I was super excited to get up to the dining hall this morning. While I typically make it up there fairly early for our daily meeting, I wanted to be sure I caught some of the mini guys coming in from their cabin overnights. As luck would have it, I was even able to catch a few of the boys as they returned from their journey. My favorite part was catching the youngest guys of Hillside make their journey back to their cabin after their cabin overnight at High Rocks. While they looked a little tired and weary, they did not hesitate to tell me about their adventures, the games they played, and even poorly they slept. About 20 minutes later after the Hillside boys had made their way to the cabin, our chef Nate Noland came out as he does every day to ring the wake-up bell. The paddling trip was right there to join them after the bell to belt out “Good Morning High Rocks!” It was a great start to the day.
The rest of the day was just as fun! The boys had a blast in their activities. The four week guys are looking a little winded while the mini guys are just starting to head out on trips. I hope you enjoyed the Jersday Thursday. There were a lot of jerseys out there. We enjoyed one of the few rain showers we have had al session. It really cooled things off for the afternoon.
I know many of the parents are wondering how everyone is doing, and I hope the nightly blog and pictures give you a good sense of the daily routine of camp. In the next day or so the first letters from High Rocks will be arriving in your mailbox. There is the possibility of a letter coming home that may worry you. So, let’s talk about homesickness. It’s not a scary word. It’s all about growing up one step at a time. After over 30 years here at High Rocks, I have some pretty good experience with kids and camp. That being said, a little homesickness is normal. More often than not, what you are reading in those letters today has passed. They are on to bigger heights. Remember, we are professionals. If you feel worried at all just drop us a line. Don’t forget to do the same for your son. Give him some encouraging words; tell him how proud you are and how he will be just fine. Try not to go on about how the dog misses him, or all the cool things you are doing at home. When you are learning to take some steps on your own, sometimes you fall down and get back up. It’s definitely not a reason to stop walking. Camp is a super place to step out on your own. If you do feel like you need to give us a call, we are here to help. Don’t forget, the boys love mail. So keep sending it.
Age Group 1 (Hillside and Connestee), Age Group 2 (Lakeside and Flattop), and Age Group 3 (Foxhollow and Windswept) all came down with me to the gym for the evening. We had a lot of work to do to prepare for the dance on Saturday night with Keystone. We worked through several line dances and some square dance moves. The boys took it all very well and had a blast! We wrapped up talking about how this whole event might look and how they might feel during the dance. I assured them they were going to be great and this practice was super important. I had balst!
Age Group 4 (Outpost and Sprucepine) spent the night on the soccer field playing some world cup games.
Age Group 5 (Chalet and Windswept) headed down to sliding rock and Dolly’s for their chill night. The last one of the session.
Age Group 6 (Halfway, Pinnacle, and Lookout) spent the evening on the waterslide and rope swing.
Thanks for tuning in today. We look forward to more fun this weekend!
Don Gentle
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