Meadow Day!

July 30th, 2010

The Eldorado Canyon program had an awesome, intense meadow day today–we drove all the way up to the Meadow, and then hopped out to start our day! We began with sunscreening, and then played with MDC’s giant parachute–it was tons of fun! We tossed our hats really high into the air. :) Then, we sang a fun morning song with Counselor Kaela, involving gum trees and waffle irons, before splitting into our cabin groups for the day. The Campfire Camping Animals and Purple Water Diamond Thundercats immediately set out on an epic trek–they hiked all the way down to the river on the Walker Ranch Trail! They spent the whole day away from camp, it was amazing! They made bookmarks and played 5 minute mysteries by the river, and had fun creating a new dam by throwing rocks into the river!

The Electric Pinecone Throwing Bunnies trekked across the meadow to do some animal tracking–although they found no animal tracks, they found lots of animal scat and a deer bed as well! In the afternoon, they did lanyards during some free play and also made kites and dissected owl pellets. They had tons of fun “chillaxing,” in one camper’s words, and generally having lots of fun with Counselor Kaela. We finished up our day with some delicious smorgasgorp mixed by Director Betsy, and some afternoon songs, including a special version of “Fred the Moose,” involving a Vermont Moose, sung by two of our returning campers! The Purple Water Diamond Thundercats did an amazing job helping pack up all the gear, and the campers did a great job finishing up their Friday!

The Meadow was an awesome day–expect your campers to be tired, we had lots of campers fall asleep on the bus on the way home! :) We drank tons of water, and the campers will probably want to drink even more when they get home!

Monday, we’re back in the Canyon, and we’re looking forward to seeing you there!

Boulder Creek

July 30th, 2010

Our final day of the week with our campers, and the last day of the summer for some of them, took us down to boulder creek.  Before we made it to the creek, we got a nice surprise of getting to use the rock wall for the morning.  The campers loved the wall, and we had some very successful climbers.  After climbing we prepared for our trek to the creek, making sure to put on lots of sunscreen for our very hot day.

Once we arrived at the creek we set up for lunch, making sure to find some shade to eat under.  After lunch we played a game of Ship/Island and Freeze tag, before playing on the playground for a short while.  After the playground we returned to base camp, for some quiet relaxing time.  We then moved into our craft for the afternoon, which was making snake puppets, which created some great play between the kids.  After our craft we got to eat GORP that was ordered by the Sleeping Dolphin Dragons.  With only a short amount of time remaining in our week, we all shared our favorite moments from the week before singing “On Top of Spaghetti” to wrap things up.

It was another great week in Juniors, but we are sad to see some of our campers leave for the last time this summer.  Luckily we do have some people returning next week and some new campers we are excited to meet!

Scooby Doo Thursday in the Canyon

July 29th, 2010

The Canyon was looking and smelling particularly wonderful this morning after a good night’s rain. After unloading the bus and organizing our belongings we gathered to sing morning songs. Staff member Leah sang “3 Short-Necked Buzzards,” Camille sang “the Alligator Song,” Derek sang an exciting version of “Little Red Wagon,” and Kaela sang “La Touche” to get everyone feeling goofy. The groups checked in and applied their sunscreen and filled their water bottles. We were then in for a special treat – Jen explained Scooby Doo, a mystery game involving teamwork and searching. The game: there are several ghosts and campers have to find clues to discover who the head ghost is. Campers had a great time exploring the canyon looking for clues, running and/or trapping ghosts, and working as a whole team to solve the mystery. This game took us all the way to lunch and campers were more than happy to eat after they had used so much energy!

The Purple Water Diamond Thundercats spent their afternoon playing and creating Pet Rocks. The Camping Animals finished working on lanyards and made cool Pet Rocks as well. The Electric Pine Cone Throwing Bunnies mixed GORP, created crazy sunglasses, and went bug catching. To create the Electric Bunny GORP the group had to come up with a funny story for each ingredient (we had bunny eyeballs, lightning bolts, bunny teeth, and even giant’s toenails). To mix the GORP the group stood on an ever-shrinking tarp where every camper had to be included in the mixing process (or they would be electrocuted!). They did a wonderful job and the camp enjoyed the GORP very much. To finish the afternoon the group sang songs on the bus (to avoid the fast approaching storm) and announced their favorite colors. We had a wonderful teambuilding day and are looking forward to the Meadow tomorrow! Don’t forget those long pants and hats!

Junior Pool Day

July 29th, 2010

Today we started out the day with two songs, called in the swimming pool, and fishing. We then proceed and made turtles that we hung on the kids backs. They had fun crawling around pretending to be turtles and goofing off. During this time we let kids who were not in there swim suits to go change so we could get ready to go swimming. After we got the kids ready, we started our walk to the pool. On our way to the pool we stopped and had lunch in a mini meadow. When we arrived at the pool the kids did a swim screen and started  to play. A few of the kids went to the splash park. everyone had a great time at the pool.

First Pool Day of Session 5!

July 28th, 2010

We enjoyed the cool cloud cover this morning as we sang morning songs at South Mesa Trailhead.  The oh so fun Hippo Song serenaded the world around us followed by the classic Swimming Song.  Our morning game of Commonalities brought campers together as they found others who shared the same favorite ice cream flavor, book, movie, camp activity, etc.    After reviewing pool rules in order to set up a fun and safe day we loaded the bus and headed to the pool where we enjoyed the cloud cover until after lunch.  The following sums it all up: big red slide, oodles of noodles, a bouncy diving board, marco polo, lanyards, friendship bracelets, popsicle stick creations, and making new friends! The sun hid behind the clouds until after lunch.  We enjoyed juicy watermelon for afternoon snack.  After singing about sneezing and meatballs we loaded the bus with gear and campers and made our trek back while playing Sleeping Bunnies on the bus.  What a wet, refreshing, fun-filled day!

Reptiles at Sawhill Ponds

July 28th, 2010

Wednesday was another great day as we made our way out to Sawhill Ponds for a Naturalist tour around the water.  Before we got on the bus in the morning, we had time to make snakes, which were used for bracelets, toy snakes, and even bookmarks.  We ended up with very colorful and creative snakes.  Once the bus returned from Eldorado Canyon, we loaded up and headed out to the Ponds.

Upon arrival at Sawhill Ponds, we settled into the picnic tables for a delicious lunch before our Naturalist guide Robin arrived.  We began our tour by wading in the water around the edge of the pond looking for reptiles.  Our bus driver Ed was able to find us a toad in the mud, and caught it for all of us to see.  We also found shrimp, maefly larva, and tiny snakes in the water.  Out of the water we were able to look at all the creatures and plants we had scooped up under magnifying glasses.

Next we headed out on a hike around the lake to look for more creatures and to read a story that taught us all about what reptiles are, and how they are different from mammals and amphibians.  Our guide Robin was extremely helpful and we were very grateful to have her there.  After the story we had to jump back on the bus to get back just in time for GORP, which the Star Wars GORP Eating Tree Snakes had created, before parents came to pick up the campers.

Great Tuesday in Eldorado Canyon!

July 27th, 2010

We had an awesome day in Eldorado Canyon! We began our day by singing some fun morning songs, including “Tarzan” and “Peanut Butter Reeses Cup.” Then, we played a great all-camp game of “Evil-ution,” where the kids played rock-paper-scissors to eventually turn into Dr. Evil! (They start out as eggs, then turn into chickens, then turn into dinosaurs, then turn into Dr. Evil!) After our all-camp game, we split into our cabin groups–each group sunscreened and filled up their water bottles, and then began their day!

The Purple Water Diamond Thundercats headed down to the cave with Counselor Leah and Bus Driver Ed–they had such a great time at the cave that they decided to hike all the way down to the lower ranger station! Meanwhile, the Pinecone Throwing Bunnies headed over to the ranger station to make animal houses, while the Campfire Animals did some fun teambuilding challenges and caught some butterflies. After lunch, the Thundercats and the Bunnies did some cool marble painting, while the Campfire Animals created some groovy spongebugs. All the campers got their camp t-shirts today and took camp pictures–look online for your camper’s photo!

We got a little wet this afternoon, but we put up canopies and kept right on playing! We had an opportunity to help out the YMCA today–they weren’t prepared for the rain, so they hopped on our bus while we put up canopies, put on ponchos and rain gear, and continued with our awesome day! We finished up our day with some delicious gorp for snack, and then hopped on the bus to sing, because we saw lightning across the canyon. It was an exciting day!

Tomorrow, we’re headed to the pool! See you there!

Mesa Trailhead

July 27th, 2010

For the first time at Mountain Day Camp, our Juniors hitched a ride with the Eldorado Canyon Program, getting dropped off at the Mesa Trailhead on the way up to the Canyon.  We caught a ride on the bus to try it out for next year, when we will hope to do it on a regular basis.  It worked flawlessly, and our Juniors enjoyed the chance to ride the bus with the older kids.  We jumped off the bus at the Mesa Trailhead where we sung our morning songs and played a game.

With our morning routine finished, we set off in search of “Reptile Eggs” that our Junior Leaders had planted in the surrounding area.  It was an enjoyable scavenger hunt, and we found lots of eggs.  After our Reptile search we settled in for lunch at a nice shady picnic table to avoid the unbearable heat.  After lunch we explored more of the area around the trailhead, looking for reptiles around the meadows and river.  Unfortunately we were unable to find anything even bugs.  After our expedition, we attempted a large group jump rope in which the campers had to work together to make it under or over one rope.  It went surprisingly well and we all made it through successfully.

Back at camp we hid out in the air conditioning to read stories before having GORP for our afternoon snack.  With time winding down we ran out to the “mini-meadow” for some free play with frisbees and jump ropes.  It was a good day, but we were all drained from the heat by the end.  Tomorrow we are off to Sawhill Ponds for a Naturalist tour, so don’t forget to pack some extra water shoes!

Another Backpacking Trip in Rocky Mountain National Park!

July 26th, 2010

Nine campers and two counselors journeyed into the wilderness of the National Park for two nights and three days last week. We stayed at a back country campsite that was called Gray Jay, which was about 5 miles up the East Inlet Trailhead on the Western side of the park. On Monday and Tuesday, we did some practice hikes to the Old Crags Hotel Site up in Eldorado Canyon and also did a distance hike out of the canyon to Dowdy Draw Trailhead. The campers did a great job on these hikes!

After learning a lot of back country camping essentials, like Leave No Trace ethics and group expedition behavior, the campers learned what kid of clothing to bring on our camping trip and how to fit their packs appropriately. On Tuesday afternoon, we packed all the packs with our clothes and all of our food for the trip, along with tents, bear boxes, and crazy creeks.

On Wednesday morning, all of the campers and the counselors headed into the van with their packed backpacks, and drove two and a half hours to the Western side of RMNP, through Winter Park and Granby. We had a quick snack of apples and headed out onto the trail. We had lunch about a half hour onto the trail, just when it began to rain. The Western side of the Divide and National Park are known for having a lot of rain, and we prepared for this. We put on our raincoats and trekked through the rain. It eventually stopped raining once we were closer to the campsite. We were ecstatic to reach our campsite after a 4 hour hike!

We prepared a dinner of Macaroni and Cheese and chicken, with a dessert of cookies. The boys separated into their two tents and the girls into theirs after cleaning their Sierra cups and drinking the leftover water. Everyone seemed to love this part of the trip (joking!).

On Thursday morning, we woke up to the boys getting really excited about a yellow-bellied marmot that lived near the pit toilet. We had a breakfast of oatmeal and hot chocolate and headed out on the trail with a couple packs for the whole group. We hiked further up the East Inlet trail towards a series of five lakes. We hiked to Lost Pine Lake, Spirit Lake, and Lake Verna. The campers really enjoyed hanging out on the beach and trying to cross the river. One too many wet feet later, we decided to enjoy the sunshine and eat some lunch. Tim, a counselor, lead an activity that lead us to sending a ship made of bark onto the water. We headed back to our campsite, and many campers wanted to continue to make bark boats! We made our dinner in the pouring rain, which consisted of pita pizzas and a surprise pudding dessert which was delicious. After a lot of bonding experience, we all headed into our tents.

On Friday morning, we found a surprise next to our iodine-treated water bottles! The yellow-bellied marmot left a smelly surprise in the middle of our campsite to tell us his opinion of our stay, he preferred that we left! We made a nice breakfast of egg burritos and some quesadillas for the vegetarians or people that didn’t eat eggs. We started to clean up camp and put away tents and pack up our bags again. When everyone was ready to go, we headed down the trail again. We saw a few foxes and some squirrels, but we never saw a moose like we were hoping. Everyone was exhausted when we returned to the van, and we decided to pack up quickly and eat lunch in the van.

We returned to camp and gave back all the gear that belonged to camp, like packs, tents, food, and bear boxes, and then it was time to go! Tim and Kiki had a few closing words about the trip, and let the campers go. Some amazing experiences were had on this trip by campers and counselors alike!

Session 5 is off to a great start in Eldorado Canyon!

July 26th, 2010

Campers arrived this morning for our final two week session in Eldorado Canyon! We started the morning with songs including ” The Princess Pat” and “The Moose Song”. We also had a special guest song leader with us in the Canyon. Tommy joined us for songs this morning, singing his famous “Little Spaceship”, Campers and staff alike were thrilled for this special treat.

After songs we played “Ship/Island”  Campers laughed and got to know each other while following silly commands like captain’s monkey, where all the campers jump around like monkeys on a ship.

Campers met with their cabin groups after games. They gave themselves names including : Counselor Aly’s Group  ”The electric pine cone throwing bunnies”,  Counselor Camille’s group is ”The camp fire camping animals”, and Counselor Derek’s group is the “purple water diamond thunder cats”. We all decorated water bottles, and made cabin codes, which highlight rules that campers find important especially for their cabin group.

Campers went on tours of the park grounds, participated in team building activities, and planned activities for tomorrow.  We are all so excited for session 5, it is going to be a blast!