Thoughts After a Year as a First Time Grandma

By now most of us are fully entrenched in our Fall activities. Summer has faded, the Autumn colors have taken over the landscape, and in 8 short weeks we will be welcoming in the holiday season and the new year.  2019 is the year my husband and I experienced being grandparents for the first time. It has been quite a ride.  I thought I would share a few funny moments and some “Aha” moments as Brody turns 1 year old.

My husband and I visit baby Brody just about every week.  In the beginning, we would arrive at Brody’s apartment and wait our turn to hold the baby.  We have a decent size immediate family   so literally it was like taking a bakery ticket with each of us announcing…”I’m next.”  This went on for hours.

There have been some new developments since Steve and I became parents some 30 years ago.  One afternoon, Steve and I were babysitting for Brody.  Both mom and dad were out.  We had the baby all to ourselves.   We were in Brody’s room adoringly watching him sleep in the crib when all of a sudden we heard a deep voice call out, straight out of a Star Wars movie, “Brody…I am your father!”  We literally freaked!  We looked at each other incredulously trying to figure out where the voice came from. It was shortly after that that our son explained to us about the infamous nanny cam, which can not only be viewed on your cell phone but can also transmit sound from anywhere.  As it turned out, my son activated the nanny cam on his phone from work and decided to have some fun with us.

Here’s another goody.  We have been introduced to the “Shusher.”  Back in the day when you wanted to calm a baby, or rock a baby to sleep you would soothingly hold the baby close and rock back and forth making a continuing shushing sound. We were blown away to learn that  there is now a mechanical hand held device called The Shusher!  You can place it by the crib to calm a baby down or lull the baby to sleep. What will they think of next???!!!!

Here are a few AHA moments in year 1……

It is amazing how this little baby boy has brought our family even closer.

Steve and I don’t sweat the parental details.  Our job is to crash their place, play with and spoil Brody, give him endless hugs and kisses, rile him up, and then head back home.

We have come to realize that our son, who at times was a challenge growing up, has become a wonderful loving father and husband.  Steve and I sometimes look at each other in amazement and giggle.

After raising 3 children, who turned out pretty well in my opinion, I find it quite humorous that my son feels compelled to give me advice and instructions regarding “the Baby.”

Being a grandparent is about all of the joys and not about the headaches.

During so many of Shibley’s special events throughout the year, as well as summertime visiting days and shows, grandparents play an integral part of our camp experience. They come in droves to see their grandchildren in action. Their pride and joy is unparalleled. Before becoming a grandma myself, I would marvel at the sight of a camper running into their grandparents arms and thinking how lucky they all are to have each other.  Shibley is a place to celebrate family and I hope to see all our campers, parents and grandparents this Saturday at our Fall Festival enjoying the day!

Looking Back at My First Shibley Summer

My first summer here at Shibley was definitely one I will never forget!  There are so many things that make Shibley such a special place, what stands out the most however on any given day are definitely the campers and the staff members. From the day camp began until the day camp ended, as I looked around, all I saw were smiling faces and happy individuals who would rather be exactly where they were rather than any other place.

The environment that camp provides is motivating for both the campers and staff, day after day, and the fun and excitement never stops. Whether you’re 3, 13 or 23 years old, where else can you make oreo rice krispie treats, cruise down a zip line, tie dye your own shirt, swim in a pool after sliding down a windy slide and have pizza for lunch all in the same day while wearing a green tutu?

The positivity and optimism here at Shibley are extremely motivating and just as contagious as the GREEN values! Whether you’re on the ball field, running lines at the theater for an upcoming production or climbing around the green giant, connections are constantly being made and friendships are consistently being fostered. We’re here to cheer each other on and lift one another up. Shibley is a family, the kind of family that only camp can provide and we are all extremely fortunate to be a part of it.

Fall Festival 2019

SAT, OCT 26 – 1PM to 4PM

Shibley is a place for our families to gather throughout the year! The annual Halloween themed Fall Festival is a great time for campers to reconnect with friends they haven’t seen since school started.

New and prospective families will have the opportunity to meet camp staff, participate in camp activities, tour the grounds and make new friends!

Please CLICK HERE to RSVP if your children are not currently enrolled at Shibley for Summer 2020

Pumpkin picking/painting, hay rides, face painting, games, music, refreshments, air bungee, Green Giant and a chance to enjoy our beautiful 20 acre wooded facility with family and friends.

Summer 2019 Review in Pictures

One of my projects after each summer is to put together a folder of pictures to use throughout the year for emails, social media posts, flyers, brochures, website updates and other marketing initiatives. So I have spent the last week looking through over 40,000 pictures, most of which are also available to you on the Shibley App.

I would like to give a shout out to our awesome media team from Summer 2019. Choosing the best of the best is not easy and I ended up with a folder of over 1000 pictures to work from.

I can’t share all of them here and now and I had to pick a number to stop at so enjoy ONLY 39 of my favorites (to represent the 39 days of camp), with captions.

We asked at orientation: “Who is ready to have a major impact on the lives of these campers?”

We saw the excitement on their faces the instant they arrived at camp on day one.

We loved celebrating America’s birthday on July 4th!

We saw the confidence build in each camper as they developed new swim skills.

Confidence that looks like this!

We expanded our Science activity area and added some animals…

…in addition to rocketry, coding, robotics and nature activities that encourage our campers to explore Shibley’s beautiful grounds!

Everyone loved the rides on Carnival Day…

…and the entire camp wore shirts they tie dyed themselves at Arts & Crafts. It was pretty cool.

Arts & Crafts projects of all kinds were on display from the beginning of camp to the end.

For Rock Star Day we beat on drum sets and percussion as the buses arrived at camp. And we dressed the part!

The Green Giant was a favorite of Junior Camp…

…and Senior Camp alike.

An equally popular attraction at camp was the Senior Adventure Park where campers overcame their fears and zipped away!

Another part of the adventure program is the Air Bungee which allows campers to soar up into the trees (and flip around while up there).

This summer the theater arts & solid gold dance programs were expanded to include more of Junior Camp (and more boys!!!)

We followed the Yellow Brick Road!

Senior Sing was spectacular.

We celebrated the GREEN values together every Friday!

On Halloween Day some campers chose to dress up like the staff members they look up to (That’s R for Respect- see above).

#shibleyshibley

Our Shibley Chefs baked some very yummy creations.

We love the unique relationships that develop when siblings attend camp together…

…and the love shown when they meet randomly during the day.

Visiting Week was YOUR chance to see your child in action. I’m sure you also took 40,000 photos 🙂

The coaches taught athletic skills of all kinds to campers of all ages.

Lacrosse skills are more fun to learn in a tutu, don’t you think?

The annual Jeannie Cup did not disappoint!

We had a walk off ending to our Senior Boys 1 World Series..

…and we had our first Super Senior World Series.

We learned basic tennis skills and played fun tennis games in Junior & Senior Camp.

Recreational swim for our oldest campers included plenty of sliding into the pool.

We have the best swim instructors on the planet!

and the most spirited staff!!!

Sometimes we needed a hug…

…and sometimes a high five!

The Goose Cup is a big deal and we had two great teams competing for the championship this summer.

We filled the pools with inflatable fun for Waterworld Day.

Captain Shibley started off Olympics with a lap around the campers.

Do you have favorites of your own? Post them or share them with us!

heath@shibleydaycamp.com

Shibley Chefs 2019 Recipes

Cinnamon Sugar Pretzels

INGREDIENTS

  • 2/3 cup vegetable oil
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1 1 – pound package small pretzel twists

DIRECTIONS

  • In a large bowl stir together oil, sugar and cinnamon.
  • Add pretzels and toss well to combine.
  • Spread pretzels out on lined baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes at 300˚F.

Mini French Toast Cups

INGREDIENTS

  • 4 slices bread (we used whole wheat)
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/2 tablespoon sugar
  • 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

DIRECTIONS

  • Preheat your oven to 400˚F.
  • Lightly grease a muffin tin and set aside.
  • Place the eggs, milk, vanilla, sugar, and cinnamon into a bowl and whisk.
  • Tear or chop up the bread and add to the mixing bowl, stirring to coat.
  • Let the mixture sit for 5 minutes so the bread can soak up the egg mixture.
  • Evenly distribute between six muffin cups and bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the tops of the bread puddings are slightly browned.
  • Remove from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes before eating

Birthday Cake Popcorn

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 bag microwavable popcorn
  • 1 cup white chocolate chips
  • rainbow sprinkles
  • mini chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS

  • In a microwave or double boiler, melt white chocolate chips until smooth.
  • Pour over popcorn and fold with a spatula to coat.
  • Spread onto waxed paper.
  • Decorate with sprinkles and chips.
  • Cool in refrigerator until firm then break into pieces.
  • *delicious with any type of chocolate

Eggless Brownie Batter Dip

INGREDIENTS

  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter
  • 1/2 cup white granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
  • 1/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons cocoa powder
  • 2 Tablespoons milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS

  • Allow butter to soften or soften in the microwave at 50% power.
  • Cream together butter and sugars.
  • Mix in cocoa powder, salt, milk and vanilla.
  • Stir in flour.
  • Stir in chocolate chips.
  • Serve on its own or use as a dip with pretzels.

Oreo Rice Krispie Treats

 INGREDIENTS

  • 6 cups Rice Krispie Cereal
  • 20 Regular Oreos, chopped
  • 5 cups mini marshmallows
  • 3 Tbsp. butter

DIRECTIONS

  • Spray or line a 9×13 pan.
  • In a large bowl, pour measured Rice Krispie Cereal.
  • Chop and mash Oreos. You can do this by putting them in a ziplock bag to help keep the mess under control. You want the Oreos to be a variety of sizes from chunky to finely crushed.
  • Add Oreos to Rice Krispy cereal and stir to combine.
  • Heat butter and marshmallows together in the microwave safe bowl for about 60 seconds in microwave.
  • Pour melted marshmallows over cereal and Oreos and use a spatula sprayed with non-stick cooking spray to quickly combine all the ingredients.
  • As soon as all the cereal is combined, spread mixture into the prepared 9×13″ dish. Use the spatula to press the mixture around the dish, and flatten as needed.
  • Let sit until completely cooled.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 (15.25 Ounce) Box Yellow Cake Mix*
  • 2 Large Eggs
  • 1/2 Cup Butter, Melted
  • 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
  • 2 Cups Chocolate Chips

DIRECTIONS

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9×13 inch baking dish with non stick cooking spray and set aside.
  • In a large bowl stir together the yellow cake mix, eggs, melted butter, and vanilla until well combined.  Fold in the chocolate chips.
  • Scoop batter into prepared pan (batter will be very thick) and press down evenly into the pan using a spatula.
  • Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown around the edges.
  • Cool and cut into bars. 
  • *Chocolate cake mix can be used to make Double Chocolate Chunk Cookie Bars.

Crunch Bars

INGREDIENTS

  • 24 oz. chocolate chips
  • 2 1/2 c. Rice Krispies
  • Pinch of flaky sea salt
  • mini marshmallows, white chocolate chips and rainbow sprinkles for decorating the top

DIRECTIONS

  • Line baking pan with parchment paper or foil.
  • Over a double-boiler, or in a microwave using 50 percent power, melt chocolate chips. Transfer to a large bowl and immediately add in Rice Krispies. Using a spatula, fold the chocolate and cereal together until the cereal is fully coated in chocolate. Pour into prepared pan.
  • Sprinkle with toppings and refrigerate until set, about 30 minutes. Slice into bars and serve cold or at room temperature.

Facilities Update from Billy

Hello Shibley families! Billy here, and I wanted to show you some of the work that the facilities crew and I have been doing at Shibley this off season. We have completed the last of our interior bunk renovations. Xanadu and all the Senior boys bunks are now complete.  All camper bunks have been updated with beautiful pine paneling.

We have also been hard at work completing our new indoor science center complete with small animal habitats. We have  built an outdoor tortoise enclosure for our friend Daisy.

We are also redoing the bathrooms near Junior Pool 2 as part of the complete renovation of that pool and surrounding area.

We are very excited for warmer days ahead so we can get back into full swing of getting camp ready for an amazing summer 2019.​