Nooooooo, it’s not opening day yet.

C’mooooooooon . . . guess again!

David’s put the 2012 Calendar on the website!

Christmas in July is on there . . .

And Medieval Weekend . . .

Halloween One and Halloween Too!

And Super Hero

And Pirate Weekend, and the Bouncy House and My Birthday and the Ice Cream Parties ~

and sooooooo much more!

Go ahead!

Check it out!

I know you want toooooooo.

I LOVE Labor Day Weekend, but it always makes me a little sad too.

On the one hand

We had all these cooooooool activities like Egg games

Carrying the egg on your head

Egg Under the Chin race

and a scavenger hunt, horseshoes, and the water balloon slingshot on Saturday.

And if you thought the day was done, think again!

We also decorated our bikes and made noise makers for the bike parade

Debbie made all the bikers raise their right hands and swear not to run her over . . .

had a seed spitting contest . . .

played Ultimate Frisbee with the teens and adults . . .

Uh-oh! What'd B do?

Aaaaaaand, played Candy Bar Bingo!!

with lots and lots of happy winners!

On Sunday we had Story time with Moose Mix, Relay races in the pool, Waterballoon target practice, jewelry making, Bubble Play and we created pin wheels at Arts and Crafts

Awww! Her pinwheel matches her shirt!

How clever is that? She attached her pinwheel to her bike handles!

Purple! My favorite color!

I was so proud of my little campers . . . many of them were waving the old red, white and blue!

I felt like a real, live, rock star all weekend, hanging out with my little campin’ buddies.

So I bet you’re sitting there, in front of your computer, shaking your head and saying, “Maxwell, Maxwell, Maxwell.  With all that cool stuff going on, how on earth could you be  so sad?”

It’s really simple actually.  It’s Becauseit’stheverylastweekendofrecreationandI’mgoingtomissitsomuch!

SOB!

Sniffle, sniffle.

Tami says they’re still open ’til Columbus Day though.  And there’s tons of people who love fall camping because they get to go out fishing and kayaking and canoeing and wildlife watching.  And the kids still get together to play ping pong and manhunt and stuff like that.   Tami has a whole list hiking and geocacheing trails . . . oh, and there’s the cool nights by the crackling campfire to look forward to . . .

Okay, so there’s a ton more camping season left.

What are you waiting for?

Friday recreation began with story time and ME!

There was bocci and bubble play and bug catchers too!

When Tami heard about the bug catchers, she shuddered.  “Why on earth would you catch bugs!?”

To race them of course!!   Sheesh.  Doesn’t she know, you have to like bugs if you’re going to be a super agent or an adventurer.  I mean, you never know when you might get stuck while hiding from the bad guys and you find yourself in this tiny little space, listening carefully for that big, bad guy, and then you see ~you’re surrounded by BUGS!  Lots and lots of bugs!

Maaaaaybe, if you’re lucky, you’d get stuck with this guy -

but c’mon!  What are the chances of that?  With Tami’s luck she’d get trapped with a bunch of spiders.  She hates spiders. They make her scream like a little girl.  I’ve heard it.

Friday ended with Family Bingo in the rec hall.   Debbie plays quick stand-up games, long cover-all games and all kinds of games in between.  Lots and lots of people were winners!

On Saturday my little adventurer campers tried making cups from plain paper, then they drank from them.  After that we designed paper airplanes to test fly.

Of course we had to have adventurer training!  Duh!  Over 20 kids came to practice lassoing, running the obstacle course and of course to practice sling-shotting water balloons.  I mean, what kind of adventurer would you be, if you couldn’t toss a water balloon right where you needed it most??

There was jewelry making, a knot tying contest and an adventurer hayride too!

Debbie handed out compasses to everyone so they’d know which way David was going . . .

I wanted to ride on the wagon too, but Debbie and David wouldn’t let me.  They didn’t want me to knock anyone off with my antlers.  So I tried to get in the passenger seat to co-pilot David, but my antlers wouldn’t fit through the door!

Sigh.

So  I had to stay behind and wait with my faithful, moose-loving bodyguard, Joey.

and we waited.

And we waited.

Until finally, the hayride came back!

Here I am with some of my little campers

And here’s some more!

I’m so glad you all came in spite of Hurricane Irene!  I had an awesome time and I hope you did too.

I’m very sad to say, Tami fibbed to me.

Yep.  She fibbed big time.

She told me Halloween Too was exactly like Halloween One.

WRONG!

I mean, suuuuuuure, we had horseshoes and a scavenger hunt and story time and jewelry making and Halloween relay games.  I’d argue they were the same ~ but different too!

We had a mummy wrap contest:

and a witch’s stew eating contest!

Those were NOT on the schedule last week.  Uh-uh.  I checked. Twice.

This week, we made ghosts at Arts and Crafts for the campers to hang at their sites.

My little camping buddies went on a hayride too!

and I hung out between hayrides with some different campers . . .

than I did last weekend.

I suppose there was one thing . . . make that TWO things, that stayed the same.

One, the wait to trick or treat was just as looooong, if not longer!  It’s a good thing my little camping buddies and I had lots and lots to do.  Maggie and Debbie worked really, really hard all day to keep us busy!

and two, Tami gave the same booooooring, blah-blah-blah rules as she did last week.  The whole time she was talking, all I could think about was candy, Candy, CANDY!!

I bet that’s what the rest of these trick or treaters were thinking too!

This time, the party was up at the office!

Every single game was different from last week

K with Shoot the Jack-O-Lantern's Nose

K2 with the Balloon Walk

Maggie with the Sponge Toss

Alex with her famous Tattoos

S with the can pyramid

J with Spider Fishing

and then there was  Trina and Joanne with the treat . . .

Fruit Kabobs!!

There were cool prizes – but my favorite was  . . .

vampire teeth!

Sally ran the office

while Tami, Debbie and I circulated, checking out all the awesome costumes.

and the smiling faces

But you know who wasn’t smiling when it was time for the haunted house??

Tami.

As she cowered behind the reservations desk, I asked her, “What’s there to be afraid of anyway?  I mean, it can’t be all that scary if the campers are lined up  way to the back of the playground . . .

All she did was show me this picture.

Hmmmmm . . . I think maybe Tami needs a helping hand closing up the office.  I’ll just get busy sweeping the floor . . . .

But my little campers did!

We had ourselves some target practice with the catapult Ben built in Boyscouts.  That was lots of fun!

There were viking ship races, a treasure hunt, ferrier fetching (which is a very fancy medieval way of saying “horseshoes”) and a scavenger hunt.

We also played a bunch of medieval field games . . .

like jousting with noodles!

You know what?  Tami wouldn’t let me try the porridge eating contest. I stamped my foot (hoof?) and crossed my arms and pouted for hours and hours.  She only shook her head and said, “You’ll never get it out of your fur.”

Maybe she was right.  But don’t tell HER, I said that.

Debbie and Maggie had the campers make Robin Hood hats and princess crowns at Arts and Crafts.  There was shield making too!  Isn’t this one well done???

He looks ready to march into battle!

And speaking of battles, this group of five put on an awesome sword fight performance,  right before the hayride.

First, Bryant arrived, telling Maggie he was back to claim the recreation program as his own.   Of course, Maggie refused . . .

Just when it looked like Maggie might lose the battle . . . Ben rushed onto the scene and it became 2 against 1.

As you can imagine, that didn’t sit too well with Bryant!  So he asked for volunteers.  After turning down a dancer (who I thought might have been a good distraction), he found a willing participant

who just happened to be dressed in medieval garb, and be carrying a couple of daggers.  Gee!  Bryant was lucky to find him, huh??

They battled long and hard . . .

aaaaaand . . .

you’ll just have to watch for the YouTube link we’re gonna post here soon, if you want to see how it all turns out! We’ll show it start to finish! It was awesome!  Bryant choreographed the whole thing! Thanks a bunch Bry!

I practiced my sword fighting skills too, you know.  Still, this guy beat me with one hand tied behind his back.  Sheesh!  I’m gonna have to ask Bryant to give me lessons.

You never know when I’ll have to rescue a damsel in distress!!

Although  . . . you know . . . now that I’ve seen Maggie’s sword fight skills . . . she’ll probably be the one saving ME!

Saturday night, Markus and Angelique from The Magic of the Steelgraves, performed some amazing magical tricks for the whole campground!  They juggled . . . they lit things on fire . . . they made a chicken appear . . . they ate doves . . .

No wait, that last one was just a trick.  Honest.  They didn’t really eat them.  It just looked like they ate them.  Aw geez, you’ll just have to see it for yourself next year!  You’d never believe it!

What a fabulous ending to Fiesta Weekend . . .

The big party had five carnival games, 1 tattoo stand, five pinatas, one bouncy house, sopapillas  and ME!

But wait!  I’m getting ahead of myself here. I should start at the very beginning . . .

Last Friday, Debbie read some South of the Border stories, played Bocci, helped the campers make giant bubbles, decorated pinatas at arts and crafts, hid pennies for a penny hunt and called numbers for Family Bingo!

Bright and early Saturday morning, everyone gathered in the playing field for South of the Border games!  Then they shot Water balloons for ice cream prizes.  I wish Tami could’ve gotten pictures of that!  Balloons were bursting all over the place.

After lunch, we all made sombreros and maracas at Arts and Crafts!

We wore them on the hayride, too!

Some brought their own sombreros and maracas and mascots . . .

Wait a minute . . . you don’t think that cute little pup is trying to take my job, do you?

After supper, it was time for the big party!

WAKE UP!  It’s FIESTA TIME!  Not Siesta Time!

There was pin-the-tail on the donkey

The Mexican Hat game . ..

Tattoos!

The bouncy house . . . which I couldn’t sneak into again!

That David keeps too good an eye on me.

Debbie and Ron made us sopapillas . ..

which is a like a fried bread dough. They were soooo yummy!

I tried the ring toss

and the quarter toss and the dart balloon game

but I didn’t win any of them.  Sigh.

I did get prizes just for trying though!

And the biggest, bestest game ever???

The pinatas!!

When those homemade pinatas opened up, pouring candy all over the place, I thought I’d died and gone to heaven!!

Campers kept stopping Tami, to tell her how wonderful the party was and how much their kids loved it.  I begged her to do it all over again this coming weekend!

Please . . . PLEASE . . . PLEASE!

“What about Medieval Weekend?” she asked.  “We can’t cancel the giant, four man sword fight, can we?”

No . . . No we can’t!!

I can’t wait to watch the jousting, and the porridge eating contest, and see the fairy houses!

Do you remember last year when the Red Knight and the Blue Knight fought? They had an epic battle on the hayride – all over a googly band in the shape of a crown. If you don’t believe me, see for yourself by clicking on this photo.

In the end the Red Knight won!

This year, the Steelgraves are coming Saturday night to perform some magic. I can’t wait to see them! Last year, I heard he tried to eat a dove!

The weekend after, is Halloween Week! That’s right! Week! I can’t wait for all the candy, and the costumes, and the candy, and the parties, and the candy!

Did I mention the candy?

We’re the Poland Spring Campground Justice League, and you don’t want to tangle with us!

Why??

Because we can run faster than a speeding bullet . . .

Jump higher than the tallest building . . .

Make our own Super Hero costumes to hide our identity . . .

Mask making . . . with Mom's help. She's the only one you can trust your secret identity with

Cape making

We can shoot water balloons at evil villains . . .

and then tie them up with toilet paper!

Poor Cat Woman

Those villains were no match for us!  Not when you have super heroes like these hanging around the campground all day . . .

Spiderman has an admirer

BatGirl found her batman!

Spidey and some of his favorite Superheros . . . is that a villain in the middle?

Super Girl gives the Joker a "talking to"

That's a pretty amazing group of Superwomen!

There were superheros at horseshoes . . . superheros at the scavenger hunt . . . and superheros at the hayride too!

Tami wants to make a BIG, BIG shout-out to all the amazing helpers  .  . .

Bryant, Nancy, Mighty M, Debbie, Tami, Alex and Maggie

Our Super Villains who let the Justice League pelt them with waterballoons

We even got David to dress up!

I cleverly hid my secret identity behind a cape and mask to arrive as

Dah ~ Da ~DA!

Mighty Moose

Do you think anyone knew it was me???

I know, I know . . . I say that about ALL the theme weekends.  But this time it’s true!

We had so much fun doing the usual Christmas-y activities.  I especially liked the Santa dress up game

Don’t they look exactly like the big guy, himself??

My little campers made elf hats and stocking bags at arts and crafts.  We played Christmas games on the playing field too!  There were horseshoes, the snowball slingshot, a Christmas caroling hayride, ice games, a snowball hunt and lots, lots more!  The whole place was decorated, and even some of the campsites too.   My favorite Christmas decoration was one of those really big, blow up decorations . . . it was a camper, and Santa poked his head out the door to wave!  Very cool.

I hung out with lots of friends during hayride time . . .

Of course, all that other cool stuff combined couldn’t compare to the Christmas Party Saturday night!  We all waited patiently for Santa to arrive . . .

and then the games began!

Tami had lots of awesome volunteers to run tables for cookie making

and carnival games like “ring the bottle”

the duck game, the balloon walk

the “snowball through the wreath” game, and of course,

meeting Santa

Some of the campers even dressed up in their Christmas Best!

Finally, it was time for

PRESENTS!!

I waited kinda-sorta-patiently while my little camping buddies were called up one by one

and I wondered if I’d been a good Moose this year.

Then I heard it . . .

Maxwell Moose!

That’s me!

and I got exactly what I wanted!  Books!

How’d he know???

We were overrun with landlubbers . . .

and sailors alike!

Either way, everyone had a blasted good time Pirate Weekend!

Want to see what we did?

How about swabbing the poop deck races!

Why, you scurvy dog!  What do ya mean, ya can do that with one hook behind yer back?

How about walking the plank? Could ya manage that?

TOO TAME FER YA?  What if we make it twice as long?

Don’t you turn yer nose up at it yet!  We could blind fold ya!  AND set this lil, water squirting pirate on ya!

HA!  We’d like to see ya walk on it now!

We had a Sea Rover Hayride

where I kissed a bunch of babies on the tops of their wee heads

And all my little pirate camping buddies came out to learn how to be pirates!

I tell ya, this is one fine crew!  One fine Poland Spring Campground Crew indeed!

They did a Yo-Ho-Ho Scavenger Hunt, played horseshoes, canon-shot water balloons, had moose mix at storytime, made hooks and parrots at arts and crafts and did much, much more!

Debbie and Maggie kept the lil pirates sooooo busy, they couldn’t get into trouble if they tried.

All except this scurvy dog .  .

We had to keep two good eyes on HIM at all times!