This morning I photographed the MAC campers in their last enrichment classes this session. In “Old School Science Lab,” Ovie helped the kids make slime. Each camper had the choice of which color to make their sticky goo, and then they played with it for the rest of the class. Check out the crazy fun!
I also stopped by wizard training where they were drawing their own hybrid magical creature. Here’s a clip of one of the campers describing his creation:
Then, this evening, everyone played Capture the Counselor!!! This is a pretty important game at Mercersburg… the counselors hide in trees, bushes, and other nooks and crannys around campus and the campers run around looking for them. Once the counselors are found and tagged, they are then dragged off to jail. Each counselor is worth a certain number of points and whichever team (the Hurricanes or the Tornadoes) finds the most counselors wins! Some of the counselors put up a good fight though…
I also stopped some campers while they were searching and got some group shots:
All in all, it was an awesome day for the MAC-sters. And I have to say that I’m pretty excited for tomorrow’s adventures…The campers don’t know what’s in store for them yet but they find out I’m sure they’ll be thrilled!!
In other news, I stopped by the ESL classrooms this afternoon to find them hard at work:
And after meeting up with ESL, I photographed JAC as they did a hockey/tennis rotation AND some abstract painting:
The kids really are having a lot of fun. They are getting close with each other and with the counselors and are trying lots of new activities every day. It’s exciting to see everyone getting along and pushing themselves to try new things!
This morning, the MAC-ers started their day off with enrichments. I visited “Old School Science Lab” where they softened egg shells in a bowl of vinegar:
And “Adventures in Clay” where the campers were painting their clay creations:
I also got to watch some pretty interesting action in “MAC Films” where some campers acted out a skit while the others filmed it.
After enrichments, the MAC campers had great outdoors. There was mountain biking:
Kayaking:
and Rock climbing:
In other news, I stopped by the gameroom to photograph ESL during their free hour today. They were playing foosball, ping pong, pool, and air hockey.
Then the Junior Adventure Campers arrived at Mercersburg! I met up with them to watch as they played “Name Games” and got to know each other better. Then they went decorate their cabins. I photographed each cabin (campers and counselors together.) They will take these pictures home at the end of the week. The photo shoots were pretty silly!
(The rest of these can be found on our flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mercersburgsummer/collections/72157627326644386/ )
Things are pretty exciting here at Mercersburg. There’s a lot of fun activities going on all day in all the camps! Make sure you’re keeping up-to-date with your kids on flickr:
Today, the campers got to sleep in and have a nice relaxing morning in their cabins. They wrote letters home, read, and just hung out. The junior girls showed up to lunch with some impressive hairdos:
I also stopped by “The Craft of Art” where they were painting picture frames and masks:
And I went to “Wizard Training” just in time to see a few incredible card tricks:
Derek covered “Joy of Cooking” where they were making their own personalized pizzas:
And ”Edible Experiments” where they were making ice cream:
And “Center Stage” where the campers were having a blast planning their end-of-camp skit:
What a great afternoon!
For dinner, the kids got to have a cookout on the Ford Patio. After they ate, they played games like four square, frisbee and pretzle pie (a game with a ball that’s basically an excuse for everyone to get sprayed with the hose!)
But these games weren’t even the most exciting part of the night. Tonight is the camp out! The kids sleep in tents on campus. Before heading off to bed, everyone walked over to the astronomy shed and looked at Saturn through a huge telescope! What a treat! Derek is going to upload these pictures and create a stop motion video…he got some pretty awesome shots of the kids as they saw the second largest planet.
That’s all for tonight! It’s been a busy day and we’re all ready for a good nights sleep. More updates to come tomorrow.
Today was the last day of Discovery Camp : ( They ended the week with a bang though! This afternoon the kids had a fantastic time on a huge slip n’ slide and rock climbing in the barn.
Here is the Climbing Speicialist, Brian, helping a camper get ready to scale the wall:
MAC also had a lot of adventures today. This morning, the Hurricanes and Tornadoes got dressed up in their best red and blue gear to battle each other in the Camp Wars. They played basketball, volleyball, kickball and ultimate frisbee. Check out the fun!
After lunch, the campers headed out to Cowan’s Gap to cool off in the lake:
It was an awesome end to another incredible week at Mercersburg Summer!
Hey! This is Derek. Have you forgotten what I look like? Well, don’t worry about it. So have I. =]
It rained today, you see. Not all day, but I spent the evening taking pictures as WATERPROOF CAMERAMAN 2.0… as pictured below. It’s probably my favorite outfit ever.=]
Anyway, as the blog title suggests, today was an ‘All Day Great Outdoors.’ What that means is that the campers explored the outdoorness of the area from nine to five (with a break for lunch, of course!)
We met up on the steps of Tippetts after breakfast, and the groups split to their separate vans. For your viewing pleasure, we have pictures of three Great Outdoors groups: mountain biking, geocaching and rock climbing.
First up: mountain biking! This activity is self-explanatory. Basically, you get on a bike, and ride in the mountains. Fun. =]
ACTION SHOT. =D
Annnnd here are the campers with their trusty steeds! =]
Next up is geocaching. Of the three, this is the one you might not know. Basically, you grab a GPS and search down very specific coordinates. Hidden at these coordinates is a cache… a hidden treasure. Thus, geo (world) caching (treasure hunting!). So here’s the crew from geocaching.
Oh, also, don’t mind that it says 2008. The camera date thing was messed up… We’re working on that. =P
Cache = found. Geocaches are often hidden in large plastic containers because they seal and they’re durable.
A geocache might contain small toys or knick knacks, and almost always has a little book where all the people to find the cache sign in and great other geocachers. (My spell-check is going crazy with all these variations of ‘geocache’… Apparently nobody put it in the system yet.)
‘nother one group shot: Geocaching.
Next up: ROCK CLIMBING. This one is my personal favorite… I go along with rock climbing whenever possible. I like to be a spider monkey. =D
I don’t really have anything to say about rock climbing, except that it’s awesome and everyone should do it. =]
Oh, in other news, the campfire was cancelled due to rain. But don’t fret! Our enterprising counselors found other ways to keep everyone entertained.
Read ‘entertained’ as DANCE PARTY! Yup, that’s right. MAC took over one of the theatres in Burgin for the night and broke out their finest dance moves. =]
‘Do the shuffle.’ =]
The following picture started with one person: Johnny, in his purple hat. As soon as I lifted the camera, though, a swarm happened, and everyone else jumped in! I love the days when everyone wants to be in the picture. =]
‘Got a brand new dance, we’re gonna do the shuffle!’
Everybody danced together before the junior campers (and the camera guy) headed home for bed. Well, bed in their case. (Lucky!) The camera guy has work to do. =]
The Discovery Campers went Tubing on the Antietam creek this morning. The kids had so much fun floating down the river, getting in splash fights and looking at the beautiful scenery. They even got to go down some pretty exciting rapids.
Although Discovery is a day camp, the kids get to stay over one night and camp out at Mercersburg!!!
Today, the MAC campers went White Water Rafting!!! The Juniors went to the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers by Harpers Ferry, West Virginia and the Seniors went to the Youghiogheny River.
Here are some shots of the juniors:
When the juniors got back, everyone was hungry after the long day on the river. They were excited to eat dinner outside on the ford patio:
After dinner, the boys played kickball:
while the girls decorated their cabins:
The kids are having a blast!! Everyday is filled with opportunities for the campers to try new things, to push themselves to new heights (whether this is to reach a distant section on the rock wall or to eat their last piece of broccoli at dinner), to form great friendships and to create unforgettable memories at camp!
Don’t forget to follow us on Youtube. We’ve got tons of updates on the adventures occurring at MAC! There are new videos of the kickball game, the cabin decorating, a watermelon pass in the pool, horseback riding, and kayaking! See what’s going on with your kids on the Mercersburg channel:
This afternoon, all the MAC campers headed out for their Great Outdoors! I tagged along with the group that went horseback riding. Each camper learned to groom and ride a horse. Regardless of whether they had taken horseback riding lessons or never seen a horse in their life, everyone had a fantastic time.
Check out some of the action on youtube:
Derek went with the kayakers and canoers and made this awesome video with the paddling specialist, Ethan:
Another group went geocaching around the Mercersburg Campus and the town of Mercersburg. They all learned how to use a GPS and each camper had the opportunity to lead the whole group to find the next cache. Some of the caches were created by past MAC sessions, but a few of them were actually registered with the official geocaching site.
Along the way they took some pretty creative shots…
MAC started the day with some awesome enrichments. One of the enrichments was “Center Stage.” The campers did skits in which had to act like creepy strangers. The goal was to get their partner to move away from them to another seat. They also did some “freeze” improv.
Next, I photographed some campers getting creative in “Adventures in Clay.” (They seemed very serious about their work!)
I got to the “Iron Chef” enrichment just in time to find more campers hard at work. They were making various sauces to eat with their pasta. Mmmh!
Then I got a chance to watch bracelet-making in “The Craft of Art”:
For dinner, the campers were in for a real treat: The Carnival!!! There were games and prizes, an ice cream truck, and even a huge blow-up obstacle course. The kids got to take part in any activity they chose and were able to get to know one another better. Check out the fun!
All in all, it was a great day for the MAC campers. Hopefully they’ll be well rested and ready for the adventures in store for them tomorrow! (If you’re not finding all the images from today that you’re looking for, don’t forget to check out our flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mercersburgsummer/
AND let’s not forget about the Discovery Campers!! Today was the first day of Mercersburg’s Discovery Day Camp! (and what an exciting one it was!) In the morning, the kids got to get to know each other and their counselors by playing some name games and taking part in a sports rotation. Then, after lunch, they headed to an Alpaca farm. Check out these sweet images of the fun afternoon:
Hello everyone! You were probably here for part of this, but here’s a recap of everything that went on today. =]
Everybody showed up and moved in. New campers and stayovers from last session showed me some of their best camp song poses – SNARE NOSED BUZZARD… SITTING IN A DEAD TREE!
After that, parents and campers alike gathered in Burgin for an introduction…
And then the campers played NAME GAMES. =D
Sometimes it’s hard to remember names. =P
After everyone was well acquainted, they walked over to the Front Entrance Lawn to take part in an awesome obstacle course with a 40 yd. dash, zig-zags, and hurdles. It was pretty exciting!
After all their hard work, the campers ate a delicious dinner in the dining hall and then headed over for their first campfire. They learned all the campfire songs and moves including the MAC song!
Mercersburg Summer is a one of a kind experience where kids from all backgrounds can come to expand their interests. Be sure to check out one of our programs today! Learn more!
All in all, it was an awesome day for the MAC-sters. And I have to say that I’m pretty excited for tomorrow’s adventures…The campers don’t know what’s in store for them yet but they find out I’m sure they’ll be thrilled!!
The kids really are having a lot of fun. They are getting close with each other and with the counselors and are trying lots of new activities every day. It’s exciting to see everyone getting along and pushing themselves to try new things!
