Hey, Camp People!

Working with more than 270 summer camps, we take our opportunities to sing the praises of camps all across the nation. Here on the Everything Summer Camp Blog, I make an effort to frequently highlight summer camps who we feel deserve a special mention. Today I’m swinging the Summer Camp Spotlight southward to the Lone Star State of Texas.

For more than 90 years, girls have escaped to the heart of the Texas Hill Country where they find the rustic campgrounds of Kickapoo Kamp. Nine miles southwest of Kerrville, Kickapoo sits 2,000 feet above sea level for a clear view of the surrounding area. The crystal clear Turtle Creek runs through the campgrounds—a spring-fed stream that flows into the Guadalupe River.

Enjoy fun activities like Aerobic Dance, Archery, Arts & Crafts, Beauty Spa, Campcraft, Canoeing, Cheerleading, Dance, Drama, Flags, Fitness, Gymnastics, Nature Exploration, Ping Pong, Riflery, Tennis, Western Riding, and more. Kickapoo also offers an awesome water sports program in their spring-fed Turtle Creek where kids can go Swimming, Water Skiing, go down the Water Slide, and more.

When you arrive at Kickapoo, you’ll see the “Lodge” front-and-center of the property as well as the camp Dining Hall. Along the layout, you’ll find the Activity Building that they utilize for activities like Arts & Crafts, Dance, Ping-Pong, and more. They boast Archery and Riflery ranges. They have an arena and barn for horse-riding. There are secluded spots for overnight camping cookouts and more on top of that.

Kickapoo Kamp has twelve cabins and each has its own bathroom facility. The cabins are built to accommodate 8 – 12 girls as well as a pair of cabin leaders. Cabins are filled with girls of nearest ages in order to give them the most comfortable living quarters where your camper is sure to develop a sense of camaraderie and connectedness.

Here, Nature has been abundant with wonderful clean air, sun showers, and beaming moonlight. Get the opportunity to bond with nature, friends, and yourself at Kickapoo Kamp. As always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Painting People!

Summer camps all over recognize Painting as a choice camp activity. Across the country, they’re offering Painting in their activities to encourage all the young painters out there. Camps provide all the Painting supplies for your camper to explore their creativity with a paintbrush and hone your artistic skills.

The history of Painting goes back to our time as cave dwellers when our ancient ancestors first discovered the ability to create images by dragging certain materials across the cave walls. And voila—a new art form was born!

Lots of people are drawn to Visual Art and use Painting as a preferred medium. What’s the attraction to this interesting camp activity? Here’s what Painting does for people:

Cultivates Creativity
A blank canvas makes a painter’s imagination run rampant, grow, and ponder on the best way to execute their vision for the finished work.

Builds Hand-Eye Coordination
Detailed adjustments to the angle of your wrist and the perfect amount of pressure to apply as you move your brush across the canvas achieves incredible hand-eye coordination.

Relieves Stress
Focusing on putting the paint on the paper in a specific pattern is a powerful tool to relax our bodies and minds and reduce stress levels.

Induces Positivity
Something about working in colors to give yourself creative and artistic outlet tends to leave us with a positive demeanor.

Furthers Emotional Maturity
Putting your own internal dialogue or messages that are important to you expressed through paint is a fantastic way to process your emotions and grow.

If you’re passionate about Painting, then I recommend you look into a summer camp that offers it as an activity to boost your techniques and skills with a brush. Check out Painting With a Twist camps by clicking here. Or, if you already have a camp in mind, call them up to ask about their Painting program. And, as always, thanks for reading, Camp Fans!

- John

Hey, Family Folks!

Time and time again, we’ll hear throughout our lives that family comes first. It’s a good rule by which to live. But who’s all included in your family? Mom, Dad, and your siblings, right? Mmm…better put Grandma and Grandpa on the list too. What about your aunts and uncles? And what about their kids—your cousins? Family reunions wouldn’t be the same without all of them!

Maybe you can put together a last-minute family reunion today to celebrate National Cousins Day. If hanging out is so feasible due to time or distance, you can always send your cousins a message to wish them a Happy Cousins Day and let them know you’re thinking of them.

How many cousins do you have? The answer is probably more than you think. When we use the word cousin, we tend to think of only the children of our aunts and uncles. However, the term cousin actually refers to a much broader sense of relation—it actually refers to any relative with whom you share a common ancestor.

And, because the list of who your ‘cousin’ may refer to becomes so long, cousins of your own generation are broken up into three different groups:

First Cousins
First cousins are simply the children of siblings—your aunt and uncle’s children.

Second Cousins
Second Cousins refers to the children of first cousins; so your own kids and the kids of your first cousin would be second cousins.

Third Cousins
When your children have children of their own and the kids of your first cousin have children of their own, those children will be third cousins to each other.

And what about when two people are not from the same generation? This is indicated by adding the term ‘removed’. For instance, my first cousin has two funny little boys. Those guys are my first cousins once removed. Twice removed indicates two generations between people, and so on.

It gets a tad confusing and a little hard to keep track of in your head. But truly, you have A LOT of cousins. In fact, there’s a chance that you’re cousins of some sort with someone you don’t even know if you share the same last name. The likelihood of your relation goes down depending on how common your last name is, if your family has ever changed their last name, the last name refers to someone’s son (i.e. Johnson or Jefferson), or a number of other factors.

Yes, you may even live next-door to a distant cousin and not even know it. When you start to dig into genealogy and your own ancestry you often find that it really is a small world. Be sure to wish a Happy Cousins Day to all your relatives and, as always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Camp Families!

Just like you, Everything Summer Camp is invested in getting your camper fully prepared for camp and ready to get the most out of the experience. And just for that reason, we’re sure to carry some of the best names in the camping gear market. These popular brand names instill confidence in our shoppers while browsing our online shop, ensuring a certain level of quality and craftsmanship for your camper’s comfort and convenience.

Moms and Dads, you’ll want to be sure you acquire the proper skin care when you send your camper off for his or her summer stay! One of the biggest summertime risks to your child’s health is overexposure to the sun and the undesirable risk only goes up at camp where every day is made up of hours spent in the great outdoors.

When shopping for your child’s sunscreen, be sure to invest in a product that provides that sufficient UV protection that provides the protection required from your kid’s skin. Aloe Gator and Lil Gator sunscreen products boast powerful UV-blocking capabilities with gentle, no-sting ingredients.

Since 1970, the AGS company (Aloe Gator Suncare) has led the sun protection industry in creating waterproof lotions, spray bottles, SPF lip balms, and more products specially-designed for children and infants. We pride ourselves, here at Everything Summer Camp, in the wide selection of the latest sun-protection products that we carry from Aloe Gator and Lil Gator.

Ensure your child’s protection from sun burns and dangerous UV damage. It’s important to invest in quality sunscreen your camper’s trip away from home; shop our Aloe Gator inventory by clicking here to get the sun care products that suit your child’s needs. Stay protected during your fun in the sun this summer! And, as always, thanks for reading.

- John

Hey, Moonbrains!

As much as that may sound like an insult, I say it with the dearest affection. For, if you’re a fan of the Moon, then I’m a fan of you! And how do you NOT fall into a lifelong love with the Moon?! It’s full of romance, mystery, and holes…okay, I mean craters. Well, actually, no—I mean holes! What am I saying here? Do I really think the Moon is full of holes? Well, kinda. Today is Moon Day. Let’s investigate:

So what makes me think that the Moon is full of holes? Well, the fact that it’s hollow.

Sigh. That probably just dug me deeper. I can understand how crazy that sounds, but it’s true! At least, that seems to be the case. See, not a lot of people know that on our first mission to the Moon, when the landing device hit the surface prior to the astronauts touching down themselves, they reported back to the scientists at NASA that the impact caused the Moon to reverberate. They said it “rang like a bell”.

It wasn’t just Neil, Buzz, and Michael who observed this “ringing” either; it was the entire NASA team that sent those guys. Thousands of credible people saw the readouts of this heavenly body reverberating which leads us to only one real conclusion we can make: the Moon is hollow.

I think the reason this sounds so ridiculous is because when we think of something being hollow, we tend to consider something like an inflated beach ball or a blown egg. However, if the Moon is, indeed, hollow, it’s likely not totally empty on the inside, but more so full of cavernous tunnels. And that stands to reason since we cannot see the bottoms to some of the Moon’s deepest crater impacts.

Yep! It sounds pretty crazy—I agree. But there IS substantial reason to believe that the Moon might not be as solid as we figure it to be. It’s a crazy world we live in, indeed. Embrace it and, as always, thanks for reading, Moon Lovers!

- John