Good evening/morning/whenever you get to read this! 🙂

I just finished a stint in the kitchen. I think I picked the wrong night. Washing macaroni & cheese pans is not my favorite camp activity! 😉 The girls who are here: Sprucewood & our Core Campers seemed to really love our hot dogs/mac & cheese night! The Backpack, Pony, & Me girls are camping out in Pine Valley State Land where there are a bunch of horse trails. It used to be called Pineapple Junction, not too sure why there was a name change. Perhaps someone realized we can’t grow pineapple in New York State. 😉

Yesterday we said goodbye to our amazing first-of-the-week Core Campers, and we welcomed in a bunch more today! Core campers always meet with me some time during their first couple of hours so I can explain the schedule. Boy, were the girls excited to do the Buffalo Swim (a weekly tradition where our most skilled swimmers swim from the swim area across the lake, get out, go to the Totem Pole and touch it, get back in and swim back… all cheered on by the crowd on the shore) and swim they did. Though our non/intermediate swimmers cannot do the Buffalo Swim because it’s almost 1/2 mile across the lake and back…so they can cheer them on or they can try out our homemade slip-n-slide on the hill next to the lodge. I’m all about the slip-n-slide; it’s fun, and we use soap to make it more slippery–so everyone is actually clean when they’re done! Just a little camp magic that we use at Timbercrest.

Right now as I type, almost all of the camp is enjoying a s’mores buffet at the fire circle near my cabin. During campers’ choice they tried their hand at fire building, Battleship (throwing wet sponges over a tarp trying to hit their target), cup-stacking, and ball games at the basketball court. I just heard from our Backpack, Pony, & Me girls and all is well after a session on the horse trails. The trip up went very smoothly as well!

It’s been a long yet absolutely wonderful day here at Timbercrest as not only our session winds down, so does our season. Soon the campers will leave, but their memories of Timbercrest will stay with them throughout the year… and we can’t wait to have them back!

Yours in smiles/sunshine/and macaroni & cheese all over my shirt,

–Bloomer