September 27, 2009

Happy Fall

Hi Everyone!  Well, it is officially fall...the leaves are changing, the nights are getting cooler and the days are getting a little bit shorter.  I can't wait to go pumpkin picking, decorate the front porch with mums and scarecrows, and of course, pick out a Halloween costume for Jake!  I am not sure what he should be this year...last year he was a monkey (an adorable one at that!) but I haven't made a decision yet for this year...any ideas?  What I do know, though, is that I need to hurry up because Halloween will be here before we know it!

I absolutely love fall, it's my favorite season!  The only thing that would make it better is if camp lasted right from summer through the fall!  I can't tell you how many times campers and staff have suggested that camp should run for 9 months and school for 3 months!  That would be amazing...village pumpkin decorating contests in the fall, sledding in the winter, puddle jumping challenges in the spring...the possibilities are endless!  But since schools may not like this calendar too much, we will continue to keep camp in the summer and pack as much fun and excitement into the 8 weeks that we have together!  We are already putting together some new ideas for special events, one of which was inspired by the very idea of camp being held at different times of the year- CK's own Winter Wonderland!  I cannot give you details just yet, but I can say that we have some really fun thoughts running through our heads!  Now, I'm getting ahead of myself, I have jumped into winter!  Let me back up to September and enjoy the beautiful New England Autumn!  I hope that all of you are still thinking camp and soon it will be time to start our Reunion Countdown!!!  More on that later!  So Happy Fall to all of you and I will talk to you again next week...same time, same place!

Kathryn

Our 2008 trip to the Pumpkin Patch . . . we can't wait to go again this year!

September 21, 2009

Touring at Minisink

Hello everyone,

Last Sunday was our first open house at Minisink. It was a picture perfect day. We had a bunch of families come to see the cabins and the lake. I was so excited about the positive feedback from everyone. Minisink is really a beautiful place, and I highly encourage you to come take a look. I have heard some gossip that Campus Kids is creating a mega-camp with over 400 campers. That is not the case at all. We are planning to keep Campus Kids with our usual number of campers. I have a feeling that some sessions will sell out very quickly, so contact us soon and hop on one of our next tour dates: 10/3, 10/4, 10/10, 10/11, 10/17. The tours run at 11:00 AM, 12:30 PM and 2:00 PM.

Someone sent me an email asking if Campus Kids Minisink is all about nature and limited sports. Campus Kids will continue to run all of our usual sports activities. In fact, the sports area is incredible. There is room on the professional fields for many large activities to happen at the same time. I think one of the highlights is a full 120 yards of a football field with goal posts. (Big Cat will be very happy.) Of course we will have soccer, lacrosse, basketball, clinics, softball, tennis, newcomb, ga-ga, volleyball, four way newcomb, floor hockey, golf, Australian rules football, rugby, capture the flag, cricket, and everything else we have always done. Theo and I were scouting out the softball field and lefties are going to have a huge advantage in home run derby. The right field porch is about 200 feet away. Left field is about 300 feet and I think some of our sluggers will have a good chance of pulling a few HRs that way. Now CF is going to be unreachable. It would be like hitting a homer from the new Yankee stadium to the old one.

So is it too early to begin a count down for CK2010? It will be our 20th anniversary. Maybe that should be a dance theme? The Anniversary dance! I like it.

Well September is almost done already. The Jets and Giants are both 2-0. The Yankees are getting ready for the playoffs. These are all signs of fall, but the calendar seems to fly by very quickly. Halloween will be here before you know it and then into Turkey day. After that, we will all be together at the reunion and then winter approaches rapidly and the new year begins. Once we get into January then we can really start the countdown. A countdown to what will be the most amazing summer ever!

See you next week.

Brad
 

September 19, 2009

Change is Good!

Hi Everyone!  Welcome to my 1st blog!  For those of you who do not yet know me, my name is Kathryn and I have been the Associate Director of Campus Kids Connecticut for the past 9 summers.  I began at Campus Kids Connecticut in 1995 as a counselor for girls entering 7th grade- what a FUN summer!  I loved CK so much that I decided to come back for another summer.  When I returned, I was one of 2 Girls' Directors.  Once again, I had another amazing summer.  So 1 summer turned into 2 summers, which turned into 3 summers...you get the picture!  And here I am now, entering my 16th year as part of the CK family and loving camp more than ever!  Camp is fun, crazy, exciting, emotional (the list goes on), but the one thing that camp has never been, in my experience, is boring!  Each summer is new and different...along with returning campers and staff, there are always some new campers, some new staff, some new activities and definitely new memories to be made!  I say all of this because of the change that Campus Kids Connecticut is going through this year...we are merging with Campus Kids Minisink.  I know this news was a shock to many of our campers and staff, but I also know that many of you are looking forward to this new opportunity and the journey that lies ahead.  Now, for those of you who think that the cabin setting may not be for you because all you have ever known is CKCT in the dorms...I understand how you feel.  Like I said, I have been a part of CKCT for 15 summers- each summer living in a dorm.  But let me tell you, I am so looking forward to this new experience!  This week has been a great one!  And it went by as quickly as one of our camp weeks, believe it or not!  It was fun to start working on preparations for next year!  We spent a lot of time talking about all of the new things we will be able to do, as well as all of the fun activities and events that we will be able to bring with us!  Tricia, Brad and I spent most of the day Wednesday at camp.  We are getting ready for our 1st day of tours on Sunday and are so happy that we have so many families coming up over the next few weeks!  We can't wait to show everyone around.  I have already found a few of my favorite spots at camp...the frog catching pond, the amazing gymnastics gym, Root Beer Lake (how great of a name is that?), Lookout Point (one of the most amazing views at camp) and the campfire area (you will have to see this- it is actually my "favoritest" spot!).  So I encourage everyone to come up and at least take a look at Minisink!  I know that change is not an easy thing, but change is good!  I hope to see you many of you next summer and I will talk to you again next week...same time, same place!

Kathryn

September 14, 2009

Big News

So the big news went out last week to all the Campus Kids CT families. I have heard from many of you and the initial feedback has been very positive.  Now I know that some of you are shocked and still processing this big change.  I do want to tell you that everything happened very quickly, and Kathryn and I wanted you to know as soon as possible.  I am very excited that this Sunday we have our first group of families coming to see Minisink.  It really is beautiful and the facilities are amazing.  We are going to run all of our favorite CKCT activities and then add tons of boating including sailing, more fishing, the ropes course, biking, the blob, the aqua zip line into the lake, and so much more.

Living in the cabins will certainly be different than the dorm life.  Minisink cabins are clustered in a village setting.  I can picture all of our age groups really enjoying hanging out in their villages.  There will be lots of space to throw around a ball or Frisbee or chill out on a picnic table while playing a guitar.  I am really looking forward to this type of setting and feel like it will only help to bring everyone closer together.

Campus Kids will always be our special Monday through Friday place.  The success of our program comes from having a great group of campers and a very talented and outgoing staff.  Together we create the fun and the memories.  I know that this will continue at CK Minisink.

We are less than 10 months away from rocket launches, capture the flag, games of manhunt (which will be awesome at Minisink), dances, carnival, water world, homerun derby, camper vs. counselor challenge matches, creative art projects, music jams, incredible drama shows, talent shows, archery, gold rush (yes the gold of Maximus Carlsson has made its way to Minisink---and gold rush will rock at CKM), campfires, blobbing, fun, friendships, and the best summer of our lives.

If you are interested in seeing Minisink please call us and setup a tour soon (877-525-2181).  Because of the merge, spaces will fill up much faster than usual.

Enjoy the nice fall weather and talk to you next week.

Brad