Camp Westwind

YWCA Camp Westwind
Encouraging Community
Embracing Diversity
Exploring the World Around Us!





Thursday, July 7, 2011

Session 3, Day 3



Hello Friends and Family!

We have had a pretty busy week at camp! For example..Tonight, after dinner we had our last campfire in which a story was told that took us on a ride down to camp. On this ride, they met Murray the Rabbit Boy, Frampton the Crab, a Fairy, a Giant, Poor Boy, Rich Girl, and Baby Moon. (Those are all camp songs) Following the campfire, we thew our hands up in the air, and had a dance party! The Sherwood boys had s'mores while Maid Marion got their snow cones for having the cleanest cabin!

Also, you're never going to guess what happened! The Fairy Queen wrote to the Sherwood girls, and explained that the fairies were all away at camp, but would return and sleep in their new houses tonight. I wonder if they will get more letters tomorrow!

This week, one of our campers made their first sandwich ever! On this sandwich, she put: 2 pieces of bread, mayo, cheddar cheese, strawberry jam, mustard, ketchup, slice of turkey, 2 slices of tomato, and one grape. She was so proud of herself, ate the whole thing, and enjoyed it!

This evening, at sunset, there were 27 elk in the field today too! And, a deer came to visit us at the archery range.

Okay, it's time to say goodnight! I can't believe that Session 3 ends tomorrow! Bring on Father Child Camp! WooHoo!







Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Session 3, Day 1

Daisy on my Toe
I’ve got a daisy on my toe
It is not real, it does not grow
It’s just a tattoo of a flower
So I look groovy while taking a shower
It’s on the second toe of my left foot
Doo-doo loot doot doot
It has a stem, but has no roots
Cause it wouldn’t look good!
Oh pretty daisy on my toe
My right foot loves my left foot so-o-o
Doo-doo loot doot doot

Welcome parents and campers to session 3, Mini Camp/First Timers! Today was a wonderful day!

Our small session of campers was greeted today by lots of sun and enthusiastic staff! While crossing today, the lifeguards today worked on their kayaking skills while the campers played games with the staff on the beach. They had an active day of games, emergency practice drills and campfire; not to mention our Tuesday Sundaes!

Did you know that the Olympics came to Camp Westwind tonight?! These were not any ordinary Olympics, these were extraordinary Olympics! Countries participated in finding who could drink the most water, fire blow, and some others (sorry, I forgot already!) Mixed in between, we had some fabulous skits by campers! They were amazing, the effort the campers put in to put on a skit on the first night.

I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings!!!

Menu:
Dinner: Spaghetti, meatballs (Veggie option), red sauce, salad bar, "Sundae Sundays"

Thursday, June 30, 2011

Session 2, Day 5

Song for today...

Flicker
Flicker of the campfire, wind in the pines
The stars in the heavens, the moon that shines
A place where people gather, make friends of all kinds
A place where Old Man Trouble is always left behind

Chorus:
So give me the light of the campfire, warm and bright
And give me some friends to sing with, I’ll be here all night
Love is for those who find it, I’ve found mine right here
Just you and I and the campfire and the songs we love to
hear
Da-da, da da-da da-da da-da

The peacefulness of Westwind, the silence of night
The sun in the morning that shines so bright
A place where campers gather, make friends for all time
A place where city troubles are always left behind (Chorus)

Green are the valleys, sweet is the clover
Gone are the cold winds forever more
The roses now are blooming, the ocean’s so blue
The sun above is shining upon our love so new (Chorus)

For love is like a warm fire, soft and low
And when you find your true love, your heart will really know
And when the leaves start falling, and friends begin to part
These memories of Westwind will be in every heart (Chorus)

Sing Your Way Home
Sing your way home at the close of the day
Sing your way home, drive the shadows away
Smile every mile, for wherever you roam
It will brighten your road, it will lighten your load
If you sing your way home

It's sad to say, but the session is coming to an end! Shoot, where is the time going?! I would have to say that even though the session has had some rain, that hasn't dampened the camp spirit.

If you've read the rest of the blogs, you know what we've been up to, up until today. Today, let me tell you, was a fantastic day! The sun was shining, and it was so warm. It was a great day to have a BBQ dinner!

Some of the highlights of this week:
The Teen Unit! The Teen Lead's did a great job with campfire! It was a Scooby Doo campfire, where they tried to find "Tom Cruise."

Fairy Houses! I don't know if you know this, but Camp Westwind has little fairies that live around camp. Sometimes they even make an appearance at campfire! The Sherwood campers this week made many fairy houses to house them from the rainy weather... The campers and the fairies were writing back and forth to each other all week. Did you know the best way to get a letter at camp is by shrinky dink?

Well, I can't believe the week is over! But, it's about time for me to head out and watch some starstomping!

By the way, if you are interested in pictures from this session, you can order our AMAZING camp DVD on UltraCamp in your account! The campers seem to be very interested, so check it out!

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Session 2, Day 4


Oh man! I wish you gals & guys reading this could hear what I am hearing and see what I'm seeing now! Our all camp tonight was about Siegfried the Slug (see previous blogs to read about him).... He finally realized what he was good at, and it is dancing! Right now camp is having an all-camp dance, and the campers and staff are singing together and dancing! It is so awesome! I was too excited to tell you about that, so I had to get it out of the way first! It's great hearing campers chant "it's too much fun, it's too much fun!" I really wish the video function on the blog was working!

The weather today wasn't fantastic, in fact it poured most of the day. The best part though (from my perspective) is that the kids still wanted to be outside, and those who didn't stayed inside and played games, went to The Cove, or the Art Palace. Teens' tents were flooding, so they came back to camp early, making the decision on their own (although they wanted to stay out).

This week has been so amazing despite the weather, and the kids are having an amazing time! I can't believe that tomorrow is the last full day of camp! That's crazy, we just started this camp party!

Time for more snow cones and a visit to the donut shop (the downstairs "donut shop" of course!) and to bust a move!

Menu:
Breakfast - Packout!
Lunch - Mexican Lasagna, salad bar, sandwich bar
Dinner - Chicken Pot Pie, watermelon, salad bar, sandwich bar

Tuesday, June 28, 2011



Hello! Whew, it has been a pretty busy couple of days out here at the beach!

Yesterday morning, cabins spent time preparing skits and songs for the Talent Show and bonding as a cabin.

In the afternoon, Sherwood spent time between the Art Palace making tie-dye, shrinky-dinks, and more, as well as The Cove. The Cove if you don't know, is our new hang-out spot, with a sound system for dance parties, music while playing games, and our camp store has moved there! The rest of the afternoon, Sherwood spent the rest of their afternoon on the Challenge Course.

Highlands cabins spent the first part of their afternoon on the Challenge Course. The rest of their afternoon, they were the lucky ones with shower & cabin time!

Alpine spent the afternoon at the Barn & Aquatics. They had choices in doing the Bouldering Wall, Archery and Soccer at the barn. During the Aquatics, they had the opportunity to go kayaking and river dipping.

The Teens filled their day with leadership skills, kayaking, Art Palace, and more adventures!

Now, I'd like to remind you that all of that fun happened while it was raining outside! WooHoo!!! Kids outside in the rain is amazing! I love it!

After dinner, the whole camp gathered back into the Lodge for our Talent Show. The Talent Show was amazing! Campers sang songs, did improve, and participated in skits. It's amazing to see how amazing and talented all the campers and staff are!

If you'd like to know what we had for meals, here you go!
Monday
Breakfast: Eggs, bacon, hashbrowns, milk, juice, cereal bar, breakfast bar, and bread bar.
Lunch: Packout Lunches - make your own sandwich, chips, cookies, veggies & fruit
Dinner: Chicken & rice, biscuits, water, milk, juice

Tuesday
Breakfast: Pancakes, bacon & sausage, milk, juice, cereal bar, breakfast bar, and bread bar.
Lunch: Tuna Casserole, salad bar, bread/sandwich bar
Dinner: Packout Dinner - Dinners are being made at their overnight spots!

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Session 2, Day 1



Let's start with a song for you...
Siegfried the Slug

Siegfried was a slug
But not he’s not your average bug
You can love him like a brother or a sister or a dog
But you just can’t give him a hug

I’ll tell you why
He’s just to slimy, too slimy to slimy
And he’s really really small, really small, really really small
And you don’t know where he’s going, where’s he going, where’s he going
Look he’s climbing up the wall, up the wall, up the wall.

Siegfried was a slug
But he’s not your average bug
You can’t tell the front from the back sometimes
But he sure can cut a rug

UH-UH UH UH UH
UH UH UH UH UH
UH UH UH UH UH
Funky cold slug

UH-UH UH UH UH
UH UH UH UH UH
UH UH UH UH UH
Funky cold slug

1-2-3-4- get your sluggy on the floor
gotta gotta get up to get down,
gotta gotta get up to get down

1-2-3-4- get your sluggy on the floor
gotta gotta get up to get down,
gotta gotta get up to get down

We are off to a great start here at Camp for Session 2! After arrival today, we came to the lodge for grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup (and salad bar of course), then headed out for some activities. Campers played on the beach, Teens went kayaking, they moved into their cabins, later we gathered in front of the lodge to review emergency plans (just in case), had flag, sang songs, ate dinner, Sundae Sundays, and campfire.

Campfire was loads of fun - it was a "Royal Wedding!" The kids were all laughing super hard!

Can't wait for another great Westwind day tomorrow!

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Session 1, Day 4

A song for you today...
Barges
Out of my window looking in the night
I can see the barges’ flickering light
Silently flows the water to the sea
And the barges, too, go silently

Chorus:
Barges, I would like to go with you
I would like to sail the ocean blue
Barges, have you treasures in your hold?
Do you fight with pirates brave and bold?

Out my window looking in the night
I can see the barges’ flickering light
Starboard shines green and port is glowing red
You can see them flickering ahead (Chorus)

How my heart longs to sail away with you
I would like to sail the ocean blue
But I must stay beside my window drear
As I watch you sail away from here (Chorus)

Today was another glorious day! It was a little bit overcast, but that did not damper the day at all. This morning, campers came back from the overnight (Sherwood a little early as the ravens got to their food bags that were tied so nicely in the trees - don't worry though, they came back and their Unit Coordinator had breakfast waiting for them). Teens of course are still on their overnight - they will return tomorrow.


After enjoying their overnights, campers came back to camp and unloaded their gear. Some showered, some went mudmucking, some went to the Art Palace, and others went to the beach. We had a hot lunch today, then campers went back out to enjoy the outside. Campers went to mudmucking, kayaking, sports, tie-dye, games, archery, bouldering wall, challenge course, and more!


The day ended with an Alien All-Camp! It was so much fun! Here are some pictures from it!