Hey, Camp Fans!

Since our Operations Manager, Brian had a little scare during his summer camp stay way back when, I thought I’d write him an appropriate Camp Lib in which these campers have a little incident.

If you want, you can write down your own words for the blanks too. Just use the following list of requested words and enjoy your own version of Brian’s Camp Lib below. And remember—a noun is a person, place, thing, or idea; a verb is an action word; and an adjective is a word that describes a noun while an adverb is a word that describes a verb.

Have Fun!

1. Nonsense Word
2. Past Tense Verb
3. Adjective
4. Boy’s Name
5. A Musical Instrument
6. Plural Food Item
7. Plural Noun
8. Girl’s Name
9. Plural Noun
10. Verb Ending in ‘ing’
11. Noun
12. Adjective
13. Adverb
14. Same Boy’s Name from #4.
15. Adjective
16. Verb
17. Noun
18. Verb Ending in ‘ing’
19. Adjective
20. Body Part
21. Adjective
22. Same Noun from #11.
23. Same Girl’s Name from #8
24. Same Body Part from #20
25. Same Boy’s Name from #4
26. Same Noun from #17
27. Same Girl’s Name from #8
28. Same Noun from #11
29. Dog Breed
30. Noun
31. Same Body Part from #20

Here’s the Lib:

On the last day at Camp ­­­­­­­­­Flibberty Jibbit, after the sun farted and it got real rotund outside, we had a camp fire. Our Cabin Leader, Ryan, played his trombone while we all sat around the fire roasting Twinkies.

Everyone was having a fine time until we heard strange monkeys coming from the woods.

“What was that?!” said Kristy. “It sounded like rustling basketballs and heavy dancing! I think it’s a telephone!”

A squishy downpour put the fire out almost quickly, stranding us in the darkness. A panic fell over us all as Cabin Leader Ryan­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­  reminded everyone to “keep shiny and to bite.”

“I’ve got a chair here in my backpack,” he said. But as he was searching for it, we heard the leaves­­­­­­­­­­ partying­­­­ and itchy­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­  breathing again.

Before I knew it, there was this warmth on my buttocks­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­  and stinky­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­  smell hitting my nose. I grew very nervous that this was the telephone­­­­­­­­­­­­­  that Kristy­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­  had spoken of.

The hot air grew until its slobbering tongue licked my buttocks­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­  and I shrieked in terror.

Cabin Leader Ryan­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­  had found his chair­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­  at this point, promptly revealing that Kristy’s­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­  telephone­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­  was actually a happy Schnauzer­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­, wagging its jellyfish­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­  and continuing to slobber all over my buttocks­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­.

That Lib got pretty ridiculous pretty quickly. Thanks for reading, Folks!

- John

Hey, Summer Lovers!

What says ‘summer’ more than the Fourth of July? Well, maybe summer camp, but after that I think our Independence Day really drives summer home. No matter what you do today, be it participating in a parade, enjoying a carnival or fair, attending a picnic, a concert, a baseball game, a get-together, or simply admiring the explosive colors in the night’s sky, on July 4 you know it’s SUMMER!

Happy Fourth!

Our modern celebration of Independence Day may be a familiar sight but before 1776, the fourth of July was just another date on the calendar. Back then, the colonists, despite their move in 1620 to ‘The New World’—an attempt to claim their independence—still found themselves under the rule of King George and the government of Great Britain.

As unfair taxation and other conflicts grew between the colonists and the rule of King George, the colonies held a Continental Congress to resolve the matter once and for all. A Virginia statesman named Richard Lee is known for his words in a meeting on June 7 of 1776,

“Resolved: That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved.”

Pretty different from the way we speak today, Mr. Lee was simply saying that the colonies were able to govern themselves and didn’t need Great Britain to do the job.

It was these words that set the wheels in motion. A committee was formed to draft a document stating the colonies’ case for freedom from Britain’s reign. The five members of the committee included John Adams, Roger Sherman, Ben Franklin, Robert Livingston, and Thomas Jefferson. It was Jefferson who actually wrote the document.

After days of careful examination and minor revisions, the document was finally completed on July 4 and the majority of the colonies voted in favor of it. Independence Day celebrates the day that the colonies adopted our Declaration of Independence in 1776.

The document collected signatures of our founding fathers—first and foremost, the signature of John Hancock, President of the Continental Congress, who signed in large print supposedly so “King George can read that without spectacles!”

So, from everyone here at Everything Summer camp, enjoy your Fourth of July, from sea to shining sea.

- John

Hey Camp Fans!

Throwback with Everything Summer Camp’s Throwback Thursday Blog post from about a year ago. We feel that today’s Throwback post was so valuable we want to get it in front of you again. Today’s Throwback post goes back to a post from last year in June, written by Dr. Thurber about visiting your kids during their summer camp stay.

In today’s Throwback post, he shares pointers and good advice on rolling with the punches of visiting day.

Click here to read Dr. Chris Thurber’s article about visiting day.

- John

Hey, Forgetful Friends!

Today is…umm…oh shoot! What day is it again? I forgot. Wait a minute—that’s it. Today is I Forgot Day. We all have rough days where everything seems to slip our mind. These are the days where you walk into the other room for something and once you’re there…you…can’t quite…remember what it was you…meant to grab.

Though my memory is stupendous, I am one of the most forgetful people I know. That sounds like a paradox, but it’s not. See, I can recall things that impress and sometimes baffle other people; yet, I swear, I hold the record for trips to the grocery store made WITHOUT bringing my wallet along…

But I digress. Anyway, what was I talking about again?

Ah, yes! Forgetting things! It’s easy to do which is why there’s an entire day dedicated to us forgetful folks. Today is meant for those poor saps out there who forgot their mother’s birthday or something even worse (if there is anything worse).

I don’t know if it’s worse than your mom’s b-day, but forgetting camp clothes and other essential items at summer camp can be a real nuisance. That’s why, as most camps already suggest, you should label EVERYTHING.

Clothing Name Labels and Stick-On Name Labels from Everything Summer Camp are sure to help you remember your belongings. After all, It’s a lot harder to forget about something when it’s got your name on it! Our full color iron-on name labels will take care of your clothes and you can tag your toothbrush, water bottle, shoes, and other camp gear with our colorful and durable Stick-Ons.

Thanks for reading, Camp Fans. And don’t forget to…uh…uhh…hmm. What was I about to say?

- John

Hey, Ice Cream Enthusiasts!

It’s Creative Ice Cream Flavors Day and we’re celebrating here at Everything Summer Camp! We all know that everyone screams for ice cream, but what KIND are we all screaming for? That’s a loaded question! Do you have any idea how many different ice cream flavors there are—‘cause I don’t! And I’m pretty sure that no one really does as new flavors are being invented all the time.

Here’s a brief history of ice cream:

At the end of the 17th Century, Italians started experimenting with freezing drinks for desserts. Hot chocolate had recently become a fast-favorite, standing alongside other popular drinks like coffee and tea. These became the first three ice cream flavors.

Since then, people have greatly expanded the variety of flavors in the magical and sometimes surprising realm of ice cream. Everyone’s tried strawberry and vanilla and, of course, the aforementioned chocolate. Most of us have ventured into astonishing creations like Cookies ‘n Cream, Rocky Road, and the addictive Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough.

But if you think you’re well-versed in the world of ice cream and you’ve never heard of Sbraga in Philadelphia, SoBou in New Orleans, Humphrey Slocombe in San Francisco, or Sweet Action Ice Cream in Denver, then you’ve only tasted the tip of the ice cream iceberg.

Reminiscent of ‘Harry Potter Jelly Bellies’, ice cream can take on some pretty bizarre flavors. Just how bold do you think you are? Would you try Szechuan Pepper Ice Cream? How about Bacon or Basil Avocado?

They’re doing absolutely crazy things at Sweet Action Ice Cream! They make a beet-flavored ice cream, a tomato-basil flavor, chorizo ice cream, goat cheese, curry powder, and—brace yourself—honey jalapeño pickle ice cream!

My face is scrunching just having to spell it out—but (unlike the ‘Harry Potter Jelly Bellies’) weird ice cream flavors aren’t made just for the sake of being weird. They’re actually served as desserts that people intentionally order and eat because these flavors taste good.

I, myself, have never tried any bacon-flavored ice cream, so I can’t say that it’s any good. Of course, I can’t say it’s bad either. But even if I could, there’s only one way to see if YOU like it!

Thanks for reading!

- John