Loon Photos from camper Paul Joyce

The Joyce Family brought Tami some loon photos this morning.

And we all know how much Tami loves her loons!  It’s been “the loons this!”  and “the loons that!” and “Aren’t the loons soooooo cute!” all . . . day . . . long.

She used to talk about ME like that!

Here’s the empty nest, the first clue the babies hatched, because right away, Mom and Dad coax them to the water.

 Loon Photos from camper Paul Joyce

They’ll never set foot on land again, until they’re ready to have chicks of their own.

So Paul and his family went about fishing and trolling.  It didn’t take long until they ran into the loons family.

And sure enough they didn’t just find one ~

 Loon Photos from camper Paul Joyce

They found two babies!

 Loon Photos from camper Paul Joyce

 Loon Photos from camper Paul Joyce

How awesome is that?   They’re sooooo cute.  But soooo vulnerable.   Snapping turtles and large fish are predators from below; the eagles from above.  Mom and Dad are going to have to keep them very, very close.

 Loon Photos from camper Paul Joyce

 Loon Photos from camper Paul Joyce

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Father’s Day Weekend 2011

What a blast!  There were lots of Dad’s and Grandads all over the campground having fun with their kids.

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The Dad’s helped us make lanterns from tin cans with Maggie.  Then we played relay games like the trash bag sack race

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and Duck, Duck Goose.

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I think it should’ve been Duck, Duck, MOOSE!  But Maggie wouldn’t let me.

When I begged and pleaded, she said Tami warned her about me.

I wonder what she meant by that?

We also got to try out the scavenger hunt, and the water balloon slingshot and a movie and a hayride!

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I tried to ride the hayride this time.  I just wanted to take a little swing around the campground, you know, to check out all the sites.  But again, Maggie said, “No, Maxx.  You know what you’re supposed to be doing.”

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Sheesh, she’s sounding an awful lot like Tami lately!  But I had a grrrrrrr-eat time hanging out with my little camper friends while we waited for the hayride to come back!

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Maggie said her favorite part of the day was the Father/Child horseshoe tournament.  Here are our top winners!

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They look like professional horseshoe players to me!

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Year of the Rabbit

Tami says that according to the Chinese Zodiac, I’m a rooster… but I thought I was a moose?

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The best part about Chinese New Year is Trash Bag Theater!  We all split up into teams and practice skits, then we perform them! Last year we had some awesome skits, it was really fun!

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Do you see the guy in the back?  He’s wearing a dress!

Wanna know the other best part about Chinese New Year weekend?  It kicks off our full time recreation.  That means we get to play everyday with Maggie.

Well, I guess not everyday.  Tami says Maggie gets days off, too, but I don’t really understand why…

But we’ll be doing bubble play, and arts and crafts, and ice cream making.  I can’t wait!  And then there’s fourth of July weekend coming up.  Do you know who comes for that?

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The magician BJ Hickman.  His tricks are amazing!  If you wanna see him, you gotta hurry because Fourth of July Weekend books up fast!

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A Surprise Birthday Party for Me?

How cool was that??

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Tami sent me out to check on the loons while Maggie and the kids made birthday cards and birthday hats.

She sent me back out to count the fisherman while the kids played birthday games like limbo on the playground.  Then she sent me out a-gain, while they painted their faces to get ready for my big party.

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You know how they got me to the rec hall?  They told me it needed cleaning!  I thought I was being put to work, but instead . . .

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SURPRISE!!!

All my friends were waiting to sing Happy, Happy Birthday!

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We had cake and ice cream too.

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It was soooo yummmy.

That was the best-est birthday EVER!!

Thanks everyone!

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Father’s Day is coming!

And want to know a great idea for a Father’s Day present?  Camping!  We do all kinds of fun activities – and parents are always allowed to join in.  Like the scavenger hunt, or the relay races.

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One of our favorite Father’s Day traditions is the Father/Child Horseshoe tournament.  Last year, first place went to Erik and Tim (they’re on the right) and second place went to Jerry and Jerry (they’re on the left).  They got cool medals and everything!

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The weekend after that is going to be Chinese New Year!  That’s a really fun weekend, too.  Last year, we celebrated by making lion masks for good luck.

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Wanna know what I heard? This year is the year of the rabbit!

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It’s Turtle Season

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The turtles are back!

Once a year, the turtles climb all the way UP the hill from the lake to the playground/playing field or office area to lay their eggs.

And at least once a year, a camper thinks a turtle is lost and they take them back to the lake before they’ve had a chance to lay their eggs.  Which means the poor turtle . . .

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has to trek all the way BACK UPHILL once again.

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So if you find a turtle the size of a dessert plate or bigger, let them be.  If you find one the size of a dime,

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It’s okay to help it to the lake.

I’m sure he’d appreciate the ride!

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2011 Memorial Day Weekend

Oh, hey!  I found the blog again!

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Sorry about the delay – this spring has just been so much fun.  Dave opened the pool, Tami planted all her pretty flowers, the guys put the boats in the lake, and we finally got to meet our new playmate Maggie!

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As you can tell, Maggie had a fight with the waterballoons . . . and she said the waterballoons won!

Maggie’s gonna help out with recreation!  She’s a lot of fun, we had a blast with all the events packed in to Memorial Day Weekend.  She did a great job running Candy Bar Bingo, helping Debbie out with arts and crafts, and playing wiffleball.  My favorite was story time

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with a cup of Moose Mix!  Yum!

Even though we got rained on a little bit, it didn’t stop us!  We still had our Memorial Day Parade – we held our umbrellas in one hand and our noise makers in the other.  It was a great time!

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I made lots and lots of new friends ~ and found some old ones too!

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Oooo!  Good news!  Mama Loon is back this year, and sitting on her nest.  Do you know what that means?  We’ll hopefully be seeing baby loons soon!

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Hey, by the way, before I crawled into bed last night I caught a glimpse at this weekend’s Rec Schedule and guess what?

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. . . the Bouncy House is coming out this weekend!  C’mon! Come and play!

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An Eagle Update

Hey campers!

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Maax here!  It’s been kind-of-a-quieter weekend,  what with the cloudy day and all.  But the rain held off long enough to put up the bouncy house!  The kids had a great time in it.  They also had a great time at arts and crafts and kids games in the playing field.

Tami didn’t get pictures of any of it though, because she was down at the lake.   And I bet you can guess what she was focused on . . .

With her largest camera lens, the tripod and an extra battery. she was bound and determined to get photos ~ good photos~ ~ of the eagle baby, or babies.   Even though lots of campers had reported two,  just like with fisherman and their tall tales, Tami wasn’t going to announce it here until she saw it with her own eyes.  Or someone brought her a photo.

When she got down to the point on the lake, she found quite a few campers with their binoculars trained on the nest.  Yet none could claim to have seen two eaglets that morning.

For at least fifteen minutes, they only got glimpses of the one baby

 An Eagle Update

 An Eagle Update

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and as cuuuute as he was, Tami still hoped for one more.  She and the other campers  talked about how one baby will sometimes (shudder) eat the other . . . or they get dehydrated and die . . . or one pushes the other out of the nest.  After a few more minutes, she said to the other campers, “I guess we’re down to one.”

Suddenly, there was hope . . .

 An Eagle Update

And  the second baby made an appearance!

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 An Eagle Update

Whew!  I was getting a little nervous there.

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Next weekend, we’re having an ice cream party on Saturday night.  We still have some sites available if you’d like to join us!

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Clean Up Weekend with a Mother’s Day Breakfast

Clean Up Weekend was a success!  The weather cooperated and all our campsites, roads, playgrounds were raked!

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Everyone pitched in, and we really, really appreciated the help . . .

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Even if we did have to show some people how to properly use a rake . . .

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People seemed to be having a really good time

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I know we did!

Opening weekend is always so much fun.  I love catching up with families ~ seeing what they did over the winter months, and checking the height of the children.  Quite a few have grown taller than Tami.  Not that it takes much to do so, mind you.

Little trees were transplanted in the afternoon.  I was glad to see several campers take this  job very, very seriously.

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After all, what kind of campground would we be without our trees!

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Our helpers didn’t just work all weekend, they found time to fish ~

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To kayak

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and to hang out with friends.

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The weather cooperated for all but an hour, when thunderstorms rolled through.  But they were quickly over, and the sun shined once again.

Sunday morning, with the help of our camping friends, we offered a complimentary Mother’s Day Breakfast . . .

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And it was yuuuuuummy!

We hope all our camping Mom’s had a fabulous Mother’s Day Weekend!

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And we hope to see you all soon!

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Office Hours this Weekend

This coming weekend is “move in” time for our seasonal campers!  As promised in our February letter, power and water will be turned on Saturday, April 30th by noon for those of you who can’t wait another minute.  (and you know who you are!)

We officially open Sunday, May 1st for all campers. Bathrooms will be turned on by noon that day.

Office hours this weekend: 10 -5 Saturday and 9 – 5  Sunday – Thursday.

Our first big weekend is Clean Up Weekend; May 6 – 8th!  If you don’t have reservations for this, please call as sites have become very, very limited.  We have a ton of helpers who’ve already reserved their favorite spots for free, by agreeing to rake sites/roads/playgrounds and plant trees. We can’t wait to see them!  It’s going to be loads of fun!

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Site 4 Clean Up Weekend 2010

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Clean Up Weekend Volunteers 2010

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The Perfect Tree! 2010

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