Congo Camp 2010

Our Congo Camp staff is excited for the session!

We hope everyone is excited for the session to begin.  Although all of us here at Congo Camp are sad to see the end of summer upon us, we are all excited to see the many travels and activities planned for this last session!

Many camps will be occurring over the course of the session. 

There will be plenty of travelers as the four travel camps (Summer Adventures, Congo Explorers, Day Trippers, and Teen Travel) head out on their treks for the day. 

Also, our Footland Soccer, Kayak Camp, and Pony Adventures will be busy doing various activities during the week! 

We hope all of our campers are excited and we can't wait to see every one in action. 

Some of the excellent art that will be on display tomorrow.

Two special events will be occurring tomorrow, Friday the 27th, for some of our specialty camps:

Our magicians in Magic Experience will be hosting a Magic Show for parents in the late morning at 11:30 before the end of the session.  They have been practicing many magic tricks over the first few days and are definitely ready to show their skills.

The artists in our Media Mania camp will be hosting an art show tomorrow in the afternoon at 2:30 so camper parents can enjoy viewing the many creative productions these campers have made.

We can't wait to see both of these camps show off their excellent abilities tomorrow at their special events!

The campers in the midst of a game of Froggy Murder.

Many of our campers may refer to a game that would stump the average person: froggy murder.  In this game, one person is the "murderer" and the person in the center must try to figure out who it is.

As the "murderer" sticks out their tongue, the other people in the circle must pretend to fall over and play dead. 

The campers love this game and it's definitely one of the ones that is always played during group time.  There are many games that are camp staples and this is definitely one of them!

Many of our campers may be coming home stating this exact phrase, but, parents & family, no fear. . . the lost & found is here! 

Below are photos of the many items that were left at Congo Camp this summer.  If you see something that is yours, please stop by the camp office and one of our Camp Admin will gladly help guide you to your items:

Welcome to Congo Camp!

We are all excited to begin Session 6 as the summer slowly comes to a close here at Congo Camp.  There are many exciting camps occurring this week and many activities planned for our excited campers.

A few of the camps we will be highlighting over the next week are American Inline Skating camp, Congo Chefs, LegoWorld, and Soccer Pros.

We hope everyone is as excited as we are to begin the week! 

After a session of working hard, the seniors finally have completed their excellent mural.  We are all excited to see it finally posted in the cafeteria.  But, just in case you may not get to see the mural, here is the excellent artistic work the seniors did:

The excellent Senior Mural!

Ms. Maria taking a quick rest while the groups eat!

One of the most well-known helping hands here at Congo Camp is Ms. Maria who works with the maintenance staff to help keep our campers safe and healthy!

Ms. Maria is a Congo Camp veteran and all of our campers love to see her smiling face greet them at various places around campus.

She helps out, many times, in the cafeteria to ensure our campers are receiving the proper food and drinks to keep them healthy. 

We all thank Ms. Maria for the help that she provides for all of us and we are happy to see her every day greeting us all with her happy and caring smile!

The waves may not be this big, but the water will definitely keep campers cool!

And the rain has disappeared, so today the day campers get to enjoy a nice, wet Thursday. 

A few of the exciting, water activities planned for today are a slip and slide, water inflatable, and carwash. 

All of these events are being held by our various day camp areas such as Sports, Cracker Barrel, and Outdoor Ed.

A few of the day camp areas will continue with their normal activities such as Ropes, Equine, and Pool.  We are excited to see our campers get wet and wild with the Tsunami and we hope they have fun staying cool all day!

The rain may have changed our plans today, but it will never end a fun time like Wet and Wild day. 

Tomorrow, Wet and Wild day will be back on and have day campers participating in various activities.  Each day camp area has a special "water-based" activity planned for the campers.

One of the highlights for tomorrow is that arts & crafts will actually be having campers doing some watercoloring. 

We can't wait to see all the events that are planned for tomorrow, so get excited campers!

Campers having a huddle on court.

Today the Staff/Camper basketball game occurred with both teams being cheered on with great energy.

The staff brought their a-game as they tried to score against the excellent defensive of the camper team.  The camper team maintained a strong offensive, also, as they charged down the court to make baskets.

There was definitely a larger portion of campers cheering on their own camp players, but a few shouts of happiness occurred as the staff made baskets.

We are awaiting the final results of the game and, as soon as they are released, we will have them posted.

The Sophomores' Sign.

As day camp draws to a close for the summer, the sophomores were proud to show what they could make to show the sophomore spirit.

The seniors have been working on their mural which is close to finished, but the sophomores' mural was already hanging up in the hallway today.

They were all proud to sign their sign and show their pride for Congo Camp.  Each sophomore selected a part of the mural on which to focus and ensured their part added into the larger image. 

We are excited to see the Sophomore sign and we are excited to see the Senior mural once finished!

Campers relaxing and enjoying a film.

You may have driven on to campus this morning and seen a very desolate (and, wet) field along with a very quiet playground and pool.  Well, the impending storm changed a bit of the plans for the day and day camp made a little adaptation. 

This morning, the day campers enjoyed a movie as one large group in the cafeteria.  They had some popcorn and enjoyed "Wall-E".  After one of the hottest weeks of the summer, the day campers enjoyed a little time to sit and relax with each other and with counselors.

After the movie, the campers will be continuing with a modified schedule and we hope their rest and relaxation preps them for some fun activities. 

Zippy!

We hope everyone has been enjoying the first week of session 5.  There have been many activities and events going on this week and we hope all of the campers have been enjoying all of these.

Last night, the Congo Camp Casino Overnight occurred.  There were many prizes and snacks for the campers and they all enjoyed playing the various games. 

The day campers have been enjoying Ropes, various sports, and even a slip-and-slide this week, while our specialty camps have all been continuing to learn about various items pertaining to their camp.

We are looking forward to seeing the many activities planned for the last day of week 1 of this session.  Have fun, campers!

The new misters outside the Camp Office.

Our Congo Campers stay cool.  Generally, our Congo Campers love pool time because its one of the best ways too have fun, cool down, and get wet. 

But, there is a new tool to keep our campers cool: the misters.  Recently, Congo Camp acquired hose misters and connected them to the fence outside of the Camp Office. 

As our campers walk to and from various activities, they can keep themselves cool under the misters.  Or, if our campers are on their way to the pool, they can even prep themselves by getting a little wet. 

We hope the campers enjoy the new misters and that they help them keep cool during the day!

The Overnight RSVP form.

Get ready, Congo Campers, for the upcoming overnight on Thursday, August 12th.  The theme, as you may be able to tell, is a Casino night.  There will be many games and activities and also some pool time and dinner. 

The Overnight will begin directly after camp on the 12th.  Rising 1st and 2nd graders must be picked up promptly at 8:00 pm, while rising 3rd-9th graders may stay overnight and go directly to camp in the morning. 

The cost is $65 for the full overnight and $50 for the 8:00 pm pickup.  All R.S.V.P.s MUST be received by 9:00 am on August 11th (tomorrow!).  Please contact Ms. Anne Claytor (aclaytor@csov.org) with any questions. 
More information is provided on the attached Overnight form.  We hope to see you there! 

A handmade Zippy.  He's quite excited to get started with Congo Camp session 5!

So, welcome, campers & family, to another exciting two weeks here at Congo Camp!

Even the Camp Office was decorated by both sides.

We hope all our campers and counselors had fun during the first day of Congo Conquest.  Walking around, you could easily feel (and, see!) the Orange and Green spirit that was at Congo Camp. 

Yesterday, each team competed to try and gain points for their side, and, at every activity, you could tell our campers were trying their hardest to score for their team.

We wish both of our teams good luck as they continue their competition today and we hope that they do well during each of the events. 

The paper "garden" of all our fruits and veggies.

Throughout the summer, you may hear Ms. Ana or Ms. Ashley call for a group over the radio, but rather than say a boring, old number, they use a unique name.  Or, maybe you hear one of day camp Counselors asking their group, "Please line up Wacky Watermelons."

Well, in case you were wondering, these names are in honor of our theme for this year: Groovy Garden.  Each group has a fruit or vegetable that is included in their names. 

These names definitely make our groups feel a little more connected and show their group spirit.  We hope that they like using their group names as much as we like to hear them!

The Fairfax Food Service Truck.

After running around, completing activities, and just plain having fun, our Congo Campers crave some lunchtime to both fill their appetites and relax their muscles. 

Well, Fairfax Food Service (FFS) is always to the rescue during lunchtime to provide our campers with delicious meals to fill bodies and re-energize minds for the rest of the day.

Our campers enjoy lunch time not only because they get time to eat but also because they get time with group members. 

We give a big thanks to FFS for the excellent food they bring us and it's great to see our campers full and focused after a nice meal!