News Letter Coming Soon!

Hi Everyone!

Keep a look-out for our WEHGC News Letter: The Girls Camp Journey, coming January 2012! Want to make sure you're on the mailing list? Go to our website at www.wehgirlscamp.org and contact us.

Happy Holidays!

The Last Official Day of Summer Camp!!!!

We love WEHGC!

What a last day! Session five really knew how to close out the summer!  They started the day with team building and writing encouraging letters to soldiers overseas. The day went on to include hanging our home-made hummingbird feeders (a hummingbird actually came to check them out), swimming, creeking, making a music video, getting to try out our team building skills on the low ropes course, and having an intense, full afternoon of Color War!

The Blue Team won Color War this go-round, but all the girls showed amazing West End House Spirit and we closed the night with s’mores and campfire. Everyone is sad to be leaving, but excited about coming again next year!

A Day of Relaxation (for the most part;))

Getting ready for the hike.

Yesterday was a blast! We went to Lake Sebago where we had lunch (or tried to ... there were wasps and everyone freaked out). After that we went for a hike. We discovered SO MANY caterpillars hanging from high trees. After the hike (we felt like we were lost), we went swimming. The water was nice. It was relaxing and warm.

We found a mermaid at the beach!

The relaxation continued with our "Spa Night". We made oatmeal facials and mayo hair treatments. Everyone had so much fun. When the facials and hair treatments were done, we stayed up talking and painting our nails.

Making oatmeal facials and drinking relaxation tea.

The whole day was fun and enjoyable. I think it was the best day of the week.

Bye for now!
-Cynthia

Session 5 Trip Day

The girls are settling down for a nice rest hour after a big day that included a college tour at St. Joseph’s College, a swim in Lake Sebago, and an hour and a half hike! Whew! What a day! Next is dinner and then onto evening programs – the fun never stops at Girls Camp!

Interesting College Tour

Sebago Lake State Park

Going Hiking

Caterpillar Discovery

The Lake

Healthy Planet and Healthy Bodies

Today's Characteristic of the Day is "Healthy Planet and Healthy Body". The girls started off the day with team building and a trip to the local beach where they did trash pickup, and then enjoyed the fruits of their labor with a nice swim. The girls also read and reflected upon inspirational stories with Dawnn, sharpened their basketball skills with Lola, and had swimming lessons with Ry. It's been a busy day and there is still daylight to burn ...

Team building ... Smile:)!

Swimming at the local beach.

Making the planet a little cleaner:)

First Day Of The Last Week

The first day consisted of the usual; awkward name games, the laying down of rules, picking bunks [an ever important choice], introductions [performed with enthusiasm and humor, despite this being the fifth repetition], the nervous energy of the first comers, etc. All of this proceeded with a certain care-free summer time feel; probably do to the amazing cooking and beautiful scenery. Take the cabin rules for example; though they were stern they allowed for the excitement of a new environment for the campers, especially me.

WEHGC Rules Jeopardy

I must say that though learning the rules was tolerable  [as far as rules go], the swimming test was my best experience so far.  The water was chilly but I loved observing the occasional fishy after the evaluation, which I think I did pretty well on. I hope to continue this positive pattern and I don't think that'll be too difficult in this setting.

Swimming test + cold water = FUN

-Mireya

What?! The Last Session! Already!?

Session 5 Girls - Gotta Luv Em

After a crazy (and rainy) session 4 Color War (which White team won by-the-way), the session 4 girls left in a flurry of smiles and chatter. Now it is time - at last - for the last ... but absolutely NOT the least .... SESSION 5!!!!!!!! They are ready to finish off the summer with bang!

Session 4 Color War Rages!

Practicing in the deep end!

Who knew team building could be so ha-ha-hard!

Nature Sculptures

Color War Session 4 2011 Team White

After a day of creating nature sculptures and conquering our fears in the “Deep End” on Thursday, we capped off the week with a trip to the local beach, team building, and Session 4 Color War. As we speak the girls are coming up with their color war choreographed songs and the competition is intense! Who will win? Blue or White? Stay tuned!

A Day In The Woods

Starting our adventure!

Yesterday we went swimming. I love to swim! We learned how to help someone that is drowning. My second favorite part of yesterday was when we caught frogs. I caught two frogs. I named them JC and TC. I dropped TC, but I brought JC back to the camp nature center. I also caught a dragon fly! But I let it go.

For dinner we had garlic bread, pasta, and salad. All of the food here is SO GOOD! I love it here. I can’t wait to come back again. I hope I will be back next year.

Feeding the alpacas.

-Ava

This is TayTay. My favorite things yesterday were eating s’mores at the campfire, doing the swim lesson, and going on the field trip to the Alpaca farm and hiking.

During swim lessons we learned the dead man float with Ry. That was really fun!

During our field trip we went hiking in the woods and caught frogs! We got to take some frogs back to camp and made a habitat for them in the nature center. Everyone was so happy to have a pet frog at camp! Some of us shared our frogs with other people who couldn’t catch one. We all named our frogs.

The one that got away ...

Looking at frogs!

At night we watched the movie “Up” as a treat and we were laughing a lot.

-Nateja'

Even Storms Can’t Stop The Fun!

Yesterday, it stormed on and off all day so the girls spent some time inside. They made Jello paintings, played “Scrupples”, watched and learned from Olympic swimming videos, made a special indoor snack called Railroad Tracks, read, and made solar prints. We did manage to get outside for one swim lesson and to do team building. All in all, the girls barely noticed the weather and the nice cool evening lent itself to a sound sleep for everyone at camp.

Zzzzzzzzzz ----

Craft Time!

Watching olympic swimmers ... so that's how they do that!

Exploring our nature center.

Jello Painting!





Starting With Our First Full Day…

Yesterday, we did Arts and Crafts as one of our Pick and Stays. We made collages about ourselves. I really like mine and so did the staffJ. Campfire snack was tasty. We had a dessert called Brown Bears. Brown Bears are croissants covered in brown sugar. They were delicious. And last, but not least, my favorite part of today (so far) was playing basketball. It was fun and I, as well as some of my other camp mates, earned stars for showing the WEHGC characteristics/values. So …. Ya ….  You could say I’m having an awesome time!

-Elisa

Getting a little competitive.

My first Pick and Stay activity was fishing which didn’t turn out great because no fish came. Next was swimming which made me shiver when I got out of the lake, so I just wanted to stay there because the lake was warm. Eventually, everyone had to get out. Then we had rest hour. Volleyball was next and we all got really competitive. Later on we went to campfire where we had Brown Bears and sang “One Tin Soldier”. Then we had showers (finally!) and went to bed after we played a cabin game. Even though I miss my family, I am still having a great time!

-Nisha

Observing nature!

Volleyball

Today we played a three on three basketball game. That was my favorite thing that we have done so far. We also painted our nails at rest hour. I painted mine with sparkle nail polish! I am having a lot of fun!

-Katie

A nice warm fire.

Girls Camp is just ... silly:)

An Awesome First Day

Yesterday we went swimming and took the deep end test. I (Elisa) was surprised by how well I did, as well as some of my camp mates. We had s’mores at campfire snack – they tasted AMAZING! (But we only got to have one … bummerL) I liked playing night at the museum last night before we went to bed (even though I lost and had to get in bed), but it was a great end to an EPIC day!

-Elisa

Yesterday was a fun and exciting day. Some of my favorite things that we did were picking bunks, stating our “Day Highs”, and dinner. Picking bunks was fun because we got to pick on our own and we weren’t assigned. Stating our “Day High” is something that we do at the end of the day to reveal what our favorite part of the day was. We have to dance at the same time we say it so it’s really funny! Last, but not least, was dinner. It was DELICIOUS! We had calzones, salad, and potatoes – yummy!

-Sade

Learning how to swim.

"Look! I can fly!"

"Teach me how to Dougie TeyTey"

Jumping Into Session 4!

Hi Everyone!

Session 4 is ...CRAZY FUN!

The girls of session 4 hit the ground running and I finally got everyone to stop for a group picture! Whew! Here we go ...

High School Heading Out!

Week 3 was AMAZING! HS week rocks! Session 4 - we are comin' to get you:)

Happy Founder's Birthday!

Hi!

Walking the dogs as part of Community Service Day:)

It's Kristiana (hi mom:)). Yesterday was community service day and the founder's birthday. We displayed community service by going to the local animal shelter to walk the dogs and help socialize them. If they are more social and less shy, they have a better chance of being adopted into a nice home with a loving family. I personally am a bit scared of dogs, but my heart was stolen by a little pug named Buddy. Buddy had been dropped off just before we got there by a man who lost his job and could no longer afford to keep him. This made me realize that not all dogs are strays who are mean and aggressive, rather, they are creatures that just want a little love and a safe place to be.

Just meeting each other ...

After giving back to the community by volunteering at the animal shelter, we did something to benefit the camp. We made a new path on the camp property and deemed it "Hells Path". I don't know if the name will stick. We had to do a lot of raking and cutting and moving of wood, but we did it and then went for a refreshing swim!

A ghost story and some young "protectors"?;)

At the end of the day we did two fun things: First, we had a surprise birthday party for the founder. Then we had a ghost story! Bill Margolin (Snoopy), the boys camp director, came to our camp with three of his younger campers (middle school boys - don't worry) to tell us the ghost story of "Pickle Finger". He then proceeded to take us to "Pickle Finger's" house. IT WAS SO SCARY. Let's just say there were a lot of tears and a lot of screaming ... and not all from our young visitors:/

Sincerely,
Kristiana

A Mad World! Say Hi to the City!

Olivia here to tell you about all the fun and crazy things we did yesterday on our trip day!

A taste of college ...

About an hour from camp, we visited the University of Southern Maine (USM) where we got a glimpse of college life and even had college students as our tour guides! They actually have two campuses, one in Gorham (the one we went to) and one in Portland. We checked out the classrooms, the library, the Freshmen dorms, their cafeteria (looks like a huge food court!), their sport complexes and a few other building here and there. It was nice to get the opportunity to be there, but it reminded me of how much high school life stinks compared to the luxuries we'll be receiving once we enter college. 

After touring we picked up Lola, a WEHGC counselor, from the train station. She's been adding some fun and crazy to our group! Then we headed off for Portland, about a half hour from USM. Thank goodness for AC otherwise we all probably would have melted in the heat.


We left our mark in Portland!

  Lots of sightseeing went on as we got lost a bit (though Rae and Gayle deny it!), but we finally arrived at the waterfront city of Portland! We toured around and occasionally checked out a store if we liked it. We reached a popcorn store that sells the craziest flavors including Watermelon, Wasabi Soy, Key Lime Pie, Salt and Vinegar, and even Root Beer. Rae bought us a mix of Southwest Cheddar and Buffalo Wing and another bag of Toffee and Mainely Maple to take home for snack. A few blocks later, we all reached a really awesome store called Mad World. The owner was so nice that she let us try on clothes, even though we weren't buying anything. Everyone was a model, dressing up in the one-of-a-kind-store (literally, they only make/sell one of anything). We ended the day off by purchasing of some interesting truffles (some tasted good, like my Coconut one, but some people had some not-so-awesome flavors) and a cup of ice cream each! Yum.

Aren't we fab!

The day wasn't over yet though! After dinner and doing some chores that we didn’t have time to do earlier, we had....drum roll please...A DUTCH AUCTION! We had 3 minutes to shove as many things from our cabin as we could into a regular trash bag and take it out to the porch. Rae was the self proclaimed unfair and super bias judge. We split into teams and each got a counselor to help us out. Rae called out a object, person or whatever and we had 30 seconds to dress ourselves up and present ourselves to her. My team lost, but like I said...Rae wasn't exactly fair. -cough cough.

Next item ... olympians?

Time to eat!

-Olivia

What Did We Do Yesterday?

Today we went to Portland and visited USM, but I will let the girls write about that tomorrow. Instead, I will tell you about yesterday ....

Step 1: Build the raft-

Step 2: Race the raft-

Step 3: DON'T drown the animal:(

Yesterday we started "Nature" day by having a raft making competition and relay. The goal was for each team to build a raft out of random items that would keep a stuffed animal dry, and then race. It was quite exciting, though not much of a race since one team's raft fell apart in the water:(.

Hiking

Well hello Mr. Toad

Quick smile ... before the bugs eat us alive!

We also did wood burning, went hiking, had a nature scavenger hunt, and swam at the local beach. The girls decided that nature day was "cool" ... except for the bugs.