Egg delivery from animal care!

Good morning folks! It’s Mama Iguana here to tell you about our evening last night and the start of classes today.

Last night, the kitchen staff cooked an amazing meal. Everyone was drooling over spaghetti and meatballs with garlic bread and an ice cream sandwich to top it off! Kitchen staff deserves a big shoutout, not just from last night but every night!

After dinner, we all gathered at the bottom of tipi hill for pine grove! Sadly, the weather was a little rainy schvitzy so we had to go to the rec hall instead of sitting on the top of tipi hill. Even though we spent the evening in the rec hall, we still were able to do one of the many pine grove traditions: walking up tipi hill. There was a silent stroll up to the top, led by a torch and line of counselors, all the way to the tipis and back down towards the rec hall. Once we all made it back to the rec hall, we sat in cabin groups for the start of pine grove!

Pine grove is a very special evening program for camp, as it starts and ends each session throughout the summer. Cabin groups go up and do different songs, acts, and chants. Wombles did a waffle version of the cha cha slide to get us on our feet, Fiddler’s Green sang a parody of the Phineas and Ferb theme song, Bermuda Triangle got us all chanting about burritos, LCH sang baby shark with otis lyrics, and there were some classics like hermie the worm, bazooka bubble gum, and the bean song! Everyone was singing along and snapping to songs. It was a great night in the rec hall!

Alive, one of our teen programs, had their own special first night. Kaylie and Ian, the Alive counselors, presented everyone with sketchbooks and had a sketchbook initiation! They sat by candlelight, got to know each other, and began using their sketchbooks. Make sure to check out photos below!

This morning, we had our first egg bar of the session! Sunny side up, over easy, scrambled, you name it! The kitchen staff can cook ’em all! Everyone was fueled for a great day ahead because today is… the first day of classes! During morning meeting, counselors made announcements about locations for their classes throughout the day, we had our first interest groups presented for the session, and a great imitation of the first day of classes from our spirit animal group, Forbidden Planet. The weather is cloudy but that’s not stopping us from having a great first day!

Tonight is our first cabin night of the session! Each cabin’s counseling staff has a special activity planned. Stay tuned for more on cabin night tomorrow! For now, check out photos from Alive, the trek to the Rec Hall from last night, and our first day of classes!

Peace out, girl scout!

Mama Iguana

Waterfront talk with Aileen before swimming evaluations

Hello hello hello! Cara B. here with an Orientation Day update.

Boy, has it been a busy day so far! We woke up this morning to the beautiful sunshine and a yummy bagel Sunday breakfast. We headed over to morning meeting and listened to Tom and Meg’s lovely dulcimer playing, as per Sunday tradition. At HVC, campers have the opportunity to build a mountain dulcimer with Tom if they choose to take his class! We heard about some other classes being offered by our awesome pro staff that we didn’t catch last night, including extreme art, junior firefighters, book making, and stomp dance. We heard our first thought de jour, our first spirit animal, and wished our first happy birthday of the session as well!

After morning meeting, cabin groups went their separate ways to sign up for classes, take photos to send back to folks at home, and get a talk from the nurses at the Health Lodge (ouch!) about drinking lots of water and doing frequent tick checks. We’ve also been doing swim evaluations at the lake and the pool, playing get-to-know-you-games, going over chore charts and cabin community expectations, and taking tours of camp. It has been shvitzing on and off throughout the day, so we made sure to keep our boots and jackets on hand and found some time to chill indoors. Luckily, all of our amazing campers are cool just going with the flow.

Later today after we’ve checked everything off our Orientation Day to-do lists, we will come back together as a camp for evening meeting. Our gurus will tell us their first useless fact of the session and Weather Guy Gal what a gal! will give us the weather report. We’ll head into the dining hall for a yummy spaghetti dinner and then gather at the bottom of Tipi Hill for opening Pine Grove! Pine Grove is a super special evening program where we open and close the session. We will talk up Tipi Hill in silence guided torch light (there’s not technology up at Pine Grove, not even flashlights!) to a clearing where we will build a big bonfire. Cabins will share songs, stories, and poems to welcome our community and celebrate the beginning of a new session- Mama Iguana and I can hardly wait! We’ll be sure to tell you all about it tomorrow on the first day of classes!

That’s all for now folks! Enjoy some photos from Orientation Day!

Climbing away,

Cara B. Ner

Reunited and it feels so good!

Hello! It’s Mama Iguana here to give you an exciting update on our successful arrival day! Campers arrived via planes, trains, and automobiles throughout the day. Almost every camper is now settled into their cabins, getting a good first nights sleep in their new cozy homes. Let me tell you all about our fun first day of camp!

Campers who arrived last night or early this morning hung out all morning in the front yard making name tags and friendship bracelets, playing frisbee and board games, and of course, singing and playing guitar! As cars rolled up to the office, our fabulous super greeters yelled out the cabin names and counselors came rushing to the office to greet their new campers!

After a morning full of super greeting and super front yard fun, campers and some visitors had a lovely lunch. Some parents chose to stay and have one last meal before heading on their way back home! Semi-full cabins then headed back to their cabins for their first rest period of the session! Campers were able to finish unpacking, take a little nap after a long travel day, and get to know their cabin mates!

The bell was ringing later in the afternoon for all of camp to gather back in the front yard to welcome the buses! Campers rolled off the buses one by one, being welcomed by Peter, Meg, and our lovely cabins! Everyone was anxiously waiting for the buses because once they came, we had our first evening meeting of the session! The program directors acted as the four elements and there was fire, buckets of water, hopping off roofs, and pie-ing one of our pro-staff in the face! All of this craziness was the perfect way to welcome all our new campers to the beginning of second session!

After fried chicken and carrot cake (yum!) for dinner, everyone headed to the rec hall for opening night skits! Three of our counselors, James, Rob P., and Cate, also known as Patricia, Vivian, Lillian, put on a great show to welcome everyone to camp and introduce all the classes offered this two weeks. Counselors went up in between acts to introduce themselves and let the campers know what classes they were teaching and what period that class will be offered. There are so many fun classes available this session, maybe I’ll sneak my own name onto one of the attendance lists… Anyways, tomorrow when campers are signing up for classes, there will be white boards at each booth reminding campers of the classes available for each period. Big shoutout to our opening night skit crew and their hilarious, random, and intriguing storyline that kept the night going!

Tomorrow, we have orientation day! Campers will be signing up for classes, doing swim evaluations, checking in with the health lodge, and taking photos to send back home! Make sure to tune in tomorrow to hear all about the excitement of orientation day! Also take a look at photos from arrival day below!

Time for bed! Night, night… Sleep tight!

Mama Iguana

Taj campers, Kat and Finn!

Good evening, night owls! Cara B. here with the late night scoop.

Today after a much needed rest and celebration of a successful first session, our staff returned to camp to prepare for second session! After reflecting on all of the excitement last month, counselors got acquainted with their new co counselors, did some lesson planning for classes, and helped with various work projects around camp.

In the afternoon, our intersession campers returned from their trip! They visited Fort Knox and the Penobscot Narrows Observatory- it must have been awesome view from up in the observation tower, which is 420′ above sea level! Be sure to check out photos from the trip below.

After a delicious dinner cooked by our lovely Forbidden Planet counselors, we gathered in the backyard for cabin for cabin preparations. We made bunk and cubby tags, welcome signs, chore charts, mailboxes, shower schedules, and more! Good thing we had help from our intersessioners to complete all the lovely decorations. Each cabin has a new theme for the coming session:

The looney toons of Loons

Down Under the sea

Gimme Shelter ghosts

French 1/4 Flamingos

Paquatahnee in paradise

Avalon aviators

Lower Carriage House  Llamas, Cows, and Chickens

Shangri-Let it snow!

Chateau Fiasco dough bros

Wombles waffles

Camelot jam-a-lot

Wabanaki in wonderland

Valhall-oween

Fiddler’s Green flames

Bermuda Triangle burritos

Forbidden Planet  kitchen

Taj Ma-fall

Celestial ALIVE! 

Wow! The night was full of fun, laughter, and lots of glitter! Once our cabin decorations were finished, campers headed to their cabins to unpack and get a good night’s sleep. Later this evening, some international campers will be arriving to join the intersessioners in their bunks!

Tomorrow is Arrival Day, which will mark the official start of second session! We’ll be hanging out in the front yard all day long making friendship bracelets and name tags, playing frisbee and guitar, and welcoming campers as they arrive. Mama Iguana and I are beyond psyched for a whole new session- there is so much fun and excitement ahead! I’ve got to get some shut eye before the big day tomorrow. For now, enjoy some photos from intersession and cabin prep.

Nighty night and sleep tight!

Cara B. Ner

The silent walk up to Pinegrove

Good morning, early birds! It’s yaaawwwn Cara B. here with a departure day update.

Last night after we ate our delicious dinner of lobster and ice cream and thanked the kitchen staff for all the yummy meals they prepared for us, we closed out the session up at Pine Grove. We gathered at the bottom of Tipi Hill and walked up in silence to reflect on our summer together. There were so many fabulous acts! Most cabins opted for some sing-a-long faves over the HVC classics, which was a cool change of pace! We sang “This is Me” from Camp Rock, the theatrical portion of “Bohemian Rhapsody,” the iCarly theme song, “Count on Me,” “Waving Through a Window,” “Electric Love,” and “Hey Jude!” French 1/4 led us in a special version of “Wagon Wheel” about Hidden Valley, and some girls from Taj sang an original song as well. Forbidden Planet shared a song they wrote about their cabin that was absolutely hilarious, and the AWACs led us in a dramatic rendition of “Every Time We Touch” which got everyone dancing. Atlantis led us in the penguin song for some more dancing, and Peter and Gabe, the pottery guru, helped us sing “Ayo-Bo-Diddley-Bop.”

As our songs and stories around the fire drew to a close, cabins made their way down Tipi Hill with candles in hand. We walked down in a line lighting candles and blowing them out to give goodbye hugs. We may have shed a tear or two, but it was so wonderful to have a special moment with everyone on camp before we went our separate ways.

This morning, we woke up suuppeerr early to Taj Mahal and Forbidden Planet singing their favorite songs. We headed out still cozy in pjs and blankets and grabbed a light breakfast before saying goodbye to campers leaving on buses. We sent them off by dancing the funky chicken and waving goodbye as they drove down camp road. Be sure to check the Hidden Valley Facebook page for travel updates from the buses throughout the day.

After the buses left and the majority of campers were on their way, we enjoyed a heartier second breakfast. Right now, everyone is hanging out around main camp as we wait for families to arrive to pick up the remaining campers. Staff are out and about preparing for second session and campers staying for intersession will be heading off for a trip to Fort Knox State Park later today.

Mama Iguana and I will be off the blog for a little while, but we’ll be back Friday night with all the latest from the intersession trip and second session cabin preparations. Thanks for following along with us this fantastic first session, it’s been a pleasure! Enjoy photos from the lobster banquet and departure day.

‘Till next time!

Cara B. Ner

Valhalla having a dance party!

Greetings, bloggers! Cara B. here with a marvelous packing day update.

Last night after a ravioli dinner, we had the Fair Day dance! Everyone had a blast dancing, hanging out, and signing each other’s white books. This morning, we woke up to the classic packing day breakfast of yummy, warm cinnamon rolls- score!  We had our final morning meeting in the front yard where we went over luggage labeling, proper packing protocols for art projects and valuables, and a huuuggeee lost and found walkthrough. Campers staying for intersession had a meeting to talk about their awesome trips and received a special packing list for the next few days. We heard the final thought de jour, pun of the day, and spirit animal of the day, before packing day commenced.

Back at our cabins, we packed our bags and did a BIG cabin clean- we aired out our mattresses, wiped down our cubbies, and prepared to face our toughest cabin inspectors yet: Peter and Meg and the PDs!! Once we were all packed up and passed cleaning inspection, we headed over to the backyard for a lunch that included Fair Day leftovers- double score! After lunch, we enjoyed a quick rest period and did a special cabin activity with our cabin groups. Here’s what everyone got up to:

Wombles made s’mores

Avalon also made s’mores!

Gimme Shelter decorated cabin t-shirts

Loons more s’mores!

Down Under also decorated cabin t-shirts!

Paquatahnee did Tipi zip!

The Burrow had a 70’s dance party and popped balloons!

Shangri-La signed and decorated their cabin shirts

LCH had a birthday party

French 1/4 decorated cabin t-shirts

Atlantis reenacted the World Cup!

Chateau Fiasco did build and destroy at the end of the world

Treasure Island did an art project reflecting on their time at camp

Fiddler’s Green wrote warm and fuzzies and made custom mason jars

Valhalla also wrote warm and fuzzies and had a dance party!

Camelot made s’mores and signed pictures

Wabanaki made giant friendship bracelets and shared their favorite memories of the summer

Haley’s Comet did horse vaulting

Forbidden Planet played card games and wrote warm and fuzzies

Taj Mahal made s’mores and talked about their favorite memories from the summer

Whew! It all sounds like so much fun! Right now, everyone is gathered in the front yard for a big transportation meeting and luggage move. Afterwards, we’ll chill in the backyard until our final evening meeting of the session.

Tonight is the Lobster Banquet and Closing Pine Grove! We’ll enjoy a special dinner of lobster, chicken parm, or spanakopita served to us by our counselors! There will also be Ben & Jerry’s for dessert, of course, given out by Meg and Sandia in all of their cow-suited glory. Once our bellies are full, we’ll gather at the bottom of Tipi Hill to walk up to Pine Grove in silence guided by torch light. There, we’ll have a big bonfire to close out the session and celebrate the wonderful community we created this month with stories and songs. We’ll end the night with a candle lighting procession in order to say goodbye to everyone at camp before we depart tomorrow. It should be an absolutely beautiful evening- Mama Iguana and I will be sure to tell you all about it tomorrow.

Speaking of tomorrow, you’ll hear from us bright and early! We have a 4:45am wake up in order to grab breakfast and get everyone sorted before the buses leave. Stay tuned for all the latest from departure day tomorrow. For now, enjoy photos from the Fair Day Dance, packing day, and cabin activities!

Later, gators!

Cara B. Ner

Hanging out by the inflatable slide!

Hello! Long time no talk! It’s Mama Iguana and I am here to talk about all the fun Fair Day activities of today!

The day started off with camp congregating on the soccer field for the Brumby Horse Show! The Brumby Show is put on by campers who are in a program within camp that is specific to horse riding. The campers spend early mornings, rest period, fourth period and fifth period working with the horses. The Brumby campers and staff work extra hard during the session to put together an amazing show for camp to see. Each camper showed off what they had been learning. It was so impressive. Go Brumby!

After the show, everyone walked down to the backyard for Fair Day!!! Each cabin had a specific booth that they ran. Campers worked in a rotation of shifts so everyone got a chance to enjoy the fair. Here’s a list of what booth each cabin ran!

Forbidden Planet and Apprentices Fried dough

Taj Mahal Kiss-O-Grams

Wabanaki Ice Cream

Fiddlers Green Drinks

Valhalla Marriage Booth

French Quarter Face Paint

Chateau Fiasco Sumo Wrestling

Treasure Island Water Toss Game

Shangri La Ski Ball

Wombles DJ

Camelot Inflatable Jousting

Down Under Fortune Telling

Paquatahnee Chocolate Fountain

Avalon Poop Shoot

Loons Moon Bounce

Atlantis Name Change

The Burrow Jelly Bean Count

Gimme Shelter Inflatable Slide

Lower Carriage House Pretzels

Along with all the amazing booths, there was also an art show! All of the campers art work was put on display throughout the Hilton, Red Barn, and Pottery Studio for everyone to see! This was our last chance to see all the hard work campers have put into their art projects before they get all packed up to be brought home!

Once the fair came to an end, cabins were assigned to specific areas to clean. Now, it looks like Fair Day never even happened! Nice work, campers! Everyone is now gathered in the Rec Hall to watch a slide show of camp highlights, videos made by campers the second two weeks, a highlights video, and Rock Band and Ukulele performances.

Tonight is our last dance of the session! After dinner, campers will head to the Rec Hall for one last dance all together! And tomorrow is… Packing Day! You’ll hear all about that tomorrow from Cara B. and I.

That’s it for now! Check out photos from Fair day and the run this morning!

See ya later alligator,

Mama Iguana

The amazing cast and crew of Pippin!

Wakey wakey eggs and bakey! Cara here with an update.

Last night after a yummy pizza dinner, we headed over to the Rec Hall for the musical performance of Pippin! The Rec Hall was completely transformed into a big top circus. A group of players at this circus told us the story of Pippin, a young man trying to find his way as he enters adulthood. Pippin goes into battle, tries his hand at art, meets friends and finds love, and ultimately chooses this love over a “grand finale” of other life experiences in an ominous and dramatic ending which left everyone in shock and astonishment. It was truly an incredible and thought provoking performance! We gave all the actors and backstage ninjas a huge cheer and a big standing ovation. We also thanked our amazing directors, Cate, Nick B., and musical director Dario, who played piano to accompany the cast throughout the entire show! It was truly a fantastic showcase of talent and a community effort- from actors, to set makers, to costumers and more.

This morning, some of us woke up especially early to participate in the Fair Day fun run! After an egg bar breakfast and a short morning meeting, we cheered on the runners as they raced right through meeting to the finish line. Once we were all back together, we headed to our cabins for a quick cabin clean and to get a head start on packing. Next, we set up our Fair Day Booths! Soon, we will all gather together on the soccer field to watch the Brumby horse show. Brumby, the group of campers in our special horse riding program, have worked incredibly hard this summer mastering their riding skills. I can’t wait to see all that work pay off during the show!

After the show, we will head back to main camp to enjoy Fair Day! Fair Day is a super special day of fun at the end of each session. Each cabin will be running a different booth during the fair- there’ll be games, lots of yummy treats to eat, some inflatables to play on including a brand new waterslide, and a big showcase of art made in art classes throughout the session! Mama Iguana will report all the details later. I gotta go, I think I smell fried dough cooking! For now, enjoy photos from Pippin!

Buh-bye!

Cara B. Ner

Rob’s advanced guitar class!

Good evening, folks! Cara B. here with all the latest on our last lazy day of the session!

But first, lets back it up to last night. After a delicious lasagna dinner, we headed over to the Rec Hall for Sharing Night and the second half of Valleyfest! There were so many incredible acts- there were dance performances, musical theater singing, gymnastics, a project runway showcase, and even a song from a llama care class! Rock band and ukulele classes will perform tomorrow, and Mama Iguana and I can hardly wait! During the Valleyfest portion of the evening, there was some fabulous singing, tricks on the diablo, and some super cool mash-ups of different songs! Everyone had a blast supporting their friends on stage- the night was full of clapping and big cheers.

After a good night’s rest and a late wake up, the younger half headed off camp to go glow bowling! There were disco lights, strikes and spares, and a whole lot of dancing. Meanwhile, the older half stayed on camp for PK Cruise Day! After breakfast and a big cabin clean, the older half gathered around the Rec Hall area for lots of relaxing vacation activities. There was corn hole, shuffleboard, post card and souvenir magnet making, a cheesy tourist photo booth, hair wraps, and basketball. It was so much fun! Both halves enjoyed lunch on camp and headed back to their cabins for a super loooonnggg rest period and cabin inspections. Afterwards, we all headed to the pool for mega pool activities! There was the typical reading circle, friendship bracelets, frisbee, and slip n’ slide, with some sweet music and speakers to spice it up. It was the perfect way to close out the lazy day as a whole camp.

Tonight is the musical, which is a special production of Pippin! I’m so excited to see it- I’ll be sure to tell you all about it tomorrow. For now, enjoy photos from Sharing Night and Valleyfest, glow bowling, and PK Cruise day!

Hasta la vista!

Cara B. Ner

Our amazing cast from the play!

Hiya, bloggers! Cara B. here with an exciting update on the last day of classes!

Yesterday during interest groups, we had the long awaited camper vs. counselor basketball game! The campers took an early lead and ultimately emerged victorious with a 22-16 win! We all had a blast cheering on the teams and signing and decorating white books that were handed out with snack.

Once the game was over, we enjoyed a dinner of burgers and fries outside, and wished the cast and backstage crew of the play good luck on their performance. Afterwards, we headed over to the Rec Hall to watch The Lion, The Witch Warlock, and the Wardrobe! It was an absolutely incredible show. Lucy, the youngest of the Pevensie sisters, finds herself in the strange, magical land of Narnia after walking through an old wardrobe. Humans are not welcome in Narnia, and it is up to Lucy, her sisters, and the friendly creatures they meet along the way to fulfill the prophecy by defeating the evil Warlock and becoming the new queens of Narnia. The sisters and their animal friends meet Aslan, the lion, who helps them slay the Warlock and bring all the animals he had turned to stone back to life. In the end, the prophecy is realized, peace is brought to the land of Narnia, and the sisters return home. It was a fantastic performance keeping everyone on the edge of their Crazy Creeks. After a big cheer and a standing ovation, the cast and crew of the play ran up and down Tipi Hill as cabins were dismissed for bed.

After a good night’s rest, we woke up this morning to a classic bagel Sunday breakfast and Meg and Tom’s dulcimer playing before morning meeting. At meeting, we heard the final interest groups line up and thanked Cassie for a session of fabulous interest groups. The thought de jour today was especially relevant as camp draws to a close- “don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.” But we’re getting ahead of ourselves- there is still a lot of excitement left in our final days together! Today is the last day of classes, which means that tonight is Sharing Night! Mama Iguana and I can’t wait to see everyone’s hard work from the past two weeks pay off on stage. After Sharing Night performances, we will also get to see the remaining acts from Valleyfest, our camper talent show! In addition, tomorrow is our final lazy day of the session. The younger half will be going glow bowling and the older half will stay on camp for PK cruise day- awesome!

That’s all for now folks! Enjoy some photos from the basketball game and the play!

Take care, mama bears!

Cara B. Ner