Posts Tagged ‘Gorp’
Monday, August 2nd, 2010
We had a great second Monday in Eldorado Canyon–we began our day with some wonderful morning songs, including “Fred the Moose” and “Little Red Wagon.” After singing, we played a rousing game of Ship-Island–ask your campers about the different commands! Then, we split up into our different groups and had a quick snack, put on some sunscreen and filled up our water bottles, and then began our day!
The Electric Pinecone-Throwing Bunnies and the Campfire Camping Animals headed out together on a hike–we hiked all the way along Fowler Trail, and then headed out of the park and into the wild! It was very exciting to go into the wilderness; we crossed a stream, saw lots of wildflowers, and found a nice shady spot to eat lunch. Meanwhile, the Thundercats headed out on an epic bouldering/hiking trip–check out the amazing photos they took! (You can find them online at myaocamps.com.) Meanwhile, Counselor Leah’s group, the Swimming Jumping Dolphins, took a short trek over to the ranger’s station, where they saw a deer! After lunch, when everyone got back to our base camp up in the canyon, the Bunnies had free play while the Camping Animals made awesome clay creations. The Dolphins decorated their water bottles, and the Thundercats also made some very cool clay creations.
All of the groups ate some delicious smorgasgorp for snack–we all loved the yogurt-covered raisins! After snack, we packed up, because it looked like rain, and hopped on the bus to sing our afternoon songs. After some great songs, including “The Canoe Song” and our old standard, “On Top of Spaghetti,” we headed out the canyon, driven by our fabulous Bus Driver, Ed.
Tomorrow is our climbing day! We’ll see you there!
Tags: afternoon songs, Bouldering, bus, Clay, fowler trail, fred the moose, free play, Gorp, hike, lunch, morning songs, mountain day camp, snack, sunscreen, the canoe song, water bottles
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Friday, 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!
Tags: 5 minute mysteries, afternoon songs, bookmarks, canyon, free play, Gorp, hike, Kites, meadow, morning songs, owl pellets, packing up, parachute, river, sunscreen, trek, walker ranch trail, water
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Thursday, 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!
Tags: boulder day camps, Boulder summer camps, Eldo, Gorp, mountain day camp, songs, teambuilding
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Tuesday, 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!
Tags: afternoon songs, Animal Houses, bug houses, bus, butterfly catching, cave, free play, Gorp, hike, lunch, marble painting, morning songs, mountain day camp, pool, rain, ranger station, spongebugs, sunscreen
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Friday, July 23rd, 2010
We had an awesome final day of session four in Eldorado Canyon! We began the day by singing the bus song “Titanic” one last time, and did lots of fun morning songs, including “Fred the Moose” and “Hello, My Name is Joe.” Then, we played a final game of “Matching” with the whole camp before campers split into their cabin groups. Once the campers got into their groups, they put on sunscreen, drank water, and prepared for their day.
The Dolphin Horses packed up and headed down Rattlesnake Gulch trail–luckily, they didn’t see any rattlesnakes! Meanwhile, the Grubby Greens practiced their skit and played with the MDC costumes all morning long. Just before lunch, however, their Counselor, Aly, went missing! So the campers followed a series of clues and managed to find Aly just in time for lunch. The Dolphin Horses ate lunch on the trail, and got back to base camp in the early afternoon. In the afternoon, the Dolphin Horses practiced their skit, while the Grubby Greens made fabulous marbelized paper–ask to see your camper’s paper, it looks awesome!
All the groups came together to do their skits for the whole group, and the skits were a hit! Everyone enjoyed watching everyone else perform! After skits, the Dolphin Horses made marbelized paper, and then both groups did a closing activity where they received a p-cord bracelet. We finished off the day with delicious gorp for snack, mixed by the Grubby Greens, and ended the day with a rendition of “I love the Mountains” and a camper-led version of “On Top of Spaghetti.”
We had an awesome time this session, we hope to see you again this summer or next year!
Tags: fred the moose, Gorp, lunch, marbelized paper, missing counselor, morning songs, mountain day camp, On top of spaghetti, p-cord bracelets, rattlesnake gulch trail, Skits, sunscreen, Titanic, water
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Thursday, July 22nd, 2010
Today the Eldorado Canyon campers visited Walden Ponds–we had a ton of fun fishing and looking at the swamp wildlife! Everyone was a bit tired to begin with this morning, but perked up after some fun morning songs, including “The Fishing Song” and “Princess Pat.” We tried a morning game, but it was a little too hot, so we grabbed our water bottles and played waterfall instead! After sunscreening, the Mysterious Grubby Greens worked on their cabin shield and ordered some gorp for tomorrow, while the Dolphin Horses headed out to do some fishing with Bus Driver Ed!
After lunch, the two groups switched–the Grubby Greens went fishing while the Dolphin Horses did face painting and created recycled instruments. It was super-hot today, so we spent a lot of time chilling in the shade. However, the Grubby Greens had a ton of fun fishing, and also enjoyed finding some snails and a tadpole! At the very end of the day, Counselor Aly found a frog, which was exciting for everyone. We finished the day off with some delicious smorgas-gorp for snack and some afternoon songs, including “The Donut Shop” and “On Top of Spaghetti.”
We’re back in the Canyon tomorrow for our last day of the session–it should be amazing! See you there!
Tags: afternoon songs, cabin shields, Face Paint, fishing, Gorp, gorp ordering, morning songs, mountain day camp, Play, recycled instruments, snack, snails, sunscreen, tadpoles, walden ponds, water, waterfall
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Tuesday, July 20th, 2010
We had an awesome day of climbing today! We began our day with morning songs, including “Tarzan” and “Hello, My Name is Joe.” After songs, we split into cabin groups for some teambuilding challenges. Both the Dolphin Horses and The Grubby Greens did a great job leading their teammates through a “minefield” while blindfolded!
The Grubby Greens climbed first today, and had a great time! Our experienced climbing guide, Russell, explained our climbing system to the campers and belayed for them. Each camper got to climb multiple times, and several of the campers chose to do the most difficult route on the far side of Supremacy Rock! After the Grubby Greens finished climbing, the MDC Juniors had a turn–every junior got two turns climbing, and had a great time! The Dolphin Horses were our final climbing group of the day, and did a great job spider-monkeying up the rock! Some of the campers even tried the climb on the far side. All in all, it was a wonderful day of climbing!
After finishing their climb, the Grubby Greens made various creations out of the camp Toobeez and spent some time debriefing their climbing experience, doing face painting, and free playing. The Dolphin Horses spent the morning teambuilding and eating lunch, and in the afternoon had a chance to play with the MDC Lycra Tube–ask your camper about it! We ended the day with some delicious gorp for snack, and finished by singing some lovely afternoon songs, including, of course, “On Top of Spaghetti.”
Tomorrow, we’re headed to the pool! See you there!
Tags: afternoon songs, belaying, climbing, climbing routes, face painting, free play, Gorp, lunch, minefield, morning songs, mountain day camp, snack, supremacy rock, teambuilding, Toobeez
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Monday, July 19th, 2010
We had a great second Monday of Session 4 in Eldorado Canyon–we began the day with some fun morning songs, including “Fred the Moose” and “The Princess Pat.” Then, we played an awesome game of “Matching”–each camper found a partner, and then had to follow a sequence of directions with their partner. Ask your camper how it’s played; the kids had a great time playing!
Once the campers split into their cabin groups, they put on sunscreen and got some water before starting on the day’s activities. The Dolphin Horses and Mysterious Grubby Greens headed out together up the Eldo Trail, where they caught some bugs and enjoyed exploring Eldorado Canyon! The groups headed back to the pad for lunch–we ate as a big group, which was really fun! After lunch, the Mysterious Grubby Greens headed over to the Bouldering rock for some hi-tech bouldering, while the Dolphin Horses made some awesome tumblebugs.
Then, the groups switched–the Dolphin Horses had a great time bouldering, and the Grubby Greens really enjoyed making and playing with their tumblebugs. Ask to see your camper’s! We ended the day with some delicious gorp, mixed by Director Tommy. After snack, we packed everything up and ended the day with some afternoon songs, including “Ragtime Cowboy Joe,” “The Canoe Song,” and, of course, “On Top of Spaghetti.”
Tomorrow is climbing day–we’re excited, and we’ll see you then!
Tags: afternoon songs, Bouldering, bug catching, climbing, eldo trail, exploration, free play, Gorp, insects, lunch, matching, morning songs, sunscreen, tumblebugs, water
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Thursday, July 15th, 2010
We had an awesome day in Eldorado Canyon–we began our day with some great morning songs, including “Three Short-Necked Buzzards” and “The Princess Pat.” Then, after everyone was sunscreened and getting full water bottles, we started up our all-camp game of Gold Rush! Each group headed out into the canyon to find gold nuggets that had been left behind by the gold diggers who used to explore Colorado. Then, they had to bring the gold nuggets back to the collection bin–but along the way, they had to look out for the Guards, who steal gold because they are too lazy to search for it themselves. The game was described by campers as “fun, but hard.” Ask your camper how they ended up winning!
We played Gold Rush until lunch, and then the campers ate lunch while they discussed the game. After lunch, the Dolphin Horses made crazy sunglasses, while the Black Wolves made their kites in preparation for meadow day tomorrow. The Grubby Greens made some fabulous pet rocks, and then all three groups enjoyed some free play before snack. For snack, we had some delicious gorp, and after snack we had fun trying to solve some one-minute mysteries. We ended the day with some quieter afternoon songs, including “Ragtime Cowboy Joe” and “On Top of Spaghetti.” Then, we all jumped on the bus and headed home!
Tomorrow, we’re headed up to the Meadow to fly kites and go exploring! Please wear long pants if you have them–the grass is really tall up there! See you tomorrow!
Tags: crazy sunglasses, debrief, discussion, eldorado canyon, exploring, free play, gold rush, Gorp, Kites, lunch, mountain day camp, one-minute mysteries, pet rocks, songs, sunscreen, water bottles
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Tuesday, July 13th, 2010
Our Eldorado Canyon campers had a great day today–we began our day with lots of goofy wake-up songs, including “The Hippo Song,” “The Princess Pat,” and “One Hen Two Ducks.” Then, we played an awesome game of Evolution to get our blood moving (ask your camper how to play!). After sunscreening and filling up water bottles, the cabin groups headed out–the Dolphin Horses and the Mysterious Grubby Greens hiked down to the Cave, where they ate lunch and explored the recesses of the famous Eldorado Canyon cave. The Black Wolves of the Wild Diamonds headed up Fowler Trail–once above the canyon, they ate lunch and played some great trail games and completed some wonderful teambuilding challenges.
All three groups made sponge bugs today–ask to see your campers’ bug! This afternoon, each group had some great free play time, and also ate some delicious gorp (with M&Ms today!). After snack, we came together as a whole camp group to play Psychology–ask your camper how it’s played–and ended the day with some quieter afternoon songs. We finished the day with our camp standard, “On Top of Spaghetti.”
Tomorrow is POOL DAY! We’re looking forward to seeing you there!
Tags: afternoon songs, all camp games, cave, evolution, fowler trail, free play, Gorp, hike, lunch, morning songs, On top of spaghetti, psychology, snack, Sponge Bugs, sunscreen, teambuilding, water bottles
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