Today was an exciting day as we welcomed our second group of July mini session campers to Rockbrook. The majority of these campers are returning to Rockbrook from last summer (about 80% of them), but even the new girls seemed wide-eyed with anticipation and excitement. Part of the fun of opening day is seeing camp friends reunite. As a car drives up the hill and Mandy announces over the PA the name of the camper arriving, the squeals from the other girls on the hill can be deafening, and the subsequent bear-hugging tackles between two friends even a little scary. Still, it’s a great moment to see the emotion of that kind of friendship.
As everyone finished arriving and checking in with the nurses, the morning clouds cleared to blue skies and the whole camp assembled on the hill. This was the first event where everyone is together, mini- and full-session girls alike. Each cabin sitting with their counselors, crazy creek chairs deployed, the Hi-Ups led us in the line songs and a couple of RBC favorites (“Rockbrook Camp Forever”). Several of the activity counselors performed skits and songs about their activities to help everyone, especially the new campers, know what they were planning— the games, the craft projects, the challenges —that will make this week special. We also took our state pictures, a quick photo of the campers and counselors sorted into groups by the home state. FL, NC, GA and SC are the big ones this session, but check the online photo gallery to see some surprising other states being represented.
After a double helping of Rick’s homemade mac-n-cheese and some cool watermelon, the mini session campers were off on camp tours, having cabin meetings and rotating down to the lake for their swimming demonstrations. Every year we check everyone’s (campers’ and counselors’) swimming ability and issue them a buddy tag. This year they also receive a bright green armband that indicates they swim well enough to go down the new water slide. Today most of the campers did great. Plenty of bright warm sunshine nicely balanced the chilly water of the lake making the tests quick and easy.
Around 3 o’clock, we rang bell for everyone to come down to the gym for a “space carnival.” A group of 16 counselors, with some help from the Hi-Ups (our 10th graders) put on the event with different games both inside the gym and outside on the archery field. They had “Cosmic Bowling,” “Cream the Alien,” “Shuttle Races,” as well as face painting, cotton candy and ribbon dancing. There was also two giant inflated attractions: a 2-person obstacle course and a velcro anti-gravity bouncy wall. For the wall, you first put on a red, yellow and blue velcro suit, which was pretty funny because they were so hugely over-sized. Then each person took a turn bouncing a couple of times and flinging herself against the wall. With arms stretched out, you would stick there dangling by the velcro. Sometimes, the campers would stick so well, they would need help getting down! It was pretty funny to watch.
Overall, it was a great first day of the mini session—excellent weather, and plenty of fun all around. Be sure to check the photo gallery each day. We’re adding photos all the time. And thanks for reading the blog. Did you know you can follow these posts on facebook too? Head on over and “like” that page!
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