Name: Allie Ernst

Years at Camp: This will be my 8th summer at camp and hopefully the best one yet.

Hobbies When You’re at Home: I play field hockey, volleyball, and softball for Germantown Academy.

Secret Talent: My secret talent is that I’m good at Mah Jongg. Pam taught me how to play during one of the iCan nights and I fell in love ever since. I think what hooked me was that my first game that i played by myself I beat Pam and got to yell MAHJONGG!

Favorite Camp Activity: If I had to chose one it would be leagues! I love all the different sports that we get to play as teams and WNBA is amazing even just being a mascot!

Funny Camp Memory: My birthday is in July so one of the ongoing jokes in my bunk is that we celebrate my birth-week because it’s such a huge celebration! My mom always gets us birthday shirts so that we all match – my bunk actually started that tradition! My favorite birthday celebration was my lower inter summer. It was the first summer with the amphitheater and so my bunk decided to have pizza and cake on the new deck! When it was time for cake the boys in our division came out to sing to me and we had a cake fight! Of course we had to clean up our mess but it was well worth it because that is my favorite birthday memory EVER!

Advice for a First Time Camper: When my little sister was first coming to camp the one thing she was really scared about was that she would be away from our parents for so long. The only thing that  I would tell her was that when you go to camp you make a whole new family. There is always activities for you to do where you can make new friends and will be having so much fun you won’t even have time to miss your parents! The girls in your bunk become your sisters so quickly that there is no way you won’t be wishing camp is 10 months and school just for 2. Trust me!

Something You Learned at Camp: One thing that I learned from camp from a young age was how to live with other people and to make friends with any and everyone! Being away from home and living with a bunch of girls my age also really helped me to come out of my shell because if we had an activity I was afraid of, like the ropes course, instead of being too scared to do something new I had my sisters there to show me how to have fun doing it!

I never leave for camp without my: DUCK TAPE… This may sound weird but its almost what I’m known for. One summer I brought maybe 20 rolls of duck tape and it was by far the most used thing in our bunk. We hung signs during free play, taped posters to the walls, I made wallets for my bunk before one of our trips, I even learned how to make a purse one rainy day. It is one of my favorite things that I bring to camp because you can do so much with it!

If I could have any job in the world it would be: Aunt Terri! OMG I would love to be her if I could. She has the best job ever because absolutely everyone in camp knows who she is and somehow she knows everyone too! When I see her driving around in her pink golf cart all I want to do is go over and give her a huge hug. I can’t even imagine if every kid at camp felt that towards me.

My favorite place I’ve traveled is: I went to Rome and Greece two years ago with my whole family. The history and culture that I got to experience on that trip was epic!

One thing my campers will learn about me is: I’m not afraid to dress up with you guys and get crazy! I don’t get embarrassed easily so I wont be afraid to be weird with you guys. I’m so excited to meet my girls and get to know them and share my camp experiences with them so that I can make theirs even better than mine was!

One fun fact about me is: I’M IN LOVE WITH CAPTAIN AMERICA! I have so much random Captain America and Steve Rogers junk its insane. My phone case, wallet, key-chain on my backpack, and the mug I drink from at breakfast all has him on it. Some people say I might be slightly obsessed with him…

Name: Lindsay Gelber
Years at Camp: 9
Hobbies When You’re at Home: I love to play tennis and hang out with my friends and family.
Secret Talent: I am a fast runner!
Favorite Camp Activity: EVERYTHING
Funny Camp Memory: Even though every moment at camp is funny, I was running back from the lake when it was raining and I stepped in a huge pile of mud. When I got out of the mud my flip flop was gone. I was looking in the mud for my flip flop and I couldn’t see it! So i went back to the bunk with out it. Three days later I had to go back to the lake and saw my flip flop sitting in the mud. I had to dig through the mud to get my flip flop back! I was covered in mud and not allowed back in my bunk until I cleaned off!
Advice for a First Time Camper: Never take any moment at camp for granted. Enjoy every second you have because it is one of the best places you could be. Try not to fight because camp is all about having fun and not fighting with the friends you’ll have forever! Make the best of every second of the day!
Something You Learned at Camp: At camp I learned to just be myself and be comfortable in my own skin. It’s always important to laugh at yourself and be happy with who you are and not be embarrassed to do anything!
I never leave for camp without… my CIT2013 APPAREL
If I could have any job in the world it would be… a dentist.
My favorite place I’ve traveled is… CAMP OBVIOUSLY!
One thing my campers will learn about me is… I love to have fun and make the best out of every situation and I am very outgoing!
One fun fact about me is… I have really been at camp since I was 5! My dad was the camp doctor for a few weeks when my brother and sister went to camp and I use to go up to camp with my parents!

Name: Tori Handler
Years at Camp: 10 years at camp!
Hobbies When You’re at Home: Playing sports and being with my friends.
Secret Talent: I have no secret talent but i wish i could dance!
Favorite Camp Activity: COOKING!!!
Funny Camp Memory: Waking up alone in the bunk because there was a fake break and all I saw was a chipmunk running through the cubby room so I thought my bunk was outside because they were scared.
Advice for a First Time Camper: Be open to making new friends because the friends you make at camp will be your sisters forever, and live every minute to the fullest.
Something You Learned at Camp: How to waterskii and now its one of my favorite things to do!
I never leave for camp without my… my gold color war shirts.
If I could have any job in the world it would be… a manager for someone famous.
My favorite place I’ve traveled is… St.Thomas because i got to do so many fun things.
One thing my campers will learn about me is… how much I love camp and that it’s my home forever .
One fun fact about me is… I was at a froyo place once and made a new best friend who is 4! His name is gavin 🙂

I’ve got two new campers to introduce you to!  Jade is a current 3rd grader who will be a Junior Girl – and she lives in Closter, NJ.  She greeted me at the door when I arrived, along with her super cute dog named Rocky.  She loved trying all the activities at day camp, and we’ve got way more for her to try this summer!  Some of her favorites are arts & crafts, swimming, basketball and soccer.  Jade also rides go-karts and at camp they called her the “speed devil”!  She feels comfortable being in shows and up on stage, she’s been “Auntie Em” in the Wizard of Oz, and she’s also been in Aladdin.  On my visit, she told me about the upcoming talent show she is planning to be in!

At the talent show, she will definitely be wearing purple – it’s her favorite color!  We toured her beautiful purple bedroom and she showed me her collection of  stuffed animals (some that her sister brought back from the Dorney Park trip!), books and pillows – including an ice cream sandwich pillow (which looked delicious!).  Jade has made a lot of craft projects for herself and family members.  She also loves fashion, and getting her toes painted – so her bunkmates should prepare for lots of manicure parties!

This summer, she wants to learn how to ride a bike and I’ve heard she’s a good chef who will be making some great food in cooking!  She will also help her bunk be the cleanest and win honor bunk awards – according to her parents, she is the neatest of all the siblings!

Her older sister Adina will be a Lower Senior at camp, and it’s her 5th summer at Canadensis (5 year jacket time!!).  Although she’s moving over to Senior side this summer, she’s going to be looking out for Jade all the time!  While I was over, she was wearing her bunkmate Rachel’s Bat Mitzvah sweatshirt, and she’s been seeing a lot of her friends this year.  She’s having a great time, and I loved seeing all the camp photos up in her room!

Isak will be an Upper Senior this summer, and it will also be his 5th year at camp!  This picture shows him in his garage workshop where he gets to do woodworking all year!  I was really impressed with the signs he’s made, and we were just steps away from his dirt bike that he also likes to work on.  He loves dirtbiking so much that it was actually his Bar Mitzvah theme!  Isak definitely stays busy – he’s even putting together videos for his school like JCal does with the today show during the summer!

My next stop was in Tenafly, NJ with Sydney, a current 3rd grader who will be a Junior Girl this summer!  She can’t wait for her first summer at Camp Canadensis!  Her favorite activities are soccer, gymnastics, basketball and softball (in that order!) – and she does most of them as after school activities.  She likes being on a team, and right now she’s on the Tenafly Tigers.  However, she also loves arts and crafts, swimming and adventure – she’s the definition of a well-rounded Canadensis girl!

She had just spent winter break skiing in Colorado, and on one of her first tries waterskiing last summer she was able to stand up.  She will no doubt be skiing circles around the lake this year, and she’s excited about the summit and other water toys too.  Sydney describes herself as a “crazy girl” who loves zip lining, rock climbing, water slides and upside down roller coasters!  Her room was still decorated with streamers from her December birthday, and while we talked I enjoyed seeing the art projects she’d made in her room, especially the bracelets.  Sydney’s favorite color is blue, and she likes “One Direction“, so maybe those preferences will be reflected in her bedding & posters this summer?  We’ll have to wait a few more months to find out…

She might be missing her adorable puppies Sammy and Pixie while she’s away at camp, but she’ll bring pictures of them up – and will be writing tons of letters home.  Remember everyone…more letters usually means more visiting day candy!  Sydney is totally ready for an awesome summer at camp…checkout what she wore to sleep the night after my visit!

While I was in the Garden State, I also visited my friend Abbie who works at BeeBee Designs in Livingston, NJ.  They sell a lot of camp essentials (and the super fun camp stuff) at their store, and I wanted to check it out!  They had tons of games and clothing, and apparently they’ll have 5 times more in store when the official camp season kicks off on February 11th!  My favorite item in the store was the Canadensis airbrushed sweatpants they had on display…check it out!

And finally…we LOVE when Canadensis campers meet up…and we love seeing the photos!  This picture was taken at a recent Bat Mitzvah, and shows Jordyn (4th grade, Lower Inter), Sabrina (7th grade, Lower Senior) and Rachel (7th grade, Lower Senior).  Looks like a fun night!

(BTW…the Bat Mitzvah sweatshirt Adina is wearing above is from this Rachel!)

At Canadensis, we love Blue & Gold.  Those are our camp colors, and we proudly wear them as much as possible all summer!  I wanted to start blogging about some of the awesome blue and gold products I’ve been seeing, and if you spot anything Blue & Gold, please email me pictures to pam@canadensis.com!

These polka dot flowers were in the floral craft section of Michaels, I picked up one for me and one for Cara.  I think mine might end up getting attached to a hair clip so I can wear it at camp!

We love Soffe shorts during the summer, check out these great NEW shorts with the gold elastic band! soffe.com

Next time you are throwing a camp party, search for these blue and gold plastic cups.  I spotted these at the Christmas Tree Stores.

Send me pictures of the Blue & Gold items you’ve spotted!

Please join me in welcoming Samara to the Camp Canadensis family!  I got to spend some time with her family over winter break, right after she returned from a fun trip to Mexico!  Samara is a current 3rd grader, and will be a Junior Girl – she lives in Princeton, NJ, which is one of my favorite towns to visit if I get a free weekend!

Samara stays busy every day of the week, between ballet and hip hop class, Hebrew School and piano lessons – she can’t find time for all the other activities she enjoys, including soccer!  She gave me a tour of her house, and her room was covered with many art projects she has created.  She had mosaic art and hand loomed tapestries above her bed, a cute paper mache penguin she made in Kindergarten and a mask she had made in Mexico.  She loves crafting, and she is specifically excited about getting to tie-dye at camp! She’s also looking forward to the lake activities, waterskiing – and she’s considering auditioning for the show, or signing up for horseback riding lessons.

She’s a big sister to brother Griffin, who is currently in Kindergarten, and might join us for the Tour & More overnight weekend either this summer, or another summer soon.  Griffin also has a super cool room with a rope ladder that goes up to the ceiling, and it’s good practice for our camp ropes course!  Griffin & mom whipped up one of Samara’s “oreo ball” recipie while we chatted – and then we got to enjoy them while we played games.  Samara taught me Tenzi and I showed her how to play jacks with the new set she had gotten – which came in a Canadensis carrying case!  Everyone should know how to play jacks at camp, and if you don’t know yet…we’ll teach you!  I hope she’ll find time to practice, so we can play this summer!

Links:  Oreo Ball Recipe – Tenzi –  How to play Jacks

Although the break was very relaxing, I wanted to tell you about a few of the adventures I got into…

Now that Rachel Waxman (from Evening Activities) lives in Philadelphia, I get to see her monthly for catch up dinners – and since BeckyJ (2012 Upper Inter Group Leader) was home from college during winter break, I got to see both of them over break!  We had a camp “comfort food” style dinner of mac & cheese, grilled cheese and tomato soup…and then we wandered around town until we found an open cupcake store!

I also had lunch with Julia Eckenrode, who will be returning this year as our Glass Fusion director – it was great to start talking about her project ideas for this summer.  I’ll be getting to see Julia a few times in January because Cara Corradetti and I have signed up to take her glass blowing class…we are SO excited, and we’ll definitely be sharing pictures of our projects on the blog!

Also during the break, Dave and I took a trip to Texas – we spent 3 days in Houston with my sister, and then spent 2 days in Austin exploring town.  It was a great trip, the temperatures were mild and we ate tacos for breakfast, lunch, dinner…and even dessert!  Would you eat a s’mores taco at camp this summer??

Annie came with us too, and we found a restaurant called “Annie’s” – how could I resist the photo-op?

We also found another restaurant called “Texadelphia” which was perfect since my sister lives in Texas, and I live in Philadelphia…we didn’t try the cheesesteak taco though.

Of course, no vacation or break would be complete without crafting!  At the top you can see a box a made for my best friends twins, and a card I made for my friend who just welcomed baby Nora.  I didn’t want to share my Chanukah cards on the blog until I got to give out all my gifts, but check out the designs I crafted using my silhouette – it was fun playing around with the colors.

I also got to make thank you cards for all the great gifts we received – I even tried making the envelopes too (they need some tweaking…) We can’t wait to show you how to make your own stationery at the new elective this summer!!

Hi Everyone – I’m excited to be back on my blog sharing a great story from the weekend with you all!

On Sunday morning a few of the 2013 CIT girls joined me, along with Pam and Dani, to cook dinner for the families staying at the Ronald McDonald House in Philadelphia. The Ronald McDonald House is one of my favorite philanthropic organizations – if you want to learn more you can visit their website here:

http://www.philarmh.org/who-we-are/history/

We were planning to cook a few casseroles for the House, which they then put into the freezer and take out when they need a meal in a pinch; most large dinners are donated or sponsored. At the last minute the Sunday night dinner donor cancelled – turning Camp Canadensis into the Sunday night dinner crew! We upped the number of casseroles, picked up some more ingredients, and got to work cooking enough dinner to feed 90 people!

I am so proud of the hard work everyone put in to making Sunday a success. I can’t tell you how many times I heard someone reference Jojo’s cooking elective at camp as we put our chef skills to the test! The best part about this service experience is the fun we had while preparing the food – there were lots of giggles and even a few noodles escaping on to the floor. We were all so happy to know we would be making a difference for the families staying at the house last night.

As we continue to look for opportunities to get out and take on service projects with our camp families,  I hope you will let us know about all the great work you’re already doing on your own! We love to hear about all the good deeds our Canadensis families are doing to make this world a better place!

Here are some of my favorite pictures from Sunday’s Guest Chef experience:

It was well past time for me to refresh my Camp Canadensis car bumper magnet!  Take a look at the 2-year old one on the left, and the new one on the right.  They use to be the same color!  Now that my magnet is looking spiffy and new, I feel like my camp spirit is more alive!!

If you need a magnet refresher for any reason, please be in touch with me (pam@canadensis.com) and tell me your address and I’ll get one in the mail for you!

Good reasons to refresh your magnet:

1.  You are a CIT who is learning to drive and wants a magnet of your very own!

2.  It got washed away at the car wash…

3.  It’s faded…

4.  You never got one in the first place!

Also, check out these amazing Canadensis holiday cookies!  It was a delicious “refresh”ment that we got to enjoy at the office today, thanks to our Lower Junior Group Leader, Melissa Torban.  Melissa is going to be spending her 3rd summer at camp, and she is incredibly talented at working with kids both as a teacher during the year, and in her role at camp.  Clearly, she’s also incredibly talented at baking and decorating cookies…she made around 150 unique designs.  And…they are delicious too.  Thanks Melissa!

I have a new favorite Philadelphian, and her name is Milly Belle!  Here she is just 1 day old, snuggling with her dad.  She’s an amazing little girl, and she has two wonderful parents!  Her mom is one of my closest friends, and former Camp Canadensis counselor, Ali Margulies Garber.  While Ali was pregnant this summer, she came up for a 4th of July visit at camp, so Milly’s already sorta been to Canadensis, and has even enjoyed some cornman!!

All of them are doing great, and this new family of three have a lot of love coming their way!  One of the ways I show my love is through crafting, check out some of the crafties made specially for Milly!Her dad has a favorite sweatshirt (doesn’t everyone??  I hope your favorite sweatshirt is a Canadensis one!), you can see a little bit of it in the picture above.  It’s from a family owned grocery store in Margate, NJ (in case the name sounds familiar).  Since he often wears the sweatshirt when relaxing, I wanted Milly to have her own version to wear on lazy Sundays…

I picked up a plain red onesie, and made a stencil with adhesive backed paper.  I used non-toxic fabric paint, and voila…check out the finished product!They’ve requested larger sizes for Milly as she grows, and I’m excited to make more for this adorable girl!!

This is a crocheted blanket with her initials – for those of you who took the crochet elective at camp, it started off as a “granny square”, and I just kept making it bigger and bigger!

A flip welcome card…

And even a card for their dog…

I can’t wait until the day Milly and I can break out the coloring books and markers, and start crafting together!

This is a story of second chances…

I was lucky enough to receive a Silhouette electronic cutting printer for my birthday last year, but I set it up one time at camp, it wasn’t working and I just about gave up on it.  UNTIL…Cara got a Cricut, learned how to use these amazing little machines, and gave me a lesson (camp friends are the best!).  Now, I can’t get enough and I’ve been crafting up a storm!

Check out just some of the things I’ve created this week above!

1.  Mini giftboxes with cupcake or bow toppers

2.  Birthday cards and envelopes

3.  Note cards

4.  Paper shapes (I can’t wait to do this elephant bigger and frame it for a kid’s room!)

Wouldn’t it be more exciting to write home this summer on super fun stationery?  Would you enjoy learning how to make your own creations at camp?  Below are some more crafties I did in the past two weeks…(I’ve also made Chanukah cards, baby cards, and more…but I  need to keep it under wraps until I have the chance to give them away!). 1.  A pop up birthday card for Grandma Esther

2.  The envelope for Simone’s 1st Birthday Party

3.  A campy note card

4.  An engagement card for my friend Amy5.  A flip card with a Camp Canadensis heart!

6.  A stereo card for Dave (he was getting a card every day when I first started using the machine, especially since he’s the one who got it for me!)

7.  The thank you card I sent to Muhlenberg College after my hiring trip there

8.  A note to my good friend, Julie, in San Fran

Now you can see how personal you can make each card!  I’m so glad I gave the Silhouette a second chance after letting it collect dust in the box for 6 months.  I’m enjoying learning new tricks, and creating special cards…the best part is giving them away to the people you care about!