Otyokwa - Day 1

Today was the best day of summer…the first day of camp! We were so excited to welcome the campers and show them the beautiful property we are at this year. The cabins are super cozy and the lake is absolutely gorgeous. We were gifted a BEAUTIFUL summer day for our first day of camp and so we took full advantage of it and swam a ton.

We started the day by playing a get-to-know-you game using M&M’s. After learning a but about each other, we ate fresh banana bread the counselors had made, went over some camp rules, and swam. After swimming the campers ate a yummy lunch - baked potatoes with lots different toppings. There was corn, broccoli, bacon, salsa, green onions, sour cream and more! Then the campers had rest time where they could read, nap, or play quietly.

After rest time we tie dyed our camp t-shirts!….and then swam again! After swimming for the second time the campers had free time to shower, play, read, write, etc. Haven’s cabin was in charge of dinner and they learned how to stretch dough and make homemade pizza and salad for dinner! After dinner, we built a fire and had the classic camp s’more’s with a slight twist of adding reese’s peanut butter cups instead of chocolate….we would highly recommend.

As we ate, we did a “shoutout circle” where anyone (campers or counselors) could give a shoutout to somebody else at camp about something they did that day. It could be something they did well, something they helped with, a way that they were especially nice to someone, etc. We love doing this as a way to highlight positive things our friends did during the day.

Once the campers finished their s’mores, they got the idea in their heads that they wanted a sunset swim and so began begging the counselors for a THIRD swim time. We had to admit it was pretty gorgeous with the sunset, and so we caved and let them swim again :) As we were swimming we noticed the sunset was becoming even more dramatic around the corner and so we got out of the water and ran over to the Point to watch the last part of the sunset. It was a pretty perfect end to the most perfect first day of camp!

Tomorrow we plan on more crafts and of course more swimming!!