We’ve officially come to the end of our Summer 2019! Family Camp is always a wonderful end to the summer because not only do we have the opportunity to spend some time with some really great and wonderful families and individuals, but we also get to celebrate one last week altogether to finish out the summer.
It was a full week of activities, each providing a new opportunity to make new friends, get to know more of camp, and learn new skills. The stables were open every afternoon, and Laura, our Equestrian Director, took our families not only on trail rides, but also taught vaulting – balancing and performing tricks on the horses. The stables were rather active this past week, and the horses I’m sure loved the company.
The waterfront also was basically open every warm minute of the day. The swimming area was constantly active, and the Aqua-mat was once again a huge hit. There’s something about that large blue mat in the middle of the lake that draws a ton of attention no matter how many are in the water.
Also at the waterfront were all the opportunities for boating adventures! The weather was a bit cooler at the end of the week, so a lot of families and campers opted to go out on the boats – canoes, kayaks, and paddle boards. We even had a little dog end up on one of the paddle boards, which was one of the cutest things I’m sure any of us had ever seen.
The Longhouse was constantly active and bursting with color and new projects while the creativity ran wild under Margie, our Arts & Crafts Director’s amazing leadership. We were finally able to complete the murals for the tennis and basketball courts that have replaced the old, fading ones from around six or so years ago.
There’s one mural to represent each clan – turtles, turkeys, wolves, and bears – as well as a mural representing one of the Metaphysical Activity Periods (MAPs) we did this summer, which addressed God constantly looking over us with a watchful gaze like an eagle watching over her young. We also completed a mural symbolizing our international community, which shows the world surrounded by people holding hands and surrounded by stars. We’ll be putting them up within the next couple days.
The high ropes course was extremely popular this year, along with our rock wall. We had rock wall sessions two afternoons in a row, followed by high ropes classes the days following. Majority of the campers and families were able to test their abilities on our rock wall, and we had a 90% success rate of getting to the top! There are multiple sides to the wall, and so some of the rock paths are more difficult than others, but everyone geared up and did their best.
The high ropes course was full of adventures as majority of the people who signed up had never done the ropes course before. It was really cool to see older siblings, cousins, parents and guardians helping younger campers to complete the multiple obstacles on the course, all ending with a fun zip line.
We are eternally grateful for all the families that spent this past week with us and enjoyed the sunshine and beautiful atmosphere surrounding Crystal Lake. Though we all came as individual families, it definitely felt like we were one, big happy family by the end of the week. I had the privilege of helping the Whipple Mill Overnight people set up for their adventure out to Whipple Mill, and two of our youngest campers held hands and encouraged each other the entire way.
Overall, we had a wonderful summer and we are so grateful for each shining, smiling face that was able to share some of their time with us! Thank you to all the families and individuals who graced us with their presence and made Family Camp so bright, joyous, and just the right amount of spontaneous to keep everyone laughing and exploring.
All our photos from the week have been uploaded to SmugMug, so we hope you’re able to find some great memories in there to keep for years to come! We know we’ll definitely be reminiscing on them, for sure.
– Zoë
Social Media Director/Camp Photographer
zoe@crystallakecamps.org
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