Fun Philadelphia Visits!

NikkiI recently got to spend some time with a new camper that felt like an old friend!  Nikki is a current 5th grader who will be a new Upper Inter Girl at camp this summer.  She lives in Lafayette Hill, PA – and she and I know a lot of the same people (including her close friend Sage that told her about Canadensis!), and maybe we even look a little bit alike?  Would you nominate us for unnatural siblings this summer??  Here’s what you need to know about this fun & silly new camper:
  • She is already an overnight camp veteran – she went to a 4-week sleepaway camp last year, and it wasn’t long enough for her!  She wanted the full camp experience, and she’s excited for 7 weeks at Canadensis this summer!
  • She loves to dance!  She recently started dancing and attends classes in lyrical, hip hop and ballet for 4 hours a week.
  • Her favorite TV show is dance moms, and she recently got to meet some of the cast of the show!
  • She is very good at impersonating accents, and she gave me a sample of her British accent.
  • Although she doesn’t like being up on stage in front of a crowd, she likes recording really funny videos with friends with acting and dancing.
  • During the summer she might go by the nickname of “Laz”.
  • Nikki has two older sisters, two huge dogs (Polo and Kona) and she has a cat that acts like a dog.
  • The family rotates who gets to name their pets, and it was her chance to name the cat.  The first name she gave him was “Sonic”, and the middle name is “Boom” – he’s really fast!
  • She plays soccer and has been on teams in the past.   She’s also pretty aggressive on the basketball court, so watch out!

Nikki 2

  • Nikki just spent a great day in New Hope with some returning Canadensis girls!  Pictured above are Upper Inters Lily, Nikki N. & Sydney, who will all be at camp for their third summer!  Darien is a current 2nd grader coming to camp for her first summer as a Lower Junior, she got to join in the camp fun with her sister Sydney.
  • Nikki loves sushi and wants to have it for her last meal before camp and also on visiting day!
  • She’s looking forward to so many of the activities at camp, especially cooking!  We talked about the camping program too, and she can’t wait for s’mores!
  • For electives this summer, she’ll definitely be picking dance and quads!  She’s had the chance to ride 4-wheelers on vacation in Mexico, and she can’t wait to try it again at camp!
  • She’s a bit of a dare-devil.  She taught herself how to do a flip on her trampoline at home.  She’s also excited for the camp water slides, horseback riding and waterskiing.
  • We spent time looking at the blogs and virtual tour online, and she is totally pumped for the summer!

Brucker

In nearby Plymouth Meeting, PA, I spent some time with a fun group of Canadensis siblings!  This year we will have all three of them up at camp (well…at least for the one day Matthew comes up to do the Tour & More Play Day!).  While I was there I took the really simple, and life saving step of getting swabbed to join the Bone Marrow Donor Program.  Their mom was organizing an event associated with Smiles for Shira and all it took was a few seconds.  Adults (over age 18) can click the links above and request a kit and see if you can be a match for someone in need.  It was so much fun to catch up with them, and here’s what they’ve been up to:
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Marissa is returning for her 2nd summer, and will be an Upper Junior Girl.  3rd grade has been SUPER busy!  She’s been spending lots of time dancing, and is on the “mini pop” competition team – she practices around the house all the time, so she’ll be ready for her recital!  She is also taking piano lessons, playing on a softball team, going to Hebrew school, and the list goes on!  Her bedroom recently had a design overhaul, and it’s awesome now with purple walls, cool shag carpeting and a huge mustache above her bathroom door!  Her school had just gone on a field trip and drove past Dorney Park, which brought back fun memories of the camp trip there!  She’s been seeing camp friends, and she showed me some funny videos they had made.  She can’t wait for summer!
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David is returning for summer number 4, and he will be a Freshman Boy.  He’s loving 6th grade, and has been busy playing tennis, tennis, and…more tennis!  He’s also been taking golf lessons.  David has been up on the Camp Canadensis stage in the past (his first summer he was “Oliver”, in Oliver) and at home he was just in the show Oklahoma as “Farmer Mike”.  In his room he had some Canadensis art projects, the same states map that I have in my camp house, and a painting he had made at Marissa’s birthday party – it was an adorable Penguin in Phillies Hat!  Now that he’s a Freshman that will be going on extra trips (including overnight to Cooperstown, NY) and getting schedule changes like extra electives, I thought he might have some questions…but David already knows soooo much about camp, it’s so impressive!
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Youngest brother, Matthew is currently in Kindergarten, and will be coming up for a day of camp fun!  On July 28th we’ll be having out first ever Tour & More Play Day from 10am-4pm.  Just like his older siblings he loves to eat healthy foods (the kids were munching on clementines, mangoes, kale and lots of different fruits and vegetables!) and he is really good at building a Lego sets!
Lindsay PIFA
It was an unbelievably beautiful Spring weekend in Philly!  I spent most of the time outside running, gardening and enjoying a really fun street carnival on Broad Street downtown.  There were rides, street performers, dinosaurs (really, there were dinosaurs!)…but the best attraction of all was running into new Junior Girl camper, Lindsay!  She had just played in a soccer game, and came into the city with a friend for the day.  She was waiting in line for the Ferris Wheel, and I hope she had a great time!
Dave PIFA
Dave, Annie and I had fun at the PIFA (Philadelphia International Festival of Arts) street fair!