Shaving Cream Fight Video

Ever had a shaving cream fight? Armed with a couple of cans, and dressed in your bathing suit, have you chased your friends around trying to smear them with shaving cream? Has anyone ever sneaked up to you and planted a handful of shaving cream on your neck? No? Well take a look at this video and see just how much fun it can be!

100% Rockbrook.

Friendship Animation Video

The digital photography activity at camp is always coming up with new projects and games for the girls, different ways to incorporate taking (making!) pictures with other active ideas. It might be a scavenger hunt, a color or texture study, or simply a collage of some sort. One cool example of this is making a stop-motion animation video. This involves taking a series of photographs and stringing them together in a sequence. If the objects in the scene change slightly in each picture, the resulting video looks like they are moving. One way to do this is to build something out of play-doh, a snowman for example. Using this stop-motion animation technique, you can make a video where the snowman comes to life!

Here’s an example of this technique used to create the illusion of people moving. This past summer, Hannah, Briana and Catherine made this short video about friendship. You can really tell they had a great time making it. Take a look!

Activities Galore at Rockbrook

Miriam tries out her Yoga skills

Monday was quite eventful around Rockbrook Camp as our Third Session campers tried their first set of daily activities. They will do these chosen activities for three days and then have the opportunity to try a whole other set for the second half of the week. We have seen over the years that this concept of choice while away from home is a wonderful way to encourage independence and growth for every camper.

Two extra morning highlights included muffin break and free swim. Our resident baker Allison had wonderful chocolate sprinkle muffins waiting for the girls between first and second period. Then after second period, most girls headed down to the lake for a dip after this warm morning. They had their first opportunity to go on the water slide and swim laps for our Mermaid Club. With all of these bust active girls, there were smiles everywhere down at the lake!

Two thumbs up for the slide

After rest hour this afternoon, activities continued and our first white water rafters left for an overnight camp out experience at our Nantahala Outpost. Another group will join them tomorrow on the river for a day trip. As the only camp with an outpost at the Nantahala River, we love being able to let each camper decide which length of trip she would like to participate in.

We did have a little rainstorm this afternoon, but we did not let it slow us down. One of our favorite songs here at camp is the “Dewcoat Song.” We just think of rain as a little dew and keep on going! As we all filed into dinner, campers were greeted with a camp favorite: hotdogs with all the sides and fixings followed by key lime pie for dessert.

Even our youngest campers have the opportunity to weave on our Appalachian looms

Great new friends who met yesterday!

We hope that every camper picked up a new skill today, whether it be making a friendship bracelet, walking a horse or talking with a new friend. Each of these qualities is what makes Rockbrook so special and the campers will continue to build upon during the rest of their session here.

Zumba Night

Today was a return to regular activities after our celebration yesterday. Rockbrook girls of all ages were happily back building and glazing pottery, shooting arrows, bullets and basketballs, climbing our Alpine Tower and Castle Rock, riding horses, and making all kinds of arts and crafts. The giant beach ball saw some action and the tennis courts stayed busy. Every activity area, especially the lake, had a group of enthusiastic girls chatting and having fun.

Like most weekdays, we also offered an optional out-of-camp trip today. That’s how we do trips; they are announced in advance so girls can decide to go if they want to. Going on a trip means missing their scheduled activities while away, so considering a trip is a real exercise in choice, a concrete chance to learn that selecting one thing means neglecting another. Today Michelle guided a busload of girls on a hike up to the top of Looking Glass Rock for a picnic lunch. This is a gorgeous trail winding past tall trees, over exposed rock slabs, and through thick rhododendron groves. It’s about 3 miles of mostly up hill hiking, but ends with a huge payoff— a 180-degree overlook view of the mountains across a deep valley below. It did start to rain, even hard at times, on the way back, but the girls still had great fun hiking (downhill thankfully!) even when wet.

This seems to be tour season at Rockbrook because we’ve given several tours of camp everyday this week. Part of that is probably because families are traveling over the Fourth of July holiday, but they also have heard about Rockbrook from a friend and wanted to check it out. In a couple of cases, they were alumnae who wanted to introduce their daughter or granddaughter to Rockbrook It’s always great fun for us to show people around Rockbrook, to meet some of our counselors (“They’re all so nice!” one mom said), and to see camp full of life. There are lots of friendly faces and excited children to meet, and occasionally, with the right timing, a yummy, freshly baked muffin to eat!

Tonight’s optional twilight activity was a dance party of sorts down in the gym. Actually it was a “Zumba” workout session set to the pop music of Lady Gaga. Think aerobics, coordinated group movement, but with modern music and beats. Elizabeth, Austin and Frampton kept the whole crowd of girls moving as they taught the group different spins, jumps and kicks to go along with the music. It’s all very high energy and exhilarating. It might be surprising, but for excited girls, there’s nothing like a little heart-pounding exercise right after dinner. Plenty of girls chose to hang out instead of joining the Zumba party, with all the lines coming together for their evening programs. Skits, more dressing up, plenty of laughing and giggling, and a homemade cookie with milk before bed. Another real Rockbrook day.

First Day of Activities

Today all of the activities at camp took off! The camp bell woke us all up to a wonderful cool, foggy morning. After breakfast, the different “Lines” (age groups) headed to their lodges for their morning assembly, a time for a couple of energizing songs, maybe a skit, announcements, and a just chance to regroup before the day gets really moving.

Then each girl, armed with her own unique set of four activities that she selected yesterday evening, set off to the different activity areas throughout the camp. Around 10 o’clock, girls were climbing, swimming, shooting, riding and creating. There were hikes to Castle Rock, archery and riflery instruction, looms clicking and clacking, introductions to new favorite ponies, and games in the gym to name a few. Everywhere, you could hear girls chattering away, making friends, and laughing. It’s completely action packed and neat to see.

The big event, however, was the first free swim time right before lunch. This is when we opened the new water slide at the lake for the very first time. The staff enjoyed it last week a couple of times, but we have kept it a surprise for the campers until they arrived. It’s down on the far end of the lake. The girls first walk across the new dock, cross over the creek that feeds the lake (with a great view of the waterfall), and then climb a series of steps and platforms to the top of the 30-foot tower.

The slide itself is made of a soft vinyl material that’s nice and slippery when we run a little water down it. There’s a staff member at the top of the tower to help, but when ready, the girls launch themselves and zip down 50 feet before splashing into the lake. It’s then a short swim back to the exit ladders, and they’re off to do it again. Super fun stuff!

After dinner tonight, we offered an optional activity during what we call our “Twilight” time. The Rockbrook schedule has several blocks of free time built into the day (the two free swim times, for example), and this is another one. Twilight is free time when girls can hang out on the hill, enjoy one of the many porch rockers around camp, or get involved in whatever spontaneous activity is announced. Tonight we pulled out the slip and slide! It’s been so warm and dry these last few days, a lot of girls got excited. We rolled out a long sheet of plastic, got the water hose going and added a couple of drops of soap— instant cool summer fun, and just another way to enjoy being at camp.

The first whitewater rafting trips are going out tomorrow and we’ll be unveiling a surprise dinner. Stay tuned. We try to right a blog post every day, so if you haven’t subscribed to the blog, here’s the information about how to do that.

Camp Newspaper Published

Each session the girls who sign up for the Journalism activity while at Rockbrook contribute to a camp newspaper called the Toilet Paper. It is hung inside the bathroom stalls all over camp so everyone can have a chance to read it. The girls publish fun surveys, report on camp news, do interviews, highlight camp special events, and add original creative writing pieces as well. It’s a fun way to share some of the writing they’ve been doing in Journalism, and everyone enjoys seeing what they’ve been up to.

This is the most recent edition from 3rd session. Click the image to see a larger version.

Hide and Seek and Skits

Today for breakfast, Liz really hit a home run with her chocolate chip scones. Fresh from the oven, we gobbled them up along with the blueberries, yogurt, cereal and OJ Rick had out for us. This light breakfast made a nice change from the eggs bacon and grits we had yesterday. Since we’re talking about Liz’s baking, the muffins were again a unique combination— white chocolate, coconut muffins. They were sweet with just a hint of coconut in each bite. Of course, the girls had no trouble enjoying those either!

Saturday morning is like other mornings with the girls moving through their newest sets of activities. Down at archery, Mandy got a group of juniors all excited by adding balloons to the targets. There’s something about trying to shoot a smaller target like this; she two different girls get a bullseye. Whenever a camper shoots a bullseye at camp, she joins the “Bullseye Club” and is recognized at lunch when the archery counselor announces her name.

At the lake, in addition to the normal swimming classes, the paddlers were working on their kayaking and canoeing. They meet to gather their paddles and life jackets (PFDs) on the stone patio under the Middler Lodge and then select boats at the water’s edge.  Practicing strokes on the lake, maybe paddling a course set up by the counselors, is a great way to prepare for a river trip out of camp.  It’s also fun— maybe you’ve seen this in the photo gallery —to swamp your canoe intentionally, and then climb up on the turned up bottom of the boat.  It’s not easy to balance two, or even three, people like that!

The afternoon’s activity was a giant, all-camp game of hide and seek we call “Counselor Hunt.” All the campers assemble in the gym while all the counselors take 15 minutes to hide somewhere in camp. Some dress in camouflage and paint their faces to hide in the woods, while others just have really good hiding spots. Each counselor is worth 100 points for every year they have attended camp, so several are worth quite a lot, like Michelle who earned a cabin 1000 points. When it’s time to start searching, each cabin runs around camp together looking, and when they find a counselor, they bring her back to the dining hall to claim her points. Keeping the whole cabin together and literally combing the entire camp is a real workout, but the girls are so excited when they discover a hiding counselor.

For tonight’s evening program, the different age groups went to their lodges for various skits. The Seniors did “bag skits” where the whole cabin makes up a skit using 5 random items they receive in a bag. The Middlers did a spoof on a pageant (“Miss ——–” contest) and the Juniors did “Commercials” for silly products. This was a night of crazy, silly dressing up all over camp with each cabin joining creative forces. Good camp fun.

Climbing, Kayaking and Cabin Day

First let’s mention the muffins.  They were another Rockbrook original today, this time invented and baked by veteran baker Annabel: Tootsie Roll Muffins.  Yes, after some experimenting, she figured out how to include a piece of the chewy chocolate candy in each muffin before baking, and man were they awesome.

The morning kept us all involved in our regular camp activities. Since it was the third day of the sequence, we were finishing up lots of craft projects, improving our shooting skills at archery and riflery, and tackling more advanced outdoor adventure challenges.  For example, down at the lake, Kelsey held a kayaking roll clinic with the kayakers.  This is learning to roll your kayak back upright after it turns upside down.  If you’ve never done it before, it’s a challenging sequence of hip, head, shoulder and paddle moves, all coordinated to roll the boat up.  It’s not easy, and ordinarily takes lots of practice, but several of the girls made good progress and now can almost do it unassisted.

Tara, Katherine and Kiersten took a group of girls rock climbing on Castle Rock for the morning. This is the big outcropping of granite on the camp property that you can see from the hill. It’s just a short walk up behind the dining hall, and since it’s on our property, access is really easy and always guaranteed. We have 6 different routes established on Castle Rock, and for this trip they set up the 3 called “Whim,” “Wham” and “Bam.” Bam is the longest and most difficult of these three— about 90 feet beginning with a gentle dihedral that turns into an exposed face climb at the top.  The view of the French Broad River valley is incredible from the ledge at the finish.  Don’t worry; getting down is a simple matter of the belayer lowering the climber down on the rope.  There were several really good climbers in that group!

After lunch, we had our Wednesday “cabin day.” This is a time when we do special activities together in our cabin groups instead of following each camper’s individual activity schedule. This allows each cabin to decide what they’d like to do and to enjoy a little extra time together.

Some cabins just hang out and play games in their cabin, while others choose to go on a hike to Rockbrook Falls, or Stick Biscuit Falls on the camp property. Some head to the gym for a game there and others make some kind of snack in the dining hall… cookies or “Puppy chow,” for example. Occasionally, we’ll take an entire age group out of camp for a special trip, like today when we gathered up all the Seniors and headed to Sliding Rock. A brief thunderstorm moved out just in time for us to enjoy a few trips down the rock, and to stop at Dolly’s Dairy Bar for an ice cream cone before heading back to camp for dinner.

Oh, and speaking of dinner, it featured some of Rick’s homemade pizza. You should see the gigantic blob of dough he makes for the crust! Pepperoni, Veggie, Cheese, even Pesto; they were all great. With a big green salad and Annabel’s puff-pastries for dessert, the girls loved it! They even busted out the “Cook’s Song,” something they sing when inspired by an especially yummy meal. Good stuff.

All in all another great day in “the heart of a wooded mountain.” Feel free to leave comments on these blog posts. We always appreciate hearing from you!