Last days...

It's hard to think that 9 weeks ago we were all pulling into camp some as strangers some as best friends.. But now as camp had ended there are no strangers but yet another summer family to always remember!

The week went along just like any other with waterfront, tie dye, numerous amounts of songs and pranks, lots of entertaining meal times. Once again the weather permitted a few waterfront and archery activities but everyone still had a fun week.

It still feels like we have all simply just gone on our weekend trips, it still hasn't hit many of us that camp is once again over for another year :( and we may possibly not see some of our new friends again but we will forever hold the memories we created this summer :)

Gonna be a star :)

So second week of Camp Kaliedoscope arrived this week with 11-13 year olds, one of the most entertaining prank filled weeks we enjoy at camp!

My unit was filled with amazing 10 year olds by far the best group of campers I have had all summer no matter what time of the day it was there was no complaining just smiles and laughs every single day!

We had a rough week with storms again nearly every single day but still it didn't stop us from doing much, Wednesday night we had an 80's dance party. Many of us dressed up in bright colours and radical hairstyles, the dj arrived and the party started :)

Thursday was another fun filled day starting with polar bear swim at 7am and ending with closing campfire at 930pm by far the longest day at camp but lots of memories and stories shared till late at night.

So tomorrow marks the beginning of the last week at camp, hoping there's not too many tears...

Get moving!

So I was lucky enough to have 10 amazing 4-5 graders again this week, after many challenges with the weather and swimming, showering, and many outdoor activities put off due to storms. We came up with many fun games and memories, bingo with 170 people is so much fun!

This week we were also lucky to have Camp Kaliedoscope, which is run by Duke Children's Hospital. Camp Kaliedoscope is split into 3 weeks (3 different age groups) this week we were joined by 30 boys and girls between 7-10 years old from the hospital. They are amazing high spirited kids that can brighten up anyones day simply by just smiling or coming up in the mornings and giving you a hug! it's all the small things that make them smile by the hospital and the girl scouts giving them a chance to get outdoors for one week, simply getting out of the hospital is a huge step not only for the campers but parents too.

As the days flew by with the cooler weather so is camp... 2 more weeks and we'll all be packing up and saying see you later.

Horse camp!

So this week I got the joy of being in the company of 10 fourth and fifth graders. Each day we rose early to get them ready and fed before traveling half an hour each way to the stables, were they learnt about their horses, rode and cleaned them.

They returned each day at lunchtime, and ventured down to waterfront and archery. Wednesday came around and so did fourth of July, with carnival games and a BBQ with 115 campers.

Next week we start Camp Kaliedoscope with Duke childrens hospital, hopefully the heat cools down as camp is coming to an end.

4th July!

Happy 4th of July! It's a hot Summers day here and there's no way better to spend it than down by the lake swimming canoeing and sailing :) off to a BBQ now with a 140 people, hope everyone is staying safe cool and happy.

Camera magic!!

So our goal for this week with our 24 campers was to make a video of camp, after fun times playing around on the flipvideos all week long we had an entertaining 5 minute video to show the parents at closing ceremony.

All throughout the week we had many visits from mother nature in many forms from giant spiders in Kay-Mac.. to water snakes in the lake... flying bugs everywhere... storms and trees falling in whippoorwill and extreme heat! We got through it all with smiles, laughs and screams :)

115 campers arriving tomorrow! Can't wait :)

Trails, tales and tents.

First full week of campers flew by! Amazing weather and gorgeous girls filled camp with their happy smiles and laughs. I must say it's the best and most contagious sound in the world.

We camped out in the cloverfield and slept under the stars together, the second night we may have been awoken by rain at 330am and had to go back to our tents but soon enough we were tucked up in our beds out of the rain.

Campfire and wishboats ended the week beautifully, there were tears and laughs :) Friday afternoon soon arrived and we were saying bye. Can't wait for a friendly new bunch of girls on Sunday!

Sisters camping together.. First week of camp!

So we had our first bunch of happy campers arrive at camp on Thursday the 14th June.

They all got settled in quickly and made new friends and headed down to the waterfront for swimming, the weather and water was cool but we soon got out and headed off to our first dinner. Opening campfire followed, singing songs and camp skits completed the night.

Our first full day was filled with tie dying tshirts, sailing, canoeing, kayaking and adventure time :)

Finishing off the week with waterfront extravaganza, campfire, tshirt signing and the closing ceremony.

Week one - training

So we have now been at camp since Tuesday 28th May, we started off with basic camp training... name games, team games, get to know you games etc. We then joined up with our sister camps, Camp Hardee and Camp Mary Atkinson for more training about our camps, and waterfront training. It's good meeting new people from other camps and more international staff members, there's lots of Australians! It's so good being in Summer weather than Winter weather in Australia, most days it's been sunny had a few rainy moments. Returning back to Camp feels like we have never left even though it is 9 months later we are all closer than before and all the new staff fit in like they were here last summer! :)

Passed kayaking training! So proud of myself and everyone else!

Why camp?

I signed up to CCUSA because when I was 13 my cousin participated for CCUSA and hearing all her wonderful stories I wanted to go over and experience it for myself, I love kids and the outdoors and I thought once I finished high school why not?

I will be returning to Camp Graham as a waterfront counsellor (lifeguard), and I can't wait to start camp!