Hey Camp Fans!

The Everything Summer Camp Blog today presents a special Thurber Throwback post in which I am linking back to a past post I feel is so valuable, I want to review it by getting it in front of you again. Today’s Throwback post goes back about a year ago to a post written by Dr. Chris Thurber—summer camp expert—about camp friends staying in touch on social media after the camp season is over.

Thurber’s post ‘Post-Camp Post’ offers excellent advice and tips about letting your kids stay in touch with camp friends online or by means of texting and other ways of staying connected via electronics. It’s all right here on Everything Summer Camp’s Blog post from July 28 of last year.

- John

Hey, Summer Lovers!

Part of loving summer means loving the heat! But you also need to figure out how to cope when the heat gets to be too much. How can you stay cool when there is no air conditioning—when you’re trying to catch some Zzz’s in your tent? That’s when Everything Summer Camp comes in with our awesome collection of battery-operated fans…
You’re sure to keep cool when it gets HOT with our new heat-fightin’ friends from o2 Cool—the 5” Volcano Fan and the Portable USB Fan. Thanks to their compact folding design, these fans make for very easy storage and result in high portability. Take them with you and keep a cool breeze on yourself throughout your fun adventures!

5″ Volcano Fan
The Volcano Fan can stand on pretty much any surface that isn’t vertical. Cooling you down with 5” fan blades and two speeds, you can tilt this fan to adjust the direction of the airflow as desired. It runs on two D cell batteries which are not included.

                                                                   Portable USB Fan
You can also keep your cabin, tent, or room cool with the 5” Portable Fan from O2 Cool. Set it on any flat surface you can find and enjoy the cool airflow. Never find yourself unable to catch a breeze—this fan offers three options for power source. You can plug it in with its AC adapter (included), use the USB cable (included), or run it off four AA batteries (not included).

Summer’s hot! Fight against those summer scorchers with fun, cooling fans. Shop Everything Summer Camp for awesome cooling aids such as the 5” Volcano Fan and the Portable USB Fan from o2 Cool and order one for yourself today! Stay cool for the rest of this hot, summer season and, as always, thanks for reading! ¬

- John

Hey, Backpackers!

At this point, most of you are probably already at summer camp if not already back from it. But just because the summer camp season may be winding down, doesn’t mean anything to these awesome, new JanSport Backpacks that are now available on our Main Everything Summer Camp website. JanSport has outdone themselves this time with these intriguing and fun styles.
With the school year to follow the camp season, it’s potentially the perfect time for you to pick up a new backpack for your camper AND student. Check out JanSport’s new, inventive takes on the classic backpack with these two, new beauties:

Mesh Pack Backpack
Introducing the Mesh Pack Backpack, available in Mammoth Blue (as pictured), Fluorescent Pink, Purple Night, and Black! This lightweight pack offers one, large main compartment as well as a front utility pocket and an internal hanging pocket. Complete with a web haul handle and straight-cut, padded shoulder straps. Its polyestermesh fabric, allows its contents to breathe in this Pack. Go Mesh for your next Backpack with a capital M-E-S-H—Mesh!

Overexposed Backpack
Working with high contrast, the zippers and pulls really pop on this Overexposed creation from JanSport. Spacious, this Backpack offers one, large main compartment along with a front utility pocket that boasts an organizer inside. Complete with a 2/3 padded back panel, web haul handle, and straight-cut shoulder straps, this pack is great for the summer camp season and into the school year. Overexposure isn’t always bad! Available in Mammoth Blue/Zebra print as well as Mammoth Blue/Fluorescent Red, get your Overexposed JanSport Backpack right here.

So have a good look at these cool, new JanSport Backpacks and, while you’re at it, take a look at our entire quality collection of Backpacks for camping and school. And, as always, thanks for reading, Camp Fans!

- John

Hey, Longhorners!

Here on the Everything Summer Camp Blog site, we just can’t help but to give credit where credit is due. That’s why we’re always bragging about ourselves. But to change things up, we like to talk up some other deserving folks from time to time too. Sometimes we spotlight vendors with whom we’ve developed a connection. Other times we post about summer camps.

Today, I have the one and only Camp Longhorn on which to shine our spotlight to share with you. Camp Longhorn is unlike any other camp we’ve spotlighted on this Blog. It’s an old camp with old traditions. There may be only one Camp Longhorn, but it’s got three locations, all right next to each other, offering essentially the same awesome summer camp experience as the next. The original Camp Longhorn for boys has sat along the Colorado River in Burnet, Texas since 1939. In 1975, they expanded with a branch for girls, adding the Camp Longhorn Indian Springs nearby which sits on scenic property boasting two, private spring-fed lakes. And by next year, 2016, the third Longhorn branch, C3, open to boys AND girls, will sit beside Inks Lake, neighboring the original camp. Needless to say, these are very exciting times at Camp Longhorn.

Each branch at Longhorn differs in certain ways, but each one delivers essentially the same kind of fun and challenges their campers to try things that may be new to them like Baseball, Basketball, Football, Soccer, Tennis, and Rifelry to SCUBA, Water-Skiing, Canoeing, Fishing, and Swimming. They have Rock-Climbing, a Ropes Course, a Putt-Putt Course, they offer Craft time, Wildlife Exploration, Cheer/Gym, Pickleball, and so much more!

Longhorn campers—and their cabin leaders too—sleep in the open-air cabins that are more-than-accommodating. A dozen campers stay in each cabin (selected according to school age) along with two to four cabin leaders. Cabin life shapes campers into close-knit circles in a home-away-from-home where friendships are formed that’ll last a lifetime!

Attawaytogo! Be sure to check out Camp Longhorn for yourself! And, as always, thanks for reading.

- John

Hey, Summer Campers!

Like so many other Hollywood stars, athletes, musicians, and other artists, guess who else among our Hollywood favorites attended summer camp when he was around your age! One of my personal favorites too—Jake Gyllenhaal! He went to the same summer camp as his equally famous, older sister, Maggie Gyllenhaal, at Camp Walt Whitman in New Hampshire.

Camp Walt Whitman met Jake as it did his sister as a warm and inviting summer camp community that strives year after year to give kids a wonderful summer experience, introducing them to close friends and a picture of their own self-worth. This camp was obviously nothing but a positive influence for the Gyllenhaal kids.

Born in New York City, Jake is the son of Stephen Gyllenhaal—a film director—and Naomi Gyllenhaal—a film producer and screenwriter. At an early age his family moved to Los Angeles, California. By age 11, Jake was already making his movie debut in the film ‘City Slickers’ and not too long after that, he played major roles in movies like ‘October Sky’ and the lead, title role in ‘Donnie Darko’ which really solidified the future of his acting career.

Following in his sister’s footsteps, Jake attended Harvard-Westlake prep school and graduated in 1998. He then went to Columbia University while his sister was a senior there—also the school his mother graduated from. He took a couple years there, but eventually decided to concentrate on acting alone. But even with his wild success, he’s shown interest in returning to school to complete his degree.

Since then, Jake has taken on roles that have skyrocketed him to superstardom like ‘Proof’, and thrillers like ‘The Day After Tomorrow’ and ‘Source Code’. Summer camp clearly did Jake some good as it did for his sister. It was a great influence on him and Maggie, what will it do for you? As always, thanks for reading.

- John