Day 3

On day three, our second full day of camp, we started a morning circle at 7:30am.

When Camp Phoenix does a morning circle, our goal is to energize everyone and prepare them for a jam-packed day. We sing fun songs, discuss our plans for the day, and anything else that needs to be addressed before we head to breakfast. For breakfast, we ate pigs in a blanket, eggs, and potatoes!

We then played a fun game called Tweeners. You stand in a circle and try to roll a ball between people’s legs to get them out. This built our camper’s competitiveness because they were all trying to be the last one standing.

After the game, we headed over to archery. This was agreed by all as the most fun activity of the day. Everyone got a chance to shoot arrows at targets, and practice their aim. 

For lunch, we ate a tasty Mexican style lunch that consisted of taquitos, beans, guacamole, tomatoes, and oranges on the side.

Since we all enjoyed swimming so much yesterday, we decided to do it again!

In the pool, we had fun playing Football and Catch.

The next activity was Tie-dying where we made colorful shirts with fun designs. We were given a bunch of different designs to pick from so everyone could spice up their Camp Phoenix shirts. The dye takes a while to dry so won’t be able to see the amazing designs until Thursday.

Those who finished early had some free time to play.

When everyone finished their tie-dyed shirts, we went to the pond to go kayaking. Those who didn’t want to kayak went hunting for bugs and insects.

One of our campers, Run Rabbit, found a cool-looking snake! Turns out it was a Garter snake.

Everyone had a fun time kayaking, and some people raced each other around the pond!

At the end, our staff decided to see if we could combine all the kayaks to make one huge kayak.

For dinner, we ate spaghetti, green beans, and garlic bread.

Later, we had free time where we mostly played sports like basketball, football, soccer, volleyball, or gaga ball! And anyone who didn’t want to play outside was able to join the book club with Wakanda or just chill in the cabin.

Finally, before bed, we had a movie night where we watched My Neighbor Totoro.

Day 4

Our third full day, we woke up at 7:30, got ready and went out to the morning circle to get everyone energized and learn the agenda for the day.

Breakfast was eggs, bagels, sausage, and fruit.

Our first activity of the day was Low Ropes. 

All of the different Low Ropes courses were made to prepare our campers for the High Ropes course.

The first activity was the tightrope, where campers had to walk to the other side of a rope and balance themselves while other campers had to work together and prevent each other from falling.

After doing the tightrope we went to our next activity called “The Box” where everyone had to be on a small box at once without touching the floor. It really challenged us to work together, and put our thinking caps on.

Once we finished “The Box” we went and had lunch. It was chicken tenders with mac and cheese. Scrumdiddlyumptious!

When everyone finished their food, we went to our first High Ropes Course, which was ziplining.

Everyone had to climb up a tall tower before tight roping across to get to the zipline. Then, campers quickly flew across the trees on the zipline while looking at nature’s scenary from high up.

Before going to dinner, we did another workshop where we were able discuss our feelings and talk to each other as a group. 

Dinner was the most tasty meal so far, which was tacos. The tacos were filled with beans, meat, lettuce, and rice. It was then drenched in delicious cheese, sour cream, and guacamole. 

Once everyone had finished, we gathered around the campfire, where each cabin proudly showcased their unique chants!

The boys showcased their “In the Jungle” chant while the girls showcased their “John Pork” chant.

Then we did some funny improv skits before heading back to the cabins to get ready for bed. Before bed, we were able to head outside for some stargazing. Wakanda showed us how to find Polaris, the north star. 

Day 5

Our fourth full day, we woke up at 7:30 to get ready for morning circle to get everyone ready for the day. 

After morning circle, we headed over for breakfast which consisted of English muffins, biscuits, sausages, hash browns, and fruit.

After breakfast we did the high ropes course and the flying squirrel. The high ropes course is a huge alpine tower with a bunch of different obstacles all designed to challenge you all the way to the top. 

Once everyone who wanted to climb the tower finished, we went onto “The Flying Squirrel.” This is a contraption where you get launched up in the air by your peers with your choice of speed, height and a song if you would like to be sung to.

Then we went to lunch, which was some delectable chicken sandwiches and curly fries.

After that, we went back to the pool once more to have a grand ol’ time where we played around. 

After the pool we didn’t change back into our normal clothes like usual. Instead we did a Camp Phoenix tradition called the Color Celebration where we used holi powder to represent our values and celebrate diversity.

Afterward, we had another social/emotional learning (SEL) workshop, and we drew our feelings in notebooks. We gave everyone the opportunity to talk about their feelings out loud, but if you didn’t want to, you could always choose to pass. (We don’t force people to talk).

After SEL we had dinner which was some amazing fried rice, mini egg rolls and beef and broccoli. Yummylicious!

Once everyone finished eating, we had free time, so most people just relaxed, hung out, or played some ball.

At the end of the night, we had our final campfire where we sang songs and said goodbye to this campsite. We went to the cabins and rested before our bus ride tomorrow. Tomorrow we will be camping at China Camp State Park. We won’t have access to computers,

So, goodbye from the 2024 Camp Phoenix CiTs!