When we arrived at Base Camp (8th & Yosemite) first thing Thursday morning we were greeting by Director Betsy and our 26′ portable rock wall! Before climbing the Dr. Awesomes sang water-related morning songs like “Swimming, Swimming” and “The Fishing Song.” Each camper was energized and got to interact with every member of the group during our morning game of Evolution (also known as Egg, Chicken, Dinosaur). The campers tried to stump staff member Zach during the teambuilding activity Body English, where the campers formed a letter with his/her body to spell a word for the staff member to guess. Nice job, campers. Then it was time for climbing. Betsy gave a great safety intoduction about harnesses, helmets, and the correct way to climb and decend the rock wall. Campers practiced patience and encouraging one another while they waited for their turn to climb. Each camper did a wonderful job and challenged themselves in their own personal way.
After eating lunch under the shade of our canopy we packed the van and headed for Stapleton’s F15 Pool. This pool was perfect for us- a huge grassy area where we played a version of volleyball, our very own canopy for shade, and a pool with a deeper end for more experienced swimmers and a shallow end with fountains and a bubble area (“like being in a volcano but not hot,” one camper described). In the pool some campers raced in the swimming lanes while others played Blob Tag or make-believe. We made sure to reapply sunscreen before heading back into the pool for our second hour of swimming.
After our swim time we went to Stapleton’s Central Park to make Sponge Bugs and eat snack. Our debriefing activity for the day was called Code in Action. In this activity campers described examples where a fellow cabin mate followed our code. Examples included working as a team to get t-shirts, being honest when we were afraid or nervous about something, and sharing helmets during rock climbing. We ended our day singing “Ghost Riders”and “On Top of Spaghetti.”