Summer FunShine – August 2008

Summer Camp for August has just ended and we have great new pictures and stories to share!

Horseback Riding

Our second month started out with a lot of horseback riding. The kids were excited to learn all about the horses and get to ride. Kids of all ages learned how to Learning the ropes, catch, groom, saddle and bridle the horse all by themselves. Sometimes the saddles seemed bigger than the kids carrying them!

One student enthusiastically said, before she left: “My knowledge about horses has grown so much it’s amazing!”

Grand Canyon

After a week at the camp, the students were taken on an eight day trip to the Grand Canyon. It was definitely our best camping trip! Students got to see the amazing sites at the Grand Canyon, visit old homes, an old watch tower and other historical sites.

Additionally there were five or six Ranger talks a day and the kids would scramble to get to their favorite Grand Canyon Hiking Group talks. At the end of the day, we would sit around a campfire and tell the stories of the day.

After four days at the Grand Canyon, three very brave campers (one staff, two students) decided to hike to the bottom of the Grand Canyon to see Phantom Ranch and Indian Gardens. Getting a thorough briefing from the Rangers on how to survive the hike, they set out to hike the Grand Canyon. They got all their gear and figured out how to carry everything. The hike started at 4am the next day and the three hikers made it down to the bottom by three in the afternoon.

They stopped to lie in the cool waters of the Bright Angel Creek and to relax in the Phantom Ranch café before making the five mile hike back up to Indian Gardens to camp for the night. The next day was the hard part – hiking back up the rest of the way in the morning sun. They made it by 2pm, with a few of our group heading down a couple miles to walk them up the last part of the hike.

They were quite excited to have hiked the Grand Canyon, something not everyone does in their lifetime.

Catwalk and the VLA

We had two really fun day trips this month. The first was a trip to the Catwalk Natural Waterfalls where the kids were able to jump off of waterfalls, sit in rushing water and slide down natural water slides. The weather was hot, and the water was freezing, and overall it was perfect.

The next week we took a trip to the VLA: The Very Large Array. The kids were able to talk to each other through satellites, learn about outer space in the small museum and visit spots where several movies about outer space were filmed.

Archery and More Fun Activities

The kids spent their days at the camp doing archery, gun shooting lessons, basketball, arts and crafts and other games. Our archery was regularly packed with kids brushing up on their bull’s-eye skills. One small girl had to have the help of a staff member to pull back her bow, and she still made her target!

At the end of the month we had an arts contest which included drawing, photography and poetry. Two students had amazing shots of the Grand Canyon, and our winning shot was a close up of a squirrel taken by Kelan Liparoto.

Bonnie O’Beirne won first place for drawing a lady with her horse, and Jake Wyss won first place for his poem about Dreams. Overall I have to say that we had quite some talented students this summer.

After the art contest, we had a talent show where the students showed off their talents of acting, comedy, dancing and singing. What a show!
Archery Super Girls

Pie Town

Once again we had the Pie Town game, where the students (and staff!) who ran every day in our exercise program were treated to an all-you-can-eat breakfast at Daily Pie in Pie Town, New Mexico. Despite the two and a half mile run at the end of the month over eighty percent of our students made the game and went out to eat the morning before camp ended.

Next Year

Our summer has ended for this year, and school year will start up after a short break. However next year’s summer camp is already undergoing extreme planning. We will once again have our two famous trips: the White Water Rafting and Camping Trip and the Grand Canyon trip. If you want to enroll your child early for next year and receive the early bird discount contact us now!

Please give us a call at 1-800-576-3866 or enroll here.