What a DAY!!! The first day of activities at camp is such a fun and exciting time. The girls are getting to know their new schedule of the activities they’ve chosen (from opening day) and really learn what the session holds for them in each class. The counselors create lesson plans for the session to present to the girls so they gain skills throughout the repitition or new additions each day. Day one is always my favorite. Seeing all the smiles, blossoming friendships, and eager faces with all the questions about day-to-day life at camp. These fourth session girls are super sweet, always say please and thank you at beli deli, and really love dessert and frios – who doesn’t?!?!

Today’s theme was the first portion of verse one in Psalm 23. “The Lord is my Shepherd…” This morning at morning watch, the girls learned about all the things shepherds typically do for their sheep: protect, prepare the way, comfort, and heal. From there the girls headed to flag raising and breakfast!

After breakfast, the girls return to their cabins with their counselors for cabin clean up time. Each girl is given a caper - like sweeping or turning off the lights, alongside each camper’s responsibility of making their own bed. They are inspected by our encouragers, Lindsey and Amy (previous admin and very familiar faces around camp), and winners are posted after lunch. If the girls get 5 10/10 scores in a row, they get a slip for free beli deli as a reward, so inspection is very competitive around camp! There is one winner for hut row & lodge cabins, and one winning room from summerplace and riverside. Only one from each side of the river, so any win is a big deal!

After cabin clean up, the girls head to their respective club meetings. In club meeting, they learn club cheers to chant outside the dining hall for lunch and before each nighttime activity. They also do a club cheer before the results of each club activity, and if they find the horseshoe. They also spend time strategizing for club activities and competitions, and take trips to say ‘good morning’ to the other clubs with a fun little song.

After club meetings, they are off to their first activity! I wanted to share our day in camp schedule for all you parents like me - curious when everything happens. Click below for the schedule!

The first day of activities is a great taste of what the girls can expect in each activity. They are also given all safety and emergency procedures and locations based on their locations throughout the day. Once this portion is complete, the girls jump right in to trying out all the fun options they’ve selected to do while at camp. I’ve listed some of the activities around camp today and what they got to do already!

In mountain biking, the girls learned all of the accurate commands so that they will be ready for out of camp trips! They are extremely mobile in this activty biking around Mentone to local favorites like Brow Park for the scenic view, down the river in town, and they can grab some dollars for treats at the Mentone Market. They also learned how and why to switch gears on inclines, and how to stay safe in their biking positions and how to adjust their bike settings comfortably for their height. Once the girls learned their commands they set out biking around camp to practice what they learned!

In Riflery, the girls had a gun‑safety lesson. They learned to keep the safety on until ready and how to load the gun properly. Our range has six beds positions for shooting while laying down on their tummy. The girls are given safety goggles and ear plugs for the loud noise the guns omit once fired! The girls learned the steps of approaching the bed, assuming postion, moving from safety to fire the gun, and some short suggestions on positions, technique, and aim. Each girl then practiced shooting targets once they mastered the basics! They will dive deeper each day and begin marksman qualification shooting later on this session which includes multiple positions and a lot of focus! We had had a good few girls qualify so far this summer and I’m excited to see more. If qualified, they come home with a special additional patch signify this accomplishment. There is also a competitive shoot to qualify for the camp-wide riflery tournament on packing day next week for club points!

I think the most fun part of our set up here in riflery are the disposable targets, so the girls can keep every target of theirs throughout the session. This is awesome for getting to show you some of their bullseyes after camp!

Today in pottery, the girls practiced using various tools with play clay. They learned about shape, width, and texture and how it can impact the final product of their efforts. First, they were challenged with creating a bowl. As they worked with the clay, they had so many fun and creative ideas of more things they want to make this session - and learned good ways to approach their projects over the session. Once they were happy with thier bowl, they also got time to free mold with clay into shapes and objects of their choosing. It is always fascinating to see each girls’ style and talent come to life. They are so creative and each girl is so different from one another. This is a really fun activity to get to know the girls and see their individuality come to life!

The girls learned to shoot and practiced. One of them even hit a bull’s‑eye on the first day!

In Archery, the girls had their safety lesson and emergency procedures review to kick off class. Afterward, the girls got the chance to learn their commands. Our archery range has five standing positions for the girls, so there are five shooting at a time. The girls are given arm guards to protect their draw-back arm from the bow strings in case of any wobbling! The girls learned the steps of approaching their bow, assuming postion, attaching their arrow, pulling back the strings, and counselor guidance on aim, technique, and stance. Each girl then practiced shooting targets to get comfortable with their bow and arrow! Each girl got to shoot and we did have a bullseye on the first day!! If girls get a bullseye, they get to sign the bench in the archery range in paint pen. So, their name will always be here at camp with a record of their bullseye(s)! Some use tally marks for multiples, and some redo their name each time. Always fun to cheer someone on and see their reaction to a bullseye!!

Today at circus, the girls learned a lot about their safety belts, proper process and counselor harness checks, climbing the ladder, and commands in the air to land their tricks. The girls worked on penny drops (where they climb up and learn how to safely and correctly fall down from the elements. This is done by climbing up, getting their lines in the right place, and crossing their arms across their chest to fall backwards. Soon, they’ll be catching rope in the air to swing and trying even more tricks!! Later into circus today when they felt confident they started attempting other tricks on the mexican cloud swing! As one of the only camps with a circus available to our campers, it is an extremely challegning and popular activity around here. I’m always amazed at how brave the girls are as they climb in hopes of conquering a new trick - or just a fear of heights!

Today in dance, all the classes start with stretching and get-to-know you games. The minis in dance started learning their routine for their camp-wide performance on Friday night. The mini dance is a time-honored tradition and so much fun for all of camp to see. You would not believe how quickly the girls learn to follow each other’s queues and how their personalities show around camp. We all love the minis and we are seeing so many trying new things, new foods, and forming new friendships. Our minis range from ages 6 - 8, and they all lean on each other for fun and silliness. In the older classes they started learning their routine for showtime and showed off tricks they came to camp with - a lot of our girls dance at home and have great skills we love to see! Our dance classes are large with the older girls which makes the routines even more fun to prepare and watch as they learn!

Sock War

Tonight, after dinner, we played sock war here at camp. Sock war is the first club competition and is so much fun. It is so hot here in mentone there were plenty of sweaty, paint-dripping smiles around camp as the girls launched socks at their competitors. Each club is working to defend and protect their flag, while also trying to capture another club’s. We saw numerous strategies and attempts at charging another club or staying close and strong on defense.

The results of tonight’s sock war were Mounties in third place, Rangers in second, and Troopers first. Take a look at waldo if you haven’t to see how decked out and spirited the girls were tonight. Also, I cannot recommend waldograms enough. The girls love seeing their pictures at camp and they get them so quickly! I am also biased as the head of our media team working behind-the-scenes to capture all these moments for you all.

After campfire, we sang taps (as we will each night), and headed to wind down and get ready for another big day at camp tomorrow. Stay tuned for more information, we publish these daily so you can feel like you’re right here with us! Goodnight to all and we are loving all the happy chatter, new friends, and happy campers here at Skyline!