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.

Hello Mini Session Campers!

“We welcome you to Rockbrook Camp; we’re mighty glad you’re here…” was the lyric of the day as we welcomed all of the August mini session girls to camp this morning. For these girls the wait was finally over; after weeks and often months of getting ready, time is about to speed up dramatically because they are joining the non-stop action of camp. There are a couple of hundred really great people to meet, songs and hand motions to learn, and lots of new things to try. For some, the opening day is a gradual introduction to camp life—meeting your counselor, setting up your bunk, spending a few minutes with cabin mates making your first friendship bracelet. Others, though, jump in feet first and are running off with other girls already enjoying the enthusiasm and freedom of camp. Sometimes, parents have to hunt down their daughter just to say goodbye! Either way, it doesn’t take long for the girls to begin making Rockbrook their camp.

Before we gathered for lunch, the whole camp assembled on the grassy hill in the shade of the big walnut tree so everyone could sing the line (age group) songs, hear about the different camp activities, and meet a few head counselors and the directors. It provides the first taste of what happens when you bring together this many excited girls. You see it in the energy of the staff, the enthusiasm of the directors leading the songs and the sheer volume of the singing. The effervescence of it all can first be a little shocking, but it quickly pulls you along and the next thing you know, you’re clapping and shouting too!

That was certainly true for the afternoon’s big event also: a camp-wide, Outer Space Carnival. Think aliens, astronauts and other “space beings,” but then add pink feathers, beads and colorful face paint, and you can imagine the costumes we saw. A crew of the counselors organized this event and came up with several different games and activities for the girls: a hula-hoop relay, a ring toss game, a “Cream the Alien” (“pie” in the face) challenge, a ribbon dancing project, face painting, and a giant bubble “machine.” We rented a 40-ft inflatable obstacle course and a 20-ft tall Velcro wall. To keep things lively, we also had the music pumping and served cotton candy and popcorn during the whole event. Teamed up in groups, the girls went from station to station trying what looked fun to them. They might put on the Velcro suit for a quick jump onto the wall, then make a ribbon dancing wand, or just dance around, cotton candy in hand… lots of fun choices for a Sunday afternoon.

After the Carnival and before dinner, the mini session Middlers and Seniors changed into their bathing suits so they could demonstrate their swimming ability down at the lake. We want to make sure everyone at camp can swim and tread water confidently before allowing them to enter the lake, zip down the water slide, or take a kayaking, canoeing or rafting trip. Girls who “pass” the swim demo receive a special colored buddy tag and a green bracelet that then alert the lifeguards that they can swim in the deep area of the lake. For those uncomfortable in the water, or for those who can’t complete the “demonstration,” they will have to wear a life jacket and stay in the shallow end of the lake. We always offer swim lessons during the swimming activity periods, so we encourage (though don’t require) girls to work on their strokes while at camp.  The chill of our mountain-stream-fed lake can be a little shocking for girls used to warm water, but it also feels really good on a hot summer day.

One quick reminder: be sure to send those letters and emails to your girls (check the RBC parents manual for the addresses). It’s such a treat for campers to find something in their mailbox after lunch, and to have something to read on the way to rest hour. Plus, it’s the best way to inspire them to right a letter home as well!

Testing the Birthday Paradox

With all of the adventure, crafts and sports going on in camp, it’s easy to forget that through the tunnel and across the road at the Rockbrook fields, there are campers riding horses everyday. They are girls being introduced to English horseback riding, with its emphasis on balance, posture and seat position, and others improving their riding skills in mounted lessons. They are getting to know the Rockbrook equestrian staff, led by Cara and Audrey, and the 29 horses at camp this summer. It can get pretty busy down there at the stables with horses being prepared and led back and forth from the barns, campers dressing in their boots and helmets eager to learn who they’ll ride that day, and lessons being taught in all three riding rings. If you add to that taking care of all those horses, for example when the ferrier makes his weekly visit, you have quite a hive of activity. During any of the activity periods, and even in between, you can see examples of this engaged enthusiasm and hard work. It’s impressive!

The middle picture here is of Cool Beans and his little sidekick Cloud Nine, two of our celebrity ponies at camp this summer. You may have met them on the opening day of camp. They have been well-loved this session, especially by the juniors.

Have you heard of the Birthday Paradox, the surprisingly high probability that two people in a group will share the same birthday? The magic number is twenty three; if you take a group of 23 randomly selected people the odds there will be two with the same birthday are about 50% (1 in 2). So what happens when you take an entire summer camp of 223 campers and 60 staff members? The probability is greater than 99.9999999999999999999999998%!

We tested this paradox tonight during our special all-camp birthday night dinner. We rearranged the dining hall so everyone with the same birth month could sit together at one giant table for each month. Everybody born in April sat together, May together, and so forth. This meant some of the tables, like September, were huge and others had only 10 or so. Throughout the meal everyone compared birthdays, and sure enough we had about 4 different pairs sharing the same day. Each table also thought of other famous people to whom they could shout out a birthday greeting… “Happy Birthday Justine Bieber!” Or, “Happy Birthday William Shakespeare!” It’s not clear how many of these were true, but that wasn’t particularly important. What mattered was coming up with funny examples for everyone to hear. The biggest bubble of excitement, however, erupted when the cakes came out, one elaborately decorated, in a “Candyland” theme, birthday cake for each month/table. As you can see in this photo of the April cake, Alison baked up simply gorgeous cakes, again, all from scratch. These were big cakes, and believe it or not, there were several tables that couldn’t finish theirs! An example of being good, but maybe a little too good!

Disney World Banquet

Tonight the second session banquet was finally revealed to all of the campers and staff members at camp. After weeks of working and keeping everything secret, the CA campers (9th graders) transformed the dining hall into Disney World, and called it “A Day at Disney World.” The dining hall became Animal Kingdom, the Magic Kingdom, and Epcot Center. The campers entered through the porch decorated like a monorail, and found themselves on Main Street USA with Cinderella’s Castle, Space mountain, and toward the back, the Animal Kingdom Tree of Life. There were Disney attractions and rides painted on every inch of wall space! Music from the parks, and dance numbers with the characters really added to the feeling of actually being at Disney World.

It was particularly impressive to see the costumes the CAs had prepared. They had 31 different Disney characters, including: Chip and Dale, Ariel, Jack Sparrow, Mickey Mouse (of course!), Princess Tiana, Peter Pan, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, The Mad Hatter, Jasmine, Captain Hook, Pooh Bear, Mary Poppins, Pocahontas, Piglet, Goofy, Aladdin, Minnie Mouse, Lilo, Belle, Tinker Bell, Cinderella, Alice, Wendy, and Simba… just to name the main ones! They were all so realistic and well-suited for the girls playing each part. Many of the younger campers even thought several of the girls were the real characters. We really had Ariel, Snow White, Cinderella at Rockbrook! The character were also signing autographs, just like at the Magic Kingdom.

For dinner they served “Magical Mozzarella Sticks” and “Goofy’s Corny Corndogs” as appetizers, “Mickey and Minnie’s Pasta Palooza” with chicken for the main dish, and “Razzle Dazzle Crispies and Cotton Candy Kisses” for dessert. Of course there was plenty of candy and other treats on the table too (like a souvenir banquet sticker and decorated cup).

The CAs often say they’ve just put on the “best banquet ever,” and in this case, we think they are right up there at the top of the list. It was amazing, excellent fun.

Rafting and Birthday Night

We took our first whitewater rafting trip of the session today. After breakfast, two busloads of middlers and seniors packed up for a day on the river. The girls tend to be a little sleepy on the drive over, but once we enter the Nantahala River Gorge, they really perk up. We had a picnic lunch (chicken wraps, pretzels, and fruit) at the Ferebee Riverside Park and took a little time for everyone to lather up the sunscreen, since it was a warm sunny day. A few minutes further up the river we met our regular RBC guides. Rockbrook is fortunate to be the only girls camp with a permit to run the Nantahala river, allowing us to hire people we know as guides (for example, Clyde our adventure director led the trip) and to use our own top of the line self-bailing Avon rafts. Several of the girls on this trip had never been rafting before, so it was fun to see their excitement as they geared up with PFDs, helmets and paddles. Part of the water making up the Nantahala river is controlled by Duke Energy as it’s released from a deep nearby lake to generate electricity. The girls notice this because the water is so very cold, and everyone is thankful for a warm sunny day. The trip lasts a little more than 2 hours and finishes with a final large rapid called “Lesser Wesser” or the “Nantahala Falls.” This photo is that rapid. It’s a thrilling way to end up the trip.

Dinner tonight was a special event called “Fiesta Birthday Night.” A group of counselors put on the event by decorating the dining hall with posters, table centerpieces and piñatas, and picked out a playlist of Latin music. The kitchen helped also by preparing steak fajitas, rice, beans, cheese and homemade salsa. But since it was also Birthday Night, we rearranged the dining hall into 12 large tables, one for each month so everyone could sit with people sharing their birthday month. This is a fun change from sitting with your cabin, and allows everyone get to know other campers and staff members in camp. The highlight of course is the cake! Liz, our amazing baker, was hard at work all day making twelve different cakes so that each month could have their own. You’ve never heard so many different people wished “Happy Birthday!” at the same dinner!

The after dinner Twilight activity today was an impromptu “photo shoot.” Counselor Mary from Nashville grabbed a camera and took a bunch of silly “glamor” shots of campers posing out on the hill. Several girls were dressed up for the Fiesta Birthday Night dinner and others changed into something especially for the photos. Some posed, others jumped, while some hugged each other and still others just smiled nicely. It’s always fun to get your picture taken, especially when you’re at camp and being your most silly self. That’s one of the great feelings of being at camp. The girls can relax and be open and silly enough to do things just for the fun of it, even if it might be a little embarrassing in another context. Have you worn a fake mustache lately?

So Much Fun at Camp

When writing these blog posts, and mentioning special events for the most part, it’s easy to forget all of the “regular” activities that are going on at camp.  Everyone selects four different activities for their daily schedule, so throughout the day you can find all kinds of arts and crafts, horseback riding, sports, and outdoor adventure going on.  Kathleen our main photographer spends part of her day wandering around camp taking pictures of these activities, but it’s impossible for her to capture it all.  She might spend time at the tennis courts, for example, but she’ll be missing the action at the Alpine Tower and the riding down at the barn.

Jeff took the Hi-Ups, our oldest campers (10th graders), on a fun outing Thursday afternoon. Dressed in bathing suits and with towels in hand, we made our way to High Falls in the Dupont State Forest. It was one of those perfect summer days. The unstable, moist air of the last few days had cleared to leave wonderful blue skies, sunshine and a few white clouds. High Falls is a spectacular waterfall formed as the Little River drops about 150 feet over exposed granite. Depending on the water level, there are different sections varying in strength from a gentle sloping flow to a raging drop. We found it just right today to swim in the pool at the bottom of one section. There’s also a part forming a “sliding rock” of sorts. It was a little bumpy going down, but very fun nonetheless. On the way home, there was just enough time to swing by Dolly’s. Yum.

For dinner, we held another special meal, Restaurant Night, but to mix things up a bit, we turned it into “Harry Potter and the Night of the Restaurant.”  A group of the counselors decorated the dining hall like the great hall of Hogwarts in the Harry Potter novels, and everyone was invited to dress up as a character from the books or in simply “magical” attire.  The tables were rearranged and the counselors served the campers… roast beef, peas, potatoes and toffee bars for desert. We saw Draco Malfoy, several Harry Potters (complete with lightning bolt scar) and even Sarah dressed up as Bellatrix Lestrange to do the announcements after the meal. Music, food, costumes and skits: all just a regular part of the fun at camp.

Granny Bingo

Grits, sausage, eggs and fruit for breakfast… homemade broccoli-chicken casserole, salad and butternut squash soup for lunch… cheese tortellini, focaccia bread, with roasted summer squash and peppers for dinner.  It’s hard not to talk about the food at camp with this kind of variety and good healthy fare coming from Rick’s kitchen.  Oh, I forgot to mention the chocolate chip muffins we had for muffin break and the chocolate pudding served for desert at dinner.  The campers love when we have chocolate pudding because, beyond it being a sweet treat, it means the counselors have to clear their cabin’s table (instead of a couple of campers).  It’s a long, funny tradition at Rockbrook that even has a short song to go with it.

After breakfast Clyde took a bunch of Juniors on a day hike to Moore Cove in the forest. (By the way, have you read Clyde’s Bio?)  They looked great all geared up with their backpacks, water bottles and cameras.  It’s a short bus ride to the trail head, and from there, a wonderful easy hike through the woods to a cool 40 ft waterfall.  What’s neat is that you can walk under the falls and see from the “inside out.”  The falls are narrow and delicate, and in the morning in direct sunlight.  It’s truly beautiful.

Tonight the Juniors and Middlers played bingo in the dining hall, but not just ordinary bingo— Granny Bingo! At Rockbrook, everything is more fun when you can dress up and become a funny character. So tonight the girls pulled out wigs, glasses, robes and head scarves. They stuffed pillows inside their clothes (for an added effect!), and found a cane, or just walked around with a bent posture and talked with a scratchy voice. Very funny stuff. Of course, there were loads of prizes to win each round: stickers, card games, key chains, RBC sunglasses, etc. The counselors led the whole event by also dressing up and by calling the numbers “in character.” “N29… oh dear, I remember when I was 29… such a good year!” There are more photos in gallery, so be sure to check those out.

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A Big Fiesta

A bunch of Middlers and Seniors took a whitewater rafting trip to the Nantahala River today. Our very own guides (Clyde, Kelsey, Sid, Mallory and John) gathered up the rafting gear (boats, paddles, helmets, PFDs and other safety equipment) and met us at the river. We stopped for a picnic lunch along the way, but by 1pm we were ready to raft. Since the weather was perfect, sunny and warm, we had a great time splashing each other, and even jumping in the water for a quick dip on calm sections of the river. Every boat ran the final rapid just perfectly.

Another highlight of the day was our dinner event— Fiesta Birthday Night! This is a special dinner where the dining hall is rearranged so that everyone in camp sits at a table according to their birth month… all the January birthdays together, and so forth. Each table shouts “Happy Birthday” to famous people born in their month: “Happy Birthday Barack Obama!” (August), for example. And, of course, each month has an elaborate cake to share as well. The food was an awesome Mexican Fiesta too. We had steak fajitas, beans, rice, homemade guacamole, diced tomatoes, cheese, salsa, and sour cream. The tri-colored peppers and onions really made it! All the campers dressed up for the Fiesta and the dining hall was decorated with piñatas and colorful posters. It was a great time.

After dinner, during the hour before evening program starts, the campers have free time, but we always have an optional group activity planned. We call these activities “Twilight Activities.” Tonight we had two Rockbrook Alumnae visit and hold a singalong. Elsa Claverie and Jo Littleton brought their banjo and Ukulele and a list of cool new songs to teach us. They actually weren’t “new,” but old traditional songs that we didn’t know. It was so neat to hear the singing, harmonies and enthusiasm in the room. It made everyone feel good… that feeling where the back of your neck tingles. There’s a short video on the RBC Youtube channel of the singing. Enjoy.