Today was Camper Choice Day - one of the favorite days in the session for our campers. These days are an intentional part of our programming and provide a way for children to navigate their own destiny with choice. We foster independence, give campers a voice and practice the life-skill of decision-making as each camper gets to pick their schedule for the day and travel around camp with friends.

On camper choice days we offer a wider variety of activities that are not offered on regular days at camp. Our cabin counselors get the opportunity to teach these activities and showcase their passions and talents with our campers. Some of these activiites include running, letter writing, friendship bracelet making, water zumba, weightlifting and more. In addition to on-camp activiites, there are fantastic trips that campers can take to kayak, canoe, hike, climb and even paint the views of beautiful Western North Carolina.

I love to see the choices campers make and the confidence they gain from making their own decisions. As a mom, I often feel like my children are always seeking my approval or permission for their choices. At camp, they get to make their choices and learn the pracitical way to prioritize and problem solve. I am thankful for the way that these simple choices give all of our campers responsibility and build confidence in them.

The most important choice we encourage our campers to make each day is the choice of their attitude. In life, there are many things that are beyond our control and our happiness is not about what is happening to us, but how we choice to react or respond to the circumstances of life. I believe that this is one of the most important lessons we teach at camp. Though we may not like every activity we do at camp, when we choose a good attitude we can always have fun!

Favorite Details of the Day:

• Reflect at the Rock - Mac talked about giving your best to all that you do at Reflect this morning.
• Meals - Breakfast was the scrambled eggs, belgian waffles and sausage with fruit bar, oatmeal and grits. Lunch was chicken fingers, french fries and raw carrots with ranch! Dinner was lasagna, caesar salad, garlic bread and roasted broccoli.
• EP - Tonight’s EP was a camp favorite and Highlander tradition - Square Dance!
• Overnights - Cabins 3, 4 and 31 came back from some fantastic overnight adventures. (Check out this beautiful photo with Cabin 4 from their backpacking overnight. This is a view to remember!)