Or so the saying goes. For some reason the polar vortex decided to rear its head down into the Northwoods of Wisconsin and turned a mid July day into what felt like fall in the midwest. The truth is that rainy days are often welcome, but not on the first full day of camp. A rainy day allows the campers to have a more relaxed day, hang out with friends and play some card games. We've got a lot of stuff that we have to get through just after the campers arrive. Swim tests need to be taken. Each camper needs a physical, and last but not least, there is continuous dodgeball to be played. When we looked at the weather forecast a few days ago, however, it seemed as though mother nature wasn't going to do us any favors.
More importantly, a rainy day just after campers arrive isn't the best way to welcome campers to camp. We want campers out and running around, having fun and really getting into things. This is the key to ensuring an easy transition and minimizing homesickness. But if its going to rain, there isn't much we can do about the weather. There is, however something that we can do about making sure that the kids are still having a great time.
The radar didn't really lie and we woke up with temps that were a bit cooler than normal and intermittent rain... but we went ahead with our normal first day anyway. We had a hot chocolate station set up in our main lodge for after swim tests. Continuous dodgeball was a blast for everyone and the brief rain seemed to make the great games even more fun. Our health staff got everyone through physicals with ease.
It was all a matter of attitude. Campers and staff alike could've complained about the weather, but instead they made the most out of it and made a great day. Campers were at camp for less than 24 hours and were rearing to go. Their energy was contagious and all across camp you could hear the excitement that was infused into camp after saying goodbye to our 1st session campers just two days earlier. Attitude was truly everything and the afternoon was capped off by our first organized free of the session.
We ended the day with our opening banquet dinner, wanegan and capture the flag. As this blog goes online, the first set of schedules are printed and at breakfast on Tuesday campers will find out their activities for the coming week. There's softball to be played, walls to climb and fish to catch and if today was any indication, a little bit of rain isn't going to hold our campers and staff down!
