Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Week 8

Here we are in our last week of camp. We've just bid farewell to several troops who were here enjoying camp as part of our Troops and Trails program. They packed a ton into their short 2 days here and left pleasantly exhausted.

Yesterday we danced the night away with all the hit camp favorites including the Cha Cha Slide, Cupid Shuffle, Electric Slide, and Cotton Eyed Joe to name a few. Perhaps your camper can share some of her new moves with you when she returns home!

Tonight we will be having a skit night, "Who's Line is it Anyway" style. Girls will be given a few items, some crazy costume pieces, and the use of their counselors to create a skit. It should be very entertaining.

So far we've had clear blue skies, and the watermelon bugs have been fairly shy about coming out to play. It's a good week at camp.

Week 7

Howdy. Before we make a post about week 8 (our current week) we must take a moment to apologize for not updating during week 7. It was a fun week and we had our share of excitement.

We did have a few monsoon storms but they were not nearly as bad or frequent as they typically are this time of year. Luckily with the lack of rain we've been able to do most of our regularly scheduled program and so far we're still allowed to have campfires, although last week we had them in the lodge with a cozy fire in the rock fireplace.

We had a great group of CIT's and WIT's who had the fortunate opportunity to visit Shadow Rim Ranch and participate in the Oxford Leadership Youth Program. They also spent time at Maripai getting to know the behind the scenes pieces of camp and learning how to work with younger girls.

On Thursday afternoon our Iron Chefs were busy in the kitchen preparing a feast for our evening banquet. The meal was a huge success and the girls were glowing with pride from having prepared and served a meal to the entire camp!

We also enjoyed an all-camp dance party and a movie night. It was a great week!

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Campsickness

Most parents expect their children to experience a little homesickness while they are away at camp. It is a completely normal part of the process through which healthy independence is gained. However, many parents are surprised to hear that there is another similar ailment that can affect campers after they leave.... Campsickness.

Posted below is a link to a great article regarding the "End of camp Blues" that was recently posted on the American Camping Association website. Because campsickness is a real ailment for some campers after their camp experience we hope you will find the article helpful in helping your child settle back into home.

http://www.campparents.org/newsletter/0709/article2.html

Monday, July 13, 2009

Week 6 - International

Hola! Shalom! G'day!

It's international week and we kicked it off on Sunday night with a campfire hosted by our 6 international staff. We have staff at Maripai from Malaysia, Israel, Slovenia, Australia, and Columbia. Our weather has had perfect timing so far this week. It rained just after check-in yesterday as the groups were settling into their cabins and then the sun peeked out between the dark clouds for the evening flag ceremony and an attempt to dry off the benches at our fire circle.

Today the skies are blue with the lovely white clouds that provide refreshing moments of shade. The girls have been enjoying their activities and I overheard one little camper at lunch saying that the food (wings, fries, salad, cottage cheese, and fruit salad) was the best ever! That's what we like to hear!

Our Iron Chefs have started preparing for their big challenge of making dinner for the camp on Thursday. They watched a food safety video this morning and were introducted to an industrial sized kitchen and our kitchen staff. They are brimming with excitement.

Well that's about it for now. I think its time for me to head out of this office and join some campers in some fun!

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Monsoon & Week 4 Program

For the last couple of days we've had thunder and lightening but the skies have only spit at us. Last night we finally had the refreshing monsoon rains. It was exciting and this morning everything looks so green - perfect for "eco" (ecology) week!

Due to the weather some of our horseback riding sessions have been cancelled but despite thundering skies we've been doing a lot of fun activities. Here is Mufasa, our program director to tell you some of the fun things we've been up to this week:


The week has been going great! We kicked it off with a dance Monday night, always a ton of fun. Tuesday night we really got into our "eco" week with a trash hunt! It was definitely more fun than it sounds. Counselors hid with their "trash" - slips of paper with pictures of trash since we didn't want to litter our own camp - and girls had to find them! Definitely very fun and exciting.

Wednesday afternoon was an outdoor skills training. Girls learned first aid, safety in Arizona's hot climate, and learned proper fire safety...by getting into a water fight with their counselors. Everyone had a great time, there were lots of fun games and activities, and definitely lots of laughter. We've been having a fun, fantastic week at camp, and we can't wait for more!

-Mufasa