This week I had the chance to meet a great new family that will be coming to camp this summer!  The Moyer Family lives in Reading, PA, and they are related to the Konst Family at camp (Terri runs our Evening Activities and Special Events – Maxim and Lydia are in the Junior Division, and Sam is going to be an Upper Inter this year).

This will be the Moyer’s first camp adventure!  Michael is currently in 8th grade, and he will be an Upper Senior Boy this summer, and he’s already looking forward to the three-day trip to Boston.  During the year he enjoys playing some sports, XBox and doing a lot of Tae Kwon Do.  Henry is currently in 4th grade, which means he’ll be starting as a Lower Inter Boy, and he also loves doing Tae Kwon Do.  Henry is also pumped for all the activities at camp that his cousin Sam told him about, he can’t wait to Zip Line, try out for the Camp Musical and do everything else that camp has to offer.  He loves sports, fishing, and just about everything under the sun!

Carrie will also be coming to camp for the first time this summer, and she will be running the Arts and Crafts Program.  During the year she paints beautiful murals for children’s rooms, and she also refinishes cabinets.  As pictured above, she is sharpening her crafting skills, and is practicing her tye-dying technique for camp!  Husband/father, Michael (not pictured),  will be found fishing on our lake during the weekends, and he has a green thumb, so maybe he’ll help us with out our flower gardens around camp!  Please join me in welcoming all four of them the camp!

Everyday at camp is amazing, and there are always highlights…like Color War Break, Carnival and the first day when all the campers arrive. During the “off season” there are highlights too, and I want to dedicate this blog post to the BEST day I’ve had this winter.

It happened last month when my boyfriend surprised me with an anniversary trip to see a taping of The Nate Berkus Show – and the episode is airing TODAY! I LOVE The Nate Show because it’s all about design and decorating, which is a hobby of mine. Everyday I get home from work and watch Nate on my DVR. It was such a sweet and thoughtful surprise for Dave to take me to see a taping of the show, and it was really wonderful that the Canadensis office gave me a day off on a Wednesday to go to NY for the taping!

Just seeing the show would have been more than enough – but while waiting to go into the audience, we started talking with a producer for the show, who wanted us to ask a question to Nate on the air!! Dave (who also works at camp, it’s a day camp in NJ called Pine Grove) asked about Nate’s hair, and you can see the rest through the photos and videos below…

In the hair and make-up chair backstage

After hair and make-up…in the green room!

A screen shot of us with Nate (and Kimora Lee Simons)…thanks Cara!

Another screen shot!  I think Nate is touching Dave!!

A few months ago, my camera had a meltdown and I lost of the photos I had taken with new campers.  Luckily, I got to see both of the girls at New Camper Bowling earlier this month, and we did some photo retakes.  Above is Abby, who is from Briarcliff Manor and is in 3rd grade.  She will be a Junior Girl at camp this summer, and no doubt we will see her on the sports fields and up on stage!  She is well rounded, and super outgoing!

Here is the “make-up” photo that Chelsea and I took!  She is currently in 4th grade, and will be spending her first summer at Canadensis in the Lower Inter Girls division.  Her big sister Lindsey (who will be a Super Senior!)  has been helping her get ready for a great summer, so Chelsea is looking forward to MTV Night, Color War and making tons of new friends.  During the year she loves going to school, skiing, playing soccer and basketball, and you will often find her dancing, being silly or telling jokes!

Do you have any good rhyming quotes for this ‘Annie the Dog’ photo?

Annie the Dog, eating some food…

Annie the Dog, sticking out your tongue is rude!

Congratulations to my two friends who got married this weekend!  It was a beautiful wedding and a really fun night of dancing with the newlyweds.  The bride has an extremely strong connection to the camp where she went as a child, and many of the friends at the wedding were people she connected with as a child growing up at camp.   Camp even came up during their wedding ceremony!  The Rabbi was attesting to what a great couple they make, and mentioned that they do not even argue about anything, except…where to send their future children to camp!

I have no doubt that this amazing couple will work out the debate about where to send their kids in the future, but it just goes to underscore the important of summer camp!  Mazel Tov!

(The couple cutting the wedding cake)

Over the weekend some of the girls of Bunk 8 got together for a little mini-reunion!

I’ve been privately protesting the cold temperatures for a few weeks now.  I’ve been wearing lighter jackets (or none at all), and although it means I end up freezing sometimes, at least it helps me to feel like warmer temperatures on the their way.  I listened to the weather reports this morning, and by Monday it’s supposed to be 82 degrees in Philly!  Plus, camp is less than 80 days away – and I heard reports from Eric, Matt and Neil who were up at camp yesterday, and they said the lake is already thawed out.  To me, that means we can officially say GOODBYE WINTER!

In order to celebrate the passing of winter, I just wanted to post this photo of Brian that was taken at camp in February when you could walk straight across the frozen lake.  Brian is always starting fun games (or in this case, trouble!) and I caught him in the act of throwing a snowball.  Maybe I’ll get him back next year…

This past weekend was New Camper Bowling – which is a time when we bring all of the incoming campers in grades K-4th together to get to meet and make new camp friends.  It was such an excellent day, and we had nearly 100 kids come through!  Many great photos will be posted in the coming weeks, but here are a few of my favorites…

Some of the “Bunk 2” girls

Some of the Junior Boys for 2011