As it has been across the country, the Northwoods are a little hot and humid right now. Granted, it’s all relative – the temps have touched the mid-to-high 80s, which pales in comparison to the rest of the country. So we’ve been working to beat the heat as much as we can, getting kids in the lake at every opportunity, and
It started Tuesday afternoon. Lunch was pretty soupy, and we could tell the heat was starting to wear on them. We made our due diligence sunscreen and hydration announcements, and ended by introducing a brand new program: G-Swim 1 and G-Swim 2! General swim caps off each afternoon of activity, and when camp heats up, most campers run down to the water for their afternoon free-time to take advantage of living by the lake. For years and years, we’ve only ever had one G-Swim, but we have four project periods each day. Campers were ecstatic at the doubling-up of a beloved camp program. We scheduled G-Swim 1 right after lunch, when the heat was at its beastliest, and it was well-received. With nine (nine!) wilderness trips out of camp, we managed pretty easily to get nearly all of camp into the water. (Did you catch that? Nine wilderness trips out of camp at lunchtime on Tuesday. Nearly 90 campers spread across Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, and Ontario. Nine! What a marvel.)
Things flowed nicely into our Cruiser Day yesterday: Winter Olympics Day. I am sure your camper was captivated by the games this past February, and got excited about some niche winter event, so we tried to keep that enthusiasm going here on one of the hottest days of the summer so far. Our balaclava-clad staff lasted about five minutes in their winter gear (quick enough that we didn’t even get a picture) as we opened with an Olympic torch lighting, and the games began. Most centered around the water: Ski Jumping (off our diving board with pool noodle skis), Ice Skating (on a soapy slip-n-slide on the beach), and luge (down a slip-n-slide into the lake). The theme was perfectly goofy, and all of camp got to try their hand at these winter Olympic events. Of course, nothing helps us cool off as much as a trip into town to get a treat at the Dairy & Bean!
Last night, we had two events planned: more free swim, and a viewing of a live World Cup match. Obviously, the World Cup has been on our radar for months. I was researching the schedule early in the winter to determine which matches we’d be able to watch. The World Cup only comes around every few years, and the last one to fall during the camp schedule was in 2018, so showing matches in the Rec Hall was a no-brainer. At the same time… our campers don’t exactly come to camp to sit in front of a screen, in fact, they come for the exact opposite! So we resolved to show a few matches that meshed with our schedule, and hoped the kids would get excited.
Last night’s match was indeed exciting. We lucked out with the schedule and got to show the US side triumph against Bosnia and Herzegovina, to an uproarious group of interested campers and staff. With each goal, it got a little hotter in the Rec Hall (and the temp for sure spiked after Balogun’s red card). But for the first time in two days, I don’t think the campers were thinking about the heat! Now that the US team is actually playing well, and we showed the campers the round of 32 game, all morning today we’ve been peppered with requests to watch the next US game against Belgium on Monday. We’re excited to oblige, though Monday is Cabin Cookout, so our plan is to show the game on a 24 hour tape delay Tuesday evening. This means we’re going to try to keep the camp community in the dark for a day… So if you are writing letters via email this summer, please do not to spoil it for your son!
All in all, it’s been a pretty great week here at camp. Extra time in the water, an engaging and goofy Cruiser Day, the soccer match last night, town trips for ice cream, and nine (did I mention that we had nine trips out at once this week?!!) wilderness trips out at once this week. And the week is going to get even better… Our Independence Day Celebration kicks off tomorrow, so stay tuned to our Summer Updates for a recap of what is going to be an incredible weekend!
All is well in the Northwoods!