Hey, Best Friends! I’ve missed you. It’s been too long. I’ve got some bad news; this is my last blog entry before Wendy resumes her role as blog author extraordinaire. Please, don’t cry. I’ve shed enough tears for all of us. Besides, the great Dr. Seuss said it best, “Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.” We’ll always have these last four days to cherish and reminisce about in the future.

Our weather today started off almost fall-like. We were downright chilly at breakfast, but as the sun rose high in the Pocono skies so did our temperatures. Today was a cracker of a day. We had blue skies and temperatures in the 70s. I don’t think we could have programmed anything better!

I spent a good part of the day visiting all the departments so I could observe the progress of our campers. It is extraordinary to see how far our campers have come since they arrived at camp. I saw a camper that could barely stand on a skateboard drop in from the half pipe; another, who in past summers, out and out avoided the water, take and pass her swim test while her bunkmates swam next to her in a show of solidarity. Whether it’s a bunk that has been together for years or there was a cabin of new campers, the bunk dynamic is incredible to witness. The counselors’ feel like the campers are “their kids”, and the campers return that affection. The family atmosphere that has developed throughout camp is fantastic to witness first hand.

Over in the City that LeBron built, our teen trip campers are wrapping up their Ohio adventures with a trip to Splash Lagoon Indoor Water Park. I’m sure Wendy will have a full recap of today’s events tomorrow, but in the interim I will take an educated guess that fun was had by all and more than a few campers took a nice long nap on the bus ride back to camp!

That about does it for me folks; I had a blast keeping y’all updated on the ongoing adventures here at Island Lake.

Love and Latkes,

Dustin