Week Two

Hey Friends!

We didn't think it was possible but we may have had even more fun this week than last week! The staff had some really exciting and creative morning lessons. In Science, campers have been learning about the nutritional values of different types of foods through a really great relay race created by our own Rachel Fosse. Campers would "eat" different foods and if the foods were healthy they could run to the next space, but if the foods were unhealthy they had to walk or do push ups, making the race more difficult to complete. What an exciting way to teach nutrition, way to go Rachel!

In Faith Building our traditional campers have been learning the story of the good samaritan by helping each other dress in some pretty fun and silly outfits, while our middle schoolers and LIT's have enjoyed some deep conversations about how Christ's love is unconditional and how that applies to not only our neighbors, but ourselves as well.

This week our fun Friday was Disney themed.  All the staff along with a lot of campers dressed to match the theme.  The characters were great and we had a lot of fun riding magic carpets, playing Mickey bingo, shooting apples down at archery, as well as many other fun activities.  We also had our annual counselor talent show.  All the counselors got a chance to show off what we can do.  We even had a visit from (our own) One Direction!  Campers, get ready.  Your show is only two weeks away, and we can't wait to see what you have to share.

The middle school campers had an exciting week too. Will led the middle schoolers in a lesson on classical music to broaden the campers perspective and Allie taught the campers how to make bandana bracelets. Marshall led lessons in softball and in nature campcraft Caitlin had the middle schoolers bake chocolate cherry cobbler in dutch ovens over the campfire as well as creating ovens out of copy-paper boxes.

 They also traveled out to Willow River State Park to spend a night under the stars. The middle schoolers dined on spaghetti after swimming in Little Falls Lake and wrapped up the evening with s'mores and campfire popcorn. The middle schoolers started Friday off with a hike to see the beautiful falls in the park and afterwards had a German-themed lunch. The trip to Willow River was concluded with an afternoon beach session and they were back to HPR for the highly anticipated counselor talent show.

And now a few announcements about next week.  We will be having our first traditional camp overnight.  Ask your camper if he or she will be attending.  It is a fun time for us to learn some basic camping skills as well as get to spend some more time with our counselor groups.  Also, next Friday's theme is HPR's traditional Great Race.  Wear your favorite sports jersey, racing stripes or at least some fast shoes!

See below for some fun pictures and don't forget to see more at Hidden Pines Ranch's Facebook and Google+

Week One

Hey there friends!

We had an outstanding first week of camp with tons of fun playing in the sun and in the water! Campers got a taste of some knot tying and outdoor cooking at Nature Camp Craft this week and, to cool off from the fires they used, they learned about canoe safety by getting tipped into the pond during our Tippy Test!

Campers also worked on developing their baseball skills at our morning sports rotation and worked to decorate our Arts & Crafts area by painting the surrounding fences, check them out in person when you have the chance!

We flexed some creative muscles as well by living out some of our favorite cartoons by trying some "Water-Bending." 

 We also wanted to feature some of our amazing artists at camp. The medium of the day is CHALK!

Last, but certainly not least. Our theme for Friday was Caribbean Cruise and we had a ton of fun doing all kinds of activities! We had pirate ship races, coconut bowling, sponge bob sponge wars, and limbo dancing just to name a few! We stayed cool and had a blast outside, what a terrific Friday!

Keep checking our blog for more summer fun and please look at our Facebook and Google+ accounts to see all our great photos!

Good afternoon!  It's been a brilliant first day of traditional camp!  The sun decided to come out early this morning and we've been having a great, safe day ever since!  It's almost time for afternoon activities, but we thought we would share some of the pictures from today so far.





Early this morning when the sun started shining on HPR

Deb was teaching campers how to tie camping knots!

Everyone learned how to hit!

We are playing some great team building games too!



Starting off the Summer Right!

Hello Families! 


It's been a great first week here at Hidden Pines Ranch.  We started the summer on Monday with two wonderful days of Staff Training.  We have a very talented staff of 30 this year.  Keep checking the blog to learn more about our summer staff.  Each week we will feature 4 or 5 members of staff in the blog.

We kicked off camp on Wednesday and everyone jumped right in.  We sang many songs down at flag with the (camp) famous Debbie!  We then had horseback riding, canoeing, soccer, archery, and tennis.  We also made s'mores, learned a song by The Beatles, got to talk with God in nature and build slingshots in our science area!

Our "Thursday Thunderstorm" changed our morning lessons into some really creative and fun rain day activities. We told stories and learned how to make it sound like it's raining indoors with just our hands and some imagination!

Friday was Jesus Jamboree Day.  We all dressed up as characters from the bible for drop-off in the morning.  We all got to do Bible Charades, a Bible treasure hunt, fish for men and women.  Everyone also built walls for a Battle at Jericho and slung rocks at Goliath.  We used our giant colored parachute to play Jonah and the Whale.  When we went to the feet washing station, we grabbed marbles with our toes and raced them back to buckets so our next team member could have a chance. We also participated in an "all camp" sports relay race which was a ton of fun!

If you want to see or download pictures we took this week, please visit our Google+ page (Click on Google+ to go to the page).  Also, please go over and 'Like' our Facebook page.  Feel free to leave us comments here or on the Google+ and Facebook pages as well.  We love to hear from our campers and their families.