Camp Journal - Village Day Camp Geneva

The blisteringly hot weather has really returned!!

And today was another great day...

The Five year olds escaped up to Signal de Bougy and the cool mountain air for the day, they baked their own bread this morning, and spent the afternoon visiting the absolutely ENORMOUS pig and his similarly overweight pig wife, as well as the horse, goats, rabbits and chickens. They didn’t have much luck finding the fairies in the special garden, but I suspect it was too hot for the fairies today; and they probably stayed in the shade.

One of the Senior groups also went up to Signal, they did the rope obstacle course in the morning, its quite tricky, and quite high- Pappa Bear went up to see how they were going and he was a bit frightened at the prospect of climbing up those trees.

The Fours, Eights, and Nine year olds were the lucky groups that went to Nyon Piscine today, the weather was really perfect, and considering that all of the buses in the afternoon got back to camp later than expected, I assume that they were (very understandably) a bit reluctant to get out of the water.

Another one of the Senior groups headed up to the Jura mountains for a hike, and the last group went off bowling in Gland this afternoon, so all in all it was another busy day for the Senior groups.

Apart from the five year olds, the mini campers all stayed on campus today, in Dance, Drama and Pottery as well as some of the other activities, including the all-important and very popular ‘Nap time’ activity. It’s so popular in fact, that counselors from Senior and Intermediate groups have demanded that it be put on their schedules as well!

A Demain!

Ann worked last  session as the Mini Arts and Crafts Specialist, and currently is the Senior Counselor for group 4A.

She comes from the United States and likes to travel, outdoor music festivals, movies, books, walking and biking. 

Ann is a teacher, and after her first year here is over, she plans to return to Chicago to teach Inner City students.

Fantastic Start!

Excursions and loads more going on ...

The second session seems to be starting the way the first session ended- fantastically, we have slightly fewer campers this session, so camp seemed a bit quiet today, but that might have been the fact that not only was today our first day of excursions, but also one of the busiest, so most campers weren’t here!

The great weather today meant that there were no cancellations of any excursions, which is just as well since it we had groups at the pool, in the Forest in Trelex, on the boat from Coppet to Nyon, and one Senior group went to the lake in Divonne for some windsurfing.

The Senior A groups, who went to the pool in the morning and then to bowling in the afternoon, had quite a tough day, I don’t know how they do it! I’m sure they will all be going to PALEO as well, so by Friday we should have some pretty exhausted campers.

 The Nines and the Eights went to Trelex today, and apart from a run in with some disgruntled bees, everything went smoothly. We are speculating at this point that the bees were unhappy with our efforts to build huts for the Fairies of Trelex, who as everybody knows are the arch enemies of the bumble bees! However our intermediates are a brave bunch and construction will continue over the session!

We also had our fair share of on campus activities; dance, arts and crafts and all our sports specialists were very busy, and our drama specialist is now a bit deaf after an afternoon of yodeling activities!

Elise works as a Senior Counselor at Village Camps, and she is currently the counselor for group 8A. 

She is Swiss and speaks English and French fluently. 

Elise has an undergraduate degree in English and is currently finishing a masters program of Special Needs Education.

She plays the piano, and enjoys traveling, reading, horse riding and skiing.

First day of Session 2!

Plenty of activities for our new campers...

Well the first day of our second session went wonderfully, and everyone was enjoying being back for another two weeks.

Because it was the first day of camp we had no off-campus excursions, but there was plenty to keep our new campers, as well as all the returning children, busy all day. We had mini-Olympics organized on the main football pitch for all our mini campers, it involved a series of small games and competitions, and of course, prizes!

Our swim specialists, Tanya and Erin, were organizing it, although with the wonderful weather I think they were anxious to get back to the pool in Nyon! Plenty of time for that over the next two weeks…

Our older campers were all busy as well, getting to know all our specialists and the different activities that they will be doing over the next ten days.

Our first day of excursions is tomorrow, and it is jam-packed! Mini-campers at the pool, or taking the boat from Coppet to Nyon, the Nine year olds are going to Trelex to build some houses for the fairies, and the senior groups have a day of sailing and bowling lined up, so they really should enjoy themselves!

It does look like the weather will be warm all week, which is fantastic of course, but makes it more important that parents remember to give the campers sun cream, a small bottle of water, and a hat, for those days when the sun is really strong.

Apart from that, it looks like we are in for another fantastic two weeks, and our special day this session falls on August 1st- Swiss National day, so it should be extra special!

As an avid mountain biker, he is enjoying the mountains and the amazing views of Switzerland!

Greg comes from the United States where he teaches in high school.

He plays the guitar and enjoys American Football, boxing, hockey and kayaking. 

Well it was a fantastic day and a great end to our first session here at Camp!

If the other sessions, and the other Special Day performances, are as good as they were today, then we are in for a wonderful summer.

The theme of the day was ‘The Circus,’ and it started with a skit by the counselors, during which the evil Dark Destroyer and his posse of Goblins managed to imprison the Ringmaster and ban all fun from the circus! Thanks to a timely intervention by the campers everything was set right and the carnival was able to continue!

The Nine year olds and the Senior groups went to the pool in the morning and stayed there until the barbeque lunch, while all the other groups stayed here on campus. In the morning we had a series of activities set up on the main soccer pitch, and all the groups kept themselves well occupied until it was time for hamburgers, chips (and salad!!)

In the afternoon we had the carnival followed by the Special Performances by all the campers for the parents who were able to join us. The Mini’s performed a version of Puff the Magic Dragon, the Intermediates did a song from High School Musical, and the Seniors did Stronger by Kanye West. The dancing to circus music was equally impressive, and all the campers and the parents seemed to have a great time, thankfully, although the weather was fantastic, it was not so stiflingly hot to make being out on the football pitch for an hour too uncomfortable.

We can only hope that next session the weather is as nice- we are already planning the performances, so to all of you who are coming back, have a nice weekend, to all of you not coming back, we hope you had a great time, and have a great summer!!!

Kelly is from Chicago, U.S.A.

She is currently our drama specialist.

She has a passion for locomotive trains, and plans to rail-travel throughout Europe after camp.

She speaks English and French, and is very sporty; she plays soccer, tennis, she especially loves baseball and is a huge fan of the Chicago White Socks.