Hey, Camp Folks!

“As summer approached, my heart couldn't help but swell with a mix of pride, worry, and excitement. My daughter, Carmen, had reached that age where she was eager to spread her wings and experience new things... one of which was overnight summer camp.

When we started packing I honestly didn't know where to start. Sunscreen was top of the list, and everything else fell into place thanks to many Google searches and online purchases.

We decorated our car before leaving for Pine Cove and I knew the butterflies in Carmen's tummy were fluttering more and more the closer we got. As we drove into camp the counselors lined the streets greeting all the cars and the energy was incredible. I know right then and there she'd have the best week ever!

I went to say goodbye to Carmen, expecting an emotional goodbye, but she had already started playing with friends and gave a short and sweet bye and look like 'Mom, I'm fine. I've got this.' And she did!

I'm grateful for all of the pictures that flooded my Pine Cove app all week long to see what Carmen and her friends were up to. I think I refreshed the app 1,000 times a day, and every smile made it worth the while!

Unfortunately 2 nights - 36 hours - before camp pick-up I received the dreaded call from the Camp Medic. Carmen wasn't hurt, but had a fever which turned out to be strep throat. She was devastated to leave early, but for the safety and health for her and her friends, there wasn't any choice.

I picked her up early, the only camper to leave, and you never would have guessed she felt so awful and she sang songs and told me all the funny camp stories on the 2 hour drive home. Her enthusiasm was infectious, and I found myself genuinely excited for her.

Once we returned home she slept the longest I've ever seen her sleep... dreaming of camp and kicking the strep throat blues away. Though cut 2 nights short, this was the best first camp experience I could have imagined for my Carmen. The summer of 2023 was a first step toward my firstborn's independence, and a reminder that my little girl is blossoming into a remarkable young woman right before my eyes.”

That’s beautiful, Christy! What a great summer camp experience for Carmen (save the strep)! Poor girl—strep is the worst! But what a testament to her wonderful time at camp that she didn’t even let it show upon pickup—just shared songs and stories from her camp stay. I’m glad her first year of Pine Cove Camp was such a success for Carmen. Thanks for sharing with us, Christy.

Is anybody else interested in checking out Pine Cove Camp? Give this camp a closer look when you click right here. Thanks for reading and, as always, Happy Camping!

- John

Hey, Camp Fans!

There are plenty more stories to come from the Everything Summer Camp ‘Share Your Camp Story’ Contest! We’re publishing each submission individually on a post right here on the Blog one by one! The following submission is from Shelby H. who wrote in to us about her summer adventure at Camp Crestridge:

“The part that I loved most was everything me and my cabin did together. After 2 weeks together, we all have special bonds between each other. We did so many things together. Every memory is different and so special. My personal favorite is when my cabin won Honor Cabin. We were so excited when we heard the awesome news. We got our pictures taken and on our plank that we signed our name on now had a special stamp that said “HONOR CABIN”. After that we jumped in the pool in the night before and had pizza and icees. I’ll never forget that day. Every day I still look at the pictures and wish I was still there, jumping in the lake, playing tether ball, eating candy, listening to music, or just talking on our cabin porch. I’ll never ever forget the memories and experiences that I had. It was just so special. My memories will always be there. Every single one is just so special because you can’t go back in time and re-experience the same things. Even the ones where we were talking while walking to our next skill. My experience was just so special and spectacular that it’s just……. Impossible to describe. In fact I’m just so in awe that I…”

Hi, Shelby! That’s wonderful that you and your cabinmates developed such a close-knit bond throughout your two weeks together. Congratulations on winning Honor Cabin! I’m glad it resulted in such a cool night for you guys! And you’re right—you will remember this time forever. Enjoy the memories!

Give Camp Crestridge a closer look for yourself when you click right here and see if it could be the right summer camp for your next summer. Thanks for reading and, as always, Happy Camping!

- John

Hey, Camp Fans!

There are more stories to share from the Everything Summer Camp ‘Share Your Camp Story’ Contest! Your camp stories were so great and were such a fun time reading through them all and it’s been exciting to share them with all our readers online! We’re publishing each submission individually on a post right here on the Blog one by one!

We had ten lucky prize winners and now it’s time to publish the rest of your submissions. The following submission is from Cecilia R. who wrote in to us about her summer adventure at Camp Med-O-Lark:

“Every year when school comes to an end and summer begins, all of my friends leave town and head off to their summer camps. They all share “what an experience” it is and I felt that it might be time for me to gain a little more independence and go out and make new friends and get familiar with what it would feel like without my parents around. I never knew that after asking my mother she said “go pick out a camp that interests you, and I will sign you up.”  I felt the pressure of being questioned why I wanted to go away all by myself suddenly disappeared. The following fall I would be going to a new school with no one, so I thought I might as well put myself out there and meet some people like me.

So 2 weeks later, after a short car ride, I stepped on campus with my 3 bags and an open mind and got checked in. The camp is a non-competitive art camp right near the coast of Maine. When you pull in you are introduced to an open barn home to the circus area with a huge flying trapeze right across on a field. After we parked the car and handed my bags to one of the counselors, Ralph, we walked over to the circus area where a woman named Missy would check us in. As we made our way over me feeling a bit shy, I encountered my soon to be horseback riding coach! Rachel was so polite with her accent being from Leeds, UK.

As I stand in line to check in there is a family in front of me; One dad, One mom, and a girl with long brown hair, braces, and blue crocs. As I stand there, I overhear the girl's mother; “Don't worry sweetheart, there are other people here who are new and just as nervous as you,” I smile feeling better. After the girl in front of me is done checking in, the trolley that drives you through the woods to the main part of camp arrives. Her parents tell her she can probably catch it and with a kiss goodbye she is in the trolley on her way to the main part of camp. I longed to be able to get on that trolley with her to just get out of line and run. I did not want to miss out on meeting someone that I may not see the rest of camp. I wanted to know her. 

As the trolley drives away and I am checked in, I wait with my parents for the trolley. And as the creaky old trolley starts bumping up the hill, I know it is time to say goodbye. It was weird. In this whole time I never really felt nervous. Well I mean when you pull up into a camp you have never been to you get a little skeptical. But I hopped on that trolley and waved goodbye in confidence, because going to camp is what I wanted to do. It was for me, not for my friends, or my parents, but for a start to a new chapter in my life. A child can only grow confidence from believing in themselves. Not by others believing in them, but by yourself truly knowing your worth.

And it turns out I did meet that girl from the check in. She was one of my bunk mates and new friend, Sophie from CT. And on that trolley there, the first people I met were Olivia, and Ren from LA. And later in the day I met my two other new best friends Maya and Christa from Hong Kong. Sophie, Christa, Maya, and I ended up writing and performing a fun song with us all singing and me playing guitar of a song about lifejackets. Who would have thought! Camp truly is a place to find out who you are and most of all being with people that love you the whole way.

I learned Hawaiian and belly dance from an incredible coach named Cami, I learned how to hold chopsticks and eat sushi and now I love sushi! When I went to Hawaii I even tried eel sushi and it was the best thing I ever tasted (thank you Christa for teaching me!) I learned how to perfectly crimp dumplings, thanks Nicki! And I learned so much more! It's true what they say after all Med-O-Lark is  “ where campers go to make friendships that last a lifetime.” 

Written by Cecilia Ross”

Awesome, Cecilia! It’s great to hear that you took a chance on overnight camp this year and that you found it so welcoming and enjoyable! Sounds like you had a well-rounded, active, fun, and educational time away at Camp Med-O-Lark. Now you get to join your friends in sharing “what an experience” you got to have for your summer camp this summer. And, of course, thanks for sharing your time at camp with us.

If anybody else is interested in checking out Camp Med-O-Lark, give it a closer look when you click right here. Thanks for reading and, as always, Happy Camping!

- John

Hey, Camp Enthusiasts!

Here at Everything Summer Camp, we loved getting all the wonderful camp stories everyone shared for this year’s 'Share Your Camp Story' Contest. This year turned out to be one of our best contests yet! We’re having a blast publishing each story one by one to share with our online community! Each submission is getting featured right here on the Blog!

The following post comes from Taylor P., who took the time to share a funny story from her time at Camp Sloane this summer. Check out her entry right here:

“Hey my name is Taylor and I’ve been going to Camp Sloane YMCA for 6 years now. Last year I wrote about my entire camp story across the span of 3 weeks but this year I’m choosing a specific moment to write about because there was so much that happened. This year I went to camp for 6 weeks and it was easily the best 6 weeks of my summer by far.

So anyway my funny story moment at camp. One night it was really late like 10:45 at night and I really needed to go to the bathroom. So I got up and walked to the bathroom and knocked on the door because night is the time that counselors get to take over the bathroom because campers and counselors aren’t allowed to be in the bathroom at the same time. My village director came out to tell me it was okay to go in so I went into the bathroom.

Then like 4 mins later I hear a bunch of voices that I recognize as my counselors and so I start freaking out because they definitely didn’t realize a camper was in the bathroom. So I quickly got myself sitting on top of the toilet so that the counselors couldn’t see my feet. Anyway they proceeded to sit down on the floor of the bathroom and started talking so I knew I was stuck there for a while.

About 25-30 mins later I quietly said hey guys would it be possible if I get out? One of my counselors recognized my voice and asked me how long I had been there. I just casually said 30 mins and they just went silent. They told me I could come out and I put my head down and literally sprinted out of the bathroom.

The next day I was talking to some of my friends and apparently the exact same thing had happened to them about 3 days before it happened to me. So that’s my funny story of me literally getting myself trapped in the bathroom and being too scared to try and get out for a solid half hour. That wasn’t even close to some of the more eventful things that happened at camp but it was just a funny little moment.

Camp is hands down the best way to spend my summer and I form bonds with some of the most amazing people from it and I make so many long lasting memories. Only 297 days until camp starts again and I can’t even begin to tell you how excited I am to go back for my 7th year at camp. As an added benefit I’m going to be a LEAD next year which is the first step towards becoming a counselor which I’m incredibly excited about. I’m in Summer 2024 at Camp Sloane!!!”

Hilarious, Taylor! Thanks for sharing this funny story with us. It’s impressive that you were able to stay quiet for that long with your counselors being none the wiser. Super funny that the same thing happened to another camper! Hopefully neither of you overheard anything you shouldn’t have! Congratulations on going into the next camp season as a Lead and working toward becoming a counselor. Some day you might have a camper ‘spying’ on you! Haha!!  

Is anybody else interested in checking out Camp Sloane YMCA? Give this camp a closer look when you click right here. Thanks for reading and, as always, Happy Camping!

- John

Hey, Camp Enthusiasts!

We're thrilled by the wonderful camp stories you've shared for this year’s 'Share Your Camp Story' Contest here at Everything Summer Camp. Campers, you've truly surpassed expectations this year! These stories are great and I'm excited to continue featuring them one by one to our online community. Each submission is getting featured right here on the Blog!

The following post comes from Adrinna K., who took the time to share her first-time experiences at Camp Eagle Ridge. Dive into her submission right here:

“My name is Adrinna Keefer. I am 10 years old. I went to Camp Eagle Ridge in Wisconsin. It was so much fun. This was my first time going to camp.

At first I was scared at the thought of going to camp though I pretended I was not so my mom would not be worried. But once I got off the bus and met my counselors and bunk mates, I was very happy. Everyone was so nice.

I loved trying new things like canoeing, catching frogs, feeding an alpaca!!

My cabin was really nice. It felt like a hotel. It even had showers inside and we did not have to go to the shower house. The counselors were super nice. They even helped me braid my hair! The camp store had lots of delicious snacks. My favorite was the chocolate malt. It was my first malt. I had one every day.

I met a new friend. We have talked on the phone and she even remembered my birthday—after camp was over! Our parents have talked, and we may return to camp next year at the same time.

The only thing I did not like were the bugs. I hate bugs. But I still had a great time. I hope I can go back next summer.”

Thanks for your submission, Adrinna! It’s great to hear that you had such a great first year of summer camp (despite your initial concerns)! You must be a very thoughtful girl to keep your concerns to yourself so your mother didn’t worry! How great that you immediately felt at ease?! Way to go trying new things, making friends, and embracing the experience! Your story makes me want a malt and I hope you do return to camp next year.

P.S. I’m with you! Bugs are the worst!

Is anybody else interested in checking out Camp Eagle Ridge? Give this camp a closer look when you click right here. Thanks for reading and, as always, Happy Camping!

- John