Letters From the Lodge

Dear Mom and Dad,

Sorry I haven’t written in awhile.  I literally have been so busy.  There have been so many fun activities and events going on!

We’ve done so much, it’s hard to remember it all.  We did Team Comp, Cabin sing, the big challenge, 5 Year Night, Manny and Pan’s treasure hunt, beach day, the start of the Olympics, Chaos vs. control, water relays, town day, and last night was capture the flag.

I think that you know what most of these are, but I’ll explain the ones that you might not know.

The cabin sing is where each cabin get to make up a new song for camp.  That way we get a ton of new messhall songs.  The senior cabin even wrote a new announcement song!  That was so much fun.

The big challenge is a rainy day activity.  Each cabin is given a list of random things that they have to do.  For example, write marimeta using only your feet, chew a cracker and then whistle, or best hidden talent.  It’s funny to watch.  My favorite is where we get to make fun of the lodgies.  The Sandy impressions are always the best.  “It’s a beautiful day at Marimeta because everyday is a beautiful day.  All my girls are so beautiful and I love them.  And I love that I love them.”

Five year night is a very special night at camp.  The new 5 year campers and counselors get their jackets and the 6 year and up campers and staff get to give them their jackets.  It is so special to be a part of.  This year we gave our 42 new jackets!  And we even had two 10 year staff members!  (and one 11 year staff member).  I can’t wait until I get my 5 year jacket!

Beach day was a very special Sunday!  After lunch we had a band come!  We had a dunk tank.  A snowcone machine!!!!  And also “surf” rides!  It was so much fun!  I LOVE snowcones!!!!!  And I got to dunk my counselor in the dunk tank!  It was probably my favorite Sunday at camp!

At the end of beach day, we did something a little different this year.  We announced olympic teams early!  Everyone got to pick out of a hat and find out what team they were on.  And then the senior cabin captains were on the pontoon boat and  were “pushed” in to announce what country they got!  The Coaches jumped in the water to meet them!  We got to start olympics early because the real olympics are going on!  There are 14 countries in the Marimeta olympics!  Australia, England, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Russia, Scotland, South Africa, and America.  (GO USA!!!!!!! )  The JCs then did the opening ceremony for the Marimeta.

Then, we got to watch the opening ceremonies for the real olympics!  They were shortened so it wasn’t 4 hours long, but we got to see all the good stuff!  My favorite part was the audience lighting up.  So cool!!!

I think you know what all of the other events were.  But if not, I’ll be home in 4 days and I can tell you all about them!

Tonight is the sing!!!!!  The Reds/whites are totally going to win!!!  I bet those pictures will be up tomorrow morning!

I love and miss you!  But I don’t want camp to end!

MnM,

Your Camper

Dear Mom and Dad,

I am having such a great time!!!!  We’ve done so many fun activities!

We played the STUFF game on Thursday.  Had a social with Horseshoe on Friday.  Played capture the flag on Saturday.  Had a Sunny Sunday.  And yesterday we played Lodgies last laugh!

I’ll explain each activity.  The Stuff game is: Get Stuff, Do Stuff, and Find Stuff out.  It is done in cabin groups.  It is done in three rounds.  First, we get stuff.  We have to get stuff from around camp.  Like a blue pillow case.  When we show our counselors the stuff…we get the points for that item.  The item worth the most points this year was a pack of gum…but it was a trick because we can’t have gum at camp…so it got taken away!  After get stuff…we have the do stuff round.  This one is funny.  We have to do random things around camp.  We could all dress alike.  We could run all the bases.  The one worth the most points for this one was singing four old camp songs!  (only one cabin got them all…Thanks Morgan!!!)  And the last round was find stuff out.  Like how many toilets are there on camp property (24 is the answer).  What is the phone number to Marimeta?  (715-479-9990) Or what senior cabin member won creativity in 2002 and 2005 for MTV (Mari in 2002 and Cori in 2005)  It was a great game!!!!

Then Friday, we had a social with horseshoe.  It was fun.  I saw my brother/cousin/friend/boyfriend/neighbor again!  They are having fun at camp.  Monster Entertainment and Kasper were here!  It was awesome!!!

Saturday night was a great night.  We played capture the flag.  Only the best game at camp!!!!  It ended in a tie!!!!!  That means that senior cabin played senior cabin for the win.  It was intense!!!!!!!  Then we had a campfire!  I love those.  The theme was favorite Marimeta memories!  We sang songs and relaxed!

Sunday was cabin day.  My cabin has ski, walk, and swim!  Then we got Alexanders for dinner!!!!!!  I LOVE THE PIZZA!!!  Then we watched Peter Pan as the movie!

Yesterday we played Lodgies Last Laugh.  Nic, AJ, Mari, and CJ all sat in front.  They had to have water in the their mouths.  Then, each cabin went up and had to try to make the lodgies laugh and better yet…spit out their water!  Each lodgie was a different amount of points.  Nic (worth the most) actually laughed the most!  CJ worth the least laughed the second most.  Mari worth middle points only laughed once.  and AJ was a wall and did not even smile!!!!  It was hysterical watching other campers get up and do funny things!

I heard there are some really funny pictures up from the last couple of days!!!

I am having such a great time!  I love and miss you!!

MnM,

Your Camper

Dear Mom and Dad,

This is my meal ticket.

I love and miss you!

Love,

Your Camper

 

Dear Mom and Dad,

I’m having a great time at camp!  Yesterday red and white teams were announced!!! It was so cool!  Sandy called us all to the waterfront!  Jacqui was skiing holding a red and white flag with Frankie driving the boat!  And then AJ, CJ, and Mari were on a red shark that TJ from Ojibwa let them borrow and Lillie was driving the boat.  They were all wearing the new red and white shirts.  Then, Dunks dropped a banner from the summit saying RED and WHITE!!!!  And finally, there were hundreds of white rubber duckies dropped into the swim area with our names written in either black for the white team or red for the red team.  IT WAS AMAZING!!!!

The overall captains got skis with their names on them that Nic made…I’m so jealous!  The co-captains got mini skis and the little captains got stuffed animal ducks.  It was so much fun.

I am a red or white!  Please send me fun clothing in that color.  Maybe some face paint or necklaces as well!  I love red and white.

Last night was the first red and white activity.  It is tradition to do the t-shirt relay and the peanut hunt!  The t-shirt relay is where the captains have a box with shirts with our names on them.  Silently, we pass the shirts and when you get to your shirt, you have to put it on.  The team that does this the fastest wins.  The red team won by 1 second.

Then, we got to do the “peanut” hunt.  We used to do it with peanuts, but now to be safer for allergies we try to use different items.  Last year we did a marshmallow hunt.  But, that got kinda gross.  So this year, we did a “peanut” hunt using starbursts.  The “peanut” hunt is one of the funniest games at camp.  Each team gets an animal sound.  This year the reds were “hee haw” and the whites were “ribbit”.  The captains have garbage bags.  When someone sees a “peanut” they stand over it and make their sound.  The captain can then go and pick it up.  It is funny to hear “hee haw” and ribbit” all over camp.

Today we are having normal activities!  I am having such a great time!  I love it here!

I love and miss you.

MnM,

Your Camper

Dear Mom and Dad,

Today was a great day!  We had safety day for 2nd four.  We had the usual stations, but there was also a ski station!  I got checked for lice…don’t worry I don’t have it!  I got to make my schedule.  I got to take the tred test.  And I got to hang out with my new cabin all day.  It was a great day,

Then, after dinner, we had cabin lip sync.  Each cabin got a different musical as their theme.  We had to put together a dance, costumes, and a lip sync in an hour!  It was hilarious!

Cabin 1 did The Sound of Music.  Cabin 2 did The Lion King.  Cabin 3 did The Wizard of Oz. Cabin 4 did Mamma Mia.  Cabin 5 did Mary Poppins.  Cabin 6 did Jersey Boys.  Cabin 8 did Legally Blonde.  Cabin 9 did Wicked.  Cabin 10 did Grease.  And Cabin 12 did Rent.

Cabin 1 won for the flag raisers.  Cabin 12 won for the flag lowers.

It was a fun day.  I can’t wait to start regular activities tomorrow!!

I love and miss you!

MnM,

Your Camper

Dear Mom and Dad,

Just a quick note to let you know that the busses have arrived safely and my new friends are here!!!  I’m so excited for the 2nd four weeks of camp!!!

I will write more later because I am busy helping people unpack!  And tonight is the counselor hunt.  I can’t wait!

I love and miss you!

MnM,

Your Camper

Dear Mom and Dad,

Sorry I haven’t written in a couple of days, but camp is just too much fun!  While the trips were gone we had a great time!  We had water day!  We had all water themed events.  It was so much fun.

Then when the trips came back we had team comp.  I played steal the bacon.  It’s my favorite team comp. game.

Yesterday was a special Sunday.  We still got to sleep until 10:30, but then we had team meetings.  It was for the TC event at camp.  There are three activity periods in the afternoon, and it is all for Mari/Meta.  For example, which team can cross the wakes more at skiing, or who wins during a soccer game.  It is all activities I actually take during the first four, so I get to show off what I’ve learned.

After the event, we had cook out for dinner.  Yum.  And of course we got to watch a movie.  Last night it was Tangled.  I love that movie!!!!

Today is normal activities and then tonight is MTV!!!!!!  I bet there will be pictures on the website tomorrow!

I can’t believe it is only 4 more nights until I get to see you!!  Camp is flying by.

I love and miss you!

MnM,

Your Camper

Dear Mom and Dad,

Hi!  I’m having so much fun at camp!  Yesterday was Fourth of July.  It is special day at camp.  The senior cabin woke us up with pots and pans.  Then, we had blueberry muffins for breakfast.

After breakfast we had captains duels.  That’s where the captains of the Mari and Metas basically have a water balloon fight.  I heard there are some great pictures up.

For lunch we had a special cook out.  There’s brisket, chicken, corn bread, watermelon, and other summer foods.

After lunch we have message to Martha.  Another tradition at camp.  To briefly explain the game: one team is on defense spread throughout camp.  The other team is on offense and they wear all white.  The defense is holding squirt bottles filled with colored water.  The offense has a special plan and they all try to run through the defense without getting sprayed with the water.  Different people are worth different points.  It was so much fun this year!

Then, we all got ready for the Menominee social.   Dinner was turkey and gravy!  It was so delicious.  There was a bad storm, so we had the social inside!  But, the storm was cleared up in time for the fireworks!  They were so great this year.  I like to play guess the firework color game with my cabin.  We have to guess what color the firework is going to be before it explodes.  It was a great Fourth of July.

Today, the pioneers left on their trips.  The senior cabin goes on a sailing trip.  The middle pioneers go to Mackinac Island.  And the youngest pioneers go to the dells.  The youngest kids get to stay at camp and do fun activities.  Today we had Al Lewis activities.  That is where the lodgies just name a random activity and if you want to do that, you can do it.  Today I did archery, skiing, and then we had general waterfront.

Tonight, we did a new activity that the CIA’s planned.  It was so much fun.  There were five activities in one night.  Then we got to have a special campfire where we thanked people that have helped us.  I loved it.  I can’t wait to see what they have planned for tomorrow!!

I love and miss you!

MnM,

Your Camper

Dear Mom and Dad,

Hi!  How are you?  I’m doing great!  Yesterday it was soooooo hot outside!  We had regular activities during the morning and then in the afternoon we had an inter-camp Chippewa.  The little kids went there and the big kids stayed here.  I played soccer, basketball, and tennis.  It was also general waterfront at camp in the afternoon.  It was so nice to be in the lake!  Meta Lake is amazing this summer.  It was 85 yesterday!  I went tubing, but I didn’t fall off!  I also went down the summit like 50 times.  The summit is my favorite part of general waterfront.

We then had MTV practice because it is coming up so soon.  After dinner, we had the Miss Marimeta contest!

Miss Marimeta is where every cabin gets a boy to dress up as a girl.  A bunch of boys from Menominee came to participate: Will, Steve, Richard, Tom, Terry, Joe, Brendon, and Ben all came to help out.  TJ from Ojibwa came to help.  And of course Sandy, CJ, and Sony helped out from Marimeta.  Kasper K from Monster Entertainment also came to participate.  He was awesome.  I want him to DJ my Bat Mitzvah!!!!!!

Cabin 1 had Will, Cabin 2 had Sandy, Cabin 3 had Steve, Cabin 4 had CJ, Cabin 5 had TJ, Cabin 6/7 had Richard and Tom, Cabin 8 had Terry, Cabin 9 had Kasper, Cabin 10/11 had Joe and Brendon, and Cabin 12/13 had Ben and Sony.

CJ dressed up as Grandma Barbie.  Cabin 4 and CJ won Miss Congeniality.  Sony dressed up as Sonia from Toddlers and Tiaras.  Cabin 13 and Sony won Miss Marimeta!  A good time was had by all!!!

This morning we started out with an MTV practice and will have regular activities the rest of the day.  Tomorrow is the 4th of July and I am so excited!!!!

Keep looking for my in the pictures.  Remember, I’ll be the kid smiling really big!

I love and miss you.

MnM,

Your Camper

Dear Mom and Dad,

Yesterday was so much fun.  We had regular activities and then for evening activity we had a new spin on a classic last night.  It was so much fun!!!! We had “horse races”.  We did them a little differently this year and it was a hit!  There were 11 teams: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Purple, Pink, Black, White, Grey, and Tie Dye.  Counselors were on each team as “trainers” and senior cabin members were captains.  The best part was how we were divided into our teams.  Everyone stood outside of their cabins in a straight line.  The counselors and senior cabin members were already in their team colors.  They ran to each cabin and grabbed the members of their team and put their color on their face.  Check out the pictures they are amazing!  The whole camp in rainbow was so pretty!

Every team met for awhile to get into team colors and to practice the races.  There were 10 races in total.  There were all “horse races” where a little kid and big kid are partnered; the big kid is the horse and the little kid is the jockey.  Every race was different.  There was a piggy back race, a wheel barrel race, and other funny ones like where the jockey sat on the horses leg.  It was so much fun!!  We also got points for team spirit and cheers.  The Orange team with trainer Jenna and captains were Gerri and Natalie were the winners!

Then this morning we got to sleep in until 10:30.  I slept the whole time!  Then we changed our beds and got our laundry ready to be picked up.  For lunch we had lox, bagels, cream cheese, eggs, and hash browns…its my favorite meal.  We had cabin activities all day.  We went skiing, swimming, and on a walk.  Then we had Alexanders Pizza for dinner.  It was the best Sunday.  Tonight we have movie night.  We are watching Dolphin Tale.

I love and miss you!!!

MnM,

Your Camper