Hi Island Lake families! First and foremost, here’s the week 5 video for your enjoyment.

Well, we’re now in the final stretch for summer 2018.  One more week of fun in the uh,….clouds with a little peak of sun here and there???  I’d love to see the weather from 1^st session make a come back for the final week of camp. We have so much to look forward to in this last week in the 18462.  Let’s discuss,…

Today begins our super duper stupendous performance week! Tonight our campers will enjoy the Dance Show and Magic Show. Today we had a “magic lunch” performance in the dining room. Tomorrow night is the younger kids performance of “You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown.” The Circus Show will follow this and then the older kids show, “Sister Act.”

There is also a great deal of talk around camp about those 3 big days approaching. What 3 big days you may be asking yourselves? Let’s just say they start with the word “color” and end with the word “war!” Yup, that’s right, Color War is approaching. I can’t tell you when because that’s top secret, but I can tell you that it’s going to be amazing. It’s going to be fantastic. It’s going to EPIC! (Do the kids still use that term?) I will keep you posted of all things Color War when it finally breaks. Get pumped; get excited, it’ll be here before we know it! When you ask? Sorry, I can’t tell you. How will it break? I can’t disclose that information to you. What are the teams? Again, my lips are sealed (or in this case, my typing fingers are resisting the temptation to give you the answers).   Stay tuned,….

One other big day to tell you about is our final day of camp, next Friday. On that day we will have a Rock Concert, let the kids pack, have a big Color Run (also an ILC fav), and then our entire summer is all culminated into the final Banquet night. The kids will get dressed up and sit with their friends in the dining room where food is served to their tables. We’ll give out awards, announce the summer’s “Last Will & Testament”, dance, and take lots of photos. We’ll then head down to the lake to make bunk wishes with candles that each bunk will place in the crib of our lake. We’ll burn the “Island Lake 2018” sign and sing sad songs together, including the camp alma mater. We’ll then gather in the theater to watch the 2018 video yearbook. The night ends later than most with canteen. It’ll all be very bitter sweet.

But back to today here in Starrucca, PA. We woke up to rain (again!), it ended during breakfast, and it’s been raining on and off throughout the day. It seems that every time our tennis staff dries off the courts they get wet again. Ugh! We’ve had quite a few downpours throughout the day today, too. It’s been an unfortunate washout for many outdoor activities.

And now for Wednesday’s riddle: What jumps when it walks and sits when it stands? Answer: a kangaroo or a frog! Here’s today’s riddle: Every night I’m told what to do, and each morning I do what I’m told but I still don’t escape your scold. What am I? (Are these riddles getting easier or am I getting smarter? I got Wednesday’s and today’s riddles pretty quickly.)

Today in ILC sports, everything was canceled because of the darn rain! Rrrrrr!!!! Our campers still stayed busy played indoor sports, making projects in arts & crafts, hanging upside down in circus, cooking up a storm in the Bistro, riding on horses, mountain biking, skateboarding, waterskiing and wakeboarding in between the rain storms, etc. It’s a good thing we have so many indoor facilities for days like today!

Tonight’s evening activity is the Dance Show and Magic Show! We’ll have lots of photos of these performances to share with you tomorrow.

Today’s special feature is all about the girls! It’s messy twister and big sister/little sister photos from last night’s girls’ evening activities!!! After posting yesterday’s blog the boys older groups changed their evening activity schedule and they all ended up watching Ben & Dustin’s show, Star Wars. Since all of the action was on the girls’ side, I decided to get it on digital film for ya (is that a thing, “digital film?”).

Tonight is our very last ETB, early to bed. How excited are the staff and I? Everyone is going into their bunks after the dance & magic shows for a great night’s sleep. Enjoy your evening and until tomorrow, ILCUTHERE!

Today is our very last Lazy Day for summer 2018 (Violins are playing in the background as tears well up in our eyes.). Our campers slept in for some much needed rest and then we had a big brunch at 10:30am. We also offered an option 8am breakfast for our early risers.

For Lazy Day, Groups 1 & 2 went to the bowling alley in Binghamton for a fun day of rolling heavy balls down narrow lanes to knock down pins. 😉 Our younger kids also had fun playing laser tag, bumper cars, a flying ride that no one seems to be able to describe well to me, and the kids had snack food galore.

Groups 3 & 4 went to see Ant-Man and the Wasp. They had a relaxing afternoon at a local town watching this movie while enjoying popcorn, candy, and a drink. Don’t worry; we limited their junk food intake so as to not overdo it. So far the feedback has been very positive about the movie. The kids say they really enjoyed it.

Today we woke up to warm temps and partly sunny skies after having some rain hit us late last night around our older kids’ curfew. We had some rain during the day while everyone was out of camp but they were all indoors so they probably had no idea it even rained. The skies are mostly cloudy now but there isn’t any threat of rain until possibly much later tonight.

Tonight for dinner we will have a cookout. We’ll serve hamburgers, veggie burgers, and hot dogs along with all of the trimmings. We’ll also serve a delectable baked dessert and watermelon to top it all off.

Tonight’s evening activity is GROUPS! Here’s a breakdown of it all: GIRLS: Group 1- lil sis/big sis (with girls group 4); Group 2 & 3- messy twister (a fan fav- kids get filled with paint on a huge life-size twister board and it turns into a fantastic photo session); Group 4- lil sis/big sis (with girls group 1): BOYS: Groups 1 & 2- Star Wars (2 staff who are former campers wrote a Star Wars play that they’d like to perform for the boys); Group 3- gaga (surprise,..not!); Group 4- dodgeball (another shocker, huh? Hey, it’s what the boys want to do!)

Because today is Lazy Day, there’s no special feature slide show. I’ll make it all up to you tomorrow when we resume our majors/minors once again. Until then, ILCUTHERE!

Happy Counselor Switch Day! Today is one of our Island Lake special theme days that our campers truly enjoy. At breakfast, male counselors were moved to the girls’ bunks and female counselors to the boys’ bunks. The kids have a blast with this day as they dress up their counselors and terrorize them. Let’s just say there are a lot of counselors’ beds outside of the bunks instead of inside the bunks. Gotta love camp!

It’s Group Leader Siobhan here, taking the reigns for my third time on the ILC blog because I just couldn’t get enough of gushing to you all about our beloved ILC and our day-to-day activities.

This morning, we woke up to rainy skies and we were collectively saying to ourselves: rain, rain, go away, please don’t stay for Lazy Day! Our wish was mercifully granted, and the clouds have passed to make today pleasantly warm and sunny. There’s still a looming threat of rain but hopefully it’ll pass us by.

This afternoon, our pioneers ventured to foreign bouldering walls for a climbing competition at a local camp. Otherwise, our sports competitions remain in-house with the ILC Tennis Open matches taking place throughout the day. Expectations are high with a lot of great matches expected. Head of the Tennis Department, Steve says: “We’ve got a lot of matches being played in the next few days and I’m looking forward to seeing who comes out on top.” The courts dried up right in time for the matches this morning and a delighted winner of Last year’s Coach of the Year Award, Dan, says: “The talent on show at the ILC Open really illustrates how far the kids have come.” It’s a Wimbledon Wednesday here at ILC and we’re so proud of our campers’ hard work!

Around the departments it’s business as usual this sunny Wednesday. Some of the minors taking place on camp today include: Pop Art, in the art barn, Tumblemania in gymnastics, Crystal Snowflake Making in science, and the batting cages will be open in sports so I will most definitely be visiting for a bat myself at some point.

Also, today rehearsals continue for the Theatre, Circus, and Dance shows which are fast approaching. Last session’s shows were extremely impressive but from what I’ve seen so far of rehearsals, session 2 looks to be just as mind-blowing with so many talented campers ready to perform in front of their friends and counselors!

In the Bistro, it’s a Mexican day, and the budding chefs are cooking up Chilaquiles in the majors, and salsa and dips in the minors. I myself visited the cooking departments and can confirm that it was delicious. Of the food, Hudson M. from Group 2 said “It was delicious. If I could eat it every day I would.” Rave reviews all around from our campers!

Tonight’s evening Activity is Steve Max. The entire camp will meet in the gym for a giant game of Simon Says. Only one winner will be crowned and the stakes are high with every campers competing for a coveted Steve Max original t-shirt!

Just to mix it up a little, today we decided to interview a camper from one of our youngest boy’s bunk, B3, and a girl camper from our oldest bunk, G24, to find out how they’ve been finding this summer at Island Lake. Evan S. told me that what makes Island Lake the best camp on earth is: “Good friends, good counselors, and a lot of good activities.” Jessica L., who is in her eighth year at ILC, puts it down to the fact that, at ILC: “You get to make friends that become part of your family.” And I couldn’t agree more!

In relations to their favorite meals, our two campers also differed. Jessica said that her favorite meal is “chicken nuggs” (not nuggets), and Evan said that cookout burgers are his absolute favorite. Lucky for him, it’s cookout tomorrow after our Lazy Day trips off camp. We all can’t wait!

Yesterday’s riddle was another mind bender: Though full of holes, I still hold water. What am I? You know the answer is…a Sponge!

And today’s riddle is: What jumps when it walks and sits when it stands?

Best of luck figuring it out. If you happen to find the answer, please let us know. Bragging rights are renewed on a daily basis so it’s all to play for.

Today’s special feature is GYMNASTICS!  It’s been a pleasure writing to you all and I hope your day has been as great as ours here!

All the best,

Group Leader Siobhan

My apologies for posting this video late but I hope you feel it’s worth the wait.  Enjoy!