cones!
-She really likes to play all sorts of sports! Including playing golf with her dad when it’s warm enough.
-She goes to gymnastics and takes hip-hop dance classes.
-This year she’s also going to be in a show for the first time.  They are going to do a production of Annie!
-She takes tennis lessons and loves it, and is very excited about having so many tennis courts nearby all summer.
-At her old camp, she was a gaga champion!  Our older campers better watch out because she’s been known to take down fifth-graders!
-She was a little bit nervous about going in the lake at first, but after we talked about it a little, she got really excited to try the water trampoline and everything!
Elias is a current 3rd grader, and a new Upper Junior Boy!

Elias is a current 3rd grader, and a new Upper Junior Boy!

Meet Elias: He lives in Maple Glen, PA and is a currently 3rd grader.  He will be an Upper Junior Boy at camp this summer and will be joining his older brother for the summer at Canadensis.  Elias also has a younger brother, and he’s lucky to get to be both a big and little bro at the same time!  I really appreciate that his family included me in lighting Hanukkah candles together, and I had fun getting to know Elias better.  Here’s what you should know about this happy new camper:

-Without a doubt his favorite thing is wrestling!  He’s participating in four sports right now, but wrestling what he looks forward to the most!
-He’s also training for baseball and soccer (he’s on a travel soccer team) and playing on a basketball team.
-We talked about some of his favorite day camp memories, including the special boat race and color run days.  He plans to do our Zombie Run at camp this summer.
-When we go to Dorney Park, he wants to be in an Extreme group, so he can do lots of roller coasters and rides.
-He slept over at camp last summer for the Canadensis Tour & More Program, and his favorite thing was the banana boat in the lake.
-He “rocks at writing” and will be sending home some really great letters about the fun he’s having at camp!
-He tends to wake up early, so on Thursdays he will be the first one in line to change his electives!
-He’s got two dogs, named Cooper and Maggie.  He loves to eat hotdogs (very different kind of dogs!)
-And, did I mention that he’s a really awesome wrestler?  He’s definitely going to choose that as one of his electives, and will probably be able to teach the coach a thing or two!
Elias is joining his older brother at Canadensis, Griffin is a current 6th grader, and will be a Freshman Boy this summer!

Elias is joining his older brother at Canadensis, Griffin is a current 6th grader, and will be a Freshman Boy this summer!

Here’s a photo of me with Elias and both his brothers.  It was awesome catching up with Griffin during the home visit and hearing all about what he’s been doing since camp.  He’s a current 6th grader, and will be moving up to Freshman Hill this summer.  Here’s a few updates from Griff:

-He’s playing basketball and training for baseball right now.
-He’s been filling his brother in on all the things he should know before his first summer.  When I came over, they were starting to watch the Yearbook DVD!
-He’s really excited about the perks of being a Freshman. Things like double electives, getting to opt out of the overnight, choosing cooking as an elective, and going on the overnight trip to Cooperstown.  (Even though he’s going to go twice in the same summer since he has a baseball tournament there!).
Gigantic Cookies!

Check out that gigantic cookie!  Having fun with the Plant Family!

I love seeing our campers!  A few weeks ago, I got to hang out with Jordan, a current 6th grader who will be a Freshman Girl at camp this summer, and will be getting her 5 year jacket!  She was in town visiting several camp friends, and I got to spend some time with her and her parents!

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Jordan (left) was visiting friends in Philadelphia, and I met up with her and Rachel (middle) right before Rachel went to Nutcracker practice!

One of her sleepovers was with her bunkmate Rachel, and we all got to spend a little time together in Philadelphia before Rachel went to ballet practice.  But, not just any ballet practice…Rachel had to practice with the Pennsylvania Ballet for the production of the Nutcracker, where she was starring as Marie…the lead!  It such a dream come true, and a major role!  It takes tons of practice and rehearsal, plus dedication.  She has a lot of performances to do at the Academy of Music, which seats more than 2,500 people!

At the show with Jordan and Jordyn

At the show with Jordan and Jordyn

A few weeks later, the curtain went up on The Nutcracker, and I went with some of Rachel’s camp friends to support her!  Here I am with Jordan, and Jordyn (who is also going to be a Freshman Girl this summer, but is in a different bunk in the division).  We were all SO impressed. Rachel was incredible on stage – just phenomenal!!!   All her hard work is paying off, and if you are in Philly this holiday season, it’s not too late to get tickets to see her on stage!

We love seeing holiday cards from our camp families!

We love seeing holiday cards from our camp families!

We love when our camp families include us on the mailing list, and send us their holiday cards.  We get so excited to open the envelopes and pass them around so everyone can see!  We also love when we spot camp photos or camp gear that makes it onto the holiday card, but this year was the first time we were a “trivia” answer on a holiday card!  This super creative personalized family word search comes from Aidan (Lower Inter Boy) and Brooke (Freshman Girl) and their fun loving family!  The question for 11 Across said: “Brooke and Aidan go to this overnight camp”, and the answer of course is CANADENSIS!

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And since this will be my last blog of 2014, I wanted to share one last thing I’m very excited about!  Amy Spielberger has been a Canadensis Mom for several years, her children Ruby and Drew will both be back at camp this summer.  This year mom is coming with them, and joining us on the Programming Team at camp!  She’s grown up at sleepaway camp, met her husband at camp, and has served as a JCC Day Camp Director.  Her hard working and detail oriented approach to camp will be a huge asset to our program this year.  Our Program Director Lauren Schwed and I can’t wait to have her on our team!

Canteen on the Fly Selfies and More Photos!

We had an amazing time seeing our campers and camp families at our Canteen on the Fly gatherings in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania over the last few weeks!  I wanted to recap with a photo essay documenting some of the highlights!

Ella, Dayton and Alexa (all Upper Inter Girls coming back to camp for their second summer) had a great idea to take a "selfie" outside of the Livingston, NJ Canteen on the Fly!  Check out the selfies I took with campers below:

Ella, Dayton and Alexa (all Upper Inter Girls coming back to camp for their second summer) had a great idea to take a “selfie” outside of the Livingston, NJ Canteen on the Fly! Check out the selfies I took with campers below:

In Ambler, PA, I took a photo with sisters Misha and Lila, and Sydney is on the right.

In Ambler, PA, I took a photo with sisters Misha and Lila on the left, and Sydney is on the right.

In Westchester, NY, I loved how Michael colored his shirt with Canadensis Blue & Gold, and it was awesome getting to meet Alex!

In Westchester, NY, I loved how Michael colored his shirt with Canadensis Blue & Gold on the left, and it was awesome getting to meet Alex on the right, I loved her super colorful design!

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On the left is Izzy (a new Lower Junior girl) and on the right are Sami and Jamie (new Upper Junior girls).

On the left

On the left is Lauren, Lauren and Sophia (all decked out in Color War Spirit on the Mainline, PA) and on the right is Madi.

What’s been really fun to see at these Canteen on the Fly events are our “frequent flyers”…campers, CIT and staff who travel with us from one location to another…or meet us at Canteen on the Fly at different locations on different days.  It truly takes the camp spirit to another level, and it means so much to us when people are willing to travel to see their camp friends!  In the photo above, you’ll see 2014 CIT Lauren at the Mainline, PA location, and below she’s at the Livingston, NJ COTF party!

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It was a partial G4 reunion at Swede’s Yogurt! Ella, Dari, Amanda, Jadyn and Samara reunited with their 2014 CITs Lauren and Alix!

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Scott, Matty, Zach, Marshall, Jacob, Sam, Jake and Matt with “Daddy Dave” at the Long Island, NY Canteen on the Fly.

2014 CIT Marshall was another frequent flyer!  We got to catch up with him above in New York, and below in New Jersey!

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Max, Dave, Eric, Matt and Marshall in Livingston, NJ.

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Also joining us at most Canteen on the Fly locations were our youngest Canadensis “Campers”…Carli Forti and Emerson Krug!  Our Lower Girls Head Counselor, Melissa Unger got the perfect photo with these two popular ladies!!

Here are some other awesome moments Cara captured at our 5 different Canteen on the Fly Events!

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And, one last photo I wanted to share…”Transformation Tuesday” style.  These two photos were taken a year apart at the same location.  Hannah is now going to be a Freshman camper, spending her second summer at camp – and I love both her t-shirt designs!!

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Basketball and Fall Happenings (and how the two are linked!)

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During the summer, everyone who works at camp wears many hats.  It’s 7 weeks of pure non-stop action, and we love attracting staff who are looking to get involved with as much of the fun as possible!  That’s why our cooking specialist might also run an A Capella elective, a general counselor will take a role in our camp show, and it’s also why I take on the role of basketball coach during the summer!  Above is a photo of me with the 2014 “Team Pro”.  Team Pro (short for “programming”, my main responsibility as Assistant Director) plays in the WNBA, which is an optional, competitive league our female campers can sign up to participate in.  Most players are between the ages of 13-16, but it’s open to all ages who want to compete.  This year, we had 6 awesome teams in the league, and I love getting to know campers in a different way on the court.

Team Pro had an amazing season, and the team consisted of (from left to right) Dara, Daniella, Alyssa, Lindsey, Julia, Lauren, Carly, Sabrina, my co-coach Theresa Malafronte, and our CIT coaches Zach, Max and Marshall.

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I also coach a basketball team in the IBL (Inter Basketball League) which is another optional, more competitive league for boys who have finished 4th and 5th grade.  As the league commissioner, I got to pick the names of the three teams, and the Princesses, Mermaids and Unicorns had some epic battles last summer!  Dave and I coached “The Unicorns” (our team is wearing white above), we enjoyed seeing the heart these boys poured into our games!

The Unicorns even attracted some cheerleaders!

The Unicorns even attracted some cheerleaders!

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In the photo above, you’ll see some of the IBL award winners from the 2014 season (from left to right), Landen, Alex, Dylan, Dave (my co-coach of The Unicorns) Ben, Ozzie and Adam.

So at this point, you might be under the impression that I’m a serious basketball player , or someone with a great jump shot and understanding of the game…but sadly, my own basketball ability is on the basic side (ok, super basic side!).  I’ve definitely been “knocked out” in the first round of many knock out games…even when playing against some of our youngest campers!  But, I love the game, and getting involved with the Camp Canadensis Basketball Super Leagues gives me a chance to get more involved with the sport, and bond with the players on and off the court.  It’s actually been a very long time since I’ve actually played a game of basketball (half a lifetime ago…sophomore year of High School, 1996), but the teams I coached this summer inspired me.  So, when I got back to Philadelphia this fall, I joined a team!

Blog Longshots

Here I am with the “Longshots”, we play in a rec league and all of us were free agents, so we were randomly grouped together…and we are definitely “longshots” in our league!  The games are really late at night (sometimes we play at 10PM on a weeknight…yikes!) and often times we don’t have any subs, so I end up running sprints on the court for 46 minutes straight.  When I need motivation to leave the house on a chilly night when I’m just not feeling up to a long game, Dave will remind me of The Unicorns and Team Pro, and how important it is not to let your teammates down…and that always gets me into gear!

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It’s been a real eye opener for me, I’m older, slower, less skilled and know much less about the sport than everyone else on the court.  We’ve lost every game this season by a large margin, but the girls on my team are very nice, and we celebrate the small victories.  For instance, some personal highlights came when I somehow made this pass in the photo above, or the time I scored 10 points in a game, or that one foul shot I made this season.  But most of all, I’m proud of the fact I’ve shown up for every game, and it’s thanks to the inspiration I received from watching our campers give their all on the office courts this summer.  Blog Unicorns

But, that isn’t the only way I’ve been inspired by the basketball teams…when deciding costumes for Halloween, Dave and I chose to dress up as unicorns, and even Annie had a unicorn getup too (and hers lights up!)  They were super cozy…and you should definitely expect to see us on the coaches bench rocking these during the summer!

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Speaking of Annie, I tried my hand at carving her likeness in a pumpkin for our annual neighborhood  pumpkin carving contest.  If you haven’t carved a pumpkin lately, let me tell you…it’s hard work!!  I did this one above without a template, and each time I walk by I feel a twinge of pride.  However, when it glows at night…Annie looks very “evil” because her eyes and nostrils look like they are on fire!

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But alas, the “Annie Pumpkin” didn’t win the neighborhood contest…my other submission did!  It’s the pumpkin on the right, “Hipster Pumpkin” has a hat, thick rimmed glasses and a perfectly groomed mustache!  Besides the hours invested in creating these two masterpieces, here’s some other photos of what I’ve been up to lately…

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Camp looks stunning in the fall…love seeing all the leaves change!  Had a great trip up with some of the winter team recently, (from left to right), Me, Brian, Matt and Eric.

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I also took a trip up to camp on a brisk fall day to show around a new camper.  Dani (a current 6th grader) will be a Freshman Girl at camp this summer, she’s in the photo above on the left.  Next to her is Joey, another Freshman Girl who knows Dani from home, and will be returning to camp for her 4th summer!  In the bottom photo, Joey poses with a camp sign and the CIT Girls Bunk behind her.  Her hope was to go inside the bunk and check it out, but I think it’s more fun when the CIT bunk remains a mystery until you get to move in!! (CIT stands for “Counselors In Training” and they are the leaders in camp, they’ve just finished 10th grade).

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It was also so much fun to celebrate Ben’s Bar Mitzvah last month.  Ben will be a Lower Senior boy, and this will be his 4th summer at camp.  His mom Lauren is our amazing Program Director during the summer, and there were so many camp people in attendance to celebrate!  Above are some of Ben’s cousins that also attend camp.  Justin (left) is a former camper who has now spent two years as a counselor and in the middle is Amanda who will be a CIT this summer, and receiving her 8 year jacket!!

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And, although it’s hard to make out all the faces, this photo shows the entire Canadensis crew that came out to party!  In the top left are Ben’s brothers Alex & Matthew.  On the right is Lauren, and in the middle wearing a baseball hat is Benjamin (the man of the night!).  Other faces in the photo are our camp mom, Steph and all of the guys from Boys Bunk 14 last year, including Jeremy, Ethan, Jordan, Sam, Ben, Jeremy, Ethan, Ben and Mitch (it seems like I repeated names…but several of the guys have the same name!).  Can’t wait to see all of these guys on Senior Side next year!

 

CITs 2014 – JACK SHERMAN

Jack Sherman lives in Great Neck, NY and will be returning to Canadensis for his 7th summer! When Jack is at home he runs  track, participating in DECA, and scuba diving. Jack’s dream job is to one day run his own architecture firm. At camp Jack enjoys basketball and running the big race during Color War! One of his favorite camp memories is getting to start the big race last summer. Another favorite memory was the time he got to accept his 5 year jacket in front of the entire camp at line up!  Jack’s advice to a first time camper is that “if you are missing your family at home just remember that you are with your second family at camp! No matter what you and your friends fight about make sure that you do your best to fix it because you never want to be in a fight with family”. You might not know this but Jack’s secret talent is juggling; he also used to have incredibly long hair! Jack won’t leave for camp without his pillow, and he won’t leave at the end of the summer without having had the greatest summer!

Alexa, Jack, Carly, Matthew, Brooke, Bradley, and Cassidy loving CIT Weekend!

CITs 2014 – LAUREN LAMAGNA

Lauren LaMagna lives in Merrick, NY and is returning to Canadensis for her 7th summer! Lauren enjoys hanging out with her friends and working in the drama program at her high school. She also loves softball and long walks on the beach. Lauren loves so many activities at camp – the ropes course, free swim, and bunko rank among her favorites. Lauren’s dream job it to be an actress! Going to camp has taught Lauren that it’s okay to be yourself – no, not okay – it’s GREAT to be yourself! Her advice to a first time camper is “Buckle up! You’re about to have the best 7 weeks of your life! And ask your parents for a LOT of junk food on Visiting Day!” Lauren won’t leave for camp without her iPod, can’t wait to do the CIT cheer at our first lunch, and won’t leave Orlando without meeting Ariel at Disney World – she’s Lauren’s favorite Princess!

CITs 2014 – LINDSEY REITER

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Lindsey Reiter lives in Woodmere, NY and is getting excited for her 7th summer at Canadensis! When she’s at home, Lindsay enjoys spending time with her friends, participating in BBYO, DECA, and SADD – someday she will use her leadership skills to be the CEO of a major company! Lindsay loves mountain biking at camp, is the bunk masseuse, and she’s also known to sometimes lose her voice from her abundant camp cheering… one of her favorite memories was when CIT 2013 Melissa Goldstein had Lindsey save her voice for an entire da so that she would still have her voice for prom invitation announcements. Going to Canadensis has taught Lindsey that camp friends truly are your family and will always be there for you. She also learned to never be too afraid to try something new and crazy. Lindsey’s advice for a first time camper is to never let little things bother you – your bunk is a family and you want to enjoy all the time you have together.  Lindsey is excited to go on every ride at Disney World and meet all of her favorite characters. You’ll see her up at Canadensis in a few short weeks, sporting her summer shades and Canadensis apparel! 

Welcome New Campers!

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Camp is starting in just over a month, but before heading up to the Poconos I have a few more amazing first time campers to introduce you to!  Kylie is a current 2nd grader, and she will be a Lower Junior at camp this summer!  She is from Villanova, PA and goes to the Baldwin School.  I first met her when she slept over at camp for the Tour & More Weekend last year, and it was great to get to know her better!  Here’s what you should know about Kylie:

  • She loves dogs!! I met her dogs Harley and Hannah (she named her after “Hannah Montana”) and she has 5 chihuahuas I didn’t get to meet!
  • Her favorite color is blue, and her second favorite color is purple.
  • She likes to go skiing, and before coming to camp she’ll be summer skiing in Mt. Hood, Oregon.  She’s done big slopes in Colorado before, and since she’s good on ski’s she should have no trouble learning to waterski!
  • Kylie really likes to play soccer, and on the night I visited she had just made a soccer travel team for the fall!
  • She loves to dance!  She goes to dance classes several times a week and her recital is coming up soon!
  • She’s a good eater, and likes all of the basic vegetables (like cucumbers and carrots), but tomatoes are a “no go”!
  • There are SO many reasons she is excited for camp, but she can’t wait to have such a late bedtime! Campers her age usually turn in around 9PM – which is much later than a typical school night at home!
  • Gymnastics will be her number one elective choice, and dance will probably be second!  She also likes basketball and is a good swimmer.
  • She has cousin that are also coming to camp with her.  Her older cousin Skye has been a camper for a few years, and told her all about the fun activities…including cooking and the summit!
  • We went through her schedule and she was excited for just about everything the Lower Juniors get to do!
  • She’s all ready for Color War and dressing up – she has tons of spirit and can’t wait to show it off for whatever team she’s on!

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I also recently spent some time in Ventnor, NJ getting to know another new camper.  JT is a current 4th grader, and he will be a Lower Inter at camp this year.  He’s been attending JCC Camp By The Sea (day camp) for the past few years and he’s very excited to try overnight camp and the tons of new activities we have in store for him!  Here’s what you should know about him:

  • He’s really likes archery, and is excited to get to do it frequently at camp this summer!
  • He also likes riding his bike and electric scooter, so he’s excited to quads and Hondas!
  • He likes horses, and might decide to take horseback riding lessons this summer at camp.
  • Although he’s never tried it, he thinks he’ll really like the rocketry elective, woodworking with the bunk and all the boating activities at the lake.
  • He also plays sports, like baseball and basketball.  He’s looking forward to trying new sports at camp, like tennis and lacrosse!
  • On the day I came to visit, he had just gone on a field trip and gotten a copy of the American Constitution – he joked about hanging it up on his wall at camp!
  • There’s a lot of action is his house, so he’ll be very comfortable with a lot of people in his bunk!  He has an older sister (she does travel camp every summer), and on the night I came to visit I met him and 4 other people who were around.
  • He’s a stylish guy – likes his button down collar shirts, and he’ll look great on dance nights!  He’s also very excited to grow his hair long at camp because it’s against school policy during the year.
  • He’s a self described “class clown” and likes to make people laugh.
  • He tends to wake up really early in the morning…like 6AM!  We talked about the many things he can do with that bonus time, including writing letters to everyone at home!
  • His favorite food is chicken fingers, and he loves corn!  Can’t wait for him to try “Cornman” on Open House!

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And…I also wanted to welcome one more “new comer” to Canadensis.  Dave Malter is the Director of the Touro University Masters in Camp Administration and Leadership program, and while this is technically his 5th year coming to camp, it will be his first year on staff!  Dave and I have been dating for years, and in his former career as a day camp director, he was only available to come to Camp Canadensis for weekend visits.  Maybe you’ve seen him around camp, helping in the canteen or walking Annie?

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Well, this year he’ll have a more formal role at camp and it’s time to officially introduce him!  Dave will be going on trips with our amazing (and HUGE group) of 50 CITS!  He’ll also be helping Robin Forti with tours and the Tour & More programs.  He has a very impressive camp resume, and over the years he’s learned a lot about resident camp.  I’m so excited for the Canadensis family to get to know him better!

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This will be my last blog from the winter office – on Monday I’ll be moving up to camp!  I can’t wait to see so many of you at Open House on June 1st!  I can’t wait to have all our Canadensis campers arrive for the summer…seeing you get off the bus is the BEST feeling!

Can’t wait for us all to be reunited!  Like Upper Inter Girls Bailey, Jordan and Ilana above on a recent trip to NYC!

Recent Happenings and Sightings!

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My family lives in Arizona, which means on my past several trips out to visit, I swing by the universities and recruit some great students to come join our staff team!  Three years ago, I met Alex Entrikin at the University of Arizona campus, and I cannot wait to give him a 3+ Year Staff Shirt this summer as he returns to camp as a Group Leader again!  It was great to catch up with him at In-N-Out Burger!

 

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And now there are just a few more weeks until the start of camp, and that means we are finalizing the summer program and hiring a few last staff members to join our awesome summer team!  After spending time with my family to celebrate Passover, I went up to the Northern Arizona University campus, and in the photo above I’m posing with the camp display!

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On campus, I got to meet up with some of our great staff from prior summers…including Rylie Backus (summer 2012), who is about to graduate!

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And I also got to see Kiersten Bolt & Emma Celoza (from summer 2013) and it was great to catch up!

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And while walking around at the South Street Spring Festival, I bumped into Lisa Eckenrode (summer 2013) spreading the word about the Metro Kids Club where she is currently working.  This was our second Philly run in this year!

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I’ve also gotten to see some of our awesome campers!  Including Shaina (left, will be a Lower Inter for her 2nd year at camp) and Sierra (right, will be an Upper Inter for her 2nd year at camp).  They are holding up canvas frames with pictures of their bunk from last summer.  They decorated them at recent bunk gatherings…and I love the blue and gold colors they chose!!

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And I also got to see their bunk mates Lindsay (left, will be a Lower Inter for her 2nd year at camp) and Anna (right, will be an Upper Inter for her 3rd summer at camp).  The girls are modeling our new camp sweatshirts with jersey applique that will be available for Careware purchase at camp on Open House day and Visiting Day – the girls love them, and describe them as “yummy”!  (Btw, their mom was the one who came up with the awesome canvas frame project above!).

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Here’s a close up view of the sweatshirt…I’ll be wearing mine often in pre-camp when I move up after Memorial Day!RutmanWe love seeing pictures of your camp run-ins too!  Above is a photo of 4 Canadensis Campers – from left to right we have:

Ashton (Upper Junior Boy), Jared (Lower Junior Boy), Max (Freshman Boy) and Jordyn (Upper Inter Girl).  It will be Jared’s first year at camp, but everyone else is returning for their 2nd, 3rd or 4th summer!

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Our camp forms were all due on Friday (May 9th, 2014) – but I recently saw this sign at a Walgreens…they’ve partnered with the America Camp Association (we are an ACA accredited camp!) to provide parents with an easy way to get medical forms done.  Consider it for Summer 2015!

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And finally…I wanted to share with you some awesome custom signs that just arrived for camp!  Can’t wait to see these hanging at camp this summer!!